In a major win for Studio Ponoc, its latest movie, The Imaginary, has been picked up by Netflix for a global release. The movie saw modest success in theaters last December, and finding a place for international viewing only helps it gain better traction from anime fans. Netflix also seems to be placig big hopes on Ponoc, as it reportedly entered a long-term partnership with the animation studio.
Regardless of Ponoc’s talents, they do have the unfortunate issue of living in Ghibli’s shadow – not only do its two films share similar art styles, many of the studio’s staff are Ghibli alum. This has lead to a lack of interest in the studio, especially when their works aren’t easily accessible.
The Netflix deal, however, may be the chance to show that the two studios are compliments to each other, rather than rivals in a zero-sum game.
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Ponoc’s newest film is an adaptation of A.F. Harold’s 2014 novel, involving the adventures of Rudger, an imaginary friend who accidentally gets separated by his creator and winds up in a town for other “imaginaries” like him. The art style, which focuses on natural scenery and pudgy-faced protagonists, owes much of its artisitic expression to Studio Ghibli – both the director and screenwriter, Yoshiyuki Momose and Yoshiaki Nishimura, hail from the studio as well, so the inspiration and the experience is clearly worn on Ponoc’s sleeve, for better or worse. Netflix, however, sees value in getting a hold of the studio’s works.
As reported by Anime News Network, the streaming service intends to host The Imaginary later this year. Not only that, it has entered a “multi-film” with the studio, bringing their previous works over to Netflix. It is unclear if the definition of “multi-film” also means that the partnership will extend to future films Ponoc will make. The studio also previously announced that The Imaginary has a currently unannounced English voice cast. Between that and Netflix, the movie seems ready to head overseas to reach new audiences.
Like Studio Ghibli’s films, The Imaginary has a casual “prestige” feel to it, so it is not surprising that Netflix wanted to work with the studio. While Ponoc is very much split off from the former, it’s best to recognize that the separation seems to be on good terms. Ponoc still maintains ties to Studio Ghibli, given it provided support for their latest blockbuster, The Boy and the Heron. Given that later this year the two studios will now be sharing the same online home, it seems best to celebrate The Imaginary‘s upcoming exposure to the international audiences, rather than ignore it as derivative.
