An anticompilation movie is a feature film shown in a theater that has the same characters as a television serial, but does not recapitulate the storyline; nor is it a plausible, derivative, stand-alone story arc of its own. It may not have any significant plot at all, and character development is often minimal. These are commonly made in Japan for their anime television shows.

They are the direct opposite of a compilation movie. Because their quality is superior, being nearer that of Disney, rights for their release outside the range of broadcasting of the television show is more readily sought than that for the television show itself. But the whole purpose of an anticompilation film is a reminiscence of the characters that the viewership enjoyed in their homes. They differ from the spin-offs of western television shows because those are often made to stand alone in being distributed worldwide. Foreigners will not recognize the characters, nor know the scenario of an anticompilation film. Nor will they be learned very well by watching the film. Hence these are not good introductions to the characters, their actions, and their milieu.

One television series which has had two of these sorts of films is Yu Yu Hakusho. Its characters, which in the television series were introduced in widely spaced episodes with differing motivations, are simply running around in the mythical underworld again as in a side story. Knowledge of the entire background is assumed, and as the characters have different super powers, their actions seem to come from nowhere. Another example, which demonstrates how far the anticompilation film can go from the source material, is Time Étranger , from the Go-Shogun series. That series is a tale of several adventurers with different vehicles and weapons being quite motivated and active. The film, however, has one of the female characters drawn better, who finds herself trapped in a desert city in which mysterious, irrational appearances and disappearances occur, like something out of Rod Serling's Twilight Zone, and she can't figure out what's going on.