Studio Ghibli movies will soon be available to stream on Netflix—although you can’t watch them in the U.S.
Until recently, the iconic anime studio had no plans to put its films on any streaming service. This lack of digital home release was a long-held company policy, but that policy changed last year with a high-profile deal with HBO Max. Starting this year, the full Studio Ghibli library—including films like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle—will be available on HBO’s streaming service. The movies are also available to buy from the animation distributor GKids.
It sounds like Netflix just made a similar deal. Twenty-one Studio Ghibli movies—which includes most of director Hayao Miyazaki‘s filmography—will soon arrive on Netflix. You’ll be able to stream them everywhere outside the U.S., Canada, and Japan.
In recent years, Netflix has made a visible effort to include more anime content. Along with streaming classics like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Netflix recently started producing its own anime shows including the cult hits Devilman Crybaby and Aggretsuko.
Variety‘s announcement confirms that the Studio Ghibli catalog will screen in Japanese with subtitles, rather than the dubbed versions that were sometimes released in other formats. The films will arrive on Netflix in February.
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H/T Variety