© 野坂昭如/新潮社, 1988
Netflix will begin streaming the late Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli’s Grave of the Fireflies anime film in Japan on July 15. The film will be the first feature-length work by Studio Ghibli to stream in Japan.
Netflix began streaming Ghibli features (with Grave of the Fireflies being a notable exception) in February 2020 worldwide except the United States, Canda, and Japan. HBO Max began streaming Ghibli features (also without Grave of the Fireflies) in the United States in May 2020, and Netflix made the same Ghibli features available in Canada in August that year. Netflix added Grave of the Fireflies to its library in August 2024 except in Japan, until now.
Strictly speaking, “Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies,” Ghibli’s short animation for the Star Wars franchise, is available on Disney+ in Japan, and is thus the first Ghibli work available for streaming in Japan. The Ghibli Park ga Dekiru made documentary on the creation of the Ghibli Park is also available streaming in Japan on Amazon Prime Video.
The NTV broadcasting company holds the broadcast rights to Studio Ghibli works in Japan, which AnimeAnime.jp reports is the primary reason why most of the studio’s works are not available for streaming in Japan. NTV have co-produced every Ghibli feature work since Kiki’s Delivery Service. NTV acquired Ghibli as a subsidiary in 2023. However, the distribution rights agreements for Grave of the Fireflies are different from those for the other Ghibli features, thus allowing Grave of the Fireflies’ rights to be negotiated separately from other Ghibli works.
Central Park Media, ADV Films, and later Sentai Filmworks released the Grave of the Fireflies film on home video in North America, and GKIDS acquired the North American theatrical rights. GKIDS will release the film on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in North America on July 8.
The film is based on late author Akiyuki Nosaka’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. The story follows a brother and sister’s struggle to survive in the waning months of World War II.
Takahata and Ghibli’s 1988 film was double-billed with Hayao Miyazaki and Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro.
Sources: Comic Natalie, AnimeAnime.jp
