
Studio Ghibli brings Princess Mononoke's Wolf Fang Dagger to life as a ballpoint pen
By Oona McGee, SoraNews24
Back in 2022, Studio Ghibli released a special range of goods to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Princess Mononoke." One of the key items in the collection was the Wolf Fang Dagger Ballpoint Pen, which proved to be so popular it quickly sold out.
Now, fans of the movie will be pleased to know that the highly sought-after item is back in stock at the chain, looking just as beautiful as it did when it first wowed us three years ago, with etched details to match the look of the dagger seen in the film.
Used by the film's titular character, who also goes by the name San, this dagger is first introduced to viewers when fiesty warrior San brandishes it during a tense fight scene against Lady Eboshi.
What it lacks in size — it is made from the fang of a magical wolf, after all — it makes up for in speed and precision. As these two things are also handy when writing, you'll be able to feel the magical assist whenever you use the pen to scribble down your thoughts.
The pen will look right at home on your desk, especially if you have one of the studio's Rollbahn notebooks to pair with it.
Measuring 13 centimeters in length, this is a dagger that makes an impact, whether you're using it as a pen….
▼ …or as a beautiful display piece.
The only downside to the pen is the ink cartridge isn't replaceable, so its ability to write is finite. However, with such beautiful design features, the pen bring a smile to your face long after you've finished using it, and it can be purchased for 2,310 yen at Donguri Kyowakoku stores and online, while stocks last.
Source, images: Donguri Kyowakoku
Read more stories from SoraNews24.
-- Studio Ghibli Rollbahn notebooks are both dynamic and subtle salutes to anime classics【Pics】
-- Princess Mononoke Ghibli accessory line returns with all-natural dagger pendant and more【Photos】
-- Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke plushies show a softer side of formidable Ghibli characters
External Link
https://soranews24.com/2025/05/06/studio-ghibli-brings-princess-mononokes-wolf-fang-dagger-to-life-as-a-ballpoint-pen/
© SoraNews24
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


SoraNews24
15 hours ago
- SoraNews24
Studio Ghibli umbrellas bring anime joy to Japan's rainy season
Experience the pitter-patter of raindrops like Totoro in the forest. June and early July are the rainiest times in Japan, when continual days of grey skies tend to dampen the mood as much as they do the streets. There's a way to make the cloudy days a little more bright, though, thanks to a trio of umbrellas from Studio Ghibli, which have been restocked just in time for the rainy season. The first umbrella bringing a smile to our faces is dedicated to Howl's Moving Castle, with a design called 'Hoshi no Ko' ('Star Children'), in reference to the magical beings that appear throughout the film. You can summon the shooting stars like Madame Suliman every time you open the umbrella. The umbrella comes with a matching case so you can easily pop it into your bag while it's not in use. The next design is 'Full of Flowers', featuring Jiji and his lookalike offspring from Kiki's Delivery Service. ▼ The cute cats adorn the matching ivory-coloured case. The final design in the lineup is 'Running Race', featuring characters from My Neighbour Totoro. Totoro is pictured holding an umbrella, like some sort of Ghibli-style inception, with Soot Sprites and the Small and Medium Totoro nearby. The Catbus can be seen racing along the edge of the umbrella, towards its forest friends. ▼ The black-and-white colourway gives this design an elegant look. The umbrellas are a charming way to stay dry during the rainy season while adding some much-needed fun and excitement to dreary days. Available at Donguri Kyowakoku stores and online (links below), each umbrella is priced at 5,940 yen (US$41.51). Source: Donguri Kyowakoku Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!


Japan Times
20 hours ago
- Japan Times
Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain
Japan's Studio Ghibli turns 40 this month with two Oscars and legions of fans young and old won over by its complex plots and fantastical hand-drawn animation. But the future is uncertain, with latest hit "The Boy and the Heron" likely — but not certainly — the final feature from celebrated co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84. In March, the internet was flooded with pictures in Studio Ghibli's distinctively nostalgic style after the release of OpenAI's newest image generator — raising questions over copyright. The studio behind the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away" has become a cultural phenomenon since Miyazaki and the late Isao Takahata — he passed away in 2018 — established it in 1985. Its popularity has been fueled of late by a second Academy Award in 2024 for "The Boy and the Heron," starring Robert Pattinson, and by Netflix streaming Ghibli movies around the world. The newly opened Ghibli Park has also become a major tourist draw for central Japan's Aichi region. In addition to its museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, Studio Ghibli opened a theme park in Aichi Prefecture, in November 2022. | Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP-JIJI Julia Santilli, a 26-year-old from Britain living in northern Japan, "fell in love with Ghibli" after watching the 2001 classic "Spirited Away" as a child. "I started collecting all the DVDs," she says. Ghibli stories are "very engaging and the artwork is stunning," says another fan, Margot Divall, 26. "I probably watch 'Spirited Away' about 10 times a year, still." Before Ghibli, most cartoons in Japan — known as anime — were made for children. But Miyazaki and Takahata, both from "the generation that knew war," included darker elements that appeal to adults, Miyazaki's son Goro says. "It's not all sweet — there's also a bitterness and things like that which are beautifully intertwined in the work," he adds, describing a "whiff of death" in the films. For younger people who grew up in time of peace, "it is impossible to create something with the same sense, approach and attitude," Goro says. Even "My Neighbor Totoro," with its cuddly forest creatures, is in some ways a "scary" movie that explores the fear of losing a sick mother, he explains. Susan Napier, a professor at Tufts University in the United States and author of "Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art," agrees. "In Ghibli, you have ambiguity, complexity and also a willingness to see that the darkness and light often go together" unlike good-versus-evil U.S. cartoons, she says. Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki, now 84, has stepped back a few times before returning with "The Boy and the Heron" which is likely to be his final feature. | AFP-JIJI The post-apocalyptic "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" — considered the first Ghibli film despite its release in 1984 — has no obvious villain, for example. Featuring an independent princess curious about giant insects and a poisonous forest, the film felt "so fresh" and a change from "a passive woman... having to be rescued," Napier says. Studio Ghibli films also depict a universe where humans connect deeply with nature and the spirit world. A case in point was 1997's "Princess Mononoke," distributed internationally by Disney. The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans is "a masterpiece — but a hard movie," Napier says. It's a "serious, dark and violent" film appreciated more by adults, which "was not what U.S. audiences had anticipated with a movie about a princess. "Ghibli films "have an environmentalist and animistic side, which I think is very appropriate for the contemporary world with climate change," Napier adds. Miyuki Yonemura, a professor at Japan's Senshu University who studies cultural theories on animation, says watching Ghibli movies is like reading literature. "That's why some children watch 'My Neighbor Totoro' 40 times," she says, adding that audiences "discover something new every time." With Takahata studying French literature at university and Miyazaki also reading voraciously, there are naturally French literature influences in Ghibli's works. | Thomas SAMSON / AFP-JIJI Miyazaki and Takahata could create imaginative worlds because of their openness to other cultures, Yonemura says. Foreign influences include writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery and animator Paul Grimault, both French, and Canadian artist Frederic Back, who won an Oscar for his animation "The Man Who Planted Trees." Takahata studying French literature at university "was a big factor," Yonemura says. "Both Miyazaki and Takahata read a lot," she adds. "That's a big reason why they excel at writing scripts and creating stories." Miyazaki has said he was inspired by several books for "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind," including the 12th-century Japanese tale "The Lady who Loved Insects," and Greek mythology. Studio Ghibli will not be the same after Miyazaki stops creating animation, "unless similar talent emerges," Yonemura says. Miyazaki is "a fantastic artist with such a visual imagination," while both he and Takahata were "politically progressive," Napier says. "The more I study, the more I realize this was a unique cultural moment," she says. "It's so widely loved that I think it will carry on," says Ghibli fan Divall. "As long as it doesn't lose its beauty, as long as it carries on the amount of effort, care and love," she adds. Studio Ghibli has offices in western Tokyo. | AFP-JIJI Studio Ghibli's heavy hitters Here are the studio's top five films that have delighted fans over the decades: "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" (1984) Studio Ghibli was founded in 1985, but this post-apocalyptic story featuring a young, independent princess curious about giant insects is considered its first film. It was based on a comic-strip series that Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki wrote for a magazine targeted at anime fans. Set 1,000 years after a war that destroyed human civilization, the story takes place in a valley protected from toxic air emitted from poisonous forests. Miyazaki won critical acclaim and a cult following for the film about Nausicaa, who discovers the forests' secrets after getting embroiled in conflicts between countries trying to revive a lethal "giant warrior." "My Neighbor Totoro" (1988) This beloved Ghibli classic is set in the 1950s Japanese countryside where two young sisters with a sick mother move from the city. They encounter the cuddly yet mysterious forest spirit Totoro and Catbus, a 12-legged grinning cat with a hollow body in the form of a bus — two characters who have since become worldwide-known Studio Ghibli mascots. The film was also turned into a play for the first time by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company in 2022. "Princess Mononoke" (1997) The tale of a girl raised by a wolf goddess in a forest threatened by humans was a smash hit in Japan and raised Miyazaki's profile internationally. A young prince on a journey to find a cure for his curse meets San, also known as Princess Mononoke — meaning a spirit or monster in Japanese. The prince sets out to find ways to avoid wars between destructive humans and animal gods, centered around the ultimate god which is nature itself. "Spirited Away" (2001) Miyazaki won his first Oscar with this film about a girl who gets lost in a mystical world of gods and spirits where she tries to save her parents, who are turned into pigs. In order to survive, 10-year-old Chihiro is told by a mysterious boy to get a job at an enormous Japanese bathhouse run by a witch. In a story infused with Japanese beliefs and traditions, Chihiro gains confidence through her work and solves the boy's curse before rescuing her parents. "The Boy and the Heron" (2023) Miyazaki's second Oscar-winning film — and likely the 84-year-old's last feature — follows a boy struggling to accept his new life after his mother dies in the haunting fire-bombing of Tokyo during World War II. Everything changes when he meets a talking heron and embarks on a journey to an alternate universe, shared by the living and the dead, to find his missing stepmother. In a documentary, Miyazaki, visibly affected by the 2018 death of Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata, said the pair had had a "love-hate relationship" and that he had based the character of the grand-uncle on him.


SoraNews24
a day ago
- SoraNews24
One Piece Lego sets both are and aren't the first-ever Lego anime collaboration【Photos】
Five kits take their inspiration from One Piece, but not from the anime or manga. Lego has done collaborations with plenty of popular franchises, and the building block toys are popular in Japan. Oddly enough, though, there's never been an official anime Lego set, and that hasn't technically changed even though Lego has just revealed a collaboration with One Piece. But wait, hasn't One Piece been one of the most phenomenally popular anime/manga franchises for the past three decades? Yes it has, but these sets are specifically meant to be Lego recreations of the live-action Netflix One Piece, basing their designs off the appearances of the characters and sets seen in the streaming series. Of course, with the Netflix One Piece taking its visual cues from the anime/manga, these sets are sure to appeal to fans of the source material too. The lineup has five sets, including, of course, the Going Merry Pirate Ship, a 1,376-piece kit for builders aged 10 and up. ▼ The interior is full of details too, like Sanji's kitchen. The biggest and most elaborate kit, though, is the Baratie Floating Restaurant. With 3,402 pieces that come together to form an eatery 54 centimeters (21.5 inches) wide and 35 centimeters tall, this is a kit you'll want to set aside plenty of both time and space for. In addition, it's part of Lego's Sets for Adults category, implying an extra degree of complexity that might frustrate little kids, but should delight grown-up kids-at-heart. The most action-packed kit is the Battle at Arlong Park (926 pieces, ages 9 and up) That's because in addition to being bundled with a figure of Luffy throwing a Gum-Gum Pistol punch… …the tower is designed with a feature that lets it burst apart as Luffy smashes through it! Rounding out the line are two modestly sized sets, the 573-piece Buggy the Clown's Circus Tent and 299-piece Windmill Village, both recommended for builders 8 and up. Preorders are open now through the Lego online stores for the U.S. and Japan here and here, respectively, with the Going Merry listed at US$139.99/20,480 yen, the Baratie US$329.99/42,980 yen, the Battle at Arlong Park US$79.99/12,480 yen, Buggy's Circus Tent US$54.99/7,680 yen, and Windmill Village US$29.99/4,680 yen. Shipping and the in-store sales start are scheduled for August 1. Unfortunately, since the kits are based on the first season of the Netflix One Piece, none of the kits contain a Chopper figure, but if you want to know how he'll look in the live-action show, we've got a sneak peek right here. Source: PR Times, Lego Top image: Lego Insert images: PR Times, Lego (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!