If you live outside the United States, Canada, or Japan, rejoice! Netflix is bringing you twenty-one of the greatest Studio Ghibli films ever made. This is a chance for audiences to experience the magic and joy of some of Japan's greatest animation icons. One icon, in particular, is the late Isao Takahata, whose masterpieces include The Tale of Princess Kaguya and My Neighbors the Yamadas, both of which are coming to Netflix for the first time ever.
However, there's one notable absence in the roster of upcoming Ghibli films. One distinct, incredibly important film -- all the brainchild of Isao Takahata -- is not coming to Netflix, Grave of the Fireflies. Its absence is a very noticeable hole, but why isn't it included? Let's break it down.
GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES
Grave of the Fireflies was released as a double-bill with My Neighbor Totoro, Hayao Miyazaki's charming family-friendly film about magical creatures living in the woods. While that film flirted with tragedy, for the most part, it is a movie that stands in complete counter with its less-watched, but more infamous twin.
Grave of the Fireflies is a historical drama about a young brother and sister at the end of World War II. After their mother is killed in an American bombing, the children are dumped into the lap of their aunt, who mistreats them. In an act of pride, the brother takes his sister away, believing he can provide a better life for both himself and his young sister on his own. However, as we learn in the opening of the film, all his efforts will lead to the brother dying alone.
Grave of the Fireflies is based on a semi-autobiographical short story of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka, who lived through WWII as a young boy himself and blamed himself for the death of his young sister. The story is heartbreaking, and, naturally, has been adapted multiple times in Japan. Many see the Ghibli film as the definitive adaptation -- in particular, film critics.
Upon release in the United States, Roger Ebert wrote "Grave of the Fireflies doesn’t attempt even the realism of The Lion King or Princess Mononoke, but paradoxically it is the most realistic animated film I’ve ever seen--in feeling." The famous critic even went on to provide entire specials promoting the film, and his site (and later book Great Movies) regarded it as truly deserving of the label "great."
WHY ISN'T IT PART OF THE NETFLIX DEAL?
Because of all the accolades associated with Grave of the Fireflies, it's particularly odd that it's not included on the list. To figure out why the film isn't available on streaming, it's important to understand the topic of streaming rights. One of the main reasons the United States and Canada did not receive access to the Ghibli Library through Netflix is due to HBO Max, which previously purchased the streaming rights in the United States and Canada for the Ghibli library in its entirety.
Naturally, streaming rights, especially for a company like Studio Ghibli, are very difficult. While seemingly every streaming service provides access to some films (seriously, Hellraiser is on everything), other studios are more selective, offering exclusive deals. Avengers: Infinity War is still not available on Disney+ due to a deal signed with Netflix that won't expire until the summer of 2020.
As you might have guessed already, yes, Grave of the Fireflies is already streaming -- being one of the first Ghibli films to make it to streaming platforms. The film is currently available on Hulu. Furthermore, Grave of the Fireflies, for the longest time, was the only film in the Ghibli library to be available for digital download.
But upon realizing this, this begs even more questions. Studio Ghibli as a company has always been very hesitant to sell their streaming rights, only now deciding to allow their films to be purchased digitally through GKids. So why does Grave of the Fireflies exist outside this system?
WHO OWNS THE RIGHTS TO GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES?
Studio Ghibli, despite producing, writing and animating Grave of the Fireflies doesn't hold the distribution rights to Grave of the Fireflies. Those in fact belong to the company that released Nosaka's short story, Shinchosha.
To longtime fans of Ghibli, this is somewhat obvious. The distribution rights to Grave of the Fireflies is somewhat bizarre and fascinating, with how many times it has changed hands over the years. The film was often distributed outside of Disney during the early 2000s. Central Park Media, the same company that distributed such infamous anime as Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend and MD Geist, released Grave of the Fireflies for years on both VHS and DVD. After Central Park Media went defunct back in 2009, Sentai Filmworks and Section 23 put out a Blu-Ray and DVD release of the film. Both companies are linked to the also now-defunct ADV Films, which put out Neon Genesis Evangelion. GKids owns distribution rights to the film now and has released it as part of their Ghibli sets.
In many ways, it is comparable to another Hayao Miyazaki film that exists outside of Studio Ghibli: The Castle of Cagliostro. The film remains one of the most iconic Lupin III films ever and the first theatrical film animated by Miyazaki, yet it was produced before Studio Ghibli was founded and, unlike Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, another pre-Ghibli Miyazaki film, Miyazaki didn't own the rights to the film. Therefore, he didn't get a say when the digital streaming rights were sold to Netflix.
This also makes it unclear if Grave of the Fireflies will be missing in HBO Max's streaming service, or if they also secured the rights to the film from Hulu and Disney. In addition, it's also possible that Netflix, hoping to complete their set, will buy the rights for Grave of the Fireflies first.
However, with all that being said, the good news is that, if you haven't seen Grave of the Fireflies yet and you live where Hulu is available, then you should be able to watch this anime classic and understand why people often refer to it as one of the saddest, most depressing films ever made.