When it comes to anime, the works of Studio Ghibli are considered the pinnacle. And if you have a Netflix subscription, you are in luck since the platform will be hosting all 21 anime movies of Studio Ghibli over the next few months.
Studio Ghibli and Netflix
“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 catalog. We hope people around the world will discover the world of Studio Ghibli through this experience,” Toshio Suzuki from Studio Ghibli said in a statement.
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The movies will be dubbed in 20 languages and will have subtitles in 28 languages. Netflix users from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Latin America will be able to access these movies from their accounts. Unfortunately, American Netflix subscribers won’t be able to see the anime since Studio Ghibli had already sold the streaming rights to HBO in 2019. HBO’s streaming platform HBO Max is scheduled to be launched in May this year and will offer all 21 movies.
Netflix will be releasing the anime movies as per the following schedule:
- February 1, 2020 — Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Only Yesterday (1991), Porco Rosso (1992), Ocean Waves (1993), Tales from Earthsea (2006)
- March 1, 2020 — Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), Princess Mononoke (1997), My Neighbors the Yamadas (1999), Spirited Away (2001), The Cat Returns (2002), Arrietty (2010), The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
- April 1, 2020 — Pom Poko (1994), Whisper of the Heart (1995), Howl’s Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (2008), From Up on Poppy Hill (2011), The Wind Rises (2013), When Marnie Was There (2014)
Netflix has been aggressively investing in Japanese anime in the past few years and will continue to do so in the future. By having a catalog of exclusive titles, the company is betting that anime fans worldwide will have an impetus to stay with Netflix. Anime content will also allow Netflix to combat Disney Plus’s animation catalog.
“Japan is certainly among the top two creators of stories in the world with Hollywood… We’re going to partner with studios for 5 years, 10 years, so they can take that money to have certainty of revenue and invest in space and tools and people… We’re in an anime boom, but we’re not investing in a boom-or-bust cycle,” John Derderian, Netflix’s director of Japan & Anime, said to Japan Times.
HBO Max
Netflix is expected to face some tough competition from the HBO Max streaming service. HBO’s service will offer all the shows the company has in its catalog, right from animation to TV shows, documentaries, and movies. This would total around 10,000 hours of content. What makes HBO Max dangerous for Netflix is the fact that both essentially target the same customer base — people who want mature, edgy, thrilling content.
Some of the biggest TV shows in history — like Friends, Game of Thrones, and Doctor Who — will only be available through HBO Max come May. In its first year, HBO Max will offer up to 31 new original shows, followed by 50 originals in the next year. The service is expected to cost US$15 per month. However, some people who have an existing HBO subscription might get the service for free.
