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Best Animation Movies After A Breakup From The 80S And 90S With An Unforgettable Ending

Every animation film here was chosen with after a breakup in mind. These aren't algorithmically ranked, they were chosen because they actually work for this.

The best animation movies after a breakup from the 80s and 90s with an unforgettable ending. Includes Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade, Only Yesterday, The Little M...

Post-breakup viewing is its own art form. You don't want to be preached at. You want to be absorbed into something that has nothing to do with your current situation.

The 80s and 90s are where a lot of cinema's DNA was written. Films that set the templates still running today.

Animation isn't a genre - it's a medium. And in the right hands, it reaches emotional places live-action simply cannot.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade movie poster
1
1999 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

A member of an elite paramilitary counter-terrorism unit becomes traumatized after witnessing the suicide bombing of a young girl and is forced to undergo retraining. However, unbeknownst to him, he becomes a key player in a dispute between rival police divisions, as he finds himself increasingly involved with the sister of the girl he saw die.

Only Yesterday movie poster
2
1991 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.

The Little Mermaid movie poster
3
1989 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

This colorful adventure tells the story of an impetuous mermaid princess named Ariel who falls in love with the very human Prince Eric and puts everything on the line for the chance to be with him. Memorable songs and characters -- including the villainous sea witch Ursula.

Kirikou and the Sorceress movie poster
4
1998 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

Drawn from elements of West African folk tales, it depicts how a newborn boy, Kirikou, saves his village from the evil witch Karaba.

The Prince of Egypt movie poster
5
1998 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

The strong bond between two Royal Egyptian brothers is challenged when their chosen responsibilities set them at odds, with extraordinary consequences.

These films use the freedom of animation to go places live-action won't. They earn every tear.

Dragon Ball Z: Wrath of the Dragon movie poster
6
1995 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

The Z Warriors discover an unopenable music box and are told to open it with the Dragon Balls. The contents turn out to be a warrior named Tapion who had sealed himself inside along with a monster called Hildegarn. Goku must now perfect a new technique to defeat the evil monster.

Balto movie poster
7
1995 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut movie poster
8
1999 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

In this feature film based on the hit animated series, the third graders of South Park sneak into an R-rated film by ultra-vulgar Canadian television personalities Terrance and Phillip, and emerge with expanded vocabularies that leave their parents and teachers scandalized. When outraged Americans try to censor the film, the controversy spirals into a call to wage war on Canada and Terrance and Phillip end up on death row, with the kids their only hope of rescue.

The Last Unicorn movie poster
9
1982 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

A unicorn learns from a riddle-speaking butterfly that she is supposedly the last of her kind, all the others having been herded away by the monstrous Red Bull. The unicorn sets out to discover the truth behind the butterfly's words. She is eventually joined on her quest by Schmendrick, a second-rate magician, and Molly Grue, a middle-aged woman who dreamed all her life of seeing a unicorn. Their journey leads them far from home, all the way to the castle of King Haggard.

Dragon Ball Z: Broly - The Legendary Super Saiyan movie poster
10
1993 · ★★★½☆ 7.2/10

While the Saiyan Paragus persuades Vegeta to rule a new planet, King Kai alerts Goku of the South Galaxy's destruction by an unknown Super Saiyan.

The best endings don't resolve - they resonate. You're still thinking about them on the way to bed. These qualify.

These films prove that animation is not a lesser form of cinema. It's a different one - capable of its own kind of greatness.

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