Mononoke Hime

When an Emishi village is attacked by a fierce demon boar, the young prince Ashitaka puts his life at stake to defend his tribe. With its dying breath, the beast curses the prince's arm, granting him demonic powers while gradually siphoning his life away. Instructed by the village elders to travel westward for a cure, Ashitaka arrives at Tatara, the Iron Town, where he finds himself embroiled in a fierce conflict: Lady Eboshi of Tatara, promoting constant deforestation, stands against Princess San and the sacred spirits of the forest, who are furious at the destruction brought by the humans. As the opposing forces of nature and mankind begin to clash in a desperate struggle for survival, Ashitaka attempts to seek harmony between the two, all the while battling the latent demon inside of him. Princess Mononoke is a tale depicting the connection of technology and nature, while showing the path to harmony that could be achieved by mutual acceptance.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

San Main

Ishida, Yuriko Japanese

Ashitaka Main

Matsuda, Youji Japanese

Gozen, Eboshi Supporting

Tanaka, Yuko Japanese

Kodama Supporting

Yakul Supporting

Moro Supporting

Miwa, Akihiro Japanese

The Forest Spirit Supporting

Iinuma, Kei Japanese

Jiko, Bou Supporting

Kobayashi, Kaoru Japanese

Okkoto Supporting

Morishige, Hisaya Japanese

Toki Supporting

Shimamoto, Sumi Japanese

Suzuki, Toshio Producer

Miyazaki, Hayao Director, Theme Song Lyrics, Creator, Screenplay

Gaiman, Neil Script

Pannetier, Jean-Marc Script, ADR Director

Reviews

Jul 17, 2024

ThatAnimeMark567

Recommended

Mononoke Hime is one of the best animated movies in the history and I believe everyone should watch it at least once in their lives. An all-time classic. So, without further ado, let's analyze what makes Mononoke Hime so great.

Plot: 10/10 - In a remote village in the mountains, Ashitaka, the last prince of the nearly extinct Emishi clan, is forced to kill a monster to protect his village. Then he discovers that the creature in the form of a boar is actually a protector god of the forest. By killing him, Ashitaka brought upon himself a curse, the mark of which, slowly expands. The ... young Ashitaka travels to the West where he hopes to discover the mystery of the curse that has struck him before it kills him. And during Ashitaka's journey we find out how he can survive the curse, why the boar turned into a raging demon, and we find out about the great war between humans, animals and spirits to get control over the forest. A pretty simple plot overall but what makes this movie so captivating is its meaning. I thought the movie was a clear allegorism to naturalism vs. industrialism but also a love letter to nature and the lack of appreciation and respect humans have towards it due to our sheer negligence and ignorance. The movie doesn't tell you to become an environmentalist but rather try do just like Ashitaka does, that is always try to do what's best for everyone, both humans and nature. Standing in the middle of both worlds, appreciating both of them and trying to do what's best for both. However if humans have a voice, nature does not and cannot truly express its feelings. Therefore it often gets devalued. However I believe the movie clearly tells you to give nature enough importance and love otherwise, if it disappeared one day, our lives would be utterly compromised. In the end I think the plot is really good, thought provoking and extra-layered with great storytelling and narration.

Characters: 9/10 - I wouldn't say the movie has a true protagonist. I'd rather the main character of the work is nature itself to which everything that happens in the movie is related. The other characters were all freaking great. Ashitaka is a well-disciplined and mature young man who, unfortunately, finds himself being overwhelmed by his curse many times and has to fight to gain control over his body. He puts other's well-being in front of his many times and never actually picks a side in the war due to his wanting to choose the best option for everyone. San is young girl who got abandoned by her natural parents. She gets raised by the God Wolf and now defends the forest from the humans. Her place is with the wolves who raised her despite not being an actual wolf and she's willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family, even killing humans or Ashitaka himself if necessary. Eboshi, instead, is billed as the main antagonist of the movie. She governs a human village and her aim is to take control of the forest in order to produce more iron. But I wouldn't call necessarily evil as she, for example, has helped a group of females slaves and gave them a new life in the village or treated humanly a group of lepers. However, despite not considering truly evil, I'd still consider her the villain of the movie as she definitely showed many villainous traits despite also showing compassion and kindness. I loved how the movie didn't tell you to pick a side and, personally, I decided to stand against Eboshi. I liked how everyone in the movie is a human and, as we all should remember, humans are not perfect and that's probably the best thing about them. Every character in the movie is very well-written. They all have different personalities and motivations therefore they're able to create a well-rounded story, full of facets.

Animation: 10/10 - By far one of the most visually stunning movies I've ever seen in my life. The animation is super fluid and filled with details. The backgrounds and landscapes make the experience ten times more incredible. The tones and vibes of the movie are great too. The whole aesthetic of the movie is simply perfect and the animation, even to this day, makes most anime pale in comparison. Truly timeless.

Soundtrack: 10/10 - The soundtrack is perfect, one of the best ones I've ever heard. It adds extra layers adds an extra layer of emotion and epicness to the already epic and wonderful story. The main theme alone would be enough to give a 10/10 to the entire soundtrack.

Overall Enjoyment: 10/10 - Do yourself a favor and watch this masterpiece of a movie, please. You don't have to be an environmentalist to watch this. Watch it for Ashitaka and San's story or watch it for its beautiful animation and art. Either way, you're not going to be disappointed. One of the best movies I've seen period, let alone animated. A true masterpiece.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 17, 2024

Manthors

Mixed Feelings

Mononoke Hime did not meet my expectations. I love many of Miyazaki's works, but Mononoke Hime is not one of them. It is a beautiful movie, with amazing artwork and art direction, as all Miyazaki movies are; however, unlike his other works, Mononoke Hime has terrible explanations and conclusions to all its open questions and conflicts. The narrative is below average, and the characters are not charismatic. I classified this movie as "mixed feelings" because it has a strong legacy, and I believe every anime-loving fan should watch it. Yet, it has more bad sides than good. Additionally, the title is misleading. If you are ... deciding if you want to watch it, read what I say below.

Art and OST: I never start my reviews talking about art, but let's get this out of the way. The art is beautiful, and the art direction is awesome. Like other Miyazaki works, it is ahead of its time. The OST fits the narrative. It's not memorable, but it's good.

Story and Characters: Here is the massive problem of Mononoke Hime. Almost nothing has a good explanation, and all the characters are absurdly uninteresting. I am not kidding when I say 9 out of 10 motives are: "just because. The end." The movie leaves you with that sensation of "Wait, that's it? I saw all of this for this conclusion?" In the end, I was assimilating that all I saw made no sense. The so many "twists" the story takes are forced by reasons ranging from "just because" and "hey, that's what I want" to "Why not?". Here are some more examples of what I mean:

1) The main protagonist, Ashitaka (not Mononoke Hime), is assigned a personal mission. Why? Because it is how it is. Will his journey be nice to see? Nope, he is awful. Here, I must highlight that Mononoke Hime is a tertiary character. If you remove her from the story, nothing will change except that Ashitaka will not be horny. I am dead serious. Ashitaka is so lame and chaotic in his decision that THE ANTAGONIST HIMSELF says, "Where is this guy's allegiance?" at some point in the movie. Think about that.

2) He ends up in the middle of a massive conflict. Will this get developed and concluded? Barely. If you remove this conflict, nothing changes. The story could be done without it. It is there to raise questions that are answered with "Well, because I want it" at the end.

3) Then, he ends up in a place where he meets one of the antagonists. The antagonist will go to war with humans and spirits. Why? Because she must and f*** them. Will this get developed and concluded? Yes, in a dumb way. There were 100 ways this antagonist could have concluded this conflict peacefully or, at least, in a better way, but hey, the script just goes with the explanation, "F*** them, why not." You might think this is necessary for plot reasons, but it is just not satisfactory to understand her, her reasons, and the story's conclusion. This character is the classic "She is an asshole that is doing a massive evil in this world. She is doing real harm that could be resolved in some other way, but she treats some people well, so try to get emotionally attached to her, OK?" This is just terrible in terms of narrative. The story tries to make you be compassionate about this character because she helps some people while trying to make you ignore that she kills hundreds more and is willing to DESTROY NATURE ITSELF.

4) The other antagonist takes advantage of this conflict for his mission. What is his mission? Emperor's orders. Why did he order such an absurd thing? Because he wants it. That's it; nothing else gets developed. I can not say more without spoiling something, but imagine the Dai Kaiōshin in Dragon Ball Z asking Yamcha to get some dudes and slay Beerus. Just because. It's like Yamamoto from Bleach asking a random shinigami to get some dudes and invade Hueco Mundo. Just because.

5) Mononoke Hime is the only human fighting on the side of the spirits. Why? Because of reasons. WILL YOU KNOW MORE OF MONONOKE HIME? NO, YOU WILL NOT. This is the worst of all. The movie is called Mononoke Hime, and she is a tertiary character with barely any relevance to the plot. She is not the protagonist or the source of change and action in the plot. She is there to make Ashitaka fall in love. Man... talk about deception. She is just there. Again, let me say it again: she is just there.

6) Some plot points disappear or are concluded out of nowhere. You think that some open questions will be answered, but they vanish.

7) Finally, I am not kidding when I say that one of the major story conclusions hints that the protagonist learned nothing from all the events. All you saw was for nothing.

Overall: This is a movie that should be watched because of its legacy, especially for anime fans. It is good in terms of mythology and Japanese culture. But, in terms of narrative and characters, it is just way below average. Characters are not charismatic, make awful decisions, and provide even more awful explanations for their actions. The plot is conducted in a "because it is" way, with numerous aspects that are just forgotten and overlooked. Hence, be aware that you might feel exactly like me.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Oct 24, 2023

Kyu2

Not Recommended

Funny

If you are like me who hates pacifist main characters who can't take a side then you are going to hate the climax. Our annoying MC couldn't take a side even though it has been abundandtly clear what he should have done but he continues to help the "villains" who also don't get any punishment whatsoever despite all the cruel things they did. when i reached that point i couldn't wait to stop the movie since it took a really tasteless and infuriatin turn. like get a drip and do what must be done. Hated it felt like i wasted 2 hours of my life ... for nothing. wouldn't recommend at all if you hate pacifist , dumb , dispassionate MC.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Princess Mononoke vs. All Other Anime Movies FALLEN101 - Jul 24, 2008	40 replies	by Feitan_exe »» May 3, 10:21 AM
	Poll: Mononoke Hime Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Metty - Feb 4, 2008	208 replies	by Kilo_2K4 »» Mar 31, 8:11 PM
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	Am I the only person who didnt find Princess Mononoke to be all that great? ( 1 2 ) EmperorDemonGava - Jul 1, 2012	73 replies	by STSayeb »» Dec 30, 2022 2:57 AM

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