The 15 best anime movies and TV shows to stream on HBO Max

The prestige streamer is home to a huge number of anime titles, with something on offer for every taste.

By Declan Gallagher

April 28, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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'Howl’s Moving Castle,' 'Perfect Blue,' and 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'. Credit:

Kobal/Shutterstock , Studio Ghibli/Ntv/Tokuma Shoten, courtesy HBO max

HBO Max has become a reliable hub for anime, featuring a wealth of genre-defining classics and modern masterpieces that will satisfy both the devoted fans and those just a little anime-curious.

If you’re in a heavy mood, you can find two of the most revolutionary films in the form’s history, *Angel’s Egg* and Satoshi Kon’s arthouse horror *Perfect Blue*, both of which redefined what animated storytelling could achieve.

In contrast to those darker titles, there’s no shortage of Studio Ghibli films available on the service. Any number of handcrafted Hayao Miyazaki classics can enchant viewers of all ages.

Whether you’re drawn to atmospheric fantasy, cerebral suspense, family-friendly magic, or grounded family drama, HBO Max’s anime catalog has something for your queue. These are **’s picks for the 15 best anime you can stream right now on HBO Max.

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007)

Cherry blossom petals floating to the ground at a pace of '5 Centimeters Per Second'.

courtesy hbo max

For those craving *Normal People* but anime, do we have a treat for you. This triptych revolves around close friends Takaki and Akari across many years, from wide-eyed youth to jaded adulthood. They’re separated by distance when they’re young but resolve to stay in touch. Time passes, and connection gets harder to maintain. As they remain apart, other romantic interests enter the fray.

Many people associate anime with otherworldly fantasy, but the form is equally rich when it comes to quietly observed tales of romantic yearning. *5 Centimeters *is heartbreaking in its deconstruction of a relationship where the truth feels too heavy to lift out of the depths of a soul.

Angel’s Egg (1985)

The nameless girl protecting the eponymous egg in 'Angel's Egg'.

courtesy hbo max

The world is an unfamiliar place — maybe post-apocalyptic, maybe alien, maybe something altogether more intangible. An unnamed girl faithfully protects a large egg, which she believes will hatch an angel. She crosses paths with a boy, armed with a rifle, searching for a possibly imaginary bird that he saw in a dream.

In narrative terms, that simple setup describes the bulk of *Angel’s Egg*. In deeper terms, it’s all Mamoru Oshii needs to paint everything he needs for this largely wordless religious fable. This haunting, dreamlike film was dismissed by many at the time, but its influence is still being felt to this day.

Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2011)

You don't want to meet the Izoku face to face.

courtesy hbo max

A young girl, Asuna, is attacked by a creature, only to be rescued by a teenage boy, Shun. A day later, Shun is found dead in the river. It’s just as well — he’s from the land of the dead anyway. It’s called Agartha. Through a series of increasingly perilous events, Asuna winds up crossing over into Agartha with Shun’s little brother and a local schoolteacher, who has an agenda of his own.

*Children Who Chase Lost Voices *is a deceptively complicated story that plays as something between *Alice in Wonderland *and *Pan’s Labyrinth* — with a dash of *E.T.* and *My Girl*. It’s best if you go in blind.

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The Colors Within (2024)

Rui, Totsuko, and Kimi in 'The Colors Within'.

courtesy hbo max

Totsuko is a peculiar teenage girl. Among other things, she sees people’s true “colors” — literally, a glowing aura that represents them in a way descriptions can’t. She eventually connects with two more peculiar teens,  Kimi and Rui, and they form a band which allows them to channel their complicated feelings into music.

Naoko Yamada directed this honest and straightforward dramedy, which encourages viewers to embrace and face their emotions no matter how daunting that may sound.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

Makoto, leaping through time again in 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'.

courtesy hbo max

During an arduous day in which nothing seems to be going right, teenage Makoto accidentally leaps backward in time thanks to… a magic walnut. Just go with it.

She can control this ability, which requires some running — and, yes, leaping. Like a superhero figuring out new powers, Makoto tests and harnesses her time-traveling in mostly trivial or adolescent ways, but ultimately it all has unintended effects on the present.

One in a long line of Japanese adaptations of a 1965 novel, *The Girl Who Leapt Through Time *is a cheeky entertainment but also deeper and wiser than its light, peppy disposition suggests.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

We should all be lucky enough to be protected by a magical wizard's warm, enveloping feathers.

Studio Ghibli/Ntv/Tokuma

Eighteen-year-old Sophie toils away most days in her father’s hat shop. An uneventful life, yes? Then she crosses paths with a wizard, Howl, and gets herself wrapped up in a war, which puts her on the radar of the sinister Witch of the Waste, who happens to be Howl’s enemy. Got it? Then the witch curses Sophie by turning her into a 90-year-old crone.

Getting back to her original form requires… well, an even more complicated string of scenarios, each more fantastically bizarre than the last. Hayao Miyazaki helmed this ambitious, visually jaw-dropping feature, which if nothing else is worth admiring for the intricate details within every handmade frame.

Lazarus (2025–present)

Dr. Skinner has some very bad news in 'Lazarus'.

courtesy hbo max

Three years ago, a so-called “miracle drug” hit the market. Only now its creator has emerged from seclusion with an ominous announcement: The supplement will soon mutate, killing everyone who took it. The drug cures all pain — emotional and physical — so its widespread popularity makes this news an extinction-level event. The doctor has an antidote. You’ll just have to track him down to get it. Within 30 days. A task force of mercenaries is dispatched to find him.

*Lazarus*’ pedigree speaks for itself: It’s the brainchild of *Cowboy Bebop*’s Shinichirō Watanabe, and its action sequences were designed by *John Wick*’s Chad Stahelski. It’s a terrific sci-fi actioner with a darkly satiric underpinning that would make Bradbury or Asimov proud.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Fact: Every child should have their own giant Totoro.

Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli

This coming-of-age examination of friends and family shaped an entire generation of animation. Sisters Satsuki and Mei travel with their ailing mother and stern father to the country, where their new home — and the nature surrounding it — are populated with little spirits. And, eventually, a quite big and cuddly spirit, which Mei calls Totoro. He’s a bit shy, but eventually reveals himself to Satsuki, too.

Miyazaki’s small-scale epic is a sterling example of childhood cinema. It’s not simply cute, but clever in the simplicity of its human comedy, and matter-of-fact in its treatment of everything from magic to death.

Ninja Kamui (2024–present)

Zai, getting ready to hunt down some fellow ninjas in 'Ninja Kamui'.

courtesy hbo max

Former ninja Higan leaves the business for a quiet life in Japan, but his old life comes back to haunt him when a group of vengeance-minded colleagues track him down to strip him of his pound of flesh for betraying the ninja code.

*Ninja Kamui* is one of the best new anime series on the market (a second and third season were recently announced). It’s a brutal and bloody tale, with shades of both *Kill Bill *and *John Wick *that modern audiences should recognize. But it’s most powerful as a dissection of power dynamics, codes of ethics, and the cultural differences between America and Japan.

Perfect Blue (1997)

Mima Kirigoe, disturbed protagonist of Satoshi Kon's classic 'Perfect Blue'.

Kobal/Shutterstock

Legendary filmmaker Satoshi Kon may have made his masterpiece with *Perfect Blue*. This horror fable is about the mental decline of pop singer Mima as she’s pursued by a stalker who kills those closest to her. In the years since its release, it has inspired the likes of *Mulholland Drive *(2001) and *Black Swan *(2010), among others.

Kon’s picture is a full-throated, deeply disturbing horror film about the changing face of fame at the start of the 21st century that predicted the dawning age of social media.

Ponyo (2008)

The fish who turned into a human girl is still figuring out this whole 'walking on land' thing in 'Ponyo'.

A goldfish-princess of an underwater kingdom meets a human boy, Sōsuke, during a forbidden trip to the surface of the ocean. The two quickly become close — he even gives her a name, Ponyo. But soon her underwater wizard father tracks her down, and back to the sea she goes.

However, she’s seen enough of humankind to know what she wants. She can’t (and won’t) forget Sōsuke, and longs to leave the ocean and begin a new life on land. This has unintended consequences, but rest assured this *Little Mermaid*-inspired story ultimately has a solution that will make our hybrid heroine happy.

Spirited Away (2001)

Chihiro and Haku in 'Spirited Away.' Tbh, every kid should have a green-maned magic dragon. Studio Ghibli

*Spirited Away* follows pre-teen Chihiro, who disappears with her parents into an abandoned amusement park. There, her parents are transformed into pigs by a nefarious witch, Yubaba, with a wildly oversized face. That’s only the beginning, of course. The family went down the wrong road, and they’ve found themselves in a realm where everything has been enchanted in some way or another, changed from this into that.

Chihiro, one of the most memorable of Hayao Miyazaki’s many plucky young heroines, has to take a job in this strange place just to figure out a way to free her parents — and herself. This celebrated fable is one of Studio Ghibli’s most iconic works.

Weathering With You (2019)

Hina Amano, controlling the weather (as usual) in 'Weathering With You'. GKIDS Films

Misunderstood teenager Hodaka runs away from home and joins up with orphan Hina, a teenage girl who has the power to manipulate the weather. Yes, there are romantic entanglements that seem inevitable in a story like this — but business opportunities, too.

Actually, you know what? For a film like *Weathering With You*, the less you know, the better. Suffice it to say it’s a mind-bogglingly creative, emotionally delicate sci-fi drama that embraces its many narrative complications with style.

Wolf Children (2012)

The movie is called 'Wolf Children' so this image kinda speaks for itself.

courtesy hbo max

This sweet-natured experiment in world-building follows Hana, a human woman who marries a wolfman and raises two human-wolf hybrid children. The husband dies in a tragic accident, leaving Hana alone to support the family — and keep a handle on two kids who will have a distinct set of problems “fitting in” among their peers.

For the kids, Yuki and Ame, what ensues is a dual coming-of-age story, either embracing or fighting against their wolf halves (depending on mood and situation). This is the rare family movie that seems equally interested in what it’s like to be a parent as what it’s like to be a kid.

Your Name (2016)

'Your Name': Teenage years are the absolute worst time to get stuck in a body-switch situation.

Makoto Shinkai’s emotionally grounded, ultimately heartbreaking romance follows city boy Taki and country girl Miki. They don’t exactly *know *each other, but they’ve got a situation on their hands. A body switch situation. From one day to the next, they are literally in the other’s skin. At first, it’s confusing, terrifying, and exciting in equal measure. But eventually it becomes a logistical problem. A daily puzzle that must be solved, if they’re going to continue living half of each other’s lives for a while.

When they decide to meet one another in person, it has cataclysmic implications for their futures. *Your Name* is one of the most exciting and innovative animated films of the decade.

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Source: “EW Movie”