The rotund character from Studio Ghibli inspires us all with his adorable “Totorobics” workout.
Totoro (Page 21)
These have to be the rarest, most exclusive items we’ve seen yet from the anime powerhouse.
The latest news regarding renovations has revealed information about several exciting new exhibits which has us counting down the days to the July 16 re-opening.
Fan-made trailer for My Neighbor Totoro turns the magical family adventure into a frightfest.
A new figurine modeled after the star of Studio Ghibli classic My Neighbor Totoro toys with the rumor of Totoro actually being a death god.
This new subscription box is full of extremely cute items from Japan that will make your heart go *boom boom*.
Donguri Kyowakoku, the chainstore that sells nothing but Studio Ghibli items, has delighted fans with the best offering of the year: a bag filled with amazing Ghibli merchandise.
If you’re not much of a morning person breakfast can be tricky. Sure, it’s the most important meal of the day and heading out on an empty stomach is never a good idea, but at the same time the temptation of an extra 10, 15, 20 minutes in bed is often too much to resist.
If that’s the dilemma you face every morning, these plates of edible cuteness might just be motivation enough for you to haul your ass out of bed and sit down to a proper breakfast. Generous servings of cute after the break!
As popular as Japanese animation is, some critics argue that it can have negative psychological effects on audiences. After watching anime martial artists solve their problems with their fists, will fans try to resolve their own conflicts in similarly violent ways? Isn’t is possible that witnessing lewd acts in animated form will cause impressionable viewers to become more sexually aggressive in real life?
We don’t know about those scenarios, but one recently arrested man was led down the path of crime by his love of anime, and the unlikely corrupter was Studio Ghibli’s Totoro.
It’s been 30 years since Studio Ghibli began producing the adorable characters, inspiring storylines and amazing animated scenes that we all know and love. The warmth of the animation house’s distinctive style has created worlds so captivating it’s almost as if our favourite characters might continue on their journey after the credits finish rolling to live in an alternate animated Ghibli universe alongside our own.
So what if there were a way to catch up with all our Ghibli friends to see how they’ve been getting along? Which stories would fans like to explore further, decades after they were originally created? If semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki ever needed a reason to come back to making movies full-time, he might like to consider the following list of five Ghibli sequels Japanese moviegoers would most like to see.
We here at RocketNews love Studio Ghibli and its cast of adorable animated characters. We save all our yennies to splurge on licensed merchandise and never miss a chance to visit tourist sites where we might bump into acclaimed semi-retired director Hayao Miyazaki.
One thing we’re yet to do is adorn our bodies with permanent ink tributes to the Ghibli stars. Thankfully, there are fans out there much braver than us who have made the leap, giving us a huge collection of beautiful tattoos for us to sift through. Take a look at 12 of our favourites, from the films My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Studio Ghibli, as an entity, is more or less in a coma, but that doesn’t mean that all of the talented artists that made up the storied anime production house have retired.
Veteran animator Yoshiharu Sato has worked on a number of Ghibli films, most notably as the character designer for My Neighbor Totoro and its sequel Mei and the Kitten Bus. Now, Sato is serving as animation director for an upcoming theatrical anime release that may not bear the Ghibli name, but captures much of the famed studio’s style and atmosphere.
September in Japan is the bridge between summer and autumn, with warm humid days mixed in with cool nights and passing typhoons dumping some of the year’s highest amounts of rainfall around the country.
With the rain set to continue, umbrella sales are in full swing at the moment, and some of the best ones here are simply magic. They won’t send you flying through the air like Mary Poppins, but they will reveal hidden secrets when the rain begins to fall!
When you find something you really like, it’s sometimes hard to express how much it’s influencing your life. To show off how much they love something, some fans try cosplay or rampant consumerism. Others write songs or fan fiction to tell the world the extent of their affection.
But for others, it’s as simple as drawing a picture that perfectly captures all their feelings on the paper. One such artist has put her heart and soul into some fan art that shows the kind of devotion Studio Ghibli inspires in its fans.
While the well-known Ghibli Museum in Tokyo might be at the top of the bucket list for any fan of legendary animated film director Hayao Miyazaki, there’s actually an even better place to get in touch with the semi-retired maestro himself.
It’s a beautiful stretch of nature just north-west of Tokyo. called Sayama Hills. Situated in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, and nicknamed “Totoro’s Forest”, this area was the actual inspiration for the animated feature My Neighbour Totoro. Miyazaki has been known to take daily walks through the area, and is so enamoured by the place that he actively participates in regular volunteer events and has made generous donations towards its conservation.
Now, the foundation that protects the forest is inviting the general public in for a special guided walking tour to take place on 5 December. The full-day event takes visitors around some very special areas and includes lots of background information for fans.
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