No
Spoilers Here
Suitable for 18 and under.
Initial Impressions: My first impression of Mononoke Hime was
that it was an Anime version of FernGully. That actually did not change much as I
watched it but with that said, this Anime has a depth all its own. While my time in this world was only a little
over 2 hours long I learned a great deal from this Anime as well. Things such as valuing traditions, striking a
balance between the past and the future, is there such a thing as true evil,
and much more are all things that Mononoke Hime hits on during the brief time
it is given.
Key
Characters
Ashitaka: Yoji Matsuda(Japanese) and Billy Crudup(English)-Ah yes the last
prince of the Emishi tribe. Here is
someone who has had a really bad day right from the start. Luckily he has his faithful companion and
friend Yakul, similar to a sable antelope more than anything else, who stands
by him throughout this whole journey. Ashitaka
is not your average brave super hero type and is very much reminiscent of your
average Joe who wants to do the right thing and make everyone happy in the
end. He has a pretty wicked shot with a
bow and arrow as well. He is also an
amazing ladies man from what I can tell.
I won’t spoil the movie but this guy knows just how to get a kiss from the
leading lady in a pretty slick way. hehe
San: Yuriko Ishida(Japanese) and Clair Danes(English)-The lady on the cover
and the adopted daughter of Moro. She
was left by her parents when she was a baby and was raised by Moro in their
stead. She does not see herself as human
but as a creature of the forest and will act accordingly when needed. Her upbringing has hardened her personality
and allowed her to become a very strong and independent woman by the time the
Anime begins. She also knows many of the
secrets of the forest and will use them against the people of Iron Town who she
sees as her greatest enemies. She is
completely loyal to the forest and her mother but is baffled by the newcomer
Ashitaka who is not like any of the humans she has encountered in the
past.
Lady Eboshi: Yuko Tanaka(Japanese) and Minnie Driver(English)-If there is anyone
for this Anime that could be labeled a villain it would be Lady Eboshi. From the get go she cares nothing at all for
the forest or its inhabitants and puts her own ambitions above all others which
inevitably leads to conflict between her and San. She is a woman on a mission whose remarkably calm
demeanor can strike many as unnerving and belies a possibly darker past that
she is keeping hidden. Lady Eboshi is
also very much a modern woman who is extremely intelligent and resourceful
which makes her the equal of any man by far.
As a result of this she has managed to make it to the top of the hierarchy
in Iron Town and will use all of her wits, as well as guns, to eliminate the
forest and its spirits who she sees as standing in her way.
Jiko-bo: Kaoru Kobayashi(Japanese) and Billy Bob Thornton….What!?....(English)-Here
is a guy that just seems strange from the beginning. He initially encounters Ashitaka as he travels
west and provides assistance but takes a strange interest in him and his
past. While he is a monk he is also a
very crafty individual who has connections with Lady Eboshi and other important
people as well. Whether he will provide
assistance, impede Ashitaka’s progress, or something else entirely is not
completely certain.
Moro: Akihiro Miwa(Japanese) and Gillian Anderson(English)-A wolf goddess
and the adoptive mother of San. She has
a very harsh attitude, especially towards outsiders, but is also a very caring
mother towards her children. Having
saved San when she was a baby she views her as one of her own and will protect
her with all of her power. She fights
against the humans of Iron Town and seeks to put an end to their destructive
ways by any means. This puts her in direct
conflict with Lady Eboshi who has the opposite goal and makes her a prime
target for the leader of Iron Town’s riflemen.
Story: The primary reason I watch
Anime is for the story. The premise of
every story is not necessarily unique to east either and has been done before
in the west as well. With Anime though I
have always found that the writers will go where the west would not dare to go
or will touch on subjects that were only touched on briefly in and targeted at
children in the west. Also as an aside,
since I mentioned the West just now, it does seem a little coincidental that
the Main Character is taking a journey to the West versus any of the other 3
directions, a subtle reference perhaps.
I say this here because it is precisely why I liked the story so much in
Mononoke Hime. Agrarianism versus
industrialism is the main premise about this Anime but what about whether or
not true evil exists? What about the
idea of hatred that is allowed to manifest itself in a person’s heart and then one
day boiling over and consuming them like a horrendous disease?
Another thing about this Anime is that almost nothing is taken as being
strictly black or white. Even the so called
‘bad’ guys have their reasons for doing what they do and they do what they must
to accomplish their goals. This Anime
does what so many western equivalents seem to gloss over and focuses on the
people in the story first and the plot surrounding them second.
Artwork: Now this Anime movie was
made in the 90’s and its artwork is admittedly a little dated. With that
said however, it is still very good in my opinion. 3d rendering was used to create some elements in the Anime but
most of it is hand drawn. Overall
the artwork does a fantastic job of setting the mood for the Anime.
Voice Acting: Now for my part I
have only watched the version of the Anime with its English voice actors so
this is going to be about them for now. I
am planning on watching the Japanese version in the near future as well so I
will hopefully have more to comment on in that regard very soon. As far as quality is concerned I think the voice
acting did fairly well. Although it was
surprising as to just how many fairly well-known actors lent their voices to
the English version of this movie. Billy
Bob Thornton in particular was a surprise and even though he did a good job
with the voice of Jiko-bo, I have to admit that I couldn’t help but think of
Bad Santa, Armageddon, and Sling Blade every time he spoke. Keith David also did a great job with setting
the tone of the movie as the narrator in the beginning as well as being the
voice of Okkoto.
Music: The music in this
Anime was great and set the mood for many of the movie’s most pivotal
scenes. Rather than elaborate on this
any further I’ll let you be the judge on this one and give you the link for the
music here. Track List
Final thoughts: Overall I thought
this was a really good Anime that took a fairly old concept and dug much deeper
into its core. This movie also takes
a refreshing approach towards its cast and paints them in a light that is more
about individual beliefs and choices rather than lumping into two camps of
either ‘good’ or ‘evil’. Ultimately this
is an Anime that is about the war between the values of the past and the
ambitions of the future and trying to find a balance between the too. This is also reminiscent of a period in Japan’s
own history where the Samurai of the past and the westernizing forces within
the country fought over the direction the country should take. If you want an experience that will leave you
thinking about a myriad of subjects that will cause you to rethink your
perspective of the world, then this is one Anime movie that I highly recommend
you check out in the future.
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