New line of adorable Ghibli gel ink pens reminds us that being creative by hand is still special

Champion of hand-drawn animation is a fitting motif for when you want to put pen to paper.

Though they’ve become marginally more open to using digital technology in recent years, Studio Ghibli still has a well-deserved reputation for doing much of their work the old-fashioned, hand-drawn way. Many would say there’s a certain spark that gets lost when you remove the human touch from creative endeavors, and for anyone who feels that applies not just to drawing but to writing too, these new Ghibli pens are ideal for jotting down your musings or crafting masterpiece manuscripts.

The line-drawing line draws inspiration from six Ghibli anime films, five directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Naturally, the first one to grab our attention is the My Neighbor Totoro pen, which recreates the big cuddly forest spirit’s night flight with sisters Mei and Satsuki.

Spirited Away is represented by No-Face, in a moment apparently taking place later in his character arc when he’s learned to mellow out and be happy with a single slice of pie, rather than needing an entire restaurant’s worth of food to gorge on.

Next we come to a tender moment for the happy couple of Howl’s Moving Castle, Howl and Sophie…

…followed by Princess Mononoke’s San, riding to battle on the back of one of her wolf siblings.

…and Kiki, of Kiki’s Delivery Service, with cat companion Jiji along for the ride in her messenger bag.

Finally, and the only non-Miyazaki-directed entry in the list, we have Whisper of the Heart’s Shizuku and the Baron, appearing in the same poses as they do in the film’s theatrical release poster.

The pens are produced by Tokyo stationery company Pental, which has been in the business since 1946 and served as a supplier to the NASA space program in the 1960s. The Ghibli pens are part of its Energel gel ink pen line, which the company boasts is easy to write with and produces easily legible lines free of unwanted irregularities in straightness or color.

▼ The Ghibli pens have black ink and a line thickness of 0.7 millimeters.

The pens are priced at 880 yen (US$5.90) each and can be ordered through the online store of Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku here.

Source: Donguri Kyowakoku
Top image: Donguri Kyowakoku
Insert images: Donguri Kyowakoku (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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