A-1 Pictures

Not a titan in the anime movie community by any means, A-1 Pictures so far has but a single original anime movie under its belt along with a TV series movie each for Fairy Tail and Blue Exorcist. A-1 Pictures primarily works on anime series and animation for anime-themed video games like Persona 4 and Valkyria Chronicles II. Their single original anime movie happens to be great for family viewing, though, and can easily be counted as one of the better films in this guide.

Welcome to the Space Show  (2010)
Uchū Shō e Yōkoso (宇宙ショーへようこそ)

One of the best fantasy/sci-fi adventure anime movies to not have felt the golden touch of the hand of Studio Ghibli. The plot follows a group of five kids as they are plucked from their self-organized summer school by a friendly space dog they rescue named Pochi and become the first humans to experience and have adventures in the intergalactic community at large. Certainly a tad edgier than Ghibli’s adventure movies, Welcome to the Space Show is still good for kids in spite of a small free-flying wang earlier on that may raise some Western-minded eyebrows. The various alien species and locales are fantastic, the characters are genuine, and the story, while maintaining a relaxed pace due to the movie’s considerable 2 1/3-hour length, has enough steam to keep audience members of all ages interested throughout. The only minor issue I had with this movie aside from its length was that the portrayal of the kids is moe to a degree where the movie would probably have been well attended by shady guys in trench coats had it seen a North American theatrical release. A dazzling movie from start to finish, Welcome to the Space Show is recommended for anime and movie lovers of all kinds, just be sure to clear a large enough space in your schedule before you sit down to enjoy it.