Anime: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari

Review
Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya) can be summed up as an exquisite, unique, and profound movie that leaves a mark where no other would in the japanese industry. Taken by the powerful Studio Ghibli and directed by the skilled Isao Takahata, this is an adaptation of a japanese folk tale, a story created to teach much about morals, personal wishes, and greed. Having such a renowned team animate this kind of story is quite unique, especially when you take into consideration the way they did it.

This is the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where a bamboo forest provides an old couple with a young magical child and every wealth and material needs she requires. First called Hime by the old bamboo cutter, the child grows and learns quickly as she experiences the life of a rural girl, befriending local boys and enjoying the life in sync with nature. Everything she needs the forest provides to her new parents, but that's when greed comes to play.

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1. It's as classical as it can get
   The first thing you can notice about this movie is its chosen art style. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is unique, as if it was entirely painted in the old parchments where japanese art flourished in the past. The crude drawings and the light painting can initially evoke an aura of laziness, but as the first minutes go on its quality becomes evident. The animation is superb, the weirdly proportioned characters are charismatic, and there is an amazing atmosphere built around this tale that pumps the classical folk tale to a modern take.
   
   Wealth and veneration
   At first Hime is seen by the old couple as a sign of the gods, as a divine child they must nurture as some kind of challenge or task. They yearn for it, they enjoy it, and they give the girl the love she needs to be happy and grow into a fine young woman. Although they see her divinity, they treat her like the daughter she is. Steadily though, as the forest showers the old bamboo cutter with gold and fine clothes, he starts to fall to his greed, mixing his own wish to enjoy the life of a noble with the mission of giving Hime a life worthy of the gods.
   
   It's about teachings
   As most folk tales, there are a lot of things to learn from it. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is about teaching people the shortcomings of some actions and feelings. In this case, the bamboo cutter is won over by his own personal desires and thinks that by doing what he think is right he will be doing the best for Hime. He wants to give her a life of a noble princess but never really asks her what she wants. There are princes wishing to wed her against her will, protocols that she must learn that do not allow her to smile or be happy, and much more imposing barriers, visible and invisible that slowly strip her from happiness and put to question whether the gods sent her to be venerated or simply to enjoy life.
   
   It's rather long though
   The idea is simple, the characters are there and the Ghibli charm slowly takes you to travel in this folk tale, but considering the length of this movie, it starts to drag at the later parts, echoing the issues faced by the now named Kaguya as she is shoved into a life of a noble princess. This is a long movie for animation standards, and perhaps the pace could be enhanced as the thrill of the end comes to place and the magical sparkle of the folk tale brings an emotional finish.
   

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Comments
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is rather unique among Studio Ghibli's portfolio. It starts with the unconventional art style and goes further with a somewhat typical folk tale that is quite easy to preview as it happens. The production, care to detail, and intriguing atmosphere, however, make this an amazing refresher and an different experience when compared to everything else in the japanese animation industry.

Take the art style to the heart and let the show do its magic and you will dive into a captivating experience.

Sigh...Ghibli have kind of lost their edge lately, imo...First The Wind Rises with it's poor audio, and now this one with a weird/lazy artstyle...I'm a long-time Ghibli fan, but The Wind Rises was the first movie from Miyazaki that I didn't think was all that great, and this one is kind of overrated if you ask me. It certainly doesn't deserve a 9. The plot is ok, but nothing special. Average. I didn't like the art. It only detracted from the experience we could have gotten with a "normal" artstyle like the the one in Spirited Away, Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, Totoro, etc. The music is great as always though. Joe Hisaishi delivers (he always does). The voice acting was also good. the characters were decent. I was kind of expecting this result, since Takahata Isao is the Director for this movie, and his movies (like Grave of the Fireflies and My Neighbours the Yamadas) are the Ghibli movies I tend to like the least. Here's hoping that Omoide no Marnie (which is directed by Yonebayashi Hiromasa, who directed Arrietty, so that gives me hope that it'll be good) is better.

Among Takahata's finest works. This film starts slow but pulls you in as it runs. It has a soft pastel palette evocative of watercolors. The shots are extremely calming, though perhaps not as technically enthralling as, say, Hayao Miyazaki's animations--some shots are drawn with a beautiful roughness that you would not find in his works. I consider this a must watch for anime fans, especially those interested in Japanese folklore, as this film is based on perhaps the most well-known folk tale of Japan.

It tells the tale of a girl descended from the moon, who is found in a bamboo stalk and fills the lives of a bamboo cutter and his wife with joy. The beginning of the film--when the girl is a baby--is not as strong as the rest of the work, so I'd advise people to at least watch until they get past that part. It is worth the ride, which starts very unassumingly but builds slowly into something utterly enchanting. Princess Kaguya is happy in her earthly life at first though her foster parents aren't rich, nor do they possess nice things. She loves to run around in the fields with the other kids (especially Sutemaru) and play with the wildlife. She is content to work with her hands. The rustic life really is the one for her.

But one day her father, This film, at least the way I interpreted it, is at times a blistering critique of old Japanese court customs, where princesses were hidden from sight from suitors, and made to pluck their eyebrows and paint their teeth black.

One of my favorite aspects of the movie was the little details. For example, having your robes look picture-perfect as you sit and bow seems to be an important thing, so there's this attendant to Princess Kaguya who's always smiling and fixes people's robes when they sit; the tutor attendant, too, fixes Kaguya's robes at a choice time. It sounds like nothing but it tickled my funny bone. That's Takahata's gentle sense of humor for you.

Anyway, watch this film for its different art style, to remind yourself that sometimes a simple life is best, and that being a princess ain't all it's cracked up to be. Overall 8/10.

Art & Animation 8/10
It's a pleasant, albeit sometimes rough, watercolor style. The colors are very soft and pastel, which might be a bit monotonous throughout the entire film. The outlines aren't always perfectly filled in; I don't think everyone will be enamored with it, and I don't think it's as technically precise as Miyazaki's works, but it's still nice. There can be joy and charm to shots that feel slightly unfinished, I feel. There's this one breathtaking scene in particular of Princess Kaguya running from the mansion that was in all the trailers, and for good reason.

Sound 8/10
Good voice acting from the lead character. Some good sound effects, too, especially the sound of people walking on the wooden walkways of the mansion or on the tatami mats of the bamboo cutter's hut. It's hard to complain about Joe Hisaishi's music, which was lighter and more subdued than usual to fit a softer film.

Story 7/10
It's not an original story by any means--it's literally a folk tale, something retold over and over again. The story of a princess unhappy with the realities of a noble life is about as tried and true as it gets. But it all comes together quite well regardless. It successfully makes you sad and wistful for Princess Kaguya; it makes you wish things could've turned out slightly differently.

Character 6/10
Princess Kaguya's plight during court life is what makes her the sole memorable character. I guess I took some humor from her suitors too, though.

Value 8/10
It's always nice to see a movie that might encourage more experimental art styles in anime.

Enjoyment 9/10
Takahata's gentle style and sense of humor are fully apparent in this work. That one attendant girl who was always smiling made me smile too.