Tenkuu no Shiro Rapyuta, better known as Laputa: Castle in the Sky in the west, was Studio Ghibli's first official feature. Released on the 2nd of August 1986 and with a length of 124 minutes, the magic touch of master artist Miyazaki Hayao is evident from start to finish: an imaginative tale full of mystery and magic, comedy and discovery.



In a quiet mining town, Pazu, an engineer's apprentice, finds an unconscious teenage girl, Sheeta, floating down from the sky. Upon rescuing her, Pazu learns that she has escaped from an airborne battle miles above the earth. Together they set off in search of a legendary floating castle from a lost civilization, and vow to unravel the mystery of the life-saving crystal found around Sheeta's neck. Their quest won't be easy: There are pirates, army and government agents, greed and astounding obstacles to keep them from the truth - and from each other.

With just the right balance of fantasy, adventure and comedy, Castle in the Sky is a magical animated masterpiece you’ll never forget! This of course results in the fact that there are quite some nice Laputa items for sale. For this moment, we'd like you to know about the following:
- Laputa: Castle in the Sky Collector's Edition
- Laputa Robot Soldier
- The Art of Laputa: Castle in the Sky
- Original Japanese Poster Laputa: Castle in the Sky
- Laputa Image Model Collection

Laputa: Castle in the Sky Collector's Edition
On the 4th of October 2002 the much wanted, sought after and very OOP Laputa: Castle in the Sky Collector's Edition was released in Japan. It's limited to 10,000 sets. The picture over here shows the outer box, which holds the most beautiful Studio Ghibli DVD that's available on this moment.



On the left there's the box that holds the Cominica Robot Soldier and in the middle there's the box that holds the dvd and all the other stuff. The right side of this picture shows the main box, which holds the two other boxes. Beautifully crafted it has a picture of "Laputa" on it, which is the same as the main character Pazu has mounted on one of the walls of his house.



Here's a close up of the main piece of the set, the Cominica Robot Soldier. As you can see it comes in a nice extra box, in which the robot soldier is nicely secured. You also get a metal plate with Laputa and the number of the robot soldier written on it and behind the cardboard that holds the robot soldier you find the items to display the soldier itself, a small fox squirrel and a flower.



A close up of the certificate of authenticity signed by the director and the president of Studio Ghibli.



Besides the Cominica Robot Soldier, the Laputa: Castle in the Sky Collector's Edition comes with a book, a 2-disc DVD Japanese Edition of Laputa: Castle in the Sky, a CD Single and the Original Soundtrack CD, which are fitted in this nicely crafted box.



Watch how this masterpiece unfolds! This box has some nice "Laputa" pictures on it, which actually is a floating island in Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". According to Pazu though Swift's Laputa "is just a story in a book" and his Laputa is for real. It is believed to have taken place at the end of the 19th Century or the beginning of the 20th Century, in an alternate universe where flying technology was more advanced (a la Verne).



Here's a picture of the box when it's completely opened. The OST that comes with the box is the new US version. Joe Hisaishi rescored the complete soundtrack for better sound quality and added some extra tracks to it!



A picture of the book, it's sleeve case and small insert of the limited edition. I was expecting the book to be something of art book, but it actually is a book with the Laputa story in it!



I wish I could read Japanese, because this lovely story is completely written in Kanji! Luckily the book also contains about 15 to 20 pages of water color pictures by master Hayao Miyazaki himself! According to Miyazaki, he wrote "Laputa" as a "science fiction novel which was written in the end of the 19th century and took place in an imaginary country. The Slug Ravine, where Pazu lived was modeled after a mining town in Wales.



Another beautiful water color picture by Miyazaki. By the way, Miyazaki actually went to Wales for location hunting and learned that the town had had a huge labor dispute the year before. This story and the scenery of the depressed mining town (he being a former chairman of a union) affected him, and made him put the scene of the townsfolk fighting with the pirates in the movie. You can also see a socialist-looking poster in the house of Pazu's boss.



A final overall picture of this splendid limited edition. Truly one of a kind! It's very expensive, but if you happen to have a opportunity to buy it: BUY IT!



Laputa Robot Soldier
But wait, there's more! Besides the Laputa: Castle in the Sky Collector's Edition, Comica also released another Laputa Robot Soldier. Just like the one from the Collector's Edition it comes in a nice box, in which the robot soldier is nicely secured. You also get a metal plate with Laputa and written on it and behind the cardboard that holds the robot soldier you find the items to display the soldier itself.



The Art of Laputa: Castle in the Sky
The Art of Laputa is part of the Studio Ghibli “The Art of...” book collection. It’s published by Tokuma Shoten and was first released on 30 November 1986. The book is paperbound, but printed on high quality glossy paper. With a total of 194 pages, it contains a variety of sketches, storyboards, background information, and cel reproductions (with backgrounds). It can be bought for price around 2500 yen, for example at Amazon (ISBN: 4-19-816610-2). Following are some nice pictures from the book.

















Original Japanese Poster Laputa: Castle in the Sky
With a Studio Ghibli Poster Collection consisting out of over fourthy Japanese original full size Studio Ghibli posters, GhibliWorld.com also has several Laputa posters. Below is a picture of one of them. Lovely!



Laputa Image Model Collection
Over the years Japan’s master Ghibli merchandise producer Cominica has made several Image Model Collections and Laputa: Castle in the Sky has received the honor of two lovely dedicated Image Model Collections, part I and part IV. Below a picture of both together.