Ghibli’s ”American casual” brand’s boards are designed for easy customization and display.
As Japan’s best-loved anime studio, Studio Ghibli has all sorts of merch for fans who want to show their passion for the works of director Hayao Miyazaki and his cohorts. But in addition to the plushies and accessories you’d expect, Ghibli also offers skateboards.
The boards are offered through GBL, the “American casual” fashion-style branch of the Ghibli marketing tree, and they’ve recently released two brand-new decks.
The first features the studio mascot and titular star of My Neighbor Totoro, along with newly made friend Mei, in an artistic recreation of their initial encounter when Mei climbs up onto the tummy of the big sleepy forest spirit. The green background color is meant to be evocative of the lush woodland setting where the scene takes place.
The artwork is found on the bottom of the board, while the top is left as plain woodgrain, since no true fan would be able to bring themselves to step on Totoro and Mei.
Alternatively, there’s a Kiki’s Delivery Service board, though the little witch herself is nowhere to be seen, ostensibly since when you’ve got a flying broom you don’t spend much time with terrestrial transportation.
Instead, the anime film is represented by Jiji, Kiki’s faithful and friendly black cat familiar, with a yellow background inspired by the propeller of the flying machine cobbled together by city kid Tombo.
The boards are identically sized at 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) in length by 20.5 centimeters in width. Both are offered as decks alone, with no wheels, trucks, or other parts, allowing you to customize the rest of the setup however you want or to leave the deck as-is for easy display as an interior decoration.
▼ Combined with the previous Ghibli skateboards, the new designs bring the total number of official decks up to six.
Both decks are priced at 13,200 yen (US$115) and can be ordered online (Totoro and Mei here, Jiji here) as well as purchased though the GBL Miyashita Park store in Tokyo’s Shibuya and the Donguri Kyowakoku branch in Osaka’s Shinsaibashi neighborhood.
Source: PR Times
Top image: PR Times
Insert images: PR Times, Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2)
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