Beautiful full reprints of every past Studio Ghibli anime movie program can be ordered online

Now it’s never too late to get your hands on these once theater-only pieces of Ghibli memorabilia.

In Japan, when a new movie releases it’s common for short booklets to be produced containing stills from the film, interviews with the cast and crew, and behind-the-scenes peeks into how it was made. Programs are offered for sale right there in the theater lobby, and the ones made for anime films are especially cool, giving fans a chance to lovingly look at individual frames of animation and pieces of key art, letting them relive the excitement of the movie they just saw.

Here’s the sad part, though. In general, the programs are available only at theaters, so once the theatrical run ends, it can be very hard to get your hands on one. This is especially heartbreaking if you weren’t able to see, and fall in love with, an anime film until years after its release, as is often the case for fans of Studio Ghibli. Ghibli’s string of movie-making excellence goes all the way back to the early ‘80s, so there are a lot of present-day fans of My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki’s Delivery Service who weren’t even born yet when those movies left theaters.

But you can dry your otaku tears, because there actually is a way to get Ghibli programs today. We’re not talking about looking for used copies in secondhand stores or online auctions, either – you can order brand-new programs for Totoro, Kiki, or any other Ghibli movie that’s ended its theatrical run. Just take a look at all the programs we recently acquired!

They’re available through the Toho Animation Store, the online shop of Toho, the company that distributes Ghibli’s anime in theaters. Toho isn’t gouging fans with sky-high prices or limited-quantity runs, either. The programs are just 1,100 yen (US$8) each and are delivered within two weeks of ordering to addresses in Japan.

Flipping through them is a nostalgic treat for those lucky enough to have seen the movies during their initial theatrical runs, and feels a bit like a time machine for those who are too young to have had the chance. Even the original advertisements within the programs are faithfully included, like this one for the “Flavor of the Wind” fruit soda from maker Ajinomoto which was released as a promotional tie-in with Laputa: Castle in the Sky back in 1986.

The programs can be ordered online here, and hopefully when Ghibli’s newest movie finally gets a program, we’ll be able to order it too.

Top image: Toho Animation Store
Insert images: SoraNews24
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