Studio Ghibli anime to stream online in Japan for first time ever, but not from any deal with Ghibli
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
スタジオジブリによるアニメーション映画『火垂るの墓』7月15日よりNetflixにて独占配信が決定！1988年の公開以降、国内外から多くの関心を集めてきた不朽の名作が、この夏ついに日本のNetflixへ。戦災孤児の兄妹が生きた
忘れることができない夏を、もう一度#火垂るの墓 pic.twitter.com/ibiqAb8GsQ — Netflix Japan | ネットフリックス (@NetflixJP) May 14, 2025
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, top image: Netflix Japan
● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Today
3 hours ago
- Japan Today
Concept cafes explode in popularity in Japan
By Michael Hoffman The world bursts at the seams with fun, pleasure, joy. It may not look that way but it's so. Cares banished, time transcended, laughter resounding, champagne corks popping, clothes flying open (not quite off), anime music throbbing and in the whirlpool bath in the center of the room a bikini-clad young woman completes the picture of wild, joyous abandon. Shame on those of us not of the party! We could be. We too are invited. It's as near as the nearest 'concept café' – konkafe in Japanese – very near indeed if Spa (July 29-Aug 5) is right in estimating their number in Tokyo alone (vagueness of definition makes a precise count impossible) at 1,400. What is it about pleasure, though, that debauches it almost at birth? Does it contain the seeds of its own corruption? Is it peculiarly vulnerable to infectious invasion? Spa recalls with nostalgia the innocence of the first konkafes. They were 'maid cafés' (meido kissa), born with the century, circa 2001. This was the heyday of the otaku, Japan's Peter Pans, chronologically adult boys and girls whose lives were more virtual than real, whose social and sexual relationships were with manga and anime characters. Maid cafés were their Neverland, spreading outward from Tokyo's Akihabara, capital of virtual and electronic Japan. The maids, waitress-hostesses in maid costumes, were (seemed at least, which here amounts to the same thing) anime characters themselves, with their pink bows, lace frills, high socks and winsome smiles. The pop culture site Magical Trip offers this description: 'Stepping into a maid café feels like wandering into another world You're greeted with an energetic 'Welcome home, Master!' and instantly released from everyday life… Just this form of address ('master,' 'princess') makes you feel like a special existence… The atmosphere inside is also noteworthy. The gorgeous and cute decorations make you feel like you've stepped into an anime world.' There's nothing new under the sun, at least nothing that isn't as old as it is new. Replace the word 'maid' with asobi-onna (women of pleasure) and suddenly we're back 1000 years in time. They didn't call it 'anime' then, but they may almost as well have, and if the fantasy unfolded on boats instead of cafes, what of that? 'By the end of the 10th century,' explains historian Janet Goodwin in 'Selling Songs and Smiles,' 'asobi-onna had developed their distinctive practice of using small boats to stage entertainment for men at ports' on rivers near Kyoto. She quotes a courtier named Oe Yukitoki (955-1010): 'The younger women melt men's hearts with rouge and powder and songs and smiles, while the older women give themselves the jobs of carrying the parasols and poling the boats… A tryst on a boat on the waves equals a lifetime of delightful encounters.' Wouldn't he have felt right at home at a maid café? If only it could have stayed that way! Impossible. Success invites imitation, imitation proliferation, proliferation novelty, novelty diversification, diversification competition, competition pressure, pressure expansion of services demanded and offered – and before you know it, the maids aren't 'serving' any more, they're 'servicing,' with all the wrinkles and ramifications that suggests. It's that kind of world, we're that kind of species. Seven hundred years after Oe the scene had evolved into the urban licensed pleasure quarters, of which the 17th century novelist and (sic) priest Asai Ryoi (1612-91) wrote, 'By her nature a courtesan is a woman who… dresses up and adorns herself, and so is quite alluring… Her charming willowy tresses, her face lovely as cherry blossom, her eyebrows with mascara recalling the deep green treetops of the distant mountains… And how lovely when she moves, swaying back and forth; truly she could easily be mistaken for the living incarnation of the Amida Buddha! When compared with this creature, a man's wife can hardly seem more than a salted fish long past its prime!' To return to the sordid present: 'It's a glutted market,' a 20-something konkafe operator tells Spa, 'and competition for customers is hot so that more and more 'services' have to be offered' – more fetishes catered to, some of which Spa describes but we need not, lest the imagination atrophy. Struggling to keep things under some semblance of control is the Adult Entertainment Business Law. Revisions to it went into effect last month, tightening controls and driving numerous establishments into bankruptcy – partly owing, Spa hears, to operators mischievously alerting police to competitors' alleged violations. Others don the protective mantle of konkafe innocence, obscuring their real identity as hostess bars, girls bars, kyabakurabu (cabaret-nightclubs) and suchlike 'soapland' ero-entertainment venues. Boundaries blur, lines are crossed, anything can happen and much does. One of the law's aims is to keep minors out. Underage staff and underage clients bedevil the industry. More distasteful still is the hiring and exploitation of girls with development disorders and mental illnesses. 'No wrist cuts,' reads a sign Spa hears of posted publicly in one konkafe – the macabre and the erotic as kissing cousins. This too the magazine hears from one konkafe operator: 'So many women want to work in konkafes.' (Why? one wonders in passing? Because it beats office work? Because it's pseudo-showbiz?) 'The inevitable result,' the operator continues, 'is a 'cast' of mixed good actors and bad. It's a problem. Among them are young women with development disabilities. The other day (one of our girls) was followed home by a stalker. She had no sense of danger. She told us later, much pleased at the coincidence, 'Near my house I met a regular customer' – while I, listening to her, broke into a cold sweat.' No harm done, apparently – but it's a predatory world, and defenselessness is terrifying. © Japan Today
SoraNews24
11 hours ago
- SoraNews24
New service lets you get calls from anime magical girls to say goodnight and that they love you
PreCure offer encouragement and praise for a monthly price. Every magical girl anime series has its own distinguishing hook, twist, or quirk, but something that almost all of them share is a positive atmosphere. Sure, there have been a handful of dark deconstructions of the genre, but if we're talking about classic, orthodox aspects of magical girl series, the heroines are symbols of hope, embodying the attitude that as long as you believe in yourself and your friends, things will turn out all right in the end. And for those who need a more direct pep talk, there's now a service where the stars of the biggest contemporary magical girl anime will call you on the phone to encourage, comfort, and even say they love you. Earlier this year, Pretty Cure, a.k.a. PreCure, started its newest arc, You and Idol Pretty Cure, introducing a cast of five new magical girls. Now Toei Animation and Media Active are getting ready to launch the Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone service ( moshimoshi being the standard telephone greeting in Japanese). To use the app, you select which character you'd like to receive a phone call from, and also what kind of mood has you wanting to hear from them, after which they'll call you back. Options include 'I want to be praised,' which could get you a call in which your favorite Cure tells you how proud she is of you for doing your best. 'I want to be cheered up,' might instead have the magical girl reassuring you by saying that she's always on your side. There's also 'I want to be encouraged,' as well as morning wakeup calls and before-bed good night calls. Preview images also include the selection 'Fan service for you♡' followed by the phrase ' Daisuki da yo ,' which can mean either 'I love you' or 'I like you a lot,' depending on context. These aren't AI-generated messages, either, as the designers say the PreCure voice actresses have recorded new dialogue lines for Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone . It should be pointed out that the Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone website describes it as a 'virtual phone' app, since the whole thing runs though the Internet, not the phone network. Still, the interface is designed in a way that mimics the operations and visuals of a phone call to cultivate a sense of immersion. Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone is free to download, and users have access to a 'You kept your promise' call from the Cures for free as well. However, the majority of the service requires a subscription, with two tiers available. For 330 yen (US$2.30) a month, the Moshimoshi Course provides full access to calls from one character of the user's choice, while stepping up to the 660-yen-a-month Motto! Moshimoshi Course gives full access to all five Cures, plus a bonus cafe mini game. New wakeup calls are scheduled to be added every month. The ostensible target market of the PreCure franchise is adolescent and younger girls. However, as is sometimes the case with such anime, there's also an adult male fanbase, and some online commenters have been wondering if maybe that's who Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone is really targeting, seeing as how most of the kids who watch PreCure are too young to have their own smartphone. Considering that the You and Idol Pretty Cure cast are the franchise's 20th generation of magical girls, it would seem like there's also plenty of potential to draw in more subscribers by including characters from much farther back in the anime's 21-year history further down the line. In any case, there's no official upper-age restriction mentioned on the app's iOS or Android pages (here and here), though, so grown-up fans are apparently free to enjoy Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone too, with the service scheduled to launch on September 1. Source: PR Times, Moshimoshi! Pretty Cure Phone official website, Jin Top image: PR Times Insert images: Google Play, PR Times ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
Yomiuri Shimbun
17 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Participants Showcase Japanese Calligraphy Skills at Event in Japan; Event Organizer Hopes to Pass Japanese Calligraphy on to Future Generations
KANAZAWA — About 390 people took part in a calligraphy event in which calligraphers displayed their skills in the traditional Japanese art, in Kanazawa. The event was organized by the Japan Shodo Culture Association, an entity engaged in promoting Japanese calligraphy, in an effort to pass the art on to future generations. Serving as instructors were Token Nishimura and Hisako Shida, both of whom are members of The Yomiuri Shohokai, an organization of calligraphers; and Daiun Tsujimoto, a member of the association. The event was held at Ishikawa Ongakudo's Hougaku Hall on July 12. The three calligraphers displayed their skills, writing messages wishing for the recovery of the Noto Peninsula following the major earthquake and torrential rain that hit the area. They also produced works based on themes from haiku and waka poems as well as Chinese books, which mention cherry blossoms. 'Today, we don't have as many opportunities to write [by hand] due to the internet,' said a 30-year-old man, who holds calligraphy classes in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture. 'But I think it's necessary to convey the attractiveness of writing.'
