^{Princess Mononoke} is a sublime 1997's animated film, that came directly from the imagination of genius director Hayao Miyazaki and was created by the now famous Studio Ghibli. Princess Mononoke is considered a work of fantasy, but inserted in a historical era of Japan, the late Muromachi period. Mixing true facts with fabulous fiction, where humans and gods clash violently, Mononoke Hime (japanese for Princess Mononoke) can also be considered an enviromentalist movie, showing how the unrestricted and aggravated influence of man can cause a complete havoc in nature.

The story of Princess Mononoke has many innuendos. The film starts with Ashitaka, an Emishi prince, getting a curse after slaying a tainted giant demon boar, preventing the destruction of his village. However, due to that curse and the danger it represents, Ashitaka is forced to exile from his home. He then starts an epic quest, in search of an impossible cure. This eventually takes him to the west, where he becomes involved in a conflict between the local settlement, Iron Town and the forest animal gods.

It's here that the power and wonder of this work starts to truly unfold. Ashitaka becomes not only a messenger but a mediator between:

- Lady Ebochi, the ruler of Iron Town, a strong woman and fierce hunter determined in her goal to make her community thrive. For that to happen, she continually raises the forest in order to harvest materials to produce ironsand (the equivalent to powder) for the rifles that are the main support of the village.

- San (the princess mononoke), a girl that was raised by wolf gods from an early age and which main intent is to protect the forest and the animals she lives with. She rejects her own humanity, relying on her animal instincts to act, actually considering herself as a wolf that is hindered by her human body...

Ashitaka tries to bring balance to the civil war that grows with increasing violence from side to side, a true battle one can say between humanity / industrialization and the natural world.

It's interesting to note that Miyazaki does not pick any faction as being evil. There are no "obvious" bad guys in this animated movie. Sure, Ebochi is ruining the forest and has behaviours that can be considered borderline cruel. But she does it in a very pragmatic way, as she sees it as necessary in order for iron town to survive. Also we see she's not an uncaring person, as she helped many people everyone else shunned. Also San, while having a legitimate cause to defend her threatened forest, is too extreme in her actions, as she considers death and destruction of the humans to be the only way to save the forest. She gets tainted by war, letting her animal side assume too much control of her.

The ending of Princess mononoke, a beautiful and surprising one, sets a note of hope to humanity, showing that even when errors occur, renewal is possible and a better future can be fought for. It's a true humanitarian and environmental lesson to us all.

To conclude, let me add that Princess Mononoke excels in all departments. Mononoke Hime won more than 30 awards worldwide, being praised not only for it's story, but also it's flawless animation and superb soundtrack!

Go grab some popcorn's, sit comfortably and relax... You're in for a hell of a ride in the next two hours!

The videos posted on this page concerning the anime show were not uploaded by me on the video servers. They have lower quality than the originals and it's main purpose is for the viewer to have contact with a work not seen previously.

If you liked what you saw PLEASE BUY the original product in the links of Amazon I provided or in another official retailer.