Hey, it’s me the Studio Ghibli fanatic. If you don’t remember me, I was also the zealot who reported extensively on the Loewe x Ghibli drop, so it’s only right that I bring you this scoop. For the uninitiated, Studio Ghibli is the home of famous animated masterpieces such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle. Of course, in the glory days of Pre-COVID-19, I have made a pilgrimage to Tokyo, Japan to the beautiful and nerd-gasp inducing Studio Ghibli Museum. I mean, the merchandise is just insane.
If you haven’t heard, famed director, Hayao Mizayaki has decided to make us all fans keel over in excitement with a Studio Ghibli Theme Park. This news, of course, makes me hate COVID-19 just a little more. Slated to be open in Autumn of 2022, and I can only hope that Ms Rona has settled down by then.
The theme park is set to be located at the Aichi Expo Memorial Park in Nagakute City, Aichi Prefecture in Japan. While the park is still under construction, two images of the theme park have been released, and we are EXCITED.
The first one is from one of my favourite movies, Howl’s Moving Castle. One of the theme park’s major attractions is a replica of Howl’s castle that comes is set to scale. So, this castle will stand at 16 metres tall in height, similar to the size of a four-to-five storey building, with rotating canons resembling eyeballs. The best part: you can explore the inside, such as Howl’s treasure trove of a bedroom.
That’s not all; there will also be a reproduction of Irontown from Princess Mononoke where visitors can enter through the iconic wooden fence and explore this settlement ruled by the infamous Lady Eboshi. There are also viewing platforms, where you can fully immerse yourself in the world of Princess Mononoke.
The Studio Ghibli Theme Park is already shaping out to be my wildest dream come true, might it even beat Tokyo Disneyland? I guess I’ll just have to wait till 2022.
