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Hanging out with Totoro just become the coolest thing in virtual reality

Sure, the VR helmets are clunky, but you can stand at a bus stop with Totoro!

 

Colette Bennett

Internet Culture

Posted on May 4, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 8:28 pm CDT

If you aren’t fully sold on virtual reality yet, the gateway drug for anime fans has just arrived: the chance to hang out with Totoro.

Thanks to the folks at British virtual reality development studio Fire Panda, you can download a free demo that works for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive and explore one of three famous Studio Ghibli environments. The first brings you to the famous bus stop scene in Totoro where Satsuki meets the magical creature for the first time.

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You can also run through the field of flowers that Howl and Sophie walk through in Howl’s Moving Castle.

There’s also a third part of the demo that lets you wander through the boiler room from Spirited Away.

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Unfortunately, you can’t interact with any of Ghibli’s famous characters in the demos, but it’s still magical to feel like you’ve stepped right into the movies. Just having a Totoro look at you would be the most magical moment of your life. 

Can you imagine if they made one where you board the Catbus? Nudge, nudge, Fire Panda!

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*First Published: May 4, 2016, 1:00 pm CDT