One of the most integral companies in the movie and film preservation industry is about to take a dive into the anime world in a new, exciting move that highlights some of the most influential anime films, as well as a potential opportunity to restore some of the medium’s best films. While it might not be exactly what fans have been hoping and asking for years now, it is a step in the right direction that will hopefully one day lead to more anime series and films joining the Criterion Collection.
As confirmed by Criterion’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, the August 2025 lineup has been announced, revealing some exciting restorations such as Trainspotting and Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project, but the biggest and most exciting news is a new section on the Criterion Channel dedicated to anime. This is truly unprecedented given the fact that Criterion never dabbled in the anime medium, and the news is, of course, going viral and being met with excitement. This month’s lineup of anime films that will appear on the channel has been revealed, and the choices could not be any better.
Criterion’s Anime Section Is a Gamechanger
Four movies have been selected for this month’s schedule, with the first being the influential and sci-fi cult classic, Ghost in the Shellby Mamoru Oshii and Production I.G. The incredibly violent and intense racing movie, Redlinedirected by Takeshi Koiike, the extremely trippy and brilliant Paprika from the genius of Satoshi Kon and the niche but interesting Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat in Space by t.o.L. There is a good variety of influential, classic and underrated films in here, and fans can tune in to the channel knowing there will be treated to some absolute masterclasses of movies.
Historically, Criterion has never remastered or added any anime film to the Criterion Collection, and the closest thing was a laserdisc release of the Akira movie. That is why this announcement is surprising and exciting, as it could pave the way for more movies to be licensed by the company. The most popular films that would definitely fit in well in the Criterion Collection are Jin Roh, Angel’s Egg, Perfect Blue, any of Masaaki Yuasa’s movies, The End of Evangelionand many masterpieces that would benefit from being released in a higher quality and made more available, as well as being recognized as integral to the world of cinema.
