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Laputa
Recreation of magical pendant from Hayao Miyazaki classic couples with elegantly detailed music box.
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Fans of Ghibli works, and especially the studio’s early fantasy adventure Castle in the Sky, will surely be wanting one of these music-enhanced Lego Castle Laputa replicas for themselves.
These intricately designed, hand-made creations look like they’d be right at home in a Studio Ghibli production or fantasy game.
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If you want to feel like you’ve stepped into an animated film from Studio Ghibli, “The Road to Laputa” in Kyushu is one place you won’t want to miss.
Minecraft has shown us time and time again that it’s much more than just a sandbox game made up of tiny blocks and flat-faced sheep. We’ve seen clever builders create everything from Super Mario Bros. gameplay to Japanese-language classes and even the entire country of Japan.
Today, we bring you something straight out of the world of Studio Ghibli: the floating city of Laputa from the animated film, Castle in the Sky.
Mount Fuji—its almost perfectly symmetrical shape and towering, snow-topped beauty have long been a symbol of Japan, recognised the world round. It has also recently been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its strong ties to the Japanese culture. And now, in the clear skies following this week’s typhoon, it is also being called Laputa, as Twitter users are posting their impressive photos of the cloud-capped peak.
Humans have always had a fascination with flying. From the legend of Icarus to da Vinci’s ornithopter designs, we have long tried to mimic birds in an attempt to get ourselves into the air, though it hasn’t always produced the best results. Perhaps one of the most famous ornithopter designs in recent memory is the Flaptter from Studio Ghibli’s Castle in the Sky. We have to admit, we’ve spent a fair share of our time day dreaming about swooping over baseball games in these flying machines, but we never thought we’d actually get to fly one. We may have been wrong!
This working RC Flaptter is just about the peak of our dreams. We just need someone to stick a 3-D camera on the front so we can fly it from a first person perspective and we’ll never have another Tanabata wish again!
If you’ve ever spent the summer in Japan, you know that it’s not the heat, but the humidity that makes many people want to take refuge indoors with the air conditioning blasting. But the silver lining to this cloud is the clouds themselves, as all that moisture in the air can turn Japan’s summer skies into a stunning puffy white landscape.
On the evening of August 5, skywatchers in the Tokyo/Yokohama area that turned their eyes to the west saw a towering, lightning-spitting thundercloud so powerfully majestic it immediately drew comparisons to one of Studio Ghibli’s most beloved anime.
Fairy gardens, as they’re sometimes called, are a creative way to make use of any broken flowerpots you have lying around. Add a few plants, some minuscule stairs, and a piece or two of doll house furniture, and you’ve got an attractive yet practical miniature home for any magical friends residing in your neighborhood.
One Japanese website caught wind of some fairy garden pictures posted online by different people, and is currently touting them as miniature “Laputa worlds,” after the floating island found in the eponymous 1986 Studio Ghibli film. At first we were a bit skeptical, but upon further inspection, the site actually has a point!
If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli’s films, you’ve probably noticed that director Hayao Miyazaki has a love for planes and all other manner of flying machines, which make numerous appearances in many of his movies. We’ve seen a Miyazaki creation come to life before with the construction of the glider called Möwe, as seen in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, but here’s one now for you Laputa: Castle in the Sky lovers – a real working Flaptter!
Usually all we look for in a theater is comfy seats, a decent sound system, and good movies. If you’re really picky, you might even seek out places with a beer menu, cheap tickets, or a unique schedule. Probably the last thing on your mind would the architecture of the building–but if you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli, you’ll definitely want check out Laputa, a cinema in a building inspired by the legendary Castle in the Sky!
The principal characters of Studio Ghibli’s Laputa: Castle in the Sky are all seeking something. Protagonists Sheeta and Pazu, as well as the villainous Muska, are looking for the titular floating castle, but what they’re really after is a peaceful resolution to a dark heritage, adventure and purpose, and the power to rule the world, respectively.
These days, fans of the 1986 anime film have a search of their own, as the voice-activated Laputa pendant that just went on sale this month is already sold out nationwide.
Castle of Cagliostro was the first film anime legend Hayao Miyazaki ever directed, and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind the first he wrote on his own, but Castle in the Sky Laputa was the first motion picture produced by Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli. As the title suggests, Laputa features a floating civilization, as well as airships, incantations, and magical pendants.
While the flying castle and airships are still as fictional as a catbus or bread-delivering witch, this summer, fans will be able to get their hands on a replica of Laputa’s pendant that reacts when they recite one of the anime’s spells.
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