HBO Max and GKids are continuing their partnership with an animated embarrassment of riches.
HBO Max was already the home to the Studio Ghibli catalog in the United States, which is distributed by GKids, but now they have extended that partnership to include another 20 live-action and animated titles, including important works from filmmakers like Makoto Shinkai, Hideaki Anno, Mamoru Oshii, Mamoru Hosada and Satoshi Kon.
The first drop will happen on September 1, with titles that include “Ghost Cat Anzu,” one of last year’s very best animated films, making its streaming debut; “Love & Pop,” an early, live-action feature from Anno, best known as the creator of the “Neon Genesis Evangelion” franchise; and two lovely features from Makoto Shinkai – “Children Who Chase Lost Voices” and the blockbuster “Your Name” (making its 4K streaming debut).
Coming later in 2025 and into 2026 are another crop of excellent features, including Kon classics “Perfect Blue” (also a 4K streaming debut) and “Millennium Actress;” Oshii’s early “Angel’s Egg,” which just played at Cannes and Annecy (making its North American streaming debut with a new 4K transfer); Hosada’s incredible “Summer Wars,” “The Boy and the Beast,” “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” and “Wolf Children;” and Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s “Shin Godzilla” (making its streaming debut). There’s also the streaming debut of Naoko Yamada’s stunning “The Colors Within,” which opened earlier this year.
The full list is below.
September 1 Titles
“Children Who Chase Lost Voices” (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
“Fireworks” (dir. Akiyuki Shinbo, Noboyuki Takeuchi)
“Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko” (dir. Ayumu Watanabe)
“Ghost Cat Anzu” (dir. Yôko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita)
“Lonely Castle in the Mirror” (dir. Keiichi Hara)
“Love & Pop” (dir. Hideaki Anno)
“The Place Promised in Our Early Days” (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
“Your Name” (dir. Makoto Shinkai)
Later in 2025/2026 Titles (premiere dates will be announced later)
“Angel’s Egg” (dir. Mamoru Oshii)
“Liz and the Blue Bird” (dir. Naoko Yamada)
“Lu Over the Wall” (dir. Masaaki Yuasa)
“Millennium Actress” (dir. Satoshi Kon)
“Mind Game” (dir. Masaaki Yuasa)
“Perfect Blue” (dir. Satoshi Kon)
“Shin Godzilla” (dir. Hideaki Anno, co-director Shinji Higuchi)
“Summer Wars” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
“The Boy and the Beast” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
“The Colors Within” (dir. Naoko Yamada)
“The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
“Wolf Children” (dir. Mamoru Hosoda)
