Ghibli anime is real? Totoro Catbus spotted on the streets of Hiroshima【Video】

But this amazing tribute to Hayao Miyazaki’s classic film isn’t actually a bus.

Unlike many other large cities in Japan, the downtown area of Hiroshima doesn’t have a network of train and subway lines crisscrossing through it. Instead, the city’s network of quaint streetcars is the most convenient way to get around.

However, a recent video shows that the awesomest way to get around is by the famous mode of transportation from Hayao Miyazaki’s iconic anime My Neighbor Totoro: the Catbus.

え、まって 猫バスおったんじゃけど笑 しかもチャリ改造してから笑笑 #ネコバス https://t.co/YM1BsobnxP

—
かっきー (@ryouta_3) June 22, 2018

On a recent evening Hiroshima resident and Twitter user @ryouta_3 was cruising around the city’s Naka Ward, traveling in the left-hand lane. As he glanced over to the sidewalk, he spotted the unmistakable form of the beloved Studio Ghibli character/vehicle

As @ryouta_3 pulls past the puss, we can see that it even has the light-projecting eyes of the anime original.

However, if you’re watching the video with your speakers turned on, you’ll notice that while this looks like the Catbus from Totoro, it doesn’t sound like it. There’s actually a lot of rattling and clanking, because, though it’s hard to see in the video’s dim light, @ryouta_3 says this Catbus is actually a heavily modified bicycle!

The impressive two-wheeled cosplay quickly elicited comments including:

“That is seriously amazing.”
“Wow, the eyes function as bike lights.”
“Awesome. I wish I could have seen it with my own eyes.”
“Hey, if it’s a bus, it shouldn’t be on the sidewalk.”
“Is there a person inside there? I can’t see.”
“Maybe Totoro is inside?”

A few detractors said they’d have been creeped out to encounter the anime-loving bicyclist at night, but they were far outnumbered by appreciative Ghibli fans who said they’d love to be walking down the street and see a Catbus sliding by. Given how much work obviously went into designing the “costume,” it seems certain that the rider wasn’t doing this as a one-time thing, so hopefully we’ll see the Hiroshima Catbus again soon (though if we need to tide ourselves over, there’s always the Catbus at Tokyo’s Ghibli Museum).

Source, images: Twitter/@ryouta_3

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