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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Buy | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:3043#1552] | |
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Princess Kaguya is an animated adaptation of the folktale called Tale of the Bamboo Cutter focused on a mysterious girl born from a bamboo shoot who is adopted by an elderly couple who force her into taking up royalty status when the elder male of the pairing is able to acquire a great deal of gold thanks to the girl's youth. What sticks out immediately with the movie is its visual style as it incorporates a traditional ukyo-e drawing style in the designs of its scenery and characters to flow along with its story. The style may not be for everyone due to its simplistic drawing style compared to many of Ghibli's past works, but it works beautifully with the traditional storytelling that Princess Kaguya is conveying. Beyond the visuals, Princess Kaguya paints a dramatic tale of its titular character tragically living within the times of a patriarchal society where her adoptive father is too consumed with his desires for greater social status to notice the misery and suffering that Kaguya suffers internally from when she is forced to move away from her rural lifestyle and to live in a palace to learn how to behave like royalty and be courted by several suitors. Like many Ghibli works, Kaguya paints a feminist bent to the problems facing her as we come to understand Kaguya's internal struggles with desiring the old life she lived in the countryside and depicting the suitors attempting to court her for marriage in a less than favorable light. Beyond her issues with adjusting to her royalty status, the second half delves into her origins that come to make their presence felt in the final moments of the film when she reaches her breaking point with the changes forced upon her. The feminist spin on this folktale is actually rather solid as it makes Kaguya's developments all the more tragic thanks to the type of society that feudal Japan was and how it could have possibly affected women during this time period. The heavy focus on patriarchal issues within Japan's feudal era period with Princess Kaguya may not be for everyone since it dabbles rather heavily into Japanese history and folklore. But if you are a fan of Japanese history and folklore, then this is a worthwhile film to check out from Ghibli. Last updated Monday, May 11 2015. Created Monday, May 11 2015. | ||||||||
