Netflix Secures International Rights To Studio Ghibli Animated Films (variety.com) 66
The iconic animated features of Japan's Studio Ghibli will be available in territories outside the U.S., Canada and Japan on Netflix starting in February. From a report: The move is a further change of position for the studio which has repeatedly resisted the idea that its beloved cartoons would be released on digital platforms. Netflix, sales agent Wild Bunch, and Studio Ghibli, which counts Hayao Miyazaki as one of its leading lights, will upload 21 Ghibli features including Academy Award-winner "Spirited Away," "Princess Mononoke," "Arrietty," "Kiki's Delivery Service," "My Neighbor Totoro," and "The Tale of The Princess Kaguya." They will be screened in their native Japanese, with sub-titles, and be available globally on Netflix except in the U.S., Canada, and Japan.
Re: How about some real news (Score:2)
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Anime fans tend to like Princess Mononoke and not many others. The inverse applies too - most of them are tremendous stories, artfully drawn, and often mind-bending while sweetly emotional.
You haven't seen western media create films like these.
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I just want a 3rd season of Cat Planet Cuties [wikipedia.org]
But I'm not a "real" anime fan because I pronounce "anime" as a Japanese word and I refuse to watch anything dubbed.
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That makes you a true anime fan.
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"Anime" comes from the English word "Animation" cut in half. Its not even Japanese, but English...
Just pronounce "Animation" but lose the tion part, and there you have it.
In fact, in Japan the word is used for anything animation, including American.
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Anime is not an English-language abbreviation though.
Anime is a Japanese word. It is a loan-word from English, true. But irrelevant.
In English, anime is a loan-word from Japanese.
Never never never look to etymology as your guide how to pronounce a loan-word. It doesn't work.
And yes, obviously it means something different in Japanese than it does in English. That's why I said what I said. If it meant the same thing, my comment wouldn't have any point. So you don't need to define it unless you were going to g
Re: Oh good, more anime (Score:3)
Anime fans tend to like Princess Mononoke and not many others.
Nope, too mainstream; Miyazake worship is far more about "My Neighbor Totoro."
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Slow down there a second... Are we talking Disney dub or Troma dub? Because I know which one all right-thinking Miyazake fans should prefer.
(That's right, folks. Troma Studios, of Toxic Avenger fame, originally distributed the film to US markets in 1989)
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I don't know what their library looks like in the UK, but here in Canada we get a lot more new Netflix-backed titles than new anime titles.
I do agree that the quantity of Bollywood titles is becoming excessive.
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How do you look at "what's coming next week"?
Re:Oh good, more anime (Score:5, Insightful)
Calling Studio Ghibli content anime is like calling Pixar content cartoons. While technically correct, it's not exactly a fair comparison and at least subtly degrading to the quality being discussed.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Calling Studio Ghibli content anime is like calling Pixar content cartoons. While technically correct, it's not exactly a fair comparison and at least subtly degrading to the quality being discussed.
Pixar content is cartoons. Award-winning cartoons. Cartoons that happen to make billions of dollars, just like other studios do. There's nothing degrading about anime being called exactly what it is unless you're some pathetic soul in need of being offended in some silly manufactured way.
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Odds are high they aren't blowing much budget at all on the anime and bollywood content. It's likely very inexpensive to get the distribution licenses from the producers of this content for small markets like the UK and Canada.
It's expect it's filler; Like B-movies.
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It's the kind of thing where people who are into it value it a lot. Netflix is a nice way to get it too, very cheap compared to buying the DVDs.
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oh i agree. Im glad its there myself. The anime adds some value to me, the bollywood stuff not as much.
But from Netflix' point of view licensing this content for distribution outside this contents primary markets is a cheap way to add value and bulk up its catalog.
With the emphasis on: "cheap". This is not where Netflix is spending piles of money. There is so much of it simply because they're getting it cheap; so there's no panic that Netflix has lost its way... spending all its money on anime and bollywood
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While I agree most anime really appeals to a niche audience (although a sizable one), Ghibli is effectively in a class by itself.
My brother-in-law is a film professor, and when I suggested he should see *Spirited Away*, he replied that he doesn't like animation. "You don't understand," I said. "This is a great *film* that just happens to be animated."
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While I agree most anime really appeals to a niche audience (although a sizable one), Ghibli is effectively in a class by itself.
My brother-in-law is a film professor, and when I suggested he should see *Spirited Away*, he replied that he doesn't like animation. "You don't understand," I said. "This is a great *film* that just happens to be animated."
That story about your film professor brother-in-law not being interested in Studio Ghibli... I do not think it means what you think it means. Not as presented, anyway.
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Hinting won't explain it.
What he meant is, "I'm really not interested in recommendations from a neckbeard. I'm an expert in this, I know how to select media."
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No, he's not the type to pull rank that way.
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LOL! Exactly.
It isn't "pulling rank."
It isn't anything like that.
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No, he's not the type to pull rank that way.
Did he end up watching any?
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I'd be interested in hearing his opinion after seeing it, if he ever did.
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My brother-in-law is a film professor, and when I suggested he should see *Spirited Away*, he replied that he doesn't like animation.
Needs a restraining order to keep him away from students.
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> Those movie are overpriced on iTunes.
More than the cost of a quality VPN service?
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TPB FTW!
Re:D'oh! (Score:4, Interesting)
I doubt it. When I was in Canada, I was both amazed at how many shows I was in the middle of that I couldn't watch, and also how many shows I could see that weren't on Netflix at home. It seems to be entirely location-based, not credit-card-based — unlike iTunes, for example, which is entirely billing-address-based. I think iTunes got it right, BTW. Losing the ability to watch shows because you're traveling is really stupid, and giving people a taste of things that they won't be able to see once they get back home just annoys people.
Either way, I haven't been so excited and then so immediately disappointed since the last time I went on a date. Or, as they say, "You Raised My Hopes and Dashed them Quite Expertly, Sir. Bravo!"
To date, I've only seen two films from Studio Ghibli. I liked Spirited Away. Princess Mononoke was kind of weird, and a little too gruesome. I'd love to see some of the others, if they were on Netflix, but I don't want to watch them nearly enough to actually want to own a copy. So it sucks that they aren't available anywhere that I care about.
Out of curiosity, I looked to see who does have the rights, and apparently HBO has exclusive distribution rights here. Lame. I can't see any reason I'd ever seriously consider subscribing to their streaming service. I've looked at their selection, and I could literally buy DVD copies of everything on their service that I'd like to watch, but haven't seen, for about the cost of one year's subscription. Pass. I guess I'll watch these movies when HBO gets tired of paying for exclusivity.
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It adds a step, but you can physically watch out of area Netflix on Netflix.
The iTunes way is a pain. It will complain when you do certain things and aren't "home", but there are ways to force it through. I imagine the difference was based on orders by the content owners, not what they preferred.
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Sounds like a business selling prepaid VISA cards to other countries could be lucrative.
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A VPN has worked for me in the past.
VPN and Netflix (Score:2)
I don't see why a VPN wouldn't work.
Because Netflix has a tendency to ban IP addresses of known VPN relays, of Tor exist nodes and of some IPv6 tunnel brokers.
More obscure solution (like SSH Proxy to your box at home - i.e. an IP known only to you and not on any banned list of the above) do work, though.
US Netflix really is becoming worthless (Score:3)
Re: Time to make copyright hoarding illegal (Score:3)
Copyright should require FRAND licensing. None of this hide it in the vault crap.
bait and switch (Score:3)
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The north american rights are held, as far as I know, by GKIDS. I would be very surprised to see a non-Japanese company get distribution rights for a Japanese production in Japan itself; the existing net of media companies would have a conniption.
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HBO Max will have the rights in the USA.
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/hbo-max-studio-ghibli-rights-1203373947/
TPB link (Score:2)
Netflix it not available in Russia. So much for international.
While the licensing rights and availability of legal download copies remain a venerable mess, enjoy https://thepiratebay.org/searc... [thepiratebay.org]
If you ahve not watched these: watch them. (Score:2)
Literally (yes, I literally mean literally) every film Studio Ghibli has ever made is worth watching if you like adventure, fantasy or (especially) "serious" dramatic films.
My favorites are the ones that are simply beautifully drawn beautiful stories:
Grave of the Fireflies
Only Yesterday
From Up on Poppy Hill
When Marnie was There
The Wind Rises
These films have more in common with classics from the likes of Kurosawa or Ozu and are (for lack of a better term) "serious" films. I'm surprised I have to even say th
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So far beyond Disney animation it's not funny. I have every one, all watched multiple times, and have my fingers crossed that Miyazaki manages to complete How do you live?. [wikipedia.org]
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BTW, failed to mention Nausica??
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Gurren Lagann
Kill la Kill
You have to watch both of these series from start to finish, M. Night Shyamalan is an amateur in "twists" compared to these.
Netflix focus on Anime (Score:2)
With Disney that will not be a partner (at least not as long as they have their own service), they need to fill the animation gap.
Netflix is investing in anime for that, and with Ghibli they have a top quality animation studio available.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/n... [japantimes.co.jp]