Isao Takahata’s heart wrenching Grave of the Fireflies (1988) is the latest Studio Ghibli animated masterpiece to join Netflix’s international library, The animated war drama will be available to stream in more than 190 countries, excluding Japan.
Netflix currently offers 22 Ghibli movies globally excluding the U.S. and Japan, which include Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Kiki’s Delivery Service and more.
Based on Akiyuki Nosaka’s Naoki Prize-winning short story, Grave of the Fireflies is set in Kobe near the end of World War II and depicts the tragic fate of war orphan siblings and the horrors of this period. The film was written and directed by studio co-founder Takahata and produced by Toru Hara. The creative team also included art director Nizo Yamamoto, character designer & animation director Yoshifumi Kondo, color designer Michiyo Yasuda and composer Michio Mamiya.
It was not clear from the announcement whether Grave of the Fireflies will still be available on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, which earlier this year renewed its licensing agreement for the Ghibli catalog with GKIDS. Max has been the exclusive streaming home for the Ghibli films in the U.S. since the service launched.
[Source: Netflix]
