One dedicated Minecraft player has recently taken to social media to share an impressive building based on Spirited Away. Their design serves as yet another reminder of Spirited Away's timeless nature which continues to inspire content creators to this date, more than 20 years since its original release.
Studio Ghibli's reputation of an animation powerhouse can largely be traced back to 2001, when Spirited Away took the world by storm. Its international box office reached almost $400 million, cementing it as the highest-grossing animated feature for over a decade. The hit movie also inspired countless fan-made content over the years, ranging from art to in-game models of Minecraft buildings and Spirited Away-themed islands in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
One such creation was just shared by Reddit user sheepishhusker, who managed to build an impressive-looking Minecraft building based on the bathhouse from Spirited Away. The multistory location looks remarkably close to Aburaya, the main setting of the iconic Studio Ghibli film where various spirits come to replenish their energy. The creator said that the design took them around a week to build from the ground up.
While many fans expressed a desire to explore this creation after it went viral on Reddit over the weekend, its author hasn't yet shared it as a downloadable Minecraft world. Presumably because the initial version of their design doesn't come with fully furnished interiors. That said, plenty of Minecraft content aggregators do offer player-created worlds inspired by Spirited Away architecture, so anyone looking to scratch that particular itch can easily find a custom map to jump into.
Despite pushing 12, Minecraft remains as popular as ever, at least if its online viewership is any indication. Mojang's globally popular sandbox is still routinely found among the top 10 most viewed games on both Twitch and YouTube every month, and the power of Minecraft streamers has consistently proven to be immune to larger industry trends.
As for Studio Ghibli, its next animated feature film—How Do You Live?—is scheduled to debut in its native Japan this summer. While the company has yet to attach an international release date to the project, the very fact that How Do You Live? is both written and directed by Spirited Away creator Hayao Miyazaki should be enough to guarantee it an English-language release. In the meantime, fans of Miyazaki's work can also consider visiting Japan's first Ghibli Park, which opened its doors to the public back in November 2022.
Minecraft is available now on Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
