Anime Corner

In this corner: Princess Mononoke

Blurb: "While protecting his village from a rampaging boar-god, the warrior Ashitaka is cursed with a rapidly spreading scar that threatens to end his life. Seeking a cure and a reason for the animal-god's attack, he journeys into the sacred depths of the Great Forest Spirit's realm. On the edge of this once serene forest, however, the Tatara clan have begun to destroy the surrounding land to produce iron. In retaliation, San, the adopted daughter of the wolf-god Moro, has begun raiding the Tatara fortress to stop their encroachment. Soon Ashitaka is caught in the middle and must stop the war between the humans and the forest dwellers before they destroy each other." (rottentomatoes.com)

Notables: 11 award wins and 5 nominations (according to imdb.com, though not all are listed); including award from the Japanese Academy for best film

My thoughts: 5/5

This is possibly one of the best animated films I've ever seen. Hayao Miyazaki once again marries beautiful artwork with a storyline that will find its way into the classics. True to his normal style, the film does contain a bit (understatement) of social commentary. Still, it is a fantasy unlike any other (remember wanting to ride around on giant animals when you were a kid? well, they get to!). It hearkens up childhood memories while still providing adult-level entertainment--something I'm starting to believe only Miyazaki can do.

Really, I have no complaints with this film. There are a few loose ends that could have been raveled up, but nothing that cuts into the basic plot as a whole. I've even watched the English dub of this film (in fact, that's how I was introduced to it), and truthfully it's one of the better ones I've seen. So for this one, I of course always recommend the subtitled version (the language is Japanese for anyone who doesn't know)--but if you're not wanting to read along, I definitely give the "OK" for the dub.

Side note for parents: this one's okay for slightly older kids, I'd say. By our standards it would probably have a PG rating, mostly for violence.