Memorable scenes and dialogue from My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Castle in the Sky.
Though they’re not as entirely averse to digital techniques as they used to be, it’s still safe to say that the animators of Studio Ghibli have a special appreciation for doing things the old-fashioned way, finding meaning in the practice of actually putting pencil or pen to paper to express themselves through their art. And if you’ve got a similar philosophy regarding the written word, Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku has a new line of greeting cards that any fellow fan would be thrilled to receive.
The three-item lineup consists of a card each for My Neighbor Totoro, Laputa/Castle in the Sky, and Kiki’s Delivery Service. Each of them sports elegantly understated foil-stamped illustrations on a deep blue background meant to represent the evening sky, accompanied by a famous piece of dialogue from their respective Hayao Miyazaki-directed anime film.
The Totoro card, for example, has sisters Mei and Satsuki sitting atop a tree with a trio of Totoros and the line “It was a dream, but it wasn’t a dream!”, which they say the morning after their nocturnal gardening session and ride on Totoro’s tummy as he zipped through the sky on his spinning top.
Inside, there’s plenty of space to write a message to the card’s recipient (or a few words to yourself, if you’ve bought the card to display on your own shelf or desk). Each surface measures 10.7 x 15.4 centimeters (4.2 x 6.1 inches), so there’s space for thoughtful prose or even a few little doodles, and at the bottom right corner are a pair of ocarina-playing Totoros…
…with some treetops at the bottom left.
The Kiki’s Delivery Service card features Kiki and Jiji on their first flight after the little witch leaves her parents’ house to embark on her journey of self-sufficiency and self-discovery, and the text “Where are we going? I’m headed south to see the ocean.”
Instead of the Totoro card’s forest-y green ribbon, the Kiki card’s is red, like the one Kiki wears in her hair…
…and inside you’ll find pictures of Jiji and the town where she sets up her magical courier operation.
And last, Laputa has multiple flying machines for adventurers to choose from, and the designers have gone with the Tiger Moth, the mothership of Dola’s band of air pirates, and male lead Pazu’s line “Let’s go!! It’s the path Dad took. He made it back!”
This time the ribbon is blue, brining to mind the magical energy of the Levistone…
…and the inside has drawings of the Tiger Moth heading upwards into thick clouds, most likely the ones that surround the titular castle in the sky.
Each of the cards is priced at 495 yen (US$3.50) and can be ordered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store (Totoro here, Kiki here, and Tiger Moth here). And if you’re after more paper-based Ghibli fun, don’t forget about the free-to-download Ghibli Park board game, which we’ve got an English translation for right here.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3)
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