This is me yelling, "I just can't do it!" I can't pick only five anime to hold up as the best in the decade, that is. So I've picked sixteen of them, presented over two lists. This first list is my picks for the best anime movies that premiered this decade. This was a very good decade for anime movies.

5) Paprika (2006)

Satoshi Kon is just awesome. His films blur the line between dream and reality, and doing so actually makes the message clearer. His style enjoys a natural symbiosis with Yasutaka Tsutsui's Paprika, a novel about a jealous scientist's theft and misuse of a psychotherapy device, one that allows the therapist to see (and affect) a patient's dreams. The situation grows more chaotic as the book progresses, to the point where nightmares seem to invade reality. Creepy, provocative, and intriguing, Kon's adaptation takes the viewer on a wild ride through the world of dreams.

4) The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)

I'm in the minority on this, but out of the three films Makoto Shinkai conceived and released, this one is my pick as his best. Set in an alternate reality where Hokkaido (Ezo) seceded from Japan, it's the story of two young men (Takuya and Hiroki) and a young woman (Sayuri) who are the closest of friends, until circumstances tear them apart. Sayuri is trapped in a dream she can't awaken from, but fears waking up, despite the loneliness. Takuya tries to move on with his life, while Hiroki obsesses over a promise that they had all made, to fly their homemade airplane to the gigantic tower rising over Ezo. The story weighs the crushing burden of sentiment against the sedated, robotic grind of adulthood, and hopes for a balance. It's wish fulfillment, but that's okay; not everything has to subscribe to the cynic's view.

3) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

We can't go back in time, and we can't fix mistakes we've already made, so we obsess in literature about what would happen if we could. It might seem pointless, because we can't. Regardless, it's an interesting exercise, and enough cycles are built into the human condition that adding another infinity of them won't make much of a difference. The point is: we like these stories, and Yasutaka Tsutsui wrote one of them for us, which Mamoru Hosoda adapted into an animated movie.

It's the story of a girl named Makoto, who first has a bad day, then tries to fix it with time travel. We laugh and cry as she discovers that she can't cheat time after all, but we want her to be happy, because she makes us happy.

2) Spirited Away (2001)

Being that Spirited Away rocked our worlds 9 years ago, I don't need to count the ways in which this Hayao Miyazaki masterpiece is, um, masterful. The lovable Chihiro's adventures in the world of spirits marks a high point in Miyazaki's portfolio that can only be trumped, in my mind, by Porco Rosso. The film's message is simple: greed kills, and modesty heals. Still, I can hardly think of other animated movies that're such an absolute pleasure to watch, and it's gorgeous in all its hand-drawn glory.

1) Millennium Actress (2001)

Satoshi Kon's portrayal of a beloved post-war actress's life, via an interview being done for a documentary, is compelling in a way that I've yet to find an explanation for. On the surface, Chiyoko's story is about a chase for a man, both at work and in her personal life. Kon's reality distortion kicks in with our documentary crew as they both record and participate in the events of Chiyoko's life and career, and through it all, the real Chiyoko emerges. She is cursed, never having the chance to catch up with her target, and yet she shines with the beauty of youth. Brilliance has a name, and it is Millennium Actress.