Sure, they may be messy in the anime, but these Ghibli Soot Sprites will help you keep your real-world paperwork tidy.

It’s honestly impressive how iconic and universally recognized the standard paper clip design is. Not only will just about anyone immediately be able to mentally picture what you’re talking about if you say “paper clip shape,” there’s probably no other set of words that would reliably work as a description of that style of twisted wire.

But just because that shape is iconic doesn’t mean it’s the only way to clip papers together. What if, for instance, you made a paper clip that looks like a Soot Sprite from My Neighbor Totoro?

Actually, Studio Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku didn’t stop at designing just one paper clip in the image of the anime critters, but four of them. Plus just like how Soot Sprites appear in big bunches in the movie, so too do these clips come in a pack, with two of each version.

Officially, these are called the Makkurokurosuke Clips, makkuro being the Japanese word for “pitch black” and “-suke” being a common ending to men’s names in Japan. Rather than the oblong dimensions of a typical paperclip, these guys are roughly circular, with the Soot Sprites attached at the end of a prong that you can slide over one side of the paper while the outer rim presses against the other.

That unique construction also means that the Soot Sprites have artistic-looking frames around them, and the aesthetics are nice enough that they can actually work pretty well as decorations for your work or study space, even if you don’t have any documents that need organizing at the moment.

The eight-clip set also includes a case to keep them in, with “Come on out, Makkurokurosuke!” written in Japanese on the lid.

The Soot Sprite Clip Set is priced at 1,540 yen (US$9.60) and can be ordered through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here.

Source, images: Donguri Kyowakoku
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