The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
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Children: Go round, go round, water wheel go round, |
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The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (Japanese かぐや姫の物語, Hepburn Kaguya-hime no Monogatari) is a 2013 film directed by Isao Takahata and animated by Studio Ghibli partially based on the literary tale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. The film originally was planned for a release alongside Hayao Miyazaki's The Wind Rises — which would be the first time two directors release a film simultaneously since 1988 — but was delayed due to production issues. It was Takahata's last film as a director before his death in 2018, and one of the final films from the studio before its restructuring. It is Takahata's first directorial credit since My Neighbors the Yamadas in 1999. At two hours and seventeen minutes, this is Ghibli's longest film production, and the longest non-extended animated film not based on a pre-existing media franchise.
The film had a lengthy creation period. Takahata first expressed interest in adapting The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter back when he worked at Toei Animation, long before he even thought of starting an animation studio. The project was abandoned for over half a century, and Takahata revisited it fifty-five years later, with the announcement that Takahata was developing a new project in 2008. The film was in production for eight years, and is notable for being the most expensive anime film ever produced, with a budget of five billion yen, or $49.3 million USD.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya was released to critical acclaim, being nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature (although it lost to Big Hero 6), and an Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (losing to How to Train Your Dragon 2). It is one of the few films to have a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The story begins with a bamboo cutter — Sanuki no Miyatsuko — finding a girl — Later named Princess Kaguya — in a shoot, and taking her home and raising her. Princess Kaguya grows quickly, to the point where she is nicknamed Little Bamboo by the children around her. She begins playing with the children, and meets Sutemaru, the oldest of them. She develops a close relationship with Sutemaru, becoming the bestest of Childhood Friends.
Meanwhile, Miyatsuko went back into the bamboo forest, where he is blessed with luxury clothes as well as gold. Using these, his family, including Kaguya, buys a house and moves into the capital.
Sounds great, right? Nothing better than life as a princess living with loyalty!
Um, no.
As it turns out, Princess Kaguya does not like life as a princess and being moved away from her childhood friends. The capital is filled with people making empty promises, where Kaguya is treated like an object to be married to other than an actual, living human being. The rest of the film deals with Kaguya's internal conflict of the lifestyle pushed onto her by her parents, and her desire to return to her natural home. But something lurks in the sky, in the big white thing we call "The Moon"...
Also see Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, another Anime inspired by The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, although it has a completely different tone and premise.
Tropes used in The Tale of the Princess Kaguya include:
- An Aesop: Multiple Aesops, in this case:
- Money cannot buy happiness; living a humble life in the countryside is better than buying your way into royalty.
- Look after the natural environment, for it provides you with feelings of wonder and joy.
- Keep going through the difficult parts of life, for one day, you will experience pure, unfiltered joy, if only for brief moments, that makes the moments of suffering all worth it.
- Be careful what you wish for, for it may be granted in the way you least expect.
- Aliens Speaking English: Or Japanese, depending on which language track you're using. The people from the Moon are able to communicate with people on Earth easily. Princess Kaguya, despite being from the moon herself, has no difficulties communicating with the people around her.
- All Just a Dream: Kaguya running away with Sutemaru. After Kaguya falls from the sky, Sutemaru wakes up in a field, and is shown to be lying alone, and Kaguya is nowhere in sight.
- Arcadia: Princess Kaguya lives this lifestyle before she is forced to move to the city and live the life of royalty. This is idealised, and elements of it are present throughout all aspects of the film, including life in the capital. Kaguya trying to return to this lifestyle and enjoy nature, outside of the expectations placed onto her by the nobility, is a conflict present throughout most of the film.
- Princess Kaguya and the children often walk around the environment, playing in springs or singing songs. The forage around the environment, collecting sap from trees, and melons from bushes.
- When Princess Kaguya moves to the capital, she tries to enjoy this lifestyle, often running outside when spring comes and admiring the view.
- Arranged Marriage: The Emperor of Japan tries to arrange one with Kaguya. Kaguya refuses to accept this, instead pleading for the Moon to take her away, leading to the end of the film.
- This also occurs with the five prince suitors who are interested in her. Although she has a choice in which one to marry, and she sends them on a Fetch Quest, she is still expected to marry one of them.
- Art Shift: The art style becomes much more sketchy and rough when Kaguya runs away from the mansion, and becomes much colder and more focused in the scenes following.
- Blue and Orange Morality: The residents of the Moon. Having lived on the moon for their entire lives, they are unable to experience the wonders as well as the ups and downs of live on Earth. This means that they struggle to comprehend basic human emotions, and does not understand Princess Kaguya when she wishes to stay on Earth, citing that on the Moon, one cannot experience negative emotions. They neglect to mention that this also means that they cannot experience positive ones.
- Character Title: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.
- Costume Porn: In contrast to the people living in Princess Kaguya's village, the people living at the capital wears elaborate and decorative Gorgeous Period Dresses. The clothes that Princess Kaguya wears serves as a visual representation of her transition from her childhood home to life in the capital. The scene where she runs away with Sutemaru has her throwing of the robes she is given, symbolising a transition back into her Arcadia lifestyle.
- Dashed Plotline: As the film follows the life of Princess Kaguya from birth to death, there are bound to be some Time Skips scattered throughout the film. The skips from when Kaguya is a toddler to a child is noticeable, although many of the other skips are much more subtle and can easily be missed.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The desaturation variation is used to represent the plainness and boringness of life in space and on the moon. At the end of the film, the colours become mute and desaturated to reflect Princess Kaguya leaving behind her nuanced life on Earth as well as the absence of colour in space.
- Deranged Animation: The animation style of the film adapts to Kaguya's emotions. In the scene where Kaguya runs away from the capital, the animation style becomes rough, unpolished, and uneven to reflect her sudden anger. Near the end of the film, when Kaguya reunites with Sutemaru, they run away together, and this is shown as them flying through the landscape. Sutemaru's later All Just a Dream scene makes the flying scene more unnatural. In addition, the last scene when Princess Kaguya is being taken away to the moon feature plenty of usage of this trope, involving people running across water and sitting on clouds.
- Diegetic Theme Cameo: The leitmotif of the film gets played a lot by Princess Kaguya. Sometimes she sings it with the children in the country, sometimes she plays it on the koto.
- Downer Ending: Princess Kaguya forgets all memories of Earth and is taken to the Moon, where she cannot feel any more emotions or play in nature. As she flies towards the moon, she turns back and glances back at Earth with teary eyes, longing to return but never knowing why.
- Easy Amnesia: Perhaps one of the easiest methods to induce amnesia in any piece of media: simply putting on a robe.
- Empathic Environment: When Princess Kaguya finally sees Sutemaru after years, he is beaten for stealing a chicken and pausing to look at her. Cue the Rain as Sutemaru is left lying helplessly on the floor.
- Engagement Challenge: Kaguya sends the five suitors each one of these, the objective being to fetch a rare item which they have compared her to, a challenge bordering on an Impossible Task.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: This film is, you guessed it, a tale about Princess Kaguya.
- Fetch Quest: Kaguya's five suitors are asked to find the precious objects which they compared her to — such as the Jeweled Branch of Mount Horai and a robe of fire-rat fur — as a test of their loyalty. Some of the items brought back were fake, and one suitor died trying to obtain his quest. Another gave up on his quest and turned back.
- Flight: In this case, the characters do not possess the ability to fly on their own, rather, flight is used to represent the emotions of the characters, as well as contrast the supernatural with the regular. Near the end of the film, Princess Kaguya's parents briefly do this when they fly up the the cloud the Moon people are standing on.
- Foreshadowing: The conflict between Kaguya's desire to be with nature or to live in the capital. This is established in a scene near the beginning of the film, where the children of the village calls her Little Bamboo and calls her to come. Her father calls her Princess and calls for her to come to him. She first walks towards the children — reflecting the Arcadia life that she lives for the first quarter of the film — but then walks towards her father — reflecting her life as royalty in the capital.
- Ghibli Hills: A common occurrence at the start of the film, present in almost all shots, depicted in a different, minimalist art style reflective of ancient Japanese paintings than Trope Namer Ghibli's usual lush green paintings.
- Ghibli Plains: Princess Kaguya and Sutemaru fly through Ghibli Plains near the end of the film, representing Princess Kaguya's freedom to be away from the harsh expectations of royalty.
- Happy Rain: In the scene where Princess Kaguya and Sutemaru run away together, a brief shot is of them flying into the grey clouds and the rain, laughing.
- Kid Hero: The film starts out using the trope as Princess Kaguya and Sutemaru are growing up in their countryside village. As the film goes on, Princess Kaguya grows up and is no longer a kid, averting the trope's usage. Since Princess Kaguya's age is never stated, there is a chance she's still a kid at the end of the film, however her increased maturity compared to when she first arrived makes that unlikely.
- Leitmotif: Princess Kaguya's theme is established in the very first thing audiences see — the opening credits — with the track "Overture". It is frequently used both diegetically and non diegetically to the point where the film borders on having a Theme and Variations Soundtrack. She also sings it when she's playing with the children and Sutemaru in Arcadia. Other prominent motifs include "Life" and "Li'l Bamboo".
- MacGuffin: The items that Kaguya asks the suitors to bring her.
- Magic Realism: The film begins and ends with supernatural elements, with additional magic sprinkled occasionally throughout its runtime. The rest of the film, however, is rather realistic, and the magic only impacts Princess Kaguya herself. Instead of characters racing to destroy an ancient power source, we have an internal, character driven conflict. You could say the magic is simply an allegory for life and death.
- Mind Screw: As Princess Kaguya is not from Earth, supernatural things can occur to her. It is difficult to tell whether these things really happened in the film's world, or if they are just visual exaggerations and Deranged Animation representative of the characters' emotions.
- The ending of the film can be confusing, as in involves moon people floating on clouds to take Princess Kaguya back to the moon in a film that's mostly grounded in reality. It can be difficult to determine if it is really happening or if it's just a metaphor for death. The abstract nature and minimalistic animation doesn't help.
- When Princess Kaguya runs away from the mansion, she talks to a woodcutter who reveal that Sutemaru and the others has moved away. She then walks away slowly, collapsing in the snow. The mind screw starts when the Princess wakes up back in the mansion, in the exact same night that she left. It can't be All Just a Dream, as Princess Kaguya realises the fact, and starts conforming to the standard expected of princesses as there is nothing to come home to. But it being something that really happened in the film is also debatable, as it requires Princess Kaguya to teleport miles instantaneously. The only explanation is that the moon gods saw Princess Kaguya lying down and teleported her.
- Mood Whiplash: When Princess Kaguya walks home, announcing that they have caught a pheasant and are having pheasant stew the next day with a joyous and light-hearted mood. The mood becomes more stern as her parents abruptly interrupt her announcement, stating that they are moving to the capital.
- Narrator: In both the Japanese and English tracks, introducing audiences to the bamboo cutter which would serve as Kaguya's father in the opening. The narration continues on for the film, explaining actions of the characters without delving into Captain Obvious territory. This is used to develop and enhance the 'fairy tale' feeling of the film, alongside its art style.
- No Antagonist: Although many characters' motives creates conflicts with Princess Kaguya, none of them can be identified as a Big Bad; they're just people doing their everyday tasks. No one actively opposes Princess Kaguya. Princess Kaguya herself isn't fully in the right either, and isn't a Big Good, leading to complex Grey and Gray Morality, overlapping into Blue and Orange Morality in the case of luna residents.
- Opposite Gender Protagonists: The titular Princess Kaguya along with her Childhood Friend Sutemaru. Sutemaru does a Diving Save to save Princess Kaguya from a charging boar and calls her "Little Bamboo" to reflect how quickly she grows up. A major plot point revolves around Princess Kaguya trying to return to the Arcadia lifestyle she and Sutemaru lived before being forced to move into the capital. Their relationship provides something special for Princess Kaguya to return to. Sutemaru is established to be helpful, kind, and most importantly genuine, whereas members of royalty are established to be fake, and contrived, wishing only to marry Princess Kaguya for her beauty instead of who she really is.
- Prince Charmless: The royal suitors who wishes to marry Princess Kaguya, who flatter her by comparing her to rare MacGuffins. When Princess Kaguya tests their dedication by sending them on fetch quests for the items they compared her against, they fail. Some turn in fakes, others give up, others cannot find the item.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: The robe that Princess Kaguya wears throughout most of the film, and on the film poster, is pink. She throws off the robe when she runs away with Sutemaru, representing her return to a simpler lifestyle away from the royalty.
- Retraux: The art style of the film is reminiscent of early Japanese paintings, rather than Ghibli's usual style.
- Royal Brat: Many of the suitors who wish to marry Princess Kaguya are this. They only see her for her physical appearance, not for the person she really is.
- Scenery Porn: Occurs a lot in Kaguya's early childhood, with many shots focusing on distant mountains, greenery, or small animals. There are many shots of trees blossoming or flowers opening.
- Screen Shake: When the suitors rush to Princess Kaguya's palace on horseback and carts, commanding civilians to get out of the way, Screen Shake is used to highlight the intensity of the scene. Downplayed, as the shake is subtle and is sparingly used in the sequence.
- Silence Is Golden: The film is quite quiet, and between the monumental moments of huge symphonies lies smaller, contemplative moments. These moments are filled with sounds of nature, or the rain pouring down. Other times, such as moments leading up to the luna residents coming to Earth, are completely silent to build suspense.
- Slice of Life: It's a Ghibli movie, so of course there will be some slice of moments scattered in. The slice of life elements are reflective of the time period of Feudal Japan, instead of modern times, unlike many other Slice of Life works. These moments include Princess Kaguya as a toddler crawling outside her parents' house while chasing a frog, singing with children as everyone walks around mountains, and attempting to catch a pheasant. By the time Princess Kaguya moves to the mansion, these moments become less prominent, reflecting a significant change in her lifestyle.
- Solemn Ending Theme: "When I Remember This Life", a and slow paced duet between piano and vocals, reflective of the Downer Ending.
- The Song Remains the Same: Played straight with the ending song, "When I Remember This Life", over the end credits when the English dub was produced. Averted with the diegetic songs "Nursery Rhyme" and "Song of the Heavenly Maiden", which is sung by characters in the film and thus dubbed into English.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: When Kaguya is being taken away to the moon, joyful and festive music plays in a scene which should be melancholic. The soundtrack eventually progresses to a depressing and sorrowful song, averting the usage of the trope in the later parts of the scene.
- Unwanted Harem: With genders reversed. The harem is the group of male suitors who wish to marry Princess Kaguya, as well as the people waiting outside her palace hoping to catch a glimpse of her. In an attempt to make them go away, she sets an Impossible Task for them as an Engagement Challenge. Instead of the suitors, she wishes to marry her childhood friend Sutemaru.
- Weird Moon: In this case, the "weird" comes from size. In some shots of the film, notably the last one before the credits, the Moon takes up over half of the screen. The shot is made more weird by the lack of saturation when compared to the rest of the film, and the moon feels more "artsy" due to the film's broad and simplistic art style. Justified, as Kaguya is from the Moon.
- The X of Y: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, fitting in the formula The (common noun) of the (Proper Noun).
