Netflix getting 2023 anime movie with near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, but there’s some bad news

Netflix is adding a beloved film from 2023 soon, however not everyone will get access to the movie due to distribution restraints.

Netflix has been making big moves with anime over the last couple of years. The One Piece and Terminator Zero are just two of the major productions the platform has invested in of late, with plenty more being licensed, including Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen.

The service now offers most of the Studio Ghibli anime movies for international audiences, since they’re all tied to Max in the United States. finally. The latest new movie from Hayao Miyazaki is about to join the library, but following the same trend.

The Boy and the Hero will be available on Netflix outside of Japan and the US on October 7, 2024. This is a big get for the platform, given the stature of anything Ghibli and Hayao put out.

Unfortunately, the intricacies of licensing make getting a blanket deal for something so big quite hard. Warner Bros has streaming in the US on lock for the production house’s work generally, and Japan is its own bubble as well.

However, the rest of the world gets a convenient way to catch up with or rewatch a modern classic. In typical fashion, The Boy and the Heron stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, getting widespread praise.

Our Jasmine Valentine didn’t totally love it, but concedes that middling Hayao is still a cut above almost anyone else. “If Hayao Miyazaki had the film equivalent of a Greatest Hits album, it would be The Boy and the Heron,” her review reads.

Although the masterful filmmaker has come back from retirement (again), it might be years before we see his next project, so we should enjoy this as much as possible. Have a look at our upcoming anime guide for other releases to be aware of.