HBO Max continues the strong anime series with the addition of four new films, two documentaries and an upcoming Studio Ghibli film, thanks to distributor GKIDS Films, best known for the international distribution of works of the legendary director Hayao Miyazaki. . Some of these can be seen on Netflix, but only outside the US due to licensing restrictions, as HBO parent company WarnerMedia has secured US rights to most (but not all) of Ghibli’s catalog and is working closely with GKIDS non-Ghibli titles.
Honest and the witch, the latest Ghibli film and the third directorial work of Miyazaki’s son Gorō, will debut on HBO Max on February 5, following a limited theatrical series two days earlier. The film is based on the work of the British fantasy novel Diana Wynne Jones (who also wrote the book which was then in Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle), and it will be made available in both Japanese with subtitles and English dub. This is Ghibli’s first foray into computer – generated animation.
As for the previously released movies at HBO Max, it contains some important names. The biggest of the bunch is Makoto Shinkai’s Defend with you, one of the most popular films ever released in Japan and the sequel to Shinkai’s worldwide success with 2016’s Your name.
Also included is Studio Trigger’s Promote, a visually stunning action film from the animators now working on the Cyberpunk 2077 spin-anime Edgerunners and especially known for producing TV series Dood la Kill and Darling in the Franxx. HBO Max subscribers will also have access to romantic comedy The Night is Short, Walk on Girl (of Devilman Crybaby director Masaaki Yuasa) and the surf-centric drama Ride your golf.
Two Miyazaki documentaries feature all of these new additions to HBO Max. The first is 2013s Never-ending man: Hayao Miyazaki, a Japanese television documentary directed by Kaku Arakawa, first aired after Miyazaki’s early retirement nearly ten years ago. The second is The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, another documentary that was released in 2013 and follows Miyazaki and other co-founders of Ghibli when the studio was produced The wind is coming up and The story of Princess Kaguya.
Defend with you is now only available in English, although GKIDS Films says it works add the original Japanese language option to the stream. The other additions will come to HBO Max during the month.