Studio Ghibli’s Latest Totoro Reissue Has Adorable Soot Sprites Guard Your Books
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Studio Ghibli’s 1988 fantasy classic, My Neighbor Totoro, introduced audiences to the “soot sprites” — sentient balls of dust and soot that enjoy sheltering in attics and chimneys. Recently, the studio’s official shop reintroduced a popular product that pays tribute to these adorable creatures.
Ghibli’s “Makkuro Kurosuke Come Out” bookend has officially returned to Donguri Sora’s digital catalog. Playing off the idea of soot spirits “hiding in the gaps between books,” this stand features the famous spirits clustered together on a thinly bound volume, each one looking in a different direction. Notably, the volume has a textured wood finish that gives the product an antique appearance. Standing roughly 5.5 inches tall, the stand is designed to help avid readers keep their home libraries well organized while also adding a touch of Ghibli-style magic to their book collections. Including tax, the current retail price is 6,600 yen (US$43.03), with the sales period slated to begin on Aug. 5., 2024.
Alongside My Neighbor Totoro‘s titular icon, the soot sprites are one of the many wondrous beings featured in Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved feature. Set in Japan’s picturesque Sayama Hills region, the film follows 10-year-old Satsuki and 4-year-old Mei — two sisters who have moved to the area to be closer to their hospitalized mother. To their delight, Mei and Satsuki’s new house is a somewhat dilapidated fixer-upper with rotting porch pillars and dust-covered floors. When Mei investigates the attic floor, she discovers that the aforementioned spirits are hiding out in the walls and floors. The landlady — a kindly woman nicknamed “Granny” by her neighbors — tells the girls about soot sprites and how she used to see them when she was a child. This short yet charming scene sets the cheerful, lighthearted tone for what is widely regarded as one of Ghibli’s finest productions.
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