TAM Cover - Spike

TAM Cover - Spike

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Review)

Well, with the Oscars coming up, I decided to review one of the nominees for Best Animated Feature, and it's none other than Isao Takahata's The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.


In 2013, Studio Ghibli released two animated films: The Wind Rises and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, and both films had their share of success. With The Wind Rises being quoted as Hayao Miyazaki's swansong, Kaguya was Takahata's first film since his 1999 film, My Neighbors The Yamadas. It wasn't until last year when GKIDS gave the film a limited theatrical release in the United States, and it received much praise from the critics which included getting a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

I have to give credit where credit is due: the director himself, Isao Takahata, and his choice of animation style. Ever since the release of his 1968 directorial debut, Horus, Prince of the Sun (also known as The Little Norse Prince in some territories), he has directed visually-unique films that are either very entertaining or very dramatic, and this is especially true in the cases of Grave of the Fireflies, Only Yesterday, and My Neighbors The Yamadas. In his major comeback since Yamadas, He chooses a visual style that is based off of older Japanese illustrations, and in a way, it is both impressive and beautiful to look at on screen.

Of course, there is also the story of which Kaguya is based off from, and it is none other than the ancient Japanese folktale, "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." The folktale itself is about a bamboo cutter and his wife finding a small princess in a bamboo shoot, and they raise her as she continues to grow like bamboo. Soon, the bamboo cutter and his wife ends up buying a mansion for the princess, and they later find out a major secret from her. Takahata remains faithful in his adaptation of the story, but he did make a few changes and cuts to the story to make it more appropriate for the big screen.

In my opinion, the film itself has to be one of the most visually entertaining and dramatic animated films I've ever seen in my life. However, the film does become very emotional in the third act, so if you get emotional during sad or depressing scenes, make sure to have some tissues handy before watching the film.

Written by Nolan Schmidt



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