With the ink barely dry on HBO Max’s deal to bring BritBox content to their platform, the streamer has announced that they’re upping their partnership with Toho-owned Japanese animation distributor GKIDS.
Already the exclusive home of films from the world-renowned Studio Ghibli, the Warner Bros. Discovery service is adding further strings to their anime bow by bringing twenty new movies to subscribers, with some making their North American streaming debut. The first batch of eight films is set to land on September 1, with the remaining twelve arriving through the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, making HBO Max one of the best streaming services for fans of Japanese animation.
The films we’ve picked below are from the initial drop, but among those still to come are award-winning anime sensations The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars as well as live-action Kaiju blockbuster Shin Godzilla.
It’s possible that many of the new titles may be unfamiliar to a lot of subscribers, but there are some absolute gems set to arrive that are well worth your time, with some of these gorgeous animations standing toe to toe with the best HBO Max movies. So, if you’re keen to explore the new additions but unsure where to start, stick with us for our pick of the three must-watches among the new crop.
Children Who Chase Lost Voices aka Journey to Agartha
RT Score: NA
Year: 2011
Director: Makoto Shinkai
In the classic fantasy mold, Children… follows Asuna, an introverted young girl who spends her days listening to her late father’s radio. When one day the radio plays a strange and mysterious piece of music, Asuna is led to a chance encounter with Shun, a strange young boy who transports her to the land of Agarthaa, a realm where the dead can return to life. Asuna embarks on a journey through the new land, battling beasts and warriors on her quest to discover the secrets of this new world.
Fans of Studio Ghibli should love this stunning animation with its beautifully detailed fantasy world, whimsical nature and heavy themes of grief and loss. In fact, death is the foremost theme throughout the film, but it’s handled delicately, in a way that makes it accessible for young audiences, without ever seeming patronising. While Children… may not seem the cheeriest palace to start this list, it’s a thrilling adventure, albeit one that deals with darker themes than most.
Your Name
RT Score: 98%
Year: 2017
Director: Makoto Shinkai
From Makoto Shinkai, who also directed the above film, Your Name sees high school students Taki and Mitsuha magically swap bodies, despite never having met. The film follows the pair as they embark on a quest to find each other, while inadvertently unleashing chaos upon one another’s lives.
As heartfelt as Shinkai’s previous offering, Your Name is a much more optimistic film, looking at themes of romance, love and longing from a young person’s perspective, and there’s plenty of humour to be wrought from the body swap shenanigans. It’s rumoured the film ran out of money during production, but you wouldn’t know it, with the animation as stunning as we’ve come to expect from the man so often compared to the great Hayao Miyazaki. For those yet to experience this beautiful film, Your Name should be right at the top of your watchlist.
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
RT Score: 91%
Year: 2022
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko follows the titular single mother and her daughter Kikuko living in a peaceful fishing town. While Nikuko is bold and brash, Kikuko is quiet, whiling time away in her imagination and trying her best to avoid being embarrassed by her mother. But when a secret from the past begins to resurface, the pair’s relationship threatens to be forever changed.
More down to earth than the above offerings, Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko is no less tender, with the mother daughter relationship the beating heart of the film. Despite the title, the film is told mostly from Kikuko’s point of view, spending time in her internal world as she parents the parent while simultaneously struggling with the new-found emotions of adolescence. There’s no grand adventure to go on here in the classic sense, but this period of maturing and coming to understand one’s place in the world is a pretty big adventure in its own right.
