Instead of a plastic ball you’ll throw away, these Totoro capsules are something you’ll treasure as much as what’s inside them.

Japan is in the middle of a golden age for capsule toys, with an unprecedented variety of cool, cute, and quirky trinkets on randomize offer for just a few hundred yen. But, of course, when buying a capsule toy, it’s really just the “toy” part that we’re interested in, right?

But today we’re looking at a new series of gacha-style goodies where the capsule itself is a prize to cherish, because the capsule is none other than Totoro!

If you’re an experienced Totoro merch fan, you can probably deduce that these are being offered by Studio Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku. Called Totoro de Oide, or “Come on Over with Totoro,” the lineup consists of four designs, each with different friends perched atop the gray big Totoro’s head.

There’s Mei, the blue mid-size Totoro…

…a pair of tiny white Totoros, and a soot sprite and frog.

▼ If, like me, you actually don’t remember the frog from Totoro, this yet another good reason to rewatch it.

Each of the big Totoro designs also has its eyes pointing in a different direction, giving each their own sense of personality.

In order to properly tumble out of the machine, though, and to keep the suspense of which toy you’ve received going a little longer, the big Totoro’s separate-piece ears are contained inside the capsule along with the topper figure.

An extra cool aspect is that Donguri Kyowakoku’s in-store capsule machines are designed to look like trees, so when your Totoro capsule drops down, it looks like Totoro is popping out of the forest to say hi.

▼ The Totoro capsules are wisely covered in a soft-touch material, because really, how could anyone resist giving him a little hand hug?

The Totoro de Oide capsule toys are on sale at Donguri Kyowakoku stores as of December 24, priced at 500 yen (US$3.80), which should leave enough room in fans’ budgets to pick up one of the new Totoro finger puppets too.

Source: PR Times
Top image: YouTube/ジブリがいっぱい どんぐり共和国公式チャンネル
Insert images: PR Times, YouTube/ジブリがいっぱい どんぐり共和国公式チャンネル
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