Journal Entry – Week 13

Princess Mononoke 

In Miyazaki’s 1997 animated picture Princess Mononoke, many topics centered on man and his conflict are portrayed, but we will only focus on the battle between man and nature. This theme arguably impacts the film and many of the characters’ behaviors along the way, emphasizing its significance. The intense fights between man and his beast god equivalents demonstrate this. Nature is portrayed as a formidable force, but one that is aging, whereas humanity is depicted as a group that is beginning to industrialize and gaining strength. Lady Eboshi, a powerful young leader, and her industry powerhouse of a hamlet, “Iron Town,” as well as a young Prince, Ashitaka, who was cursed by a demon, represent the human half of society. The old animal gods’ strength and power may be seen clearly in the Boar God, Okkoto-nushi, and the Wolf Goddess, Moro-no-kimi, and they weathered yet formidable ways; additionally, this power can be observed in San, a young girl raised by wolves. This film, much to the joy of the audience, is more than just a never-ending conflict between old and new; it also investigates the grey region of the present and seeks to establish a balance. Throughout the film, a bond forms between Ashitaka and San, which blossoms and begins to resolve the long-running conflict between man and nature.

Referencehttps://wp.wwu.edu/cinemawithfletcher/2017/05/16/princess-mononoke-final-draft/

Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation film studio formed in 1985 by animators and filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and Takahata Isao, as well as producer Suzuki Toshio. His art is characterized by reoccurring themes of conflict between nature and man. The narrative of Princess Mononoke revolves around a struggle between the forest gods and a mining enterprise. The natural world has the potential to be violent and vicious. It is a clash between the environment and mankind.

The clothes that the subjects in the Japanese scrolls were drawn with a lot of detail which can be seen in anime today. The clothes were also drawn with great texture up to the point where I can tell that they were wearing sokutai outfits that were worn by members of the Japanese imperial court. This level of detail and texture is what makes it possible to have anime shows solely based on food that looks better in the show than in real life. The way that the people in the Japanese scroll interact with the environment and the way that the background is drawn a little out of focus gives the scroll some depth that also shows up in anime as well.

The most well-known film from Studio Ghibli that represents the conflict between man and the natural world is Princess Mononoke. The story of Princess Mononoke is about how the peace between humans, animals, and gods would start to fall which resulted in conflict between the humans and gods. The main character, young Ashitaka, is infected and cursed by an animal attack. He is trying to seek a cure from the deer-like god Shishigami. In his travels, he sees humans devastating the earth, which results in causing anger among the wolf god Moro and his human companion Princess Mononoke. At the end of the film, Ashitaka breaks the curse and finally achieves peace between all. The film represents the Man vs Nature theme of how humanity would use its technology to destroy nature and thus the nature would punish humanity with its natural disasters.

Studio Ghibli’s work often has themes about conflicts between man and the natural world. Pick one of the films they produced and explain how this theme is integrated into the story. Which characters represent the natural world? How is the conflict shown? Is it resolved?

A film that I think best represents this question is the movie Life of Pi. The reason why I think this film answers these questions is because throughout the film you can see the conflict between the main protagonist and the animal and throughout the film you see the struggles that both parties involved. In  this case a boy and a wild animal and as time goes on you see the relationship between the boy and the tiger progressively get better opposed to how it was at the beginning. In this case the conflict is the need to survive and to find a way home. As well the way the conflict is resolved is by the end of the film the boy and the tiger form a bond and reflect all the obstacles they had to overcome.  In order to survive that being said  I feel this film is a good representation of how there is conflict between man in this case a boy and natural world in this case a lion and how it’s resolved.

Prompt 1 : Studio Ghibli’s work often has themes about conflicts between man and the natural world. Pick one of the films they produced and explain how this theme is integrated into the story. Which characters represent the natural world? How is the conflict shown? Is it resolved?

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated epic historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli. Princess Mononoke is set in the late Muromachi period of Japan (approximately 1336 to 1573 CE), but it includes fantasy elements. The story follows a young Emishi prince named Ashitaka, and his involvement in a struggle between the gods of a forest and the humans who consume its resources. Mononoke represents the connection between the environment and humans, but also demonstrates that there is an imbalance in power between the two. The hidden message of this anime is that all the corruption in nature is caused by the human race. Technology isn’t bad on it’s own, but we can use technology in a way that only benefits ourselves and is destructive for others. And that is why as we get to Princess Mononoke, the film’s curse is a human curse, and it comes from gods being attacked with technology that was created with the intent to destroy. The conflicts in this anime can be described as 3 parts: Man vs nature, Man vs man and finally man vs self. The end of this film portrays the idea of wrestling with internal struggles is something all humans can relate to. Ashitaka had to choose a side between humanity and nature. He have seen all sides, and since he’s approaching the fight from a place of empathy, and a real desire for understanding, he’s able finally to broker peace between them all and chose to take side with San aka princess mononoke.