We’re proud to bring beloved, influential stories like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbour Totoro to first-time viewers and high-flying fans alike. pic.twitter.com/955uiYAzA1 — Netflix ANZ (@NetflixANZ) January 20, 2020 If it feels like you’ve heard about Studio Ghibli’s films a lot lately, it’s because they’ve been a pawn in the streaming wars, having been snatched up by HBO for its new Max offering. The major companies behind the new streaming services have been busily divvying up every major intellectual property of the last 30 years, and Ghibli was a particularly noteworthy addition to the fledgling HBO option. [Read: You can stream NBC Universal’s Peacock service for free] But while the studio’s sublime films have become fodder for the American streaming wars, the rest of the world (bar Japan) is going to have a much simpler time of it. According to Netflix, it’ll be streaming 21 Ghibli films to “Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America.” Again, this seems most notable not necessarily for where the Studio’s films will stream, but for the fact that they’ll stream at all. Ghibli has been notoriously reluctant to release the films on any streaming service until last October, when Warner Media revealed the HBO Max deal. Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki alluded to this in the studio’s statement about the Netflix deal: I’ve yet to hear anything about a Japanese streaming service offering the studio’s films, but given how beloved they are in their home country, I think it’s safe to say they need neither Warner’s nor Netflix’s assistance. Netflix is set to release all 21 films in three waves of seven. The first wave, which includes My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service, releases on February 1, with the two subsequent waves arriving on the first days of March and April. For American viewers, HBO Max is set to launch in May.
