week 6

Week 6 : What are the underlying thematics of Princess Mononoke? How does it ‘defamiliarise’ its historical setting, according to Napier (2005)?

Princess mononoke is a story about how human ignore natural environment to mine ores. The consequence of being destroy nature is that animals from forest revenge. Living in a harmony with nature always is a issue until now. Through the whole story, love has been a clue between Ashitaka and San, between San and wolf and between forest spirit and forest.

At the beginning of the films, San is not the one playing the hero, but is Ashitaka shows up with a handsome looking and ride in a horse. This is quite clear for audiences that Ashitaka is a key character for the whole film. However, for the whole film, the animals in forest are the clue is a clear clue; they fight for freedom and get survival. The love between Ashitaka and San is another clue that is potential. The most wonderful sense is when Ashitaka says to San that she is so beauty. Why is that so impressive? From Ashitaka’s point of view, he is into her and it’s a reveal. He is nearly dead, so it’s what he want to tell San and hope she can understand. However, San seems shocked, the reason why she so uncomfortable is because she never like human before even though she is a human and no one says what Ashitaka says before. She is brought up by wolfs. She changes from wanting to kill Ashitaka at first to fall in love with him. That wells up out of a theme with ‘love’, closely link with ‘freedom’. From my point of view, the behavior that these animal fight with human although they know that’s would be no chance to win is a dauntless spirit. The ‘family love’ is happening at Moro saves San when she is nearly dead. And at the ends, the forest spirit, Jigo sacrifices its life to restore the earth. That’s a love to his forest.

According to Napier (2005), he points out “de-familiarizes the myth of the Japanese as living in harmony with nature de-familiarizes conventional notion of Japanese history through Miyazak’s decision to set the film during the fourteenth-century.  ” (2005, p. 233). Furthermore, Miyazaki choose make the film while anime is being ‘high cultural’ at that time to represent the inharmonious between human and nature when the world is being technical. This film is made from myth which is not real history.   

Napier, S. (2005). Anime: from Akira to Howl's Moving Castle. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.