Tattoos inspired by My Neighbor Totoro are some of the most popular anime tattoos out there. It is a film made by Studio Ghibli with a major cult following. It is known for its giant, mysterious, and fluffy creature, Totoro.
The Japanese film was released in 1988, enchanting both adults and children alike. It created a new legacy in animation and really boosted Studio Ghibli for its later films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke.
Today, it is not unusual to see an anime fan with a Totoro tattoo. Here are 10 examples of awesome My Neighbor Totoro tattoos. Be sure to check out the links to the artists behind the designs.
10 Origami Design
My Neighbor Totoro has a lot of Japanese culture in the film, since it is an anime and inspired by Shinto folklore about nature. So why not add even more Japanese inspired design to it and make the tattoo look like origami? This Totoro looks like he has been folded out of paper. The splash of color with the flowers and the soot sprites are adorable little additions as well.
The tattoo was made by Malaysia-based artist, Fin T. Their gallery includes a lot of animals and Japanese culture-inspired tattoos.
9 Thigh Piece
This color thigh tattoo features Totoro, the mini Totoros, and soot sprites. It is accented with some sakura flowers and petals as well to add more color and cheer.
The tattoo was made by Bri Howard from Michigan at Authentic Art Tattoo. According to her, she loves to tattoo images that show both the bright and dark sides of life. This tattoo definitely captured the bright!
8 Forest Silhouette
Totoro is a creature with an unmistakable silhouette, so a popular tattoo design is to have Totoro as a tattoo outline such as this one. The film really connects to nature and how spirits help it grow, so having a forest inside the silhouette makes a lot of sense.
According to the person who got this tattoo done, the tattoo was made by Mafis from Bobek Tattoo in Prague.
7 Geometric
This tattoo was made by Violette Chabanon, a Paris-based artist. She is well known for her abstract work combined with black ink, symmetry, and geometric patterns. She often combines them with flowers and animals. This one in particular though, she used Totoro creatures!
6 Watercolor
Who said Totoro has to always be gray and white? He can still be recognizable in other colors. These sunset and blue colors really are striking together and draw the eye straight to the tattoo.
The artist is Yellow Dog and his tattoos typically use a lot of color. If you check out his Instagram, you will see a lot of psychedelic and lively looking designs.
5 Sky And Flowers
Here we have another silhouette of Totoro with a design on the inside. Except this thigh tattoo shows a very bright landscape of flowers, grass, and sky instead of a forest. Just looking at it makes you want to go outside on a spring day, which is much in the theme of Studio Ghibli films.
The tattoo was made by Gary Thompson, who is a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to tattoos. His gallery has everything from mandalas to black and gray ink to colorful flowers.
4 Grow, Grow, Grow
These leg tattoos are artistically depicting on the scenes from the film. In the scene, the children, Totoro, and the little Totoros magically get the plants to grow up really tall. The soot sprites weren't there, but the tattoo added them in.
The tattoo was made by Kofi Olive who has a very unique style. Check out his Facebook page!
3 Back Tattoo
Silhouette tattoos don't always have to have just landscapes on the inside. They can have characters too! This tattoo features Totoro and one of the little girls from the film.
The artist for this piece is Samarina Nika. Both her art and tattoos feature a lot of cool blue colors like this one. Her gallery also features a fantastic Princess Mononoke forest spirit sleeve, which is another Studio Ghibli film.
2 Little Totoros
It is not unusual for any artwork of Totoro to have him holding an umbrella, as he does so in the film. It's pretty cute because he is huge compared to the umbrella so it wouldn't really do anything for him anyway. Its a different story for the little Totoros though! It's a guess that these are the little Totoros, as it is hard to tell without color.
The tattoo was made by Kerste Diston from the United Kingdom and she has done numerous My Neighbor Totoro tattoos.
1 Botanical Totoro
Totoro and plants go together like peanut butter and jelly. It just makes sense since he is a forest spirit. It looks especially cute with an acorn!
According to the client who got this tattoo, the artist is Kailee Winterburn from Old School Tattoos in Bellingham, WA.