Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke
(a.k.a. Mononoke Hime)

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Site Reviews: Sheex

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Type: Fantasy, Action (Touch of romance)

Story:Ashitaka is inflicted with a curse while protecting his village from a demon and sets out to the west in search a cure. In his travels he becomes entangled in a battle between Lady Eboshi and her people of the iron works and the wolf and boar gods of the forest who are accompanied by Princess Mononoke (San). Raised by the wolves, San has hatred towards human and especially for Lady Eboshi. Ashitaka takes on the burden of trying to save everyone without losing everything. But can he make the choice between the forest or the people of the iron works?

The scenes in this movie are amazing. There are a wide range of colors from a dark forest to the bright colors for the plains. There really is no going wrong with this movie. Some people consider this movie "old" but the animation would clearly prove them wrong. It is crisp and clear in every way.

Music: If you like classical you'll love the sound track. In the movie, it fits perfectly. The music sets the mood excellently. There is not much to say about the music because it easily speaks for its self.

Characters: If you are looking for a defined good and bad, then you are looking in the wrong place. Miyazaki has made the characters human in the purest way possible. You can understand them very well. Except for the love story its a little sketchy but in the end it starts to make sense.
To sum up, it is another Miyazaki masterpiece and a must see.

[bwing55543]

Synopsis:
After warding of a demon, Ashitaka gets cursed, so he must leave his village in exile and seek the Deer God to rid himself of the curse. Along the way, he encounters gun manufacturers, samurai, and San, a woman raised by wolves. When the gun manufacturers, samurai, and Mother Nature clash, Ashitaka and San get caught in the thick of it.

Story: 9/10
The story is quite good. Initially, Princess Mononoke might seem like a fairy tale, but it becomes evident that it is much more than that not very long into the movie, particularly in the first scene where the ironmill workers are fighting against the wolves.

Also, I feel that Princess Mononoke's story tells a pretty worthwhile message. It is quite symbolic of the struggle that humans currently have with nature as we speak, only it does not include some politician looking for votes and/or money.

Animation: 10/10
To put it bluntly, the animation in this movie is top-notch. Everything is drawn brightly and beautifully and everything moves extremely realistically. I especially like how the animals are animated in this movie. I guess one cannot expect anything less from a Ghibli movie. As hard as I try, I cannot find something wrong with the animation like I can with other anime.

Sound/Music: 10/10
There is great music with great voice-acting. Ashitaka was particularly convincingly voiced.

Characters: 8/10
The characters is probably the only thing that really hurts this movie. The problem is that the two leads, Ashitaka and San, never really quite got the development they needed. We never really get to know too much about their backgrounds. As a result, their romance feels just a tad bit forced because the characters really have little, if anything, in common.

The other characters serve the movie very well, however. Eboshi, the head of the gun manufacturers, serves as a pretty good symbol of the Military-Industrial Complex that President Eisenhower warned the United States of in his farewell address. You will see what I mean when you see what she does to satiate her lust for power and glory.

Overall: 9.5/10
The lack of character development is all that really hurts Princess Mononoke. Other than that, this movie is a classic that should be experienced by all, anime fan or otherwise. In fact, I think this movie is a good one to get people who are not normally fans of anime into it.

Edit:
Please use the search function in the review forum and the specific anime discussion forum first before creating a thread.

-Ace

[noone]

(first time doing this, excuse the missteps.)

Story: Ashitaka is cursed after killing a boar god afflicted by madness. Exiled from his people forever, he decides to look for the cause of the boar god's madness, the only clue being an iron ball found inside the god's corpse.
As the curse advances on him, Ashitaka discovers an iron makers' village on the brink of open war with the last forest gods. He would not take any sides, even if on the forest gods' side is the strange girl San, who thinks herself a she-wolf and who might help him get a cure for the curse.
Time then starts to run out for the iron makers and the gods of the forest, as battle is engaged around them...

I'd give the story 10/10. There's a smooth course of the tale, and the end is not the one you'd expect. The pace is good and one gets caught in it.
(Not going to comment on the hidden messages. I refuse to see this as a "Protect Nature" pamphlet. This is a fantasy tale with some grains of alternate-history hints (the "hidden, pure" Emishi people - they were real once upon a time). It should be enjoyed as a fantasy, and if anyone chooses to see environmental messages, they're welcome to it.)

Animation: 9.5/10. The very best Studio Ghibli has ever offered (and they changed sideways, not upwards, since then, in animation artwork.)
On the original DVD, the smallest details are visible. The forest foliage for example is simply breathtaking.
There usual resemblance between character designs easily noticed in all Miyazaki Hayao's earlier movies is not to strong here. Though Ashitaka still takes after most of the young men's face details, they're being given extra care and make him an "out of the run of the mill" feeling.
This is generally valid for most of the other characters too - even if the clothing details for some of them are still rather repetitive of other Miyazaki characters from different movies.
Overall, though, one gets carried away in awe and these similarities usually appear to those who have seen more than one Miyazaki movie, or have just watched "Mononoke Hime" enough times to look for small details.

Sound: 10/10. Good SFX, great seyuus. I especially appreciate Moro's voice actor, Akihiro Miwa. He did an excellent, memorable work.
No mishaps with the BG soundtrack.
This is what perfection (or close enough to it that doesn't matter anymore) means.
(This does not apply for the American dub. I had the worst time of my life trying to HEAR what they were saying. The sound was so low I watched it with the volume almost maxed up, and still could barely hear. I recommend anyone to watch the subbed Japanese track. They also used "known" voices, as they usually do, so there was less quality in favor of more publicity. I do not mean to say this is not good for some movies. It was not enjoyable for myself, though.)

Music: 10+/10 Joe Hisaishi's music is breathtaking. I have listened to many of the scores he wrote for other Ghibli movies, but this one is just the most beautiful music I heard from him. The main theme is haunting, and the secondary themes superb. "The legend of Ashitaka" theme gets worked into "The young man from the East" and "The journey to the west", yet both secondary themes change from the mainline. Also, highly enjoyable are "The Tatara women's worksong" (I bet most anyone remembers that one) and "Princess Mononoke theme song" (I was very surprised to learn that the vocalist is not a woman - he is Yoshikazu Mera, opera singer. A beautiful voice.)
I could applaud all themes actually - and most of all, pieces of "The world of the dead" and "Adagio of life and death"are making me breath faster after even if I've listened to them over and over and over.

Characters: 9.5/10 Basically they're there for the story. They've reached their growth before the plot takes place and they start accepting change only in the end. They're not growing, but then again - one doesn't expect them to.
The one who is the focus of all change is the one who will not change at all. The ones who will change do so by small, almost undetectable movements. This is not a coming-of-age story.
There are lots of characters, main and secondary. Most of them are simple straight-lined, (as in - "this is the innocent boy who adapts to the world by seeing it innocent too, no matter what", "this is the woman who knows she has to protect those who trust her, no matter what", "this is the cynical man who will not bend before the mysteries of the world, no matter what").
As strangely as it seems, the story does not suffer from the lack of "shadowing" in these characters.

Enjoyment/Overall impression: I confess I wasn't expecting too much of this movie (before it, I had only seen "Spirited Away" and that caught my attention, but I didn't "research" Ghibli, I just happened on "Mononoke Hime".)
This is my favorite movie of all times. I have watched and re-watched it and always got caught in it, never stopped the player until it ended. One might say I am the example of target-audience for this movie. :)
I highly recommend this movie.
It is already a must-see for anyone interested in Japanese animation, and has become a symbol of excellence in this art.

(If you think there are too many superlatives here, please don't take it hard on me. Believe me, I did restrain as much as I could :))

[Vinosec]

Story: 10
By far Miyazaki's finest work. He truly captivates the audience with another one of his wonderful stories. This being the best of his stories. The quest of Ashitaka, is inspiring. The story shows what a true anime movie should be like. At least one worthy of a 10 on the review.

I love the demon/god aspect Miyazaki brings to this film. I don't think anyone could've portrayed these things better. His outlook on the forest and it's spirits helps bring the story along wonderfully.

The journey of Ashitaka, the life of San, the hatred of the pigs, all seem so real; Even though we know it could never happen. Which is one of the wonderful things about Miyazaki, and in this film it's at it's best.

Animation: 9
This animation of this film is at the peak of it's time. From the scenery to the characters. I loved all of the forest scenes. They were absolutely breath taking; Plus the tree spirits are cute.

The action sequences were seriously lacking for me. I'm not saying there wasn't enough they just weren't up to grade a. Though they were better then a lot I've seen; And I know that this isn't an action type movie. Which is why I can cut them some slack.

Sound: 9.5
The dub of this movie is really amazing. I't one of the best english dubs out there. I really think they picked the right voice actors for the parts, especially San. Claire Danes does a marvelous dub for San.

The sound of the trees and wind truly bring this film to life. They portray realness into something non-real. The sound in this film is down to the last detail. Truly amazing in it's category.

Characters: 10
I don't feel there was a bad character in the lot. They all were wonderful, and unique. Characters that had never been portrayed in such a way. Miyazaki makes them the most unique with his brilliant mind. I love the interaction between San and the wolves. No one could've made it the way he did.

Overall: 9.5
Truly an amazing film. Anyone and everyone should watch it. Especially if you haven't, at least give it a chance. Trust me it's worth every second. It truly is Miyazaki's finest work of art. Enough said, go bye it now.

[battosai37th]

story- 9
animation- 10
music- 10
voices- 10
characters- 9.5
overal- 10<--- this means alot its the first 10 ive ever given on an anime, though im still new but im sure i wont be handing another out in a long time. It almost feels like a sin to put somthing as low as a 9 on this movie, its taken all my strength not to just throw all 10s out for this one. Heres why:

The story is good easy to fallow and fun. Animation of course to be expected from a Hayao Miyazaki work. Music amazing work of Joe Hisaishi whos work i think is above that of John Williams. Voices, i think the dubbs are best (this also is a VERY rare thing for me to say) the english dubbs are all wayy well known people like, Gillian anderson, billy crudup, claire danes, minnie driver, jada pinkett smith, billy bob thornton, all good real life actors. The characters are all enjoyable and each with their own personality unique to this movie. Overal one of my all time favorites, i own this movie and suggest you all go watch it. And if my word isnt enough "One of Roger Ebert's Top 10!", "The 'Star Wars' of animated features!"New York Post, and "Breathtaking!"The Boston Globe. (that last bit was from the box, everything else was my own 2 cents.)