Princess Mononoke head magnets return, now with way to bypass blind-buy game of chance【Pics】

Donguri Kyowakoku wisely realizes that Studio Ghibli fans probably want them all.

All of Studio Ghibli’s anime films feature gorgeous artwork, but Princess Mononoke’s is uniquely so. As the studio’s darkest and most mature story, there’s less whimsy and more gritty detail to its character, creature, and costume designs, all with a then-unprecedented amount of time and effort invested in getting what was originally supposed to be director Hayao Miyazaki’s final feature film to look exactly as he wanted it to.

Princess Mononoke’s darkly compelling designs are on three-dimensional display in Ghibli specialty shop Donguri Kyowakoku’s Princess Mononoke Face Magnet series, a collection of six magnets featuring fierce and serene faces from the film: mountain wolf god Moro, one of her pups, boar god Okotto, the Great Forest Spirit, Ashitaka’s red elk steed Yakul, and the mask of the monster princess herself, San.

We took a quick look at these a while back when they were first released, but as stunning as they are to behold, if you’re an experienced anime merch shopper, you’ve probably got a twinge of uneasiness from seeing a half-dozen or so variations on a theme. Yes, your suspicion is correct: the magnets were offered in a blind-buy/gacha format, with no guarantee as to which you’d get, and also no promise that you’d get a complete set by buying six, since statistically there was a strong chance that you’d end up with some duplicates.

The prospect of having to buy extras was especially painful to the wallet because unlike their cheaper capsule toy brethren, the Princess Mononoke Face Magnets aren’t especially cheap, at 1,320 yen (US$9.10) a pop. Thanks to a recent Donguri Kyowakoku restock, though, there’s a way to at least make sure you don’t have to spend any more than is absolutely necessary to get the complete set, as the store is now offering “box sales” for them through its online store, in which you’re ensured to get exactly one of each magnet design.

▼ You even get a larger box that the smaller boxes fit into, so you could conceivably share the authentic blind-buy experience with friends if you’re splitting the set as a group souvenir.

The magnets vary in size from 5.8 to 11.5 centimeters (2.3 to 4.5 inches) in length, so they should be able to fit comfortably on even a dorm-size fridge while also being large enough to appreciate all the little details. Rather than a bright, glossy coat of paint, the weathered coloring evokes an organic feel, creating an atmosphere similar to what it would feel like to encounter these creatures in a primeval forest.

Three of the magnets, Moro, her pup, and Okkoto, have movable jaws, and Donguri Kyowakoku says that if you peer into San’s mask, you’ll find a kodama, one of Princess Mononoke’s rattly-headed forest spirits, hiding inside.

The box set of all six designs, which can be ordered here, is priced at 7,920 yen, not a single yen more or less than you’d pay for six blind-buy purchases. On the other hand, if you’re limiting yourself to just one magnet, you can try your luck with the individual blind buy, which can be done here, though you might want to try getting one of Tokyo temple Sensoji’s secret good-luck omikuji fortunes first, if you think it’ll boost your chances of getting the design you want.

Source, images: Donguri Kyowakoku
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