OwenS-Journal 1

I felt that the demonstration of a lack of understanding between two opposing groups is done very well. Both the humans and the forest spirits have fair reason to fight for their side however there is no clear effort of a compromise and neither side attempts to see the other’s perspective. This concept is particularly clear in the scene where Lady Eboshi says that every night the apes keep coming back and replanting trees trying to regrow the forest and she always has to shoot them off. Lady Eboshi then asks Ashitaka to stay with her and help kill the heart of the forest. Eboshi says that once the forest gods are destroyed the animals will be nothing more than dumb beasts and that the iron town has the potential to become the richest land in the world. This scene does a good job at showing the lady Eboshis perspectives and why she wants to destroy the forest. It also shows that the forest spirits aren’t all evil beasts that want to harm the humans, they do innocent and non harmful things like plant trees just to protect their livelihood.

One thing I found very impressive and successful in this film was the animation style. It looks as if everything was hand drawn and the style is very well done. I found the scenes with the forest spirit particularly impressive with all the glowing stars and moving shapes. The animals and forest spirits were very creative and I thought the Kodaman creatchers were very interesting. The many different types of craters and how they were depicted was very successful and added a uniqueness that the film would have otherwise not had. Another thing that I found impressive was the consistency of style throughout the movie, there was a strong cohesiveness between all the hand drawn creatures and the style used to depict the people .

The concept of keeping plot points fluid is a valuable tool that I would consider using in my own story. Adjusting each scene to best fit the story rather than keeping a rigid structure sounds interesting to me. Princes mononoke does a good job at spreading out the major plot points yet keeping it structured enough to create an engaging plot. The structure between act one and act two is well done shifting the story from being about seeking information about the nature gods to a battle between nature and humans

The concept that character arcs aren’t just for the hero is another feature of Princess mononoke that I would consider when writing my own story. Some stories dedicate most character development to the hero and main character of the story, in Princess Mononoke there are many character arcs and I believe this makes it a denser more interesting story. Characters like Lady Eboshi, Princess Mononoke and even Moro display significant changes in their attitudes and views on their opposition. This is something that I would work on in my own story.

There are some parallels between Princess Mononoke and the state of politics today. The concept of two sides that have strong arguments that support their policy and actions yet lack empathy for the other sides is common in Princes Mononoke. This same theme can be seen in our two party system in politics today. Lack of empathy for the other side and an inability to compromise can lead to greater polarization and unnecessary conflict, this is seen throughout Princes Mononoke. Princes Mononoke addresses this by using Ashitaka as a medium between the two sides. Ashitaka speaks to both the humans and the forest spirits and gains understanding of either side. Ashitaka’s role as a mediator between nature and humans and how he acts is some advice that could be helpful to us. The concept of seeing the world with eyes unclouded by hate is a very valuable tool for working for a compromise and unifying two sides. In the scene where Lady Eboshi battles with Princess Mononoke Ashitaka fights to keep the peace between them and has to physically intervene and ends up getting injured in the process. This scene shows a type of selflessness and empathy for both sides that is rarely seen in politics these days.