Studio Ghibli anime to stream online in Japan for first time ever, but not from any deal...

Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki is well known for his fondness for doing things the old-fashioned way and distaste for digital technology. As an example, it wasn’t until 2019 that Ghibli finally agreed to partially acquiesce to modern media consumption patterns and allow its anime films to be available for online streaming. Since then, viewers in nearly 200 different countries around the globe have been able to watch the studio’s works online, but to this day no Studio Ghibli film has ever been made available for streaming within Japan.

That will finally be changing this summer, though, through a deal that Netflix Japan has just announced. Netflix was Ghibli’s second streaming partner, and while it was HBO Max that secured the Ghibli streaming rights for the U.S., Netflix has been the streaming source for Ghibli anime for most of the rest of the world through a 2020 agreement that specifically excluded Japan.

However, while Netflix Japan will become the first service to stream Ghibli anime within Japan, they won’t immediately be providing access to the full Ghibli library. In fact, they’re starting with only a single movie, and while one might assume it would be “My Neighbor Totoro” for the presence of the studio’s de-facto mascot, “Spirited Away” for its critical acclaim, or “The Boy and the Heron” by nature of being the most modern Ghibli anime, it’s actually none of those, and is instead “Grave of the Fireflies.”

▼ Netflix Japan’s tweet announcing the deal

Originally released in Japanese theaters in 1988, “Grave of the Fireflies” doesn’t have the sense of whimsical adventure found in many of Ghibli’s most popular anime, nor is it a magic-infused journey of empowering self-discovery. That’s because “Grave of the Fireflies,” directed by the late Isao Takahata, is about a young orphaned boy and his even younger sister struggling to survive in the closing days of World War II. Despite originally playing as a double-feature in Japanese theaters with “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Grave of the Fireflies” is an unflinching depiction of the terrible, tragic effects war can have on children and other non-combatants.

But why is Netflix starting with “Grave of the Fireflies,” and “Grave of the Fireflies” alone? Likely because it’s the only Ghibli movie that neither the studio itself nor its parent company control the rights to. Though Studio Ghibli made the movie, it was produced for Shinchosha, the Japanese publishing company which also has the rights to the semi-autobiographical book of the same name that “Grave of the Fireflies” is based on. Shinchosha’s ownership of “Grave of the Fireflies” is why the movie is often left out of home video collections in Japan of the rest of Ghibli’s works, and also why you won’t find “Grave of the Fireflies” exhibits at the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo or Ghibli Park in Aichi Prefecture.

Considering that it took some convincing to bring Miyazaki around to the idea of Netflix streaming Ghibli anime even outside of Japan, it wouldn’t be surprising if the studio’s decision makers still aren’t ready to let the films they have control over stream domestically. TV broadcasts of Ghibli movies on Friday nights in summertime also continue to bring in high ratings, keeping them in the public conscious and conversation year after year. So it might be some time until the rest of the studio’s anime can be streamed in Japan, but “Grave of the Fireflies” is a start, and it’ll be available on Netflix Japan starting July 15.

Source: Netflix Japan