It turns out that Studio Ghibli films aren’t just fun to watch, they make for pretty great reading material as well! Preorders are now live for all-in-one editions of the Spirited Away and Kiki’s Delivery Service film comics. These were originally released as a series of graphic novels and quickly became popular with fans of the animated film studio.
These days, single volumes can often only be found online from resellers, but as you’d have guessed by now, they aren’t cheap. These new collections offer a budget-friendly way to get all of the volumes of each series.
These graphic novels are notable because they use the original film animation cells for illustrations. They’ve all been rearranged and reformatted to look like comic book and manga panels, and the result is surprisingly effective. Spirited Away clocks in at a total of 864 pages, while Kiki’s Delivery Service is 584 pages in all.
For anyone who adores the art direction of Studio Ghibli movies, this is a pretty great way to “pause” a film so that you can focus on the smaller details of these beautifully animated stories. Spirited Away is probably the most recognizable Studio Ghibli film in the west, while Kiki’s Delivery service is another terrific fantasy adventure about a young witch in training.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see all-in-one editions of Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro in the future. These are available as individual volumes in case you want to check them out now, and retail prices start at around $10 each. However, it’s not always easy to find each volume for a reasonable price.
To go right back to the source, you can never go wrong with the Blu-rays of Studio Ghibli movies. You get all of the beautiful artwork in stunning animated form, and several extras to go along with them.
