Name: Hatred is a demon and a poison that will kill you and everyone around you
Item: Princess Mononoke
Rating: 86
Author: Underscore

Waifra

Hatred is a demon and a poison that will kill you and everyone around you · Waifora

#⬢⬡⬢| Princess Mononoke |⬢⬡⬢

img100%(https://i.imgur.com/c80MPeY.gif) The forces of nature clash with human civilization, and morality is never black and white. Through complex characters, picturesque visuals, and powerful storytelling Princess Mononoke captivates you in an immersive story about love and hate.

##⬢⬡| Overview |⬡⬢

Story: Explores the moral greyness of the world, of love and hate (9/10)

Characters: Some of the most human and realistic characters I've seen in anime (8.9/10)

Visuals: Feels like a moving painting with that unique 90's/Ghibli style (8.7/10)

Audio: Mostly full of dramatic orchestra scores, decent SFX (8.4/10)

Bingeable/Hype: Keeps you glued to your seat (8/10)

Enjoyment: I liked the unique story and storytelling (8.8/10)

##⬡ Overall: *(8.6/10)* ⬡

##⬢⬡| Plot |⬡⬢ ##(9/10)

Right of the bat, the story jumps right in following Ashitaka, a young prince who fights a demon, an embodiment of hatred. During this, he's touched by the demon, marking his arm, which forces him out of his village on a quest to find the source of the demon's hatred and hopefully lift its curse. On this journey he faces human nature, and well, nature nature, and the balance between the two trying to navigate what's right and wrong in this world.

\My thoughts on the plot\

Spoiler, click to view

Princess Mononoke certainly checks all the boxes, but what really makes it so special is not really the story it tells, but how it tells it. It's kind of a complex narrative, but presented in an easy to digest way, and not shoved down your throat

It uses a colorful world to tackle grey morality.

Ashitaka was cursed by the demon, which granted him superhuman ability when surrounded by hate; every time he used that power either himself or those around him were filled with hatred. But, the power is like a poison, slowly killing him. Hate can enable you to do great things, but in the end, it will ultimately kill you from the inside out.
img75%(https://i.imgur.com/90iTwSX.gif)

However, despite having all this hate (literally) in him, he has the greatest capacity for empathy. He just wants everyone to be able to peacefully coexist. However, he's not the only one with the capacity for both.

It's a colorful world in more than one sense; every character is filled with both love and hate. Every character is capable of both good and evil. And this is what makes the storytelling so great. It's realistic. Conflict arises in their world just like it does in ours. People fight for what is best for their own communities. the characters have deep compassion and love for those around them, but hatred for anyone who goes against the interests of their group.

We can see this clearest in San and Lady Eboshi. Both of them are honorable people but cursed (though not literally like Ashitaka) by hatred. San, being abandoned by humans and raised by the wolves and seeing herself as one of them, has great compassion for both them and all nature. This causes her to see Iron Town and all of humanity, especially Lady Eboshi, as enemies. Lady Eboshi is also an admirable person, creating a home for all of society's rejects, like prostitutes and lepers. She too has great compassion for her own community. But in order to stay alive and protected they must draw iron from the land around them. Unfortunately, this directly harms the wilderness around them.

Neither San nor Lady Eboshi are bad people, and in fact, they are very similar. Both possess determination and care for those around them. They just happen to be at opposite ends of the conflict.

img75%(https://i.imgur.com/za6TSVu.gif)

Unlike most stories, where there's a main and obvious antagonist, this story has no big bad guy. Both sides can be justified in what they are doing even if it's harming another group, because they're looking out for their own. Neither are wrong in their ideals, but flawed in their methods. It's a morally grey world.

The real antagonist was never a person, but conflict itself.

The story ends with the death of the forest spirit and the destruction of Iron Town, the embodiments of what each side was trying to destroy. However, both nature and humanity are still there. The antagonist, conflict, is gone, and with it Ashitaka's curse. In order to defeat the demon of hate in us all, we must learn from one another and pursue peace and brotherly love.

img75%(https://i.imgur.com/vSBOcvP.png)

img80%(https://i.imgur.com/MUMsayr.png)

##⬢⬡| Characters |⬡⬢ ##(8.9/10)

The characters are probably the most developed and "human" people I've seen. Usually characters tend to be over emphasized and dramatic, but in this larger-than-life world, the characters feel like regular people. This is emphasized in the small details of their animated habits, and their interactions with each other and the world around them. Much of the story's focus is on three people, Ashitaka, San, and Lady Eboshi. San, AKA Princess Mononoke, is the strong and independent character who represents the natural world. Raised by wolves, she views herself as one of them. Because of her love for her wolf family and all the forest, she see's Iron Town and all of humanity as her enemy. Representing humanity is Lady Eboshi, founder of Iron Town, who created it as a sanctuary for the outcasts of the world and cares deeply for her community. The only way for her community to survive is to mine iron, which makes them a target of other communities forcing them to expand their power in order to defend themselves, expansion at the cost of the forest around them. Ashitaka is in the middle, torn between his loyalty to people and humanity and his growing empathy for the forest gods and nature. He's the character with the most empathy for others, but this also gives him the capacity for the most hate. Then you have the supporting characters such as Jigo, Toki, and the animal gods, who add even more depth to the story.

\More in depth thoughts about characters\

Spoiler, click to view

I don't know if this counts as spoiler content, but I'm going to be careful just in case.

People are people.

I just want to talk about why I love the characters in this movie so much. It's some of the most accurate depictions of humans and human nature I've seen in anime, and not just people dealing with right and wrong. Like I mentioned before, most characters in media feel exaggerated and overly dramatic, but not these ones. Throughout the film we see these animated characters both literally and metaphorically. Almost unnoticed is the fine details of each person, and honestly that's how it should be. It's the small, overlooked things about people that make us so human. Ashitaka has a pronounced walk, San never looks at people head-on, but always at an angle or not looking at them at all, (I know it's an animated movie from the 90's but still) a character licks their lips or spits, a brief expression here or there. None of these things are technically needed but they breathe so much life into the people of this story.

img75%(https://i.imgur.com/oDRaJfC.gif)

No romance can be a good thing.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good romance story, but it's not necessary all the time. The moment I saw a boy and girl on screen together I waited the whole movie for Ashitaka and San to fall in love but to my surprise they never did. The women in this story are by no means damsels in distress, (although one of them is a princess I guess) and the men aren't some heightened caricature of bravado. They just exist in the world as genuinely interesting and deep characters. The two certainly didn't start out on the best terms, but they grew to respect each other. They had a great dynamic, because, in the theme of the movie, each of them had different goals and ways of getting there and they weren't good or evil. They slowly began to understand each other through compassion, and instead of falling in love, the two bonded through that mutual understanding and formed a strong platonic relationship, which is almost a more pure form of love anyway. (Because, it's kind of weird to force love on younger characters, aren't these guys like young teenagers or something?)

img75%(https://i.imgur.com/CS98z4s.gif)

img80%(https://i.imgur.com/JrT2Bos.png)

##⬢⬡| Visuals |⬡⬢ ##(8.7/10) You just can't find anything like the good old hand-drawn animation of the 90's. This movie in particular has meticulous attention to detail in both the characters and scenery. In a word, it's mystical. There's a certain aesthetic to it that I just can't put into words. The action sequences and just overall animation really shine and fully immerse you in this world.

img80%(https://i.imgur.com/kNZUwBB.gif)

##⬢⬡| Audio |⬡⬢ ##(8.4/10) The audio design overall does a great job complementing the visuals. There's enchanting musical scores that help capture whimsy of the story. The sound effects, from the rustling leaves to the clashing swords, are also good. I think SFX are perfect when, aside from a few specific scenarios, you don't really notice them, but they still add so much in the background. There job is to be kind of underneath, supporting and accentuating everything else, and this movie did a pretty goof job of that. But nothing stood out as amazing. There were a few times I personally didn't care for the music but most of the time it was really impactful. As for the voice acting, I watched it dubbed and it was good, and the little bit I saw subbed was also pretty alright; I wouldn't say one was either better or worse than the other.

img80%(https://i.imgur.com/WqSot6m.png)

##⬢⬡| Bingeability/Hype |⬡⬢ ##(8/10) This is a factor I always consider when rating something because it shows how much I want to keep watching, and by extension how much it impacted me. Now, with a movie, you can't exactly binge, but I can tell you I was glued to my seat the entire time, completely drawn in. I was looking forward to watching this because I'd already seen two other films from Miyazaki and Ghibli and so of course was expecting great things. Princess Mononoke did not disappoint.

img80%(https://i.imgur.com/wPcjRd2.gif)

##⬢⬡| Enjoyment |⬡⬢ ##(8.8/10) While maybe not in my top ten overall, I thought it was a masterpiece of storytelling. It's definitely a thought provoking movie with complex characters, not to mention lovely visuals. I loved the character dynamics more than anything else and the film left an impact I won't soon forget.

img25%(https://i.imgur.com/KK1bDVb.gif)