A first date movie needs to do several things at once: be engaging enough to talk about, not so intense it kills the mood, and ideally leave you both with something to say when the credits roll.
The best animated films don't talk down to anyone. They trust that emotion has no age requirement.
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may or may not be real.
Batman has stopped the reign of terror that The Mutants had cast upon his city. Now an old foe wants a reunion and the government wants The Man of Steel to put a stop to Batman.
In the year 2029, the barriers of our world have been broken down by the net and by cybernetics, but this brings new vulnerability to humans in the form of brain-hacking. When a highly-wanted hacker known as 'The Puppetmaster' begins involving them in politics, Section 9, a group of cybernetically enhanced cops, are called in to investigate and stop the Puppetmaster.
On Christmas Eve, three homeless people living on the streets of Tokyo discover a newborn baby among the trash and set out to find its parents.
The animated films that last are the ones that never condescend. They trust their audience - child or adult - to handle complexity, loss, and wonder in equal measure.
Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm...
Kyuta, a boy living in Shibuya, and Kumatetsu, a lonesome beast from Jutengai, an imaginary world. One day, Kyuta forays into the imaginary world and, as he's looking for his way back, meets Kumatetsu who becomes his spirit guide. That encounter leads them to many adventures.
On school break, Marinette heads to Shanghai to meet Adrien. But after arriving, Marinette loses all her stuff, including the Miraculous that allows her to turn into Ladybug!
When 11-year-old Riley moves to a new city, her Emotions team up to help her through the transition. Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness work together, but when Joy and Sadness get lost, they must journey through unfamiliar places to get back home.
Earth is peaceful following the Tournament of Power. Realizing that the universes still hold many more strong people yet to see, Goku spends all his days training to reach even greater heights. Then one day, Goku and Vegeta are faced by a Saiyan called 'Broly' who they've never seen before. The Saiyans were supposed to have been almost completely wiped out in the destruction of Planet Vegeta, so what's this one doing on Earth? This encounter between the three Saiyans who have followed completely different destinies turns into a stupendous battle, with even Frieza (back from Hell) getting caught up in the mix.
A film earns your tears by making you believe in its characters first. These films do that work thoroughly, then use it.
The best animated films stay with you the way a dream does. Vivid, emotional, and hard to fully explain.