3 days ago
Ghibli glass mini plates let you admire the studio's anime food while eating real food【Photos】
More than a dozen designs highlight some of anime's most memorable meals.
The depictions of meals, snacks, and desserts in the animated films of Studio Ghibli are so lovingly, and mouthwateringly, detailed that 'Ghibli food' has pretty much become its own subgenre of anime art. So it's only natural that fans would want to add some of that style to their own tableware, and if the tableware itself happens to contains scenes of Ghibli food, all the better, right?
That brings us to the Yummy Glass Mini Plate collection that's being restocked at Ghibli specialty store Donguri Kyowakoku. While they might look like ceramics at first glance, they're actually made of reinforced glass, with a special low-temperature process used for the color transfer that creates their uniquely vivid hues. The Ben Day dots used in the designs give them a sort of '50s/'60s American comic vibe, as do the text fonts.
A total of 11 Ghibli anime, plus one Ghibli-adjacent anime, are represented on the 11-centimeter (4.3-inch) plates, starting with My Neighbor Totoro in a design showing sisters Mei and Satsuki sharing some candy drops while riding to their new countryside home.
There's some bumpy translation work as Castle in the Sky's Pazu and the sky pirates ask for 'second,' but it's still clear that Sheeta's stew is so good that a single bowl just isn't enough for anyone.
Some of the plates have sound effects or onomatopoeia instead, like the soothing 'sippp' of this Kiki's Delivery Service teatime scene…
…or the enticing 'pouuuur' of wine for Porco Rosso, who, in the Italian style, drinks his vino from a stemless glass.
Representing the variety of emotions that food can portray in storytelling, there's a stark contrast between the cozy meal of nabeyaki udon noodles Whisper of the Heart's Shizuku and Shiro share in front of the fire…
…and the way Princess Mononoke's San fiercely tears off a mouthful of dried meat.
The two Spirited Away plates show the moment Haku gives Chihiro a rice ball from their respective perspectives…
…and the dishes for Ponyo and From Up on Poppy Hill also show how even a simple meal like ramen with a slice of ham or a freshly made croquette can be visual shorthand for 'I care about you.'
Not that you necessarily need to be dining with someone else to enjoy good food, though, as Howl's Moving Castle's Markl demonstrates as he grubs with gusto.
There's one more Spirited Away dish, this one showing mouse-form Boh and the transformed Yu-Bird learning to work together.
The final Ghibli-anime plate takes its inspiration from The Cat Returns…
…and the last plate in the collection, the Ghibli-adjacent one, features the characters of Panda! Go Panda!, the 1972 anime short movie written by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Isao Takahata before the pair would go on to be two of the co-founders of Studio Ghibli.
Each of the plates is 1,100 yen (US$7.60), a merciful price point considering that a lot of Ghibli fans would have trouble narrowing it down to just one design. They'll be available for order from June 7 through the Donguri Kyowakoku online store here. Note that the plates are not microwave or dishwasher safe, but that just means you'll get to admire the artwork one more time while handwashing them.
Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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