Kaguya Hime

I've recently watched the anime film, "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" and I wanted to write a review about it.  This film is called "Kaguya-hime no Monogatari" in Japan and was produced in 2013 by Studio Ghibi, which is the same studio that also created films like "Spirited Away" and "The Wind Rises".  This anime was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards.  "The Tale of the Princess Kaguya" is based on the old folktale called the "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".  The following is the story behind this folktale:
  

Long, long ago in Japan, there lived a poor woodsman. One day, he was cutting bamboo in a grove when he came upon one stalk of bamboo glowing a bright, golden color. Finding this mysterious, he approached it for a closer look.

 

To his amazement, inside the bamboo was an adorable, tiny little girl. Since the old man and his wife had no children of their own, he decided to bring the child home with him, where he and his wife raised her with love and care. They decided to name her Kaguya Hime. From that time forward, whenever the woodsman went back to work in the grove, gold coins would come pouring out from the bamboo he cut. As a result, the old couple became wealthy.

Amazingly, within just three months Kaguya Hime grew into a beautiful maiden. Her beauty soon became known throughout the country, and one young man after another came forth to ask her hand in marriage. Kaguya Hime refused all of her suitors, but there were five insistent young noblemen who refused to give up. In order to dissuade them, Kaguya Hime asked for a gift from each, and promised to marry the first one to bring her the gift she had requested. But these items were not things that could be found anywhere on this earth, and so the five young noblemen soon lost heart and gave up.

In the meantime the Emperor, who had heard of Kaguya Hime's beauty, also began courting the girl to become his wife and Empress. He too was refused. When the Emperor tried to force Kaguya Hime to come to the palace, she disappeared right before his eyes. The Emperor then realized that there was something unusual about Kaguya Hime, and so he too gave up.

Three years passed and Kaguya Hime became even more beautiful. Then, one spring, Kaguya Hime began to grow melancholy on moonlit nights. She would stare at the moon with tears streaming down her face. The old woodsman, worried, asked what was wrong. Gazing up at the sky, Kaguya Hime replied, "Actually, I come from the moon. I was sent to live on the earth by my King, but now I have been told that I must go home. I will miss everyone here on earth, and that is why I am sad."

The old man was shocked, and not wanting to let his beloved daughter go, consulted with the Emperor to devise a plan. On the night of the full moon, the Emperor's guards hid Kaguya Hime deep inside the woodsman's house and surrounded it. Suddenly, the night sky became bright. Messengers from the moon dressed in brilliant clothes came down from the sky and descended to the earth on a cloud. At this sight, the guards become petrified and lost their courage. The messengers placed Kaguya Hime onto a palanquin and dressed her in a feathered robe. Leaving the heartbroken old couple behind, Kaguya Hime took off to the moon.  The emperor then dispatches an army of soldiers to the tallest mountain in Japan.  The emperor ordered the army to climb to the summit of the great mountain and to burn a letter from the emperor to Kaguya-hime there, with the hope that his message would reach the now distant princess.

The End

This famous folk story is believed to be from the tenth century.  The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is nearly identical in form to a Tibetan tale of a similar name, and some researchers believe that the Japanese legend may have been drawn from the Tibetan one, perhaps through ancient contacts with China.  The beginning of the story, in which a child is given to an old, childless couple, is common among many Japanese folk tales and can also be seen in Issun boshi (the One-Inch Boy) and Momotaro (the Peach Boy).  The theme of a poor old man who suddenly becomes rich is another common among Japanese folk tales.  

  

The film itself was very wonderfully drawn.  The old-style hand drawn anime suits this film because the story itself is very old.  I don't think a new style 3d animation with clean lines would suit this film.  Even though this anime is hand-drawn, the characters in this film show lots of emotion, especially Princess Kaguya, who shows many sides of happiness and sadness.  I think the film not only did a great job in telling the story, but also telling us about the many themes in this film. 

  

I also loved the music in this film.  There is one lullaby that is sung over and over again and it is very catchy.  The reason why I was so interested in this film because one of my favourite Juno Reactor songs is "Kaguya Hime".  Although Juno Reactor's Kaguya Hime would not fit with this anime (it's a bit too dark for this film), the song Kaguya Hime is very interesting because you could almost hear the bamboo playing in it.  There are two spoken verses in Kaguya Hime, one is "Takekara umareta", which means Kaguya Hime was born from the bamboo.  The other verse is "Tsukini kaeranakereba", which means Kaguya Hime must return to the moon.  I really recommend everyone to watch this anime and also check out Juno Reactor's Kaguya Hime.