The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: Difference between revisions
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Bird, bugs, bees, grass, flowers, and trees,
Spring, summer, autumn, winter, bring them all on.}}
'''''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.
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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 (anime)|Kaguya-sama: Love Is War]]'', another [[Anime]] inspired by ''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'', although it has a completely different tone and premise.
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** 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.
* [[Artsy Moon]]: In this case, the "artsy" 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 "artsy" element is increased due to the film's broad and simplistic art style. {{spoiler|Justified, as Kaguya is from the Moon.}}▼
* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: The {{spoiler|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''.
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* [[Deliberately Monochrome]]: The desaturation variation is used to represent {{spoiler|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. {{spoiler|Sutemaru's later [[All Just a Dream]] scene makes the flying scene more unnatural.}} In addition, the last scene {{spoiler|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]]: {{spoiler|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: {{spoiler|simply putting on a robe}}.
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* [[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 {{spoiler|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.
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* [[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 {{spoiler|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 [[MacGuffin]]s. 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.
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* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: When Kaguya is being {{spoiler|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.
▲* [[
* [[The X of Y]]: The ''Tale'' of the ''Princess Kaguya'', fitting in the formula ''The (common noun) of the (Proper Noun)''.
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{{Films associated with Studio Ghibli}}
{{Isao Takahata}}
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[[Category:Animated Films]]
[[Category:Cult Classic]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of the Princess Kaguya, The}}
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