i’m going to include some ovas as well because i want to and they’re close enough to movies in that they’re limited release, so you won’t have to worry about them being too long

MOVIES

• mobile suit gundam: the original mobile suit gundam show from 1979 was adapted into 3 films. the show is better, and if you have the time you should watch that, but the movies are shorter and are still very good. classic scifi philosophy, psychedelia, and traumatized child soldiers piloting robots years before evangelion came out and everyone decided eva was the first to ever do it
• aim for the ace: another adaptation from a show, this is the story of a high school girl becoming a tennis player. her coach is pretty abusive and idk if the movie knows that or not, but it’s incredibly pretty and it’s a classic sports anime that’s super influential and is worth watching if you have any academic interest in anime
• castle of cagliostro: this is miyazaki doing a straight up action adventure movie about rescuing princesses and stealing treasure. pretty good!
• do you remember love: kind of a mess, but god damn is it gorgeous. coming together and defeating alien invaders with the powers of 80s pop idols and transforming mechs. basically the entire basis of the “80s anime aesthetic”
• urusei yatsura: beautiful dreamer: this is the second urusei yatsura movie, but all you need to know going in is that it’s a mildly horny romcom by the women who invented the harem genre and did it better than anyone else. this movie is a must watch even if the base premise doesn’t sound interesting, it’s a kickass lynchian nightmare of a movie
• patlabor: a cop movie about cops with mechs. surprisingly leftist (or so i hear, i haven’t actually seen this one. my partner likes it though), despite the whole cop thing
• belladonna of sadness: this one’s very surreal, very sexual, and very confusing. if you hear those things and think that sounds good you’ll probably like it. if you think you won’t, you won’t. cw for sexual assault

oh, akira is also worth checking out but i assume you’ve at least heard of that one, and it was already mentioned

OVAs

• project a-ko: the first one is actually a movie, but then there are 3 ovas so i put it here. goofy dumb bullshit about teenage girls with superpowers who are in love with each other. a-ko is super strong and fast, b-ko is a genius who builds robots, and c-ko is the heiress to an alien race
• mobile suit gundam 0080: war in the pocket: 6 episodes long, it takes place during the above mentioned gundam, but requires no real knowledge of it. a side story about some grunts and what civilian life looks like during the war
• gunbuster: what if a mecha story was a sports anime and also top gun? 6 episodes
• angel’s egg: haven’t seen it but it’s highly recommended. another surreal art film, i really wanna watch it soon
• armor hunter mellowlink: after his unit is sent into a mech filled warzone with only anti-tank rifles and dies, mellowlink is out for revenge. he goes after everyone involved in his units death, killing them with only the anti-tank rifle provided to him while they pilot mechs. cool guy shit
• dallos: the first ever ova. about a colonial revolt in space, another one by mamoru oshii i haven’t seen but am planning on