In Case You Missed It, Netflix Just Dropped One Of The Best Anime Movies Of The Decade

January 4, 2026, 1:30pm

2025 was an all-around amazing year for anime movies; naturally, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle and Chainsaw Man: The Movie — Reze Arc took the world by storm, but even comparatively smaller projects like Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood and Umamusume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era found plenty of success and were more than justified for it.

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As great as 2025 was for anime movies, though, not every movie got the attention it deserved; most notably, one anime movie just dropped on Netflix after a limited theatrical run, but despite how little attention it might have gotten, it’s an incredible film to the point that it’s an easy contender for the best anime movie of the decade.

100 Meters Is One Of The Most Gorgeous Films Of The Decade

Netflix has officially become the streaming home of Rock ‘n’ Roll Mountain’s 100 Meters, and it’s a film that everyone needs to experience. From a purely visual standpoint, 100 Meters is an absolute delight to behold from start to finish, with every scene not only looking amazing but also featuring incredible shot composition to further emphasize its high quality.

One of the biggest examples of this comes from Togashi and Komiya’s race in high school; not only is the scene presented with a brilliant tracking shot, but between the overall visuals and the incredibly stylish use of rain to build into a black-and-white shot, it’s a masterclass in animation and easily one of the film’s biggest highlights.

What makes 100 Meters feel even more stylish is the variety of its animation; in addition to gorgeous 2D animation, 100 Meters also makes brilliant use of 3D and rotoscoping for equally fluid shots, as well. It all comes together to make 100 Meters one of the best-looking films in recent years, and it’s worth watching just for that.

100 Meters’ Story Is Sports Drama At Its Finest

What truly makes 100 Meters stand out, of course, is its gripping sports drama. Naturally, the story is driven by the rivalry between Togashi and Komiya, but that’s mostly used to examine issues like what happens when you fail at your passion or begin losing interest in it, and in both cases, it’s handled with incredible care.

In one standout moment, Togashi contends with a possible early retirement, and while he’s calm for a while, it isn’t long before he breaks down crying over everything, which, in turn, leads to him regaining his resolve to run one last time. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Togashi’s arc, and the brilliant visuals used for it emphasize that even further.

All of that, of course, built to the film’s climax, where, after Togashi told Komiya that the real point of running is just having fun, the final shot was of them smiling in their race like they were children again. That single shot embodies the essence of a good sports story, and 100 Meters had the perfect build-up to it.

Is 100 Meters A Modern Classic In The Making?

There’s no denying that 100 Meters is an amazing film, but that begs the question of whether it’s truly a modern classic in the making. 100 Meters had a limited theatrical run, and with it going to streaming so late into 2025, it might get lost in the shuffle of seasonal releases for the winter 2026 anime season as well.

That being said, as soon as 100 Meters dropped on Netflix, many fans immediately took to the film and its stunning writing and visuals and began posting about it on social media, so if it could get that sort of attention in such a short amount of time, then it’s bound to remain popular for years to come.

It’s usually just anime shows that get attention from fans and critics, but anime films are also plenty deserving of praise for just how far they can take their stories. No anime film in recent memory proves that more than 100 Meters, and anyone who hasn’t already seen it would be remiss to keep ignoring it.