Spirited Away is one of my long standing comfort movies, and who doesn’t love Kaonashi (No Face)? I absolutely must have this.
OMG guys — Studio Ghibli is releasing a Kaonashi coin bank!
The official name of this why-hasn’t-this-been-done-sooner contraption is Spirited Away Kaonashi Musha-Musha Coin Bank. And it’s a coin bank (we can stop calling them ‘piggy’ banks, right?) modeled after the Kaonashi character, also known as No Face, from the beloved 2001 film Spirited Away.
Similar to the way that great Itazura Kitty Coin Bank worked, it’s activated when you place coins on the sake saucer. Kaonashi’s arms then raise that saucer to its mouth and your coins fall into the depths of its stomach. It even makes that “ah” sound when it’s activated, and then burps once the movement is complete.
It’s set to go on sale online and at Donguri Kyowakoku shops, the official retailer for Studio Ghibli goods, on May 20, 2017 and will retail for 4800 yen.
Eeeeeeeeeeee. Must. Have. Via Spoon & Tamago.
Me, too! This is absolutely charming, and the creepiness of the teeth is just perfect.
Looks like I picked the wrong year to stop flying to Japan every month or two.
(TBH, I haven’t seen Spirited Away yet. Once I’m out of cash-flow peril, I’m going to purchase the Collected Works of Miyazaki Blu-Ray set that’s been sitting on my Amazon wish list for a year already. Until then I’ll just keep re-watching Tonari の Totoro.)
Oh, it’s a must see. Spirited Away was my best theatre going experience ever. I was stunned that it was even playing here in nDakota, and it was at theatres in December. The building was stuffed with people, pouring in to see movies like The Santa Clause 2, 3 whatever, and the like. When we made our way through the crowds to where Spirited Away was being shown, we were blown away to be the only people in the theatre. It was just the two of us, a private screening.
And all the ignorant nDakotans wasting their money on another piece of Hollywood shit really missed out.
Spirited Away is an awesome movie, definitely a must-watch! Like most Studio Ghibli movies.
Watched Red Turtle, by the way -- tear-jerker and a half!
OH MY DOG!!!!!!
I absolutely must get one of those as a present for Herself, she will freak out !
Myself, I think The Wind Rises is the best Ghibli film I’ve yet seen, but Spirited Away comes a close second.
Still have to watch The Wind Rises, that reminds me.
Getting one of these is part of my elaborate justification plan to get back to Japan this year. Heck, flying there will probably be cheaper than buying one in Australia!
How do you watch the films; dubbed or subtitled? I personally can’t stand the dubbed versions despite that I can’t understand Japanese.
I almost always go with subtitled, it’s a rare case where I go with dubbed. With Spirited Away though, I went with the English version, because exquisite care was take by Ghibli to do it right, and they got great people for it, notably Suzanne Pleshette voicing Yubaba/Zeniba, and she did the most remarkable job.
gobi
Dubbed, because not all the chirrun read fluent English yet. I don’t really mind.
One thing, though -- there’s apparently two dubbed versions of My Neighbour Totoro, and apparently we have the ‘bad’ one, mostly on the basis of the ‘horrible’ singing of the intro song, but I’ve heard the other version (more Disneyfied?), and I don’t like it at all, the one we have sounds a lot more natural and the singing is just a different kind of voice than the usual sultry lyricized kind you hear in kids’ movies. Besides them saying ‘Totoro’ and other names all wrong (to my mind), it’s quite alright. Princess Mononoke has the bonus of Gillian Anderson’s voice in a very key, very impressive role. Other awesome voices abound, too.
I have watched Porco Rosso dubbed and enjoyed it.
Totoro is a definite no-dub for me! As is Ponyo. The Japanese voice casting for the children is such a big part of the charm. :)
If anyone is ever fortunate enough to visit Tokyo, the Ghibli museum is a quick train trip away. You catch a train to Mitaka and then a little Ghibli bus to the museum itself. You buy your tickets online as a tourist for a specific day ( don’t just rock up -- you probably won’t get in ) Don’t do a guided tour if you can help it! The museum is small but so packed with interesting stuff. The last thing you need is being herded by a tour guide.
Heh. Spirited Away is the source of one of my most remembered movie events.
Myself and a couple of friends were seeing it at a local ‘rep’ theatre on a cool but clear December evening.
By the time we left the theatre, it had started snowing, and the previously completely clean sidewalks were covered with a thin layer of snow that completely changed the way the street looked from just a few hours earlier.
Particularly after that movie, it created a serious air of unreality about the whole scene.
I never watch Ghibli movies dubbed because 1) on Finnish TV you get very used to following subtitles on foreign shows 2) my English hearing comprehension is a struggle, and Finnish dubs aren’t/weren’t available until recently 3) I fucking love Japanese language 4) if the movie’s really good, you’ll learn eventually to re-watch it without translation altogether :)