Hulu is one of the most well-rounded streaming services with a diverse library, but its slate of comedies and dramedies is its strongest asset. The streamer has delivered hits like Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, and The Great, all in the past five years. And looking ahead, the future seems bright for the streamer, as some of the aforementioned shows return for new seasons, while new shows like Not Suitable for Work make their mark. However, one of the best comedy shows on Hulu is an underrated hit show that just returned for an even stronger second season.

Back in April, the world was treated to their first look at the third outing of everyone's favorite nihilistic psychic teen. It was confirmed that Wednesday Season 3 had entered production in Ireland, with Jenna Ortega back at Nevermore Academy to face her toughest case yet. The search for Enid (Emma Myers) is on, with Tyler (Hunter Doohan) looking set to return, and Winona Ryder joining the cast after teaming up with Ortega and Tim Burton on the legacy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

It's fair to say Disney+ isn't quite the same platform as it was when it first launched back in 2019. It originally started out as the home of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic but it's grown exponentially since then, especially with folding Hulu into it as well. App updates have come fairly regularly, but it's fair to say that the most recent one might be one of the worst-received since its inception.

After quietly becoming one of the most beloved TV shows in its genre, Resident Alien has finally found its way to a broader audience that many of its fans have long believed it deserves. Alan Tudyk's series has had a major resurgence on Netflix, introducing the character Harry Vanderspeigle and the town of Patience, Colorado, to viewers who may never have seen the original series on Syfy.

The days of Paramount+ as a standalone streaming service may already be numbered. With Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery moving closer to completing their blockbuster merger, executives have made it clear that they don’t intend to keep Paramount+ and HBO Max operating separately forever. Instead, the plan is to bring the two services together, creating a larger platform with more than 200 million subscribers and a library capable of competing with Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+.

As a new chapter in his career begins, Johnny Depp is looking to win back some fans by returning to his best-loved role. In the upcoming sixth film in Disney’s blockbuster franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Depp looks set to return to his most iconic role as Captain Jack Sparrow, although it is still unclear whether he will be joined by fellow franchise favorites such as Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. Although his place in the film isn't yet confirmed, franchise producer Jerry Bruckheimer did previously hint that a role for Depp's Sparrow might already be in the script.

Westerns don't need to be complicated to become iconic, and in fact, that might be what makes a Western a true Western. That's especially true of this latest movie, 73 years later, as it hits streaming and prepares to wow audiences for the latest time, the first time, or perhaps even the last time. Even if you’ve never seen it, you’ve almost definitely seen movies influenced by it. Now, one of the most important Westerns ever made is back.

Famed anime house isn’t worried about losing relevancy by limiting access to its films.

Studio Ghibli has a reputation for preferring to do things the old-fashioned way, and so fans weren’t really shocked when the famed anime production house was initially reluctant to licensing its works for online streaming. The studio eventually softened its stance, striking deals with HBO Max in 2019 and Netflix the following year, and while the Netflix agreement has since expired, HBO Max still offers the Ghibli catalog for streaming…but not if you’re in Japan.

To this day, there’s only one Ghibli-produced film that’s ever been made available for streaming within Japan, and it’s the one film that Ghibli itself didn’t control the rights to, Grave of the Fireflies. Everything else, like My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Howl’s Moving Castle? Not available to view online in Japan.

▼ “Ashitaka, will I ever see you online?”

On-demand online streaming may not dominate the video entertainment landscape in Japan to quite the same extent as it does in many other countries, but things are moving in that direction, especially with Japan’s physical media rental stores fading away at an accelerating pace. It’s getting to the point where one could question whether Ghibli’s attitude about making its anime available for streaming in Japan has gone from being quaintly old-fashioned to detrimentally outdated. That was the sentiment one attendee alluded to at a regular press conference held by Hiroyuki Fukuda, president of Japanese television broadcaster Nippon TV, which acquired Studio Ghibli as a subsidiary in 2023. At the press conference, held on May 25, the attendee asked Fukuda:

“Ghibli’s works remain unavailable for streaming within Japan, which limits their audiences…Concerns have been raised that without opportunities to view these titles, some of them may become forgotten [by the public], so is there any chance of Ghibli’s anime becoming available for streaming on your company’s Hulu service?”

As alluded to in the question, Hulu Japan is a subsidiary of Nippon TV, which would make it the natural, and theoretically easiest to negotiate with, online host of the Ghibli catalog. Users shouldn’t go typing “Ghibli” into the Hulu Japan search box just yet, though, nor that of any other streaming service in Japan, as Fukuda answered that there are no plans to put Ghibli’s films online, because Nippon TV and Studio Ghibli want to preserve the relevance of the TV broadcasts of Ghibli anime.

“Presently, Studio Ghibli and Nippon TV are of the shared belief that we want to preserve the specialness of Ghibli’s films appearing on broadcast TV through our Friday Roadshow program. We are of course aware of the various requests for and different opinions regarding streaming, and this is a matter we intend to continue discussing moving forward.”

Friday Roadshow, or Kinyo Roadshow in Japanese, is Nippon TV’s Friday night movie block, in which it shows a different classic, popular, or family-oriented film each week. Ghibli anime are featured several times per year, with mega-hits like Totoro often saved for dates during summer or other vacation seasons, becoming appointment television for fans.

▼ Hurry home, Chihiro! Friday Roadshow is about to start!

Still, not every Ghibli anime airs every year, and even those that do usually do so only once annually. Nippon TV and Ghibli aren’t currently worried about that lessening the relevance of the studio’s films, though. In his press conference response, Fukuda went on to say that permanent facilities like the Ghibli Museum in Tokyo and the Ghibli Park theme park near Nagoya help build interest and excitement for Ghibli’s anime, as do celebratory events like Ghibli’s art exhibitions that travel around the country. Though Fukuda didn’t mention them, Ghibli’s kabuki stage play adaptations, like the one for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and the upcoming one for Princess Mononoke, also help to spark interest in their source material, and even if there’s no Friday Roadshow broadcast of them in the near future, Ghibli’s anime are always readily available for purchase on physical media in Japan.

Occasional overseas events and London’s My Neighbor Totoro stage play notwithstanding, the average overseas Ghibli fan has far less access to these kinds of Ghibli touchpoints than fans in Japan do, which in turn makes easier access to the anime movies themselves, though online distribution, a greater necessity outside Japan, which would explain why Ghibli has come around to the idea of streaming its works in foreign countries. And the day may come when Ghibli shrugs its shoulders and says “OK” for streaming inside Japan too. Nippon TV and the studio aren’t at that point just yet, though, and Fukuda’s treatment of Ghibli as a partner, as opposed to just a subsidiary, in the matter is probably a wise call, considering how committed Ghibli is to presenting its creations in the way it feels best conveys their vision.

Source: Nippon TV via Oricon News via Otakomu
Top image: Studio Ghibli
Insert images: Studio Ghibli (1, 2)
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!