Ghibli Artbooks: The Essential Library for Fans and Artists

For the serious Studio Ghibli fan, the officially licensed artbooks are not supplementary merchandise but essential texts. They offer access to the production art, storyboards, character designs and conceptual illustrations that are the raw material of the films themselves. Our Ghibli books collection carries official Japanese artbooks covering the key films in the Ghibli catalogue.

What Is a Ghibli Artbook?

A Studio Ghibli artbook is an official Japanese publication, authorised by the studio, containing production art from a specific film. Typical contents include:

• Character design sheets showing every costume variant and expression
• Background art showing environments from multiple angles
• Storyboard sequences showing key scenes as drawn by Miyazaki or other directors
• Conceptual illustrations showing early ideas that may or may not have made it into the final film
• Production notes and commentary (in Japanese)

Who Are Artbooks For?

Artbooks are ideal for three audiences: devoted Ghibli fans who want to go deeper into the films they love, working artists and animators who want to study the techniques and aesthetics of the best animation studio in the world, and anyone who appreciates illustration and visual art at a high level.

The commentary is in Japanese, but the visual content is universally accessible. The storyboard sequences, in particular, are extraordinarily instructive for anyone interested in film composition and pacing.

Display Value

Ghibli artbooks are also beautiful objects in their own right. On a coffee table or bookshelf, they make an excellent display piece, particularly alongside our Takara Tomy diecast models and completed Miniatuart paper model kits.

Building a Ghibli Library

For a starter collection, we recommend artbooks for the films you know best. If My Neighbor Totoro is your favourite, begin there. If you are most interested in Miyazaki's visual design language across his career, choose artbooks for films from different periods. Our full artbook range is available in our Ghibli books collection.

Also read our Hayao Miyazaki biography, our complete history of Studio Ghibli and our collector's gift guide.