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my favorite thing about this movie is the sympathy it shows to many people in this world. Aboshi could have just been just evil, but she legitimately is making a better world for people to live in. Its just on the backs of the dead forests. And the forest spirits have every right to be mad. But they want extinction of humans too, just as dangerous a thought as what the humans want. The true villain in this movie is bloodlust and revenge. Its easy to fight and kill and find reasons to do it again. its harder to live despite the cruelty and find peace.
Cool hearing Keith David voicing the boar god, but what's even cooler (at least to me) is knowing that Moro, the wolf goddess, is voiced by Gillian Anderson, Agent Scully!
@@jaives Moro has a male _voice_ in the Japanese dub, yes. She's still female, though. It's a Japanese tradition that all talking dogs are voiced by men, and all talking cats are voiced by women, regardless of their actual sex.
@9:20 Interesting to see how in the english version they took out the meaning of the crystal dagger and made Ashitaka and Kaya seem like brother and sister when in the japanese version the dagger is like an engagement ring, only given away at the wedding. Kayas goodbye is basically her confessing her love to Ashitaka. Which makes it also more meaningful when Ashitaka gifts the crystal dagger to San later.
@laurainathunderstorm But it's pretty much suggested. Making them siblings in the english dub changes how you see their relationship, the meaning of the dagger and why it is such an impoetant moment when he decides to give it to San later on. I also grew up with the German Version where they make it more explicit that the dagger is a romantic gift. It's just interesting and fascinatong to me how little changes like that can effect a story :)
Lady Eboshi is trying to survive and thrive in a world which is cruel to her, her women, and her lepers. We see the politics behind it all, and we can understand why she wants to expand, why she wants to bring prosperity to her people. I really love her character.
I think the "our shifts are 4 days long" is more like a fireman being three days on or similar. They aren't working that whole time. The are still eating and sleeping and socializing, but they are also doing shifts on the bellows.
The significance of the crystal dagger was in how it opened San's eyes as to how she was letting her hate consume her. It was a gift from someone she cared about and in her anger and hate she used it to hurt someone she cared about. That's why she was so shocked when she stabbed him, because she was horrified at what she had done and become going from wanting to save the forest to wanting to just kill the humans.
One of my favourite movies of all time. For the environmental concerns, the grey morality, the sentiment of loving nature more than civilization, for the animation and the story. And that last twenty minutes - wow. Gets me every time. Magic.
The narrative point of "seeing with eyes unclouded" is what makes this film so important to me. In encourages us to set aside our biases and stigmas to see things as they truly are in reality. Life can become so much clearer, make so much more sense, but appear so much more tragic that way. This is putting in a much shorter way than it should be expressed, of course.
Lady Eboshi is just trying to make it in a world where war is everywhere and spirits dictate where you can live sometimes, I understand not wanting to hurt nature but the only ones we see who know how to deal with the spirits is the one tribe in the beginning. It’s hard to say don’t fight the forest spirits when we see the damage they can do.
I love the script so much. Lady Eboshi wants to help the weak and the hurt, but in order to protect them, she needs the metal from the mountains. Wolf Goddess Moro wishes to protect the forest and the homes of those living there. Neither side is good nor evil, they are both heroes for their people.
At heart Lady Eboshi wants total freedom, she pick people that are oppressed, she refuses to bow to gods and want to be free from the human world and the emperor, That's why she's at peace at the end despite loosing everything, in the end she got nothings that people like lord Asano or the Emperor would want, she kept her promises. She's free.
I didn't realise how many people rated this so highly, alot of people's favourite Miyazaki movie, favourite animation and even favourite movies. And with good reason. It is a masterpiece.
You guys would LOVE "Kiki's Delivery Service" It's a beautiful ghibli move that's less plot heavy than this movie but still has a super powerful message❤❤
Fun Fact: I watched this movie in preschool. I don’t just mean during my time in preschool, I also mean in my preschool class when I was a wee lad. Like, they literally wheeled out the TV in the middle of my classroom one day and popped this movie in randomly. Little 6 year old me saw heads flying off in the first 10 minutes and went, “I don’t think I should watch this…but I can’t look away.”
If I'm not mistaken, there's a term in Japanese called "ma" that means the silent or quiet moment in storytelling, that communicates as much as anything else. I love that Miyazaki movies have time to breathe and let the story grow.
I was part of a test screening when Disney was first considering bringing these over to the US. I remember being so pumped when I walked out of the theater!
'princess mononoke' was the first ghibli movie i've ever watched !!! i'd say it's my third favorite after 'when marnie was there' and 'nausicaä'. i've definitely rewatched 'when marnie was there' the most, it became a comfort movie and i watch it whenever my anxiety is acting up
"To see with eyes unclouded by hate" is probably my favorite line from any media. Such fantastic advice. I hope you guys do Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I know at least two Miyazaki nerds that managed to completely miss that one.
Nausicaa is one of my top 2 Miyazaki films too. I'm not generally a fan of the post apocalyptic genre, but the way they played it worked for me. I wish Miyazaki would have gone back and done an OVA series based on his full manga which has a lot more story than the movie does.
I find it so interesting that most people watching this movie are on the side of the forest but in their own lives they most likely are more like the humans from iron town. Yet, it has something soothing to for a moment try and remember that we should live together with nature and not try to completely eradicate it, despite nature being chaotic and us wanting to have everything very predictable.
26:50 The wealth produced by Irontown allows Lady Eboshi to provide social welfare for those under her wing. You shouldn't think that her line here comes from greed. It's obviously a metaphor for the dilemma of the modern civilization we live in.
it's the details you spot even after numerous viewings. For instance, when the Spirit of the Forest falls on Iron Town, when it shows the town's inhabitants in the water, one of the lepers realises they've been cured! Don't think I spotted this until my 15th viewing. Great movie!
I love how everyone at first just inmediately just decides a good and bad side despite the frase "see a world unclowded by hatred" is said a lot and is practically the thing that helps Ashitaka keep going, and I say I love it 'cause you either realize at the end what you were doing or after many rewatches and in both everyone can agree on simply wanting to watch it again. And is also why, for me, the first time I finished watching it the end felt kinda weird, because no one lost yet there's no winner, the people from the iron village have to start again and won't keep the land how they first intended to, the forest as it was is dead, princess didn't kill the lady (sorry I'm bad at their names), the boars, the monkeys, so many sides so many goals, points of view and ways of doing things and yet none worked but Ashitakas, getting that neutral ending. The fact that you feel weirdly unsatisfied yet amazed by an ending merely because it has no real winner says a lot of the kind of stories we're used to and how sometimes someone can miss an entire point despite it being there in front of your face the entire time throughout the protagonist. Also, I believe the english dub is- a bit more harsh than the original? idk I watched it with subtitles, the way they talk really kinda makes you take mostly the forest side
Lady Eboshi isn't supposed to be a villain, just flawed. Her main flaw is she believes humans are of a higher order than nature and animals, even the animal gods. She's a stand-in for us modern humans. And Irontown is a stand-in for modernity. And she needs the iron not strictly for profit but also for Irontown's survival. The weapons they make from the iron are not only for trade but also for protecting Irontown from the samurais and animals. As beautiful as nature is, it can also dangerous. The world in the film is a violent world full of cruelty and danger, whether human side or nature side. And at the end she does pay a price (losing her arm) and learn to seek a better balance with nature.
Lady Eboshi is probably one of my favorite characters in all of Ghibli (she occupies a similar space to Kushana from Nausicaa). Not b/c I like what she's doing, but there is a moral gray there. Clearly, there's good in her that she takes in the lepers and buying out the contracts of the prostitutes and giving them work (btw, I think what they meant by four day shifts is just a four day work week?). But, it's the age old question of how much we/humans are willing to sacrifice of nature and the world we live in in the name of progress and more creature comforts. Like Tolkien, Miyazaki's works are full of nature vs humans and industrialization themes in most/all of his works.
The enemy in this movie isn't either HUMANS or NATURE, since both have positives and negatives like the human Yuboshi cared for the lepers who would've never made it in nature, while Nature cares for the world but is extremely unforgiving and would kill the weak and frail if they could not make it. Life and death, nature and industry. Such a nice movie and such a beautiful message!
This is such a beautiful movie. In my culture we still believe that there are still spirit guardian's in big forest that are still left in our beautiful world.
I feel like she’s one of the better villains in animation because you can hate her because she’s trying to destroy the Forrest but you could also like her because she’s trying to help her people from what they used to be by destroying the forest.
She is as wrong as she is right. Same as forest animals. And forest god that was giving and taking life took no side in this conflict. People tend to overlook this for some reason. In the end humans are just animals and part of everything. If nature run its course most of iron Town people would be dead, preyed upon or enslaved. On the other hand in nature strongest flourish and weak are left behind. Maby it was time for forest gods to be left behind? Nature in its purest form.
This film asks such a beautiful question: how do well-intentioned parties with conflicting goals learn to coexist peacefully without letting hatred corrupt their hearts? There is no easy answer, but it's what we must learn to do--see with eyes unclouded by hate.
Renting this movie from Blockbuster changed my entire opinion on animation at 12 years old. I had no idea how deep a story could be, this same year I saw Akira, which if you guys haven’t seen is probably the most important movie in Japan-America anime importations of all time. These are big boy movies and I adore them
I gotta mention a lot of Japanese folklore is incorporated in this movie, it’s not just the director’s “imagination” he’s drawing from their rich culture, for example the Emishi people that Ashitaka is a Prince of are traditional indigenous Japanese people from the north of Japan
Studio Ghibli is sometimes a channel killer. They will wait till you get three videos up and then put three strikes, all at the same time. Please do some research before posting any more, I might have misinformation, confused about what I heard, or totally wrong about everything.
This is an amazing film! Another reading is from a feminist pov. Aboshi isn't after wealth in the sense to be rich, she is building a fortress to house and accommodate all the people within, to provide protection and the freedom people (they were former slaves, prostitutes, destitutes, etc.) could not obtain in other fiefdoms under the Shogun's rule. She is essentially trying to break from the constraints of society - unfortunately, money is necessary - by building a stronghold.
6:3835:22 They are not Demons. Thinking like that is part of what lead people like Lady Eboshi to think so callously and disdainfully of the forest and the animals animals and spirits that live there. The two Boars are gods/kami and deserve(d) respect, and the Ape Tribe are just some of the local wild life. I think you're kinda missing some of Miyazaki's messaging a bit, thinking that way. As a followup to the environmental story of Princess Mononoke, I *highly* suggest Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind! ^_^ It was (and one other, I doubt yall could even find, or could be shown on YT) were my very first experiences with anime, and my absolute fav of pretty much any media. Being an earlier work of Miyazaki's, you will find elements of both Ashitaka and San/Mononoke present in Nausicaa's personality.
It's Keith David btw. I've only watched the first 3 minutes of this video, I'm sure you get around to it eventually. But it's Keith David. Keith David basically the only person that sounds like Keith David, so his voice is very recognizable.
My favorite Miyazaki movie is "Porco Rosso" and my favorite non-Miyazaki Ghibli films are "Whisper of the Heart" and "When Marnie Was There." "Princess Mononoke" is my third favorite Miyazaki movie behind "Porco Rosso" and "Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro." All aforementioned films are amazing masterpieces.
Omg, please do more Ghibli!!! Porco Rosso is my personal favorite, followed by Mononoke, then Totoro, Howl's, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky. Seriously can't go wrong with Ghibli though.
Billy crudup is ashitaka, Minnie driver is lady eboshi, Jada pinkett smith is toki, Claire danes is mononoke, Gillian anderson is Moro, and Keith david was the intro narrator lol
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw this when it came out in theaters for the first time in the US with my little brother in an art house theater in Madison WI. He thought it would be stupid but I convinced him to go with me and he became a fan as well. The morally grey areas for many characters is what helps makes it so captivating. I love the Japanese voice cast for this as well, but the dub for this is one of my favorites up with the likes of Cowboy Bebop. I was so glad you got to experience this movie for the first time and that you both enjoyed it. The art direction and music for this film is so good as well.
I loved this duo on the Hereditary reaction, you worked out so great in noticing the stories and themes, so I know you will love this one. ❤ And I'm POSITIVE Tara and you would love Kiki's delivery service.
Mike McShane was the voice of one the villagers. He also was the voice of the Hand in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and was a regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway (British version)
What a beautiful artistic film, a more rustic style of The Wild Robot! It truly gives The Legend of Zelda vibes. This is truly a simple, rustic, beautiful film with some fragmentation of a dark tone
My second Ghibli film I ever watched after Spirited Away... and it's my favorite from them. Miyazaki does SUCH a good job showing the different sides and balancing the themes in this film.
One of my top three Ghibli movies of all time! So glad to see you guys doing a reaction to this. I would love it if you guys could do Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service or any of other Ghibli films. For that matter, might I also suggest Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro? It's not a Ghibli movie, but it is directed by Miyazaki before he made the studio (I think?)
I remember watching this on the hbo channels as a kid (before Netflix, crunchyroll, before any “apps”) all you had was what your parents could afford cable-wise in the 90s. Which bundle I guess. I didn’t understand that part at the time, I just knew we could watch cable at some houses and not at other houses. But some families you could tell were living comfortably (or spending comfortably). It’s when as a kid I found out there were more anime than what was on Toonami (I started with DBZ, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Inuyasha). Literally blew my mind as a 7 year old in 1997 that anime could be not a reoccurring series. (Remember I’m 7 in 1997. Some of y’all didn’t even exist in this timeline yet) Now I feel like 7 year olds have unlimited opportunities but for some reason it feels like the generations usually go like this: - Child: naive - Teen: experimental - Young Adult: feel invincible - Mid Adult: Mid life crisis (self awareness/realization of all the years that have passed you can’t go back to/or you’re running away from because they were traumatic) Idk what happens next so I won’t even try to guess. But I love this movie, so imma stop commenting and finish watching y’all’s reaction 😅😅😅
This was the first Miyazaki or Ghibli film I ever saw back as a kid, and oh man talk about a hell of a first impression. Still my favorite film of both the director and studio.
As Human beings, we dominate the world, and nature is there so we can survive. The balance is knowing when to use the resources nature provides, and when to leave it alone. A lot of environmental activists don't understand this, along with companies that sometime abuse the land they use for profit. The arguing over the resource we use for gas powered cars is one such thing.
Rejects reacting to more anime :O Let's go yes! You have to check out Ponyo, Sprited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service! Some of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's finest work :)
Lord Okkoto, the Narrator. Keith David. He also voiced the Arbiter in Halo. And in The Final Shape, a Destiny 2 DLC, he took over the voice work of Lance Reddick after his passing, as Commander Zavala. And I'm sure he has many many more roles.
A huge metaphor/theme in this movie is knowing when the lay down your arms and stop the violence. So i think the monk and Lady Aboshi werent "learning a lesson" per say, just finally stopped their part in the killing. They saw were their greed and violence got them, and knew it wasnt worth it. Thats what Ashitaka was fighter for.
Studio Ghibli films are simply brilliant. I love the films of Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies are actually my favorite movies. All this with the music of Joe Hisaishi, a musically colorful experience.
Anna Paquin DID do the voice of Sheeta, the heroine, in the 2003 English language dub of Miyazaki's Castle In the Sky. It's my personal favourite of his films, mostly because it was my first, basically it was my true introduction to anime cinema during my childhood, but it's also a really incredible family-friendly fantastical action adventure anyway, as well as one of the original Steampunk properties. The dub also features the voices of James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Mandy Patinkin, Richard Dysart and, definitely coolest of all, Mark Hamill as the duplicitous Agent Muska, arguably Miyazaki's VERY BEST villain. It's DEFINITELY essential viewing on this director's back catalogue.
"It's a strong pitch for portage." I feel that way too. I hate the consistency of portage, oatmeal, and even grits. But every time I see people make rice portage in anime, it always makes me reconsider
6:38 Christianity, a sect of Judaism, is monotheistic and therefore cannot understand the polytheistic gods of Japan. Gods that have been hurt by human malice are transformed into gods of curses, and are not the "demons" you refer to. 8:33 Since you seem completely unaware of the ancient view of life and death, I will explain. Anything that brings misfortune that could engulf the entire community, such as curses or infectious diseases, must leave. The act of cutting one's hair signifies "dying while still alive." The reason no one sees Ashitaka off when he leaves the village is because he will never be able to return. He is treated as a dead person.
It's one of my favorite movies growing up! I'm pretty sure this started my obsession with wolves, which ended up introducing me to Naruto, weirdly enough 😂
I feel like if you guys enjoyed the atmosphere of this one, you’d also like Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind. Heavy on the environmental aspects with plenty of complex characters and stunning animation.
Excited to see you guys starting to cover the Miyazaki films, I would very much like to see more. a couple of suggestions I have for future Miyazaki films are Spirited Away, arguably a favorite of every 90's kid, and My Neighbor Totoro, a film who's titular character became the mascot for Miyazaki's production company Studio Ghibli. Other suggestions I've not seen yet myself but think you'll enjoy based on what I know of them are Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and the Secret World of Arrietty. Coy brought up the concept of Subbed and Dubbed at the beginning. For those not in the Anime space these describe 2 different ways of watching Anime films and shows. Subbed means that you are watching it in its native Japanese but with subtitles in your native language, while Dubbed means that the language spoken in the film has been translated and dubbed over in your native language.
This is hands down, easily, my favorite Ghibli film. It's an action packed love story that's also thought provoking without being pretentious and so beautiful it makes you just want to spend more time in it's world with these characters. Miyazaki is always sold with Spirited Away, cause it was so film Academy coded, but ask most deep dive fans and Princess Mononoke is probably his crown jewel. For me personally my Top Three would be (1) Princess Mononoke, (2) Whisper of the Heart, and (3) Proco Rosso. But if y'all are just interested in animated films of or close to this caliber you might wanna check out Patima Inverted, Summer Wars, and A Silent Voice.
did not to expect my 2 fave rejects reacting to my favorite Ghibli movie - but I'm not complaining! I hope you guys loved this beautiful, sad story as much as I did. And the amount of contextual/historical japanese information left in it is worth looking into as well! This was not made for kids, that's for sure lol PS. Since you may or may not have seen Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service or The Cat Returns - I recommend those too!! (For Ponyo, definitely go for sub though) Kiki is fine in dub or sub, same with this film (Princess Mononoke)
I for one am team Lady Asano, though I would fight for the Forest. Asano is such a realistic leader, trying to defend her people from the oppression of the emperor and the dangers of the forest (surprise, the wild is dangerous to humans). She’s trying to make a place in the world and doing all she can, even if blinded. San is her other side of the coin
Bouncing rabbit guy on the broomstick LOL amazing description of Turniphead! Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite Miyazaki films so this was an awesome watch! Good work to Coy and Tara as usual
I’d totally recommend you guys to check out “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. It’s like an older version of “Your Name”, but set in a sadder universe.”
If you haven't done it already, I would love to see Tara's reaction to Spirited Away!! I've also been on a Studio Ghibli journey recently. Just went a long time without watching many of them outside of Ponyo for years. Having seen Spirited Away for the first time a few months ago, it quickly became one of my favorite animated films! PS: Really do appreciate Coy in the beginning saying that they'll be watching it in the ENG Dub. It wasn't needed but it felt very comforting to me. Like someone saying something isn't scary or that you'll be okay. It's the little things that help
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Peaky blinders reaction when can if not seen it 6 episodes per season 6 seasons
my favorite thing about this movie is the sympathy it shows to many people in this world. Aboshi could have just been just evil, but she legitimately is making a better world for people to live in. Its just on the backs of the dead forests. And the forest spirits have every right to be mad. But they want extinction of humans too, just as dangerous a thought as what the humans want. The true villain in this movie is bloodlust and revenge. Its easy to fight and kill and find reasons to do it again. its harder to live despite the cruelty and find peace.
Yes! I absolutely agree.
The quickness I clicked on this video. Top 3 Miyazaki movie for sure
Cool hearing Keith David voicing the boar god, but what's even cooler (at least to me) is knowing that Moro, the wolf goddess, is voiced by Gillian Anderson, Agent Scully!
esp since Moro is originally male in the Japanese dub.
@@jaives Moro has a male _voice_ in the Japanese dub, yes. She's still female, though. It's a Japanese tradition that all talking dogs are voiced by men, and all talking cats are voiced by women, regardless of their actual sex.
@@jaives Moro is not male, she is a wolf goddess that gave birth to Ichi and Ni, and San refers to her as mother as well.
The first Miyazaki movie I ever watched. His best work imo.
Same here. It’s solidified as one of my favorite films. Everything about it is just perfection.
No its not
@octaviohenrique6079 my opinion but ok 🤷🏿♂️
Same happy to see people reacting to it hope they do all of the studio movies.
thats a fair opinion, my favorite is spirited away but mononoke is his best overall. Howls moving castle is third for me.
One of the greatest animated films ever…
🌱
THE.
@@jettblackproduction There's a lot of anime movies that contest that title these days.
Suzume no Tojimari
Kimi No Na Wa
A Silent Voice
to name a few.
It's a classic but I like ninja scroll better when it comes to Japanimation
@@Danny01474 Kimi no na wa and A silent Voice are beautiful films, but Mononoke Hime is just better.
@9:20 Interesting to see how in the english version they took out the meaning of the crystal dagger and made Ashitaka and Kaya seem like brother and sister when in the japanese version the dagger is like an engagement ring, only given away at the wedding. Kayas goodbye is basically her confessing her love to Ashitaka.
Which makes it also more meaningful when Ashitaka gifts the crystal dagger to San later.
In the original they don't mention any of that either, at least not explicitly in dialogue so the dub didn't change much really.
@laurainathunderstorm But it's pretty much suggested. Making them siblings in the english dub changes how you see their relationship, the meaning of the dagger and why it is such an impoetant moment when he decides to give it to San later on.
I also grew up with the German Version where they make it more explicit that the dagger is a romantic gift.
It's just interesting and fascinatong to me how little changes like that can effect a story :)
Lady Eboshi is trying to survive and thrive in a world which is cruel to her, her women, and her lepers. We see the politics behind it all, and we can understand why she wants to expand, why she wants to bring prosperity to her people. I really love her character.
I think the "our shifts are 4 days long" is more like a fireman being three days on or similar. They aren't working that whole time. The are still eating and sleeping and socializing, but they are also doing shifts on the bellows.
I love the effort he put into making no solid bad guys, just humans doing human things for human reasons.
The significance of the crystal dagger was in how it opened San's eyes as to how she was letting her hate consume her. It was a gift from someone she cared about and in her anger and hate she used it to hurt someone she cared about. That's why she was so shocked when she stabbed him, because she was horrified at what she had done and become going from wanting to save the forest to wanting to just kill the humans.
The way flowers bloom and die in the forrest spirits footsteps is so amazing.
It gives and takes life in the same beat.
One of my favourite movies of all time.
For the environmental concerns, the grey morality, the sentiment of loving nature more than civilization, for the animation and the story. And that last twenty minutes - wow. Gets me every time.
Magic.
The narrative point of "seeing with eyes unclouded" is what makes this film so important to me. In encourages us to set aside our biases and stigmas to see things as they truly are in reality. Life can become so much clearer, make so much more sense, but appear so much more tragic that way.
This is putting in a much shorter way than it should be expressed, of course.
Have always LOVED the shades of gray in this movie, it's not good vs. evil so much as its self-interest vs. environmentalism.
Mind over spirit.
Lady Eboshi is one of the best, most complex female characters ever written.
Jane from Tarzan threw me off when I first watched it 🤣
Lady Eboshi is just trying to make it in a world where war is everywhere and spirits dictate where you can live sometimes, I understand not wanting to hurt nature but the only ones we see who know how to deal with the spirits is the one tribe in the beginning. It’s hard to say don’t fight the forest spirits when we see the damage they can do.
Not that complex of a character. You watch too many movies with characters being written a certain direction.
@@dalvarez101093 And you presume to know much about a complete stranger.
@@dalvarez101093 you’re not smart. Bless your heart
I love the script so much.
Lady Eboshi wants to help the weak and the hurt, but in order to protect them, she needs the metal from the mountains.
Wolf Goddess Moro wishes to protect the forest and the homes of those living there.
Neither side is good nor evil, they are both heroes for their people.
At heart Lady Eboshi wants total freedom, she pick people that are oppressed, she refuses to bow to gods and want to be free from the human world and the emperor,
That's why she's at peace at the end despite loosing everything, in the end she got nothings that people like lord Asano or the Emperor would want, she kept her promises.
She's free.
I didn't realise how many people rated this so highly, alot of people's favourite Miyazaki movie, favourite animation and even favourite movies. And with good reason. It is a masterpiece.
You guys would LOVE "Kiki's Delivery Service" It's a beautiful ghibli move that's less plot heavy than this movie but still has a super powerful message❤❤
I recommended this one too. ❤
I still gotta fully watch that forsure
Fun Fact: I watched this movie in preschool. I don’t just mean during my time in preschool, I also mean in my preschool class when I was a wee lad. Like, they literally wheeled out the TV in the middle of my classroom one day and popped this movie in randomly. Little 6 year old me saw heads flying off in the first 10 minutes and went, “I don’t think I should watch this…but I can’t look away.”
If I'm not mistaken, there's a term in Japanese called "ma" that means the silent or quiet moment in storytelling, that communicates as much as anything else. I love that Miyazaki movies have time to breathe and let the story grow.
I was part of a test screening when Disney was first considering bringing these over to the US. I remember being so pumped when I walked out of the theater!
You have no idea. That is my all-time favorite animation to this day.
Where would you rank Princess Mononoke among the Miyazaki Classics & Which Studio Ghibli do you Rewatch the MOST??
'princess mononoke' was the first ghibli movie i've ever watched !!! i'd say it's my third favorite after 'when marnie was there' and 'nausicaä'. i've definitely rewatched 'when marnie was there' the most, it became a comfort movie and i watch it whenever my anxiety is acting up
Laputa: The flying Castle
I watch Spirited Away the most but I think my favourite is the boy and the heron, it was quite a moving story of passing the torch.
watch grave of the fireflies
Grave of the fireflies is number 1 for SURE. This is number two easily
"To see with eyes unclouded by hate" is probably my favorite line from any media. Such fantastic advice.
I hope you guys do Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. I know at least two Miyazaki nerds that managed to completely miss that one.
Nausicaa is one of my top 2 Miyazaki films too.
I'm not generally a fan of the post apocalyptic genre, but the way they played it worked for me.
I wish Miyazaki would have gone back and done an OVA series based on his full manga which has a lot more story than the movie does.
I find it so interesting that most people watching this movie are on the side of the forest but in their own lives they most likely are more like the humans from iron town. Yet, it has something soothing to for a moment try and remember that we should live together with nature and not try to completely eradicate it, despite nature being chaotic and us wanting to have everything very predictable.
26:50 The wealth produced by Irontown allows Lady Eboshi to provide social welfare for those under her wing. You shouldn't think that her line here comes from greed. It's obviously a metaphor for the dilemma of the modern civilization we live in.
it's the details you spot even after numerous viewings. For instance, when the Spirit of the Forest falls on Iron Town, when it shows the town's inhabitants in the water, one of the lepers realises they've been cured! Don't think I spotted this until my 15th viewing. Great movie!
I love how everyone at first just inmediately just decides a good and bad side despite the frase "see a world unclowded by hatred" is said a lot and is practically the thing that helps Ashitaka keep going, and I say I love it 'cause you either realize at the end what you were doing or after many rewatches and in both everyone can agree on simply wanting to watch it again.
And is also why, for me, the first time I finished watching it the end felt kinda weird, because no one lost yet there's no winner, the people from the iron village have to start again and won't keep the land how they first intended to, the forest as it was is dead, princess didn't kill the lady (sorry I'm bad at their names), the boars, the monkeys, so many sides so many goals, points of view and ways of doing things and yet none worked but Ashitakas, getting that neutral ending. The fact that you feel weirdly unsatisfied yet amazed by an ending merely because it has no real winner says a lot of the kind of stories we're used to and how sometimes someone can miss an entire point despite it being there in front of your face the entire time throughout the protagonist.
Also, I believe the english dub is- a bit more harsh than the original? idk I watched it with subtitles, the way they talk really kinda makes you take mostly the forest side
Lady Eboshi isn't supposed to be a villain, just flawed. Her main flaw is she believes humans are of a higher order than nature and animals, even the animal gods. She's a stand-in for us modern humans. And Irontown is a stand-in for modernity.
And she needs the iron not strictly for profit but also for Irontown's survival. The weapons they make from the iron are not only for trade but also for protecting Irontown from the samurais and animals. As beautiful as nature is, it can also dangerous. The world in the film is a violent world full of cruelty and danger, whether human side or nature side.
And at the end she does pay a price (losing her arm) and learn to seek a better balance with nature.
Lady Eboshi is probably one of my favorite characters in all of Ghibli (she occupies a similar space to Kushana from Nausicaa). Not b/c I like what she's doing, but there is a moral gray there. Clearly, there's good in her that she takes in the lepers and buying out the contracts of the prostitutes and giving them work (btw, I think what they meant by four day shifts is just a four day work week?). But, it's the age old question of how much we/humans are willing to sacrifice of nature and the world we live in in the name of progress and more creature comforts. Like Tolkien, Miyazaki's works are full of nature vs humans and industrialization themes in most/all of his works.
The enemy in this movie isn't either HUMANS or NATURE, since both have positives and negatives like the human Yuboshi cared for the lepers who would've never made it in nature, while Nature cares for the world but is extremely unforgiving and would kill the weak and frail if they could not make it.
Life and death, nature and industry. Such a nice movie and such a beautiful message!
This is such a beautiful movie. In my culture we still believe that there are still spirit guardian's in big forest that are still left in our beautiful world.
I feel like she’s one of the better villains in animation because you can hate her because she’s trying to destroy the Forrest but you could also like her because she’s trying to help her people from what they used to be by destroying the forest.
She is as wrong as she is right. Same as forest animals. And forest god that was giving and taking life took no side in this conflict. People tend to overlook this for some reason. In the end humans are just animals and part of everything. If nature run its course most of iron Town people would be dead, preyed upon or enslaved. On the other hand in nature strongest flourish and weak are left behind. Maby it was time for forest gods to be left behind? Nature in its purest form.
This film asks such a beautiful question: how do well-intentioned parties with conflicting goals learn to coexist peacefully without letting hatred corrupt their hearts? There is no easy answer, but it's what we must learn to do--see with eyes unclouded by hate.
Renting this movie from Blockbuster changed my entire opinion on animation at 12 years old. I had no idea how deep a story could be, this same year I saw Akira, which if you guys haven’t seen is probably the most important movie in Japan-America anime importations of all time. These are big boy movies and I adore them
I gotta mention a lot of Japanese folklore is incorporated in this movie, it’s not just the director’s
“imagination” he’s drawing from their rich culture, for example the Emishi people that Ashitaka is a Prince of are traditional indigenous Japanese people from the north of Japan
Also, the forest spirit is suppsed to live when the head is returned. It's the sunrise than killed him.
I clicked before this gets taken down by Ghibli!
They're pretty aggressive with their copyright 😅
Studio Ghibli is sometimes a channel killer. They will wait till you get three videos up and then put three strikes, all at the same time. Please do some research before posting any more, I might have misinformation, confused about what I heard, or totally wrong about everything.
@@kinggoat2735no you're right. I used to make Ghibli content and had my old channel yeeted into the sun
This is an amazing film! Another reading is from a feminist pov. Aboshi isn't after wealth in the sense to be rich, she is building a fortress to house and accommodate all the people within, to provide protection and the freedom people (they were former slaves, prostitutes, destitutes, etc.) could not obtain in other fiefdoms under the Shogun's rule. She is essentially trying to break from the constraints of society - unfortunately, money is necessary - by building a stronghold.
6:38 35:22 They are not Demons. Thinking like that is part of what lead people like Lady Eboshi to think so callously and disdainfully of the forest and the animals animals and spirits that live there. The two Boars are gods/kami and deserve(d) respect, and the Ape Tribe are just some of the local wild life. I think you're kinda missing some of Miyazaki's messaging a bit, thinking that way.
As a followup to the environmental story of Princess Mononoke, I *highly* suggest Nausicaa of The Valley of The Wind! ^_^ It was (and one other, I doubt yall could even find, or could be shown on YT) were my very first experiences with anime, and my absolute fav of pretty much any media. Being an earlier work of Miyazaki's, you will find elements of both Ashitaka and San/Mononoke present in Nausicaa's personality.
It's Keith David btw. I've only watched the first 3 minutes of this video, I'm sure you get around to it eventually. But it's Keith David. Keith David basically the only person that sounds like Keith David, so his voice is very recognizable.
Omfg. I can't believe yall are reacting to this. MY appreciation for yall has amplified 10 times.
ITS THE RULE!! WATCH ALL MIYAZAKI FILMS!!!!
This, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totaro,Ponyo, *Howl's Moving Castle* (Favorite) The Cat returns.
My favorite Miyazaki movie is "Porco Rosso" and my favorite non-Miyazaki Ghibli films are "Whisper of the Heart" and "When Marnie Was There." "Princess Mononoke" is my third favorite Miyazaki movie behind "Porco Rosso" and "Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro." All aforementioned films are amazing masterpieces.
They need to react to spirited away next
It is Keith David. The other thing Tara was talking about is March of the Penguins which was narrated by Morgan Freeman.
Omg, please do more Ghibli!!! Porco Rosso is my personal favorite, followed by Mononoke, then Totoro, Howl's, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky. Seriously can't go wrong with Ghibli though.
Billy crudup is ashitaka, Minnie driver is lady eboshi, Jada pinkett smith is toki, Claire danes is mononoke, Gillian anderson is Moro, and Keith david was the intro narrator lol
"Wolf just bit his head 😳" had me dying lol. I love this movie so much. It was the first "anime" style film I had seen as a kid.
This was a surprise reaction
This is my favorite miyazaki movie.
This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw this when it came out in theaters for the first time in the US with my little brother in an art house theater in Madison WI. He thought it would be stupid but I convinced him to go with me and he became a fan as well. The morally grey areas for many characters is what helps makes it so captivating. I love the Japanese voice cast for this as well, but the dub for this is one of my favorites up with the likes of Cowboy Bebop. I was so glad you got to experience this movie for the first time and that you both enjoyed it. The art direction and music for this film is so good as well.
I loved this duo on the Hereditary reaction, you worked out so great in noticing the stories and themes, so I know you will love this one. ❤ And I'm POSITIVE Tara and you would love Kiki's delivery service.
Mike McShane was the voice of one the villagers. He also was the voice of the Hand in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and was a regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway (British version)
What a beautiful artistic film, a more rustic style of The Wild Robot! It truly gives The Legend of Zelda vibes.
This is truly a simple, rustic, beautiful film with some fragmentation of a dark tone
Yes the Emishi were some of the original Native people of Japan before the Japanese took over the land.
An absolute *Masterpiece!*
My first Miyazaki movie, and feature length anime movie. I remember watching this back in 7th grade!
Lucky you in the 7th Grade!
TEAM WOLF PRINCESS! 😤
My second Ghibli film I ever watched after Spirited Away... and it's my favorite from them. Miyazaki does SUCH a good job showing the different sides and balancing the themes in this film.
I'VE NEVER CLICKED SO FAST OMG MY FAVEEEEE 😭🫶🫶🫶
Omg. Didnt expect this from this channel at all! Pleasant surprised😊
One of my top three Ghibli movies of all time! So glad to see you guys doing a reaction to this. I would love it if you guys could do Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service or any of other Ghibli films. For that matter, might I also suggest Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro? It's not a Ghibli movie, but it is directed by Miyazaki before he made the studio (I think?)
I remember watching this on the hbo channels as a kid (before Netflix, crunchyroll, before any “apps”) all you had was what your parents could afford cable-wise in the 90s. Which bundle I guess. I didn’t understand that part at the time, I just knew we could watch cable at some houses and not at other houses. But some families you could tell were living comfortably (or spending comfortably).
It’s when as a kid I found out there were more anime than what was on Toonami (I started with DBZ, Sailor Moon, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Inuyasha). Literally blew my mind as a 7 year old in 1997 that anime could be not a reoccurring series. (Remember I’m 7 in 1997. Some of y’all didn’t even exist in this timeline yet)
Now I feel like 7 year olds have unlimited opportunities but for some reason it feels like the generations usually go like this:
- Child: naive
- Teen: experimental
- Young Adult: feel invincible
- Mid Adult: Mid life crisis (self awareness/realization of all the years that have passed you can’t go back to/or you’re running away from because they were traumatic)
Idk what happens next so I won’t even try to guess. But I love this movie, so imma stop commenting and finish watching y’all’s reaction 😅😅😅
This is absolutely one of the best movies I have ever seen in my entire lifetime.
None of my family like it because “it’s a cartoon for kids”
It is anything but that - but that too....
Some people cant get past the animation aspect, which is sad
This was the first Miyazaki or Ghibli film I ever saw back as a kid, and oh man talk about a hell of a first impression. Still my favorite film of both the director and studio.
As Human beings, we dominate the world, and nature is there so we can survive. The balance is knowing when to use the resources nature provides, and when to leave it alone. A lot of environmental activists don't understand this, along with companies that sometime abuse the land they use for profit. The arguing over the resource we use for gas powered cars is one such thing.
Rejects reacting to more anime :O Let's go yes! You have to check out Ponyo, Sprited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service! Some of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's finest work :)
Lord Okkoto, the Narrator. Keith David. He also voiced the Arbiter in Halo. And in The Final Shape, a Destiny 2 DLC, he took over the voice work of Lance Reddick after his passing, as Commander Zavala. And I'm sure he has many many more roles.
Almost keith David... Almost 100% correct 💯
A huge metaphor/theme in this movie is knowing when the lay down your arms and stop the violence. So i think the monk and Lady Aboshi werent "learning a lesson" per say, just finally stopped their part in the killing. They saw were their greed and violence got them, and knew it wasnt worth it. Thats what Ashitaka was fighter for.
OMG!!! I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS! Im just about to start but already liked and commenting! excited to rewatch this with you guys!
San is voiced by Claire Danes, the undisputed queen of yelling angrilly at people.
I just saw her in the Temple movie, what superb acting
I really hope they check out Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind next!
Studio Ghibli films are simply brilliant. I love the films of Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies are actually my favorite movies. All this with the music of Joe Hisaishi, a musically colorful experience.
Fun fact, the girl who gave shitaka the dagger is supposed to be his fiancee
I’m so happy tara got to react to this amazing film !!! ☺️
Anna Paquin DID do the voice of Sheeta, the heroine, in the 2003 English language dub of Miyazaki's Castle In the Sky. It's my personal favourite of his films, mostly because it was my first, basically it was my true introduction to anime cinema during my childhood, but it's also a really incredible family-friendly fantastical action adventure anyway, as well as one of the original Steampunk properties. The dub also features the voices of James Van Der Beek, Cloris Leachman, Mandy Patinkin, Richard Dysart and, definitely coolest of all, Mark Hamill as the duplicitous Agent Muska, arguably Miyazaki's VERY BEST villain. It's DEFINITELY essential viewing on this director's back catalogue.
One of my favorite Miyazaki creations....which is so hard to say cause all of his creations are so god damn fricken good
"It's a strong pitch for portage." I feel that way too. I hate the consistency of portage, oatmeal, and even grits. But every time I see people make rice portage in anime, it always makes me reconsider
My favorite film!! I watched this on my 7th birthday for the first time and it changed my life forever
6:38 Christianity, a sect of Judaism, is monotheistic and therefore cannot understand the polytheistic gods of Japan. Gods that have been hurt by human malice are transformed into gods of curses, and are not the "demons" you refer to.
8:33 Since you seem completely unaware of the ancient view of life and death, I will explain. Anything that brings misfortune that could engulf the entire community, such as curses or infectious diseases, must leave. The act of cutting one's hair signifies "dying while still alive." The reason no one sees Ashitaka off when he leaves the village is because he will never be able to return. He is treated as a dead person.
Still my favorite anime movie. My first was Akira when I was a like nine, but this still is best.
It's one of my favorite movies growing up! I'm pretty sure this started my obsession with wolves, which ended up introducing me to Naruto, weirdly enough 😂
I just watched this earlier this year for the first time myself and it's a beautiful and amazing movie 🖤
So excited for this reaction!
I feel like if you guys enjoyed the atmosphere of this one, you’d also like Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind. Heavy on the environmental aspects with plenty of complex characters and stunning animation.
Wow what a surprise one of the greatest films anime or not ever made. I wrote reports in my high school film class about this movie.
I love seeing Miyazaki films in its original Japanese language 😊💜💜💜
Excited to see you guys starting to cover the Miyazaki films, I would very much like to see more.
a couple of suggestions I have for future Miyazaki films are Spirited Away, arguably a favorite of every 90's kid, and My Neighbor Totoro, a film who's titular character became the mascot for Miyazaki's production company Studio Ghibli. Other suggestions I've not seen yet myself but think you'll enjoy based on what I know of them are Kiki's Delivery Service, Ponyo, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, and the Secret World of Arrietty.
Coy brought up the concept of Subbed and Dubbed at the beginning. For those not in the Anime space these describe 2 different ways of watching Anime films and shows. Subbed means that you are watching it in its native Japanese but with subtitles in your native language, while Dubbed means that the language spoken in the film has been translated and dubbed over in your native language.
This is hands down, easily, my favorite Ghibli film. It's an action packed love story that's also thought provoking without being pretentious and so beautiful it makes you just want to spend more time in it's world with these characters. Miyazaki is always sold with Spirited Away, cause it was so film Academy coded, but ask most deep dive fans and Princess Mononoke is probably his crown jewel. For me personally my Top Three would be (1) Princess Mononoke, (2) Whisper of the Heart, and (3) Proco Rosso. But if y'all are just interested in animated films of or close to this caliber you might wanna check out Patima Inverted, Summer Wars, and A Silent Voice.
Interstitial calm, probably the best description of the spaces in between action that I've ever heard. Thanks for that!
did not to expect my 2 fave rejects reacting to my favorite Ghibli movie - but I'm not complaining! I hope you guys loved this beautiful, sad story as much as I did. And the amount of contextual/historical japanese information left in it is worth looking into as well! This was not made for kids, that's for sure lol
PS. Since you may or may not have seen Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service or The Cat Returns - I recommend those too!! (For Ponyo, definitely go for sub though) Kiki is fine in dub or sub, same with this film (Princess Mononoke)
I for one am team Lady Asano, though I would fight for the Forest. Asano is such a realistic leader, trying to defend her people from the oppression of the emperor and the dangers of the forest (surprise, the wild is dangerous to humans). She’s trying to make a place in the world and doing all she can, even if blinded. San is her other side of the coin
Bouncing rabbit guy on the broomstick LOL amazing description of Turniphead! Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite Miyazaki films so this was an awesome watch! Good work to Coy and Tara as usual
PLEASE don’t wait another 6 months for the next Miyazaki I love this series 😭
THE MOST GREATEST 'ANIMÉ' MOVIE OF ALL TIME ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
I’d totally recommend you guys to check out “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time”. It’s like an older version of “Your Name”, but set in a sadder universe.”
I fell like they spent half the movie figuring out the voice actors XD
If you haven't done it already, I would love to see Tara's reaction to Spirited Away!!
I've also been on a Studio Ghibli journey recently. Just went a long time without watching many of them outside of Ponyo for years. Having seen Spirited Away for the first time a few months ago, it quickly became one of my favorite animated films!
PS: Really do appreciate Coy in the beginning saying that they'll be watching it in the ENG Dub. It wasn't needed but it felt very comforting to me. Like someone saying something isn't scary or that you'll be okay. It's the little things that help