The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

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⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

If you think I'm making amends with the nation of Japan, you can think again. But this movie was absolutely beautiful. It was the same director as Only Yesterday, another anime I enjoyed recently, so maybe I'm just a fan of him. The movies had a lot of similarities with lots of cute, mundane moments, as well as the absolute yearning to return to simple country life. That latter is something I've come to really appreciate, especially recently as I've moved back to the country myself. It's also something Tolkien and Montgomery are big into and I feel like I'm drawn to anything with those themes.

As far as this movie goes, it's a retelling of a traditional Japanese folktale in which a bamboo cutter discovers a fairy in the woods, raises it in his cabin, and then takes her to the palace because he wants her to be a princess. I think this movie wonderfully explores that topic, of what true happiness is, and if we can be content with less. It's pretty effective, and definitely brought me close to tears a few times. I actually thought this movie had a chance to go in a really great direction, but alas, they never consulted me on the script.

But the main draw in this movie is its sheer beauty. The music was fantastic, both heartbreaking and inspiring, and the songs that the characters sing are pretty touching. The animation is also unlike anything you've ever seen. It's this terrific, simplistic water colour that looks like traditional Japanese art. But it's also breathtaking at times, in a way that I can only compare to Spiderverse, though of course the styles are opposites. Indeed, if this movie has no words, and just music and art, that alone would get it a good score.

In fact maybe even higher! Because in the end, this is anime, and the ending is very weird because it barely connects to the rest of the movie. I want to like anime, but I was bored during the climax because it felt like nonsense. But yeah, I don't want to leave on a negative. This movie was terrific and moving and you should all watch it. We watched the dubbed version which I thought worked really well.

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