Animated movies are typically shorter than live-action films, as evidenced by the recent shock that Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is going to be the longest American animated film at about two hours and sixteen minutes. I’ve seen multiple reasons why animated movies tend to be shorter than live-action such as some being targeted at children or the amount of effort required for every second of footage. Interestingly, Japan tends to dominate lists when it comes to longest animated films and so I thought it might be interesting to take a look at some of the longest anime films by runtime. One thing I do want to emphasise before I start is that I’m only going to be looking at films that were originally movies. What this means is that I’m going to ignore compilation anime films which simply combines anime footage, typically TV anime, along with a little bit of new footage in order to create a film.
1. In This Corner (And Other Corners) Of The World (168 Minutes)
The original release of In This Corner Of The World was released in 2016 and clocked in at a respectable 129 minutes. However, in 2019, they released an extended edition of the movie called “In This Corner (And Other Corners) Of The World” which brought the total runtime up to 168 minutes, making it the longest anime film of all time. As far as I’m aware, this extended edition has yet to see an overseas release but, considering the extremely positive critical reception of the original film, I do hope it does see a Western release someday.
2. Final Yamato (163 Minutes)
The Space Battleship Yamato franchise has seen a large variety of anime series, films, a live-action adaptation etc. However, Final Yamato, the fourth theatrical film of the franchise and the third that was original, held the record of the longest anime film for several decades with a runtime of 163 minutes. Space Battleship Yamato movies are typically quite long with the second “Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato” clocking at 151 minutes and the third “Be Forever Yamato” running for 148 minutes and it’s truly incredible to me that the anime industry could release these films in the late 70s and early 80s.
3. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (162 Minutes)
I remember seeing The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya at a cinema back when I was just learning about anime and I had little experience to compare the runtime to. It was only within the past decade that I learned that the runtime of 162 minutes was exceptional and that, at the time of its release in 2010, was the second longest anime film ever! It was also the first time I’d ever experienced the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise which made going back to watch the film after experiencing the anime series even more enjoyable.
4. Sangokushi Part 3: The Faraway Land (157 Minutes)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms has seen numerous adaptations throughout East Asia but the TV film anime adaptations deserve particular notice. Consisting of three films that were aired in 1992, 1993 and 1994 respectively, Sangokushi, the Japanese word for Romance of the Three Kingdoms, has some of the longest anime films ever made. The first part “Great Conquest” has a runtime of 136 minutes while the second “Burning the Yangtze River” runs for 149 minutes. However, it’s the final film “The Faraway Land” that places it on this list with a runtime of 157 minutes.
5. Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time (155 Minutes)
The Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise is one of the more popular in the anime industry and Hideaki Anno, the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion, decided to do a reboot film tetralogy called “Rebuild of Evangelion”. The last film “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time” was released in 2021 and clocks in at an impressively long 155 minutes, much longer than the previous films which were 98, 108 and 96 minutes respectively.
It’s truly impressive that several anime films have exceeded 150 minutes and there are many others that prove to be impressively long within the medium of animation. Let me know your thoughts on these anime films that are longest by runtime, which anime films with the longest runtime you have seen, what you think about long animated films in general and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!