Momotarou no Umiwashi

You might think that "anime" started with the first serialized TV shows in the 1960s, but Japan had been making animation long before this, in the form of short films. This article aims to give a tour through the history and evolution of early Japanese animation that led to the serialized shows of the 1960s that eventually led to where we are today. At present, there are over 200 early Japanese animations that have survived and are easily viewable. Here, 44 stand-out works in the chronological evolution of early animation are highlighted for you to check out. All animations listed here can be found online, with English subtitles when needed!

Mostly short pieces of Japanese animation dating back to the early XX century. Pre Astro Boy works only. For those who want to explore the very beginnings of anime history before it took its current culture, tropes and technological advancements.

Anime films with fewer than 50,000 members.

Stack rules:
- Must have fewer than 50,000 members as of writing this (04/November/2023). Should an included entry surpass that in the future, however, it will not be removed.
- For this list, a “film” counts as something with a runtime longer than 25 minutes
- Explicit genres (ecchi, hentai, erotica) have been excluded
- Any entries marked with a star (☆) are my personal recommendations! :)


This stack is still being updated! If you have any suggestions, please DM me or leave a comment on my profile! Thank you!

I’m not exaggerating for comedic effect - each entry here was released during WWII and is the literal definition of military propaganda.

As stated by the Oxford English Dictionary, “Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.” As you will see, everything below fits into said definition.

While perhaps some more modern examples of military animation could warrant inclusion here, so as not to stir any unnecessary controversy, I have decided upon only the most undeniable examples of propaganda. At least for the purposes of this stack, I am defining ‘WWII’ as 1937-1945 since that’s how long the war was from a Japanese/Chinese perspective.