Shizuku’s muse can be yours too.

Among the anime films of Studio Ghibli, Whisper of the Heart is one of the most down to earth. It’s not a story about friendly forest spirits or mystical bathhouses, just one about a girl and a boy trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, how they feel about each other, and whether the answers they come to will be compatible.

However, the based-in-reality storytelling makes its occasional flights into fantasy all the more emotional when aspiring author Shizuku’s imagination is sparked by the Baron, a figurine in the antique shop where she’s made a circle of friends. A dapperly dressed cat with a cane and top hat, the Baron becomes a character in the story within Whisper of the Heart’s story that Shizuku is writing, and the history of the statue itself has some meaningful parallels to her own budding romance with the Baron’s owner’s grandson, Seiji.

Even in an anime filled with impressive environmental design work, the Baron stands out with an intriguingly mysterious aura, and if you too, like Shizuku, feel compelled to gaze into those glassy eyes, Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku is now offering a real-world Baron figurine.

Officially, Donguri Kyowakoku calls it a Baron “doll,” but considering that it’s non-posable and made of polyester resin, PVC, and ABS, “figurine” really is the more apt description here.

Standing 32 centimeters (12.6 inches) tall, this is an improved version of a previously offered Baron statuette. For the new version, a translucent material is used for the Baron’s eyes, to better replicate their compelling depth from the anime.

Also spruced up are the colorful decorative pieces in the figurine’s base, which are likewise glossier than the old version’s.

This figurine isn’t just a figurine, either. It’s also a music box, one which plays an instrumental version of “Country Road,” a song with special significance to Shizuku and Seiji.

The Baron figurine is available through the Donguri Kyowakoku online shop here, priced at 14,300 yen (US$94).

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Studio Ghibli, Donguri Kyowakoku
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