Studio Ghibli fans, the next collector item is officially on the way. The studio has revealed the release window for the sixth volume of Hayao Miyazaki’s Image Board Collection, and this one is aimed straight at fans who love digging into the creative process behind Ghibli’s older works.
The new volume will feature 178 illustrations connected to Whisper of the Heart and On Your Mark, both from 1995. Pre-orders opened on Donguri Sora on May 1, 2026, but there is one very important catch for international fans: shipping is currently limited to Japan. The book is scheduled to release in early to mid-June.
For Malaysian and SEA collectors, that means this is probably one to keep an eye on through import channels rather than expecting an easy local shelf drop right away. If you collect Ghibli art books, production materials, or animation reference books, this volume sounds like the kind of thing that may become annoying to chase later — especially because it includes previously unpublished Miyazaki artwork.
Why this collection matters
Image boards are not just random pretty sketches. In animation, they help establish the mood, atmosphere, colour direction, and emotional language of a project before everything becomes finalised on screen. For a filmmaker like Miyazaki, whose worlds are remembered for tiny lived-in details, these pieces can show how the feeling of a scene was built from the earliest stage.
Whisper of the Heart remains one of Ghibli’s most beloved theatrical films. The story follows a fantasy-loving girl whose life begins to shift after she encounters a mysterious cat statue at an antique shop. It is not the biggest fantasy epic in the Ghibli catalogue, but that is exactly why fans love it — it is personal, warm, and very human.
On Your Mark, meanwhile, has a different kind of Ghibli history. It was created as a music video for the 1995 song by Japanese rock duo Chage and Aska. Miyazaki worked on it during a period when he was struggling with writer’s block on Princess Mononoke, and the project became an experimental outlet. The video was shown before Whisper of the Heart and gained its own following among fans.
That pairing makes this sixth volume especially interesting. It is not just about one famous film; it captures a specific creative moment in Miyazaki’s mid-90s output, when Ghibli was balancing intimate storytelling, experimentation, and the early shape of what would become one of its biggest classics.
What else is happening with Ghibli?
Studio Ghibli has still not shared details about Miyazaki’s next film, even though he is reportedly continuing to work after The Boy and the Heron. That 2023 movie was once expected to be his final feature, but Miyazaki has a long history of being “retired” and then somehow still cooking.
Ghibli also has a short anime film by Goro Miyazaki and Akihiko Yamashita prepared for Ghibli Park. It will screen at the Orion theater inside the park’s Ghibli Grand Warehouse from July 8.
Outside Japan, Ghibli fans can also look forward to more cinema activity. After the IMAX release of Princess Mononoke, IMAX and GKIDS are continuing their collaboration on more Ghibli titles. These versions are being made from new 4K restorations, overseen by Ghibli animator Atsushi Okui, who has worked as cinematographer and director of photography on classics including Howl’s Moving Castle and The Boy and the Heron.
For SEA fans, the big hope is simple: more Ghibli restorations, more official access, and hopefully an easier path to art collections like this without needing to jump through Japan-only shipping hoops.
Source: ComicBook Anime