
Cutest cast members of The Boy and the Heron are ready to head out wherever you want to take them.
There’s some pretty horrific stuff that happens in The Boy and the Heron, the most recent anime from Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki. The movie opens with protagonist Mahito’s mother dying in a fire, and his struggles to cope with the ensuing trauma include a scene of graphic self-harm…oh, and that’s just part of what happens before he travels to another world filled with monsters hungering for human flesh and looming cataclysmic threats.
But The Boy and the Heron is an emotionally complex film, and that means there’s space for moments of playful cuteness too, with the most memorable such scenes involving the warawara.
Like just about everything in The Boy and the Heron, there are multiple aspects to the warawara, but in terms of appearance, there’re no two ways about it: the little guys are absolutely adorable. So adorable that you might find yourself wanting to take one with you wherever you go, which is an option thanks to Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku’s recently restocked line of warawara keychains.
Measuring six centimeters (2.4 inches) in length, the little guys come in three different poses, with this one being the most roly-poly of the bunch.
This one, meanwhile, has what’s sure to be an infectious smile…
…and the last design has perhaps a touch of trepidation in its face, which, given the fact that no one has an entirely easy life in The Boy and the Heron, not even the warawara, is entirely keeping with the movie’s themes.
Speaking of the difficulties life throws at us, it’s no doubt going to be tough for some fans to pick between the three. Thankfully, their price of 1,320 yen (US$9.10) means that it shouldn’t be too hard to carve out some space in your budget if you can’t choose just one, and the whole trio is available through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Studio Ghibli
Insert images: Studio Ghibli, Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3)
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