The Tale of the Princess Kaguya: Difference between revisions
grammar: royalty not loyalty + more tropes
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{{tropelist}}
* [[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
** 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.
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* [[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. {{spoiler|Princess Kaguya, despite being from the moon herself, has no difficulties communicating with the people around her.}}
* [[All Just a Dream]]: {{spoiler|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
** 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.
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* [[Childhood Friend Romance]]: Princess Kaguya and Sutemaru. They grew up together, and Princess Kaguya longs to return to the countryside to be with him, even running away from her responsibilities. Kaguya refuses to marry any of the five suitors presented to her, instead wishing to be with Sutemaru.
* [[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 Dress]]es. 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.
* [[Cry Into Chest]]: Princess Kaguya's parents cry into each others' chests at the end of the film, after {{spoiler|Princess Kaguya is taken away to the moon}}.
* [[Dashed Plotline]]: As the film follows the life of Princess Kaguya from birth to death, there are bound to be some [[Time Skip]]s 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 {{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.
* [[Diving Save]]: Sutemaru does this to save Princess Kaguya from a charging adult boar, marking the first time the two meet. Kaguya is playing with baby boar, and their mother is rushing to attack Kaguya. Sutemaru makes a diving save and tackles her out of the way at the last second.
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* [[Easy Amnesia]]: Perhaps one of the easiest methods to induce amnesia in any piece of media: {{spoiler|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 Quest|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. {{spoiler|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.}}
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* [[Mind Screw]]: {{spoiler|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, {{spoiler|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, {{spoiler|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
* [[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.
* [[One of the Boys]]: Princess Kaguya plays with the boys and Sutemaru in her village, living a care free lifestyle, going around and catching bugs or playing in a spring.
* [[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
* [[Rags to Royalty]]: Princess Kaguya was found by commoners in a bamboo shoot they cut down. Later on, her father went into the forest to cut down bamboo, and gold spills out from one of plants he cuts. Her parents uses the gold to buy a mansion and to hire a tutor, aiming to make Kaguya into a proper princess. Unfortunately, she wishes to live in the countryside, away from the capital. Near the end of the film, this is subverted when {{spoiler|Kaguya returns to the countryside and runs away, and even more so when she is taken away to the moon}}.
* [[Raven Hair, Ivory Skin]]: Princess Kaguya has dark hair and pale skin, partially contributing to her status of being perceived as the [[World's Most Beautiful Woman]].
* [[Rebellious Princess]]: 'Princess' Kaguya, who refuses to do almost everything expected from a princess. She refuses to paint her teeth black, or to pull out her eyelashes, only doing so after much time and {{spoiler|discovering that Sutemaru and the other kids she grew up with has moved away form her home}}. Instead of dedicating herself to rigorous study, she instead chooses to play and run around her house.
* [[Retraux]]: The art style of the film is reminiscent of early Japanese paintings, rather than Ghibli's usual style.
* [[Rule of Symbolism]]: Kaguya is given a bird in a cage. She sets it free, seeing how the bird represents her, and the cage represents the mansion she is confined in. The bird flying away represents her desire to be with nature.
* [[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.
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: Princess Kaguya, running away after guests at her naming party demands to see her, but her father not permitting. [[Deranged Animation]] follows.
* [[Single Tear]]: When Princess Kaguya's eyebrows are being picked out, serving as a sign for her getting further and further away from her childhood.
* [[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.
* [[Slipknot Ponytail]]: When Princess Kaguya is admiring the cherry blossoms and running around the tree, her hair becomes untied and sways around much more with her movements. Her hair-tie being lower down means that it's easy to shake loose, although we are never shown this actually happening. Instead, we are greeted to a shot of her with her hair-tie on, her feet sweeping along the floor, and a shot with her hair swaying around her as the tie comes off.
* [[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 {{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.
* [[Stern Teacher]]:
* [[Ten-Minute Retirement]]: When Kaguya abandons her role as a princess and runs back to her childhood home. She shortly returns to the role when she discovers that {{spoiler|the children she grew up with has moved away.}}
* [[They Wasted a Perfectly Good Sandwich]]: Sutemaru catches a pheasant, and Princess Kaguya as well as her friends are scheduled to have pheasant stew the next day with mushrooms. The plans are interrupted by the abrupt announcement that she will be moving to the capital, and the film never shows the audience characters eating pheasant stew.
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