Anime from Japan are almost a
dime a dozen, but if one is looking for quality Japanese animation with some
classic or whimsy, then a fan would probably look first at the anime films from
Studio Ghibli, a highly regarded and multi-awarded anime production company
co-founded by iconic anime director Hayao Miyazaki. Many movies from Miyazaki
and his collaborators in Ghibli have won major media accolades overseas for
undeniable masterpieces like 2000’s “Spirited Away.” Watching their good-sized
anime film library usually takes some searching, but streaming giant Netflix
hopes to solve that. However the solution, rights-wise, has become rather
complicated.
From the New York Post, it appears that Netflix has inked a deal with Studio
Ghibli to make their classic and new anime films become available for streaming
by next month. From their early-years blockbusters such as “Nausicaa” and “My
Neighbor Totoro,” to more contemporary selections like “Princess Mononoke,” “Spirited
Away,” “Ponyo” and “The Wind Rises,” 21 Ghibli features will be carried by
Netflix on their massive digital streaming library, in Japanese with multiple selectable
dubs/subtitles. But there is a catch: the streams will be available on all
Netflix-covered territories except for Canada, the US and its own native Japan.
Before stateside anime fans with
Netflix subscriptions cry foul however, there are an explanation and an
alternative for watching streaming Ghibli in the US. For one thing, American
streaming rights are with HBO. The problem is that they will be available in
HBO’s own exclusive streaming platform HBO Max, a pricier platform than the
more reasonable HBO Go or HBO Now. And another thing, the Max service will not
launch until May of this year. That means American aficionados of Hayao
Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli will have to wait longer.
But all this fuss for Ghibli anime
stuff on digital streaming is only even possible now because of a drastic
change in stance from the Tokyo-based anime studio. Having started out in the
era of traditional hand-drawn animation, the Ghibli founders and crew are a
conservative lot that, until very recently, was against releasing their masterpieces
on digital format. This had led to an enforced rarity on hard-media copies of
Studio Ghibli films.
But producer Toshio Suzuki has
announced that the company has bowed to fan pressure, when he said in a
statement, “In this day and age, there are various great ways a film can reach
audiences. We’ve listened to our fans and have made the definitive decision to
stream our film catalogue. We hope people around the world will discover the
world of Studio Ghibli through this experience.”
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