Kaguya-hime no Monogatari (The Tale of the Princess Kaguya)

Deep in the countryside, a man named Okina works as a bamboo cutter in a forest, chopping away at the hollow plants day after day. One day, he discovers a small baby inside a glowing shoot. He immediately takes her home, convinced that she is a princess sent to Earth as a divine blessing from heaven. Okina and his wife Ouna take it upon themselves to raise the infant as their own, watching over her as she quickly grows into an energetic young girl. Given the name Kaguya, she fits right in with the village she has come to call home, going on adventures with the other children and enjoying what youth has to offer.

But when Okina finds a large fortune of gold and treasure in the forest, Kaguya's life is completely changed. Believing this to be yet another gift from heaven, he takes it upon himself to turn his daughter into a real princess using the wealth he has just obtained, relocating the family to a mansion in the capital. As she leaves her friends behind to enter into an unwanted life of royalty, Kaguya's origins and purpose slowly come to light.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Kaguya-hime no Monogatari is based on the 10th century Japanese folk tale of the same title. It was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 87th Academy Awards, the first such nomination for Takahata. The film received over 20 nominations worldwide from critics associations, film festivals, and academies, winning seven times.

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Related Anime

Alternative version:

Kaguya-hime

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Kaguya-hime

Main

Asakura, Aki
Japanese

Me no Warawa

Supporting

Tabata, Tomoko
Japanese

Sutemaru

Supporting

Koura, Kengo
Japanese

Ouna

Supporting

Miyamoto, Nobuko
Japanese

Okina

Supporting

Chii, Takeo
Japanese

Isonokami no Chuunagon

Supporting

Kojou, Tamaki
Japanese

Abe no Udaijin

Supporting

Inbe no Akita

Supporting

Tatekawa, Shinosuke
Japanese

Sumiyaki no Roujin

Supporting

Nakadai, Tatsuya
Japanese

Kitanokata

Supporting

Asaoka, Yukiji
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Nishimura, Yoshiaki

Producer

Takahata, Isao

Director, Screenplay, Creator

Asari, Naoko

Sound Director

Pannetier, Jean-Marc

Script, ADR Director

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Opening Theme

No opening themes have been added to this title. Help improve our database by adding an opening theme here.

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Ending Theme

"Inochi no Kioku (いのちの記憶)" by Kazumi Nikaidou (二階堂和美)

Reviews

Apr 8, 2024

BodyImprovement

Recommended

A Tragic Masterpiece
Story: 10/10 A+
Animation/Art: 11/10 S-
Sound: 8/10 B+
Characters: 10/10 A+
Acting(subbed): 10/10 A+
Overall: 11/10 S-

TLDR:
This is an absolute masterpiece of a film. It truly feels like the love child of a genius. You can feel the amount of passion, love, and dedication that was poured into this film. Story wise it's perfect. It's emotional, funny, and tragic and is very well-paced. The animation is incredible, full of expression and its simplicity allows for such dynamic and incredible movement. Unfortunately, the art style may not be to your liking but I for one love it. The music is amazing for this movie, as with most Studio ... Ghibli movies, but unfortunately, despite it certainly amplifying the effect of many scenes, none of the music particularly stands out as truly incredible. The characters are extremely well-developed and are all unique in the most human of ways. The main character Kaguya in particular is amazing and her relationships with other characters are, in my opinion, the second best part of the movie. The acting is spot on. Each voice actor went truly above and beyond. This movie has some of the most emotional and raw acting in anime. Overall this is now my favorite movie. Every aspect of it is truly incredible.

Story:
Absolute masterful work here. The story is incredibly emotional, funny, and tragic. All three of these bundled together into a masterpiece. A big plus here is that I thought it was actually paced well. Usually, I have a big problem with Studio Ghibli movies and their pacing, but in this case, I didn't even question it at all. It was perfectly paced. Now, there may be a belief that this movie centers around the Princess giving male suitors impossible tasks to complete but in reality, it's much more about Princess Kaguya herself and how she comes to love earth and to love hating earth at the same time. It is only through the suitors that we get to see some of the deeper thoughts and intelligence of Kaguya and how she views the world. Nearing the end of the movie the story's tone takes a switch to a much more fast-paced and desperate feeling as Kaguya tries to enjoy the remaining time she has left on earth. This section of the movie is, in my opinion, the best. It's full of hard-hitting emotional moments and really portrays the message that the movie is trying to send to the audience very well. That ending was absolutely heartbreaking and yet provides the smallest semblance of hope for a better future through the falling of just a few tears. One thing I loved about this movie is that it turns an enlightened, godlike group, into a group that is in fact lesser than humanity. The movie shows that this group has given up emotion in all forms, ridding themselves of pain but also happiness. The movie wants people to understand that the suffering of life is worth it and in the end, even suffering is an experience to cherish and value.

Animation/Art:
Absolutely fucking phenomenal. Like just a round of applause. Now I can understand that it can be offputting. But I am a big believer that anime is not only multi-genre, but should also have multiple animation styles. In this case, Princess Kaguya takes beautiful and unique animation to a whole other level. The entire movie is done in a style that makes it almost look like you're reading it off of a scroll, fitting since this is based on an old folktale. The simplicity done for this movie allows for unparalleled levels of expression and movement. The faces and just how the characters move around on screen are filled with so much dynamic movement that you just can't find in basically any other anime. The animators aren't focusing on intense detail and a beautiful sunset but on the smooth and expressive movement of the characters. This is only given a greater effect when the animators begin to add creative expression to the scenes they have. This is best exemplified in the scene where Kaguya runs away. I've seen beautiful and unique animation before but that was something else. The movement into darkness, the distortion of Kaguya, the angles we see it in, how it gets progressively more distorted as Kaguya begins to break down just a little bit more, it was just so GOOD GOD DAMN! Overall, absolutely beautiful and incredible.

Sound:
Sound design and stuff like that is not really something I know a lot about so I'm going to skip over that part and go straight to MUSIC. The music in this movie is very very good. Not excellent but still very very good. It truly immerses you in the scene and leaves a big enough impact that I just had to go back and listen to the soundtrack. Studio Ghibli has always made beautiful soundtracks, even in the movies I didn't really like, and Princess Kaguya is no exception to that. However, no tracks in this movie stand out as beyond incredible, and much of it, despite leaving a memorable impact on my mind, isn't memorable itself.

Characters:
The characters in this movie are nothing less than excellent. Princess Kaguya in particular is very well written. Going from a child to a young woman in such a wonderful way and is an absolute joy to watch the whole way through. Seeing her enjoy life and then see her lose the sparkle of joy she had so greatly possessed and then to see her be left in desperation, trying to experience all that life had to offer in the little time she had left, it was also so moving. Other characters are also amazing. The father is a great character who becomes blinded by greed for all of the right reasons. He desperately wants Kaguya to pursue a happy life but when it begins to merge with the life that he dreams of living he begins to apply the dreams that he wishes for to Kaguya. Yet in the end, he shows that he truly cares for her and is completely devastated at the possibility of losing Kaguya. There is one scene early on in the movie where he shouts out Kaguyas name and she comes running to him instead of to a group of boys also shouting out her name. I can't say how deeply this scene moved me. The joy on his face and the fact that he nearly cries when this happens does nothing except cement the father as a man who lost his way but still deeply cares. The mother cares equally for Kaguya but doesn't become blinded by her own dreams. She instead tries to pursue the greatest happiness for Kaguya and so she becomes the second most lovable character on the show. Being nothing but a friend and support beam for Kaguya to rest on. I would go more into all the other characters but you really just have to watch the movie to find out.

Acting(subbed):
It's great. The voice actors here really put their heart and soul into this movie. There is one scene where Kaguyas dad calls out to his daughter with a chant and she comes to him instead of a group of boys using a different chant. This simple, tiny, insignificant scene, is nothing short of perfection. It perfectly encapsulates a parent's love for their child as the dad breaks down into tears and runs towards his daughter in sheer happiness as she walks towards him. BUT THIS SCENE COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN SO GOOD if the father was a great actor, and he was. He so greatly portrayed the joy of the father through small voice cracks and an increasing volume it was just so well done. Princess Kaguya is also a great actor. She is able to convey such bittersweet emotion throughout the entire film that just draws tears out of you. It really is just best if you watch the movie yourself for this to get what I'm coming from.

Enjoyment/Overall:
This film is truly a masterpiece in every sense of the word. I have never seen a movie with such passion and emotion. This movie felt like somebody's life work was finally achieved. Like somebody put all of their effort into making a singular movie, shaping it into exactly what they wanted, and what they wanted, turned out to be a masterpiece. The story that this movie goes through is so moving, the music is so impactful, the acting is unbelievably well done, the characters are relatable and moving, AND THAT ANIMATION!!! I can't give this movie anything less than an 11/10. On top of that the topics that it tackles are just done so well. The unrealistic and also unfair standards for women constantly bear down on Kaguya, making her life progressively less happy. How greed can blind us into thinking that what we are doing is for the best of everyone when it's really just for ourselves. How a single moment of foolish usage of force on someone, can completely ruin a person's life. I think the most important part of this film is right at the end. Where Kaguya finally has to accept her fate and yet, it's clear through just a few tears, that no matter what happens, her experience can't ever be lost. Forgotten maybe, but never lost. The emotion that is tied to earth and her life there is immovable. In the end, knowing what is about to happen, Kaguya becomes desperate and rushes to try and take in life's joys and pains right before the end. It's a lesson I think that everyone needs to be reminded of. That life, despite all its suffering and pain, is truly beautiful. It is the only chance to experience its beauty, so appreciate every moment of it before it's too late. This movie is everything I could have wanted it to be and more. 11/10

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Jan 10, 2024

HoozyOne

Mixed Feelings

Most of the film can easily be considered a masterpiece in all aspects, but the final act sours the experience. The ending is great though! And fits in with the message the authors are trying to tell.
The final act introduces the secret background of Kaguya rapidly, which feels like an exposition dump and sours the experience. If those elements had been introduced in small pieces throughout the story, the pacing would have been fine and the ending would have had a greater emotional impact on the viewer.
The hand-crafted animation is beautiful, one of the best in animated media overall, and definitely elevates the emotions one ...

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Mar 3, 2022

LucentRivers

Not Recommended

There's a danger here, which Studio Ghibli has willfully evoked, of misinterpreting the oldest surviving novel in Japanese history. I've seen this story adapted in other formats, or given a small nod to in other media like the game Okami, and even just reading short plot synopses of the various ancient versions of the original tale evokes something more than this film did.

The overall story is there, true, but character development is muddled, and some characters, such as the Emperor and the bamboo cutter are turned into rather indecent characters, removing the restrained, bittersweet maturity of the original tale.

The art and music are ...

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