MONONOKE:
A VISUAL MONOGRAPH
もののけ姫
Princess Mononoke
INTRODUCTION
This is a visual monograph on もののけ姫, or as known in English as Princess Mononoke. Princess Mononoke was directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli in 1997. It held the title of the highest-grossing film in Japan until Spirited Away, another Ghibli film, surpassed it in 2001. There is a multitude of aspects that make Miyazaki’s films masterpieces, including the unique Ghibli art style, completely hand-drawn animations, complex characters, and simplicity in still moments. Princess Mononoke is just one of those masterpieces that I encourage every person to experience.
SYNOPSIS
Princess Mononoke is deceptive — as any film with the word “Princess” in the title may appeal to children or seem like a family-friendly movie. After all, Miyazaki’s films are typically associated with magical and spiritual wonder that captures the imaginative minds of children. Princess Mononoke is everything but a story about a forest princess. It has violent, dark, frightening, and very mature themes. At its core, Princess Mononoke is a film about the relationship between man and nature, and how if we disrespect the environment, growing conflict and possible destruction could emerge. But let me give you a brief synopsis of Princess Mononoke. And I’m sorry but to properly analyze the film I must spoil the ending now. Princess Mononoke is a Japanese anime, fantasy war film. It follows the young Emishi prince, ”アシタカ” Ashitaka, and his righteous journey to undo a curse brought upon him from the boar god, "ナゴ" Nago, who was corrupted by an iron bullet and turned into a demon. And although the curse brings superhuman strength, the cost is that it will overtake Ashitaka’s body and eventually kill him.
As he travels to the west to find the cure to his curse, he meets monk and mercenary, Jiko-bo, who takes note of Ashitaka’s strange appearance and “demon-like” strength after killing several samurai. Jiko-bo informs Ashitaka of a forest where the god of life and death itself, the “シシ神” (Shishi-gami) by day, and “nightcrawler” by night lurks. As Ashitaka continues his travels he encounters oxen driver Kohroku whom he saves from death. While journeying to Kohroku’s town, Ashitaka first encounters the Shishigami. He returns Jiko-bo to his home and discovers that the iron ball in Nago was the result of ”タタラ場” (Irontown) run by feudal leader Lady Eboshi. Lady Eboshi’s ultimate goal is to create a prosperous society for her people, causing her to deforest the surrounding nature which angers the gods and San, a young girl raised from birth by the wolf gods. Ashitaka acts as a mediator for the two; he tries to get both to understand each other as he has not only been inflicted by the destruction of Irontown and understands the will of Lady Eboshi but also has respect for nature and the gods. Lady Eboshi is informed that the head of the Shishigami will cure all disease, and she plans to kill the shishigami for its head. Tired of the deforestation, the boar clan lead by Okkoto sought out to kill Lady Eboshi and her people. Fights between the samurai and Irontown occur while Eboshi and her army fight the boar army. Lady Eboshi spots the Shishigami and decapitates it right as it turns into the “nightcrawler”. Ashitaka and San eventually return the head to the shishigami and while it dies, it brings life back the forest.
WORLDBUILDING
Miyazaki’s films capture the essence of soft worldbuilding. The explicit logic behind the universe that Miyazaki creates is not immediately or easily perceptible to the audience, which does not necessarily imply that these stories are bad or substandard. It just means that the storytelling and the author’s conception of the world prioritize different things in comparison to hard worldbuilding. In films such as The Hobbit, the world has hard lines and follows logic, consistency, rules, and realism. The audience is fed these facts in order to truly understand the society and structure of the world behind the film.
However, Miyazaki’s films immerse the audience by withholding the facts behind the domain that he creates. There are little to no rules or structures that exist in these worlds and realism nor predictability is within the narrative of Miyazaki’s films. The intrigue, nebulousness, and otherworldliness of his films allow for the audience to use imagination to interpret the films in any manner.
In the context of Princess Mononoke, the structure behind the gods and characters is not specified in-depth. Rather, it is only explained that the gods and humans were once harmonious until the reign of Lady Eboshi. Consequently, many questions can be raised: Why was San raised by the wolf clan? What is the purpose of the social hierarchy of the gods? How did Irontown emerge? Why were the Emishi people driven out by the Emperor some 500 years prior to the timeline of this story, and why is it relevant? While these questions are not answered, they are not integral to the narrative of the story. Answering these questions would only ruin the pacing and exposition of the film. Leaving these answers out of the film only creates more mystery and wonder behind the world that we as the audience have been immersed in. We can fill in those gaps and transport ourselves into the world where gods roamed the earth that we live in today. It additionally allows Miyazaki to spend more time developing a deeper story, rather than spending valuable animation resources to explain concepts that aren’t relevant to the overall film.
HISTORY
It is difficult to analyze the elements of Princess Mononoke individually, as Miyazaki films are typically packed with meaning and cultural significance through style, structure, and narrative. His films are meant to be thought-provoking. Therefore, I cannot separate the analysis of filmic structure and style without acknowledging the importance of culture and meaning.
The origins and history behind Princess Mononoke are integral to the film, thus I would like to begin by first giving you a brief Japanese history lesson. Princess Mononoke was set in the ”室町時間” (Muromachi Era), roughly 1392 to 1573, during the War of Onin which occurred from 1467 to 1477. However, this was a time where industrialization and the production of iron boomed, hence the existence of Irontown within the film. According to the Japanese religion Shinto, humans are a product of nature and thus it is expected that humans, the environment, and ”神” or kami (kami meaning god or “above man”) all live harmoniously. Since deforestation was necessary to create iron and grow cities, the notion of kami being above human and these Shinto beliefs were slowly disregarded. Miyazaki claims that he did not want to create a truly historically accurate film, rather a film about the time where humans killed the gods of Japan.
Princess Mononoke has no real “hero” or “villain”. This is what makes each character so intriguing, interesting, and at times relatable. When analyzing Princess Mononoke, I want to discuss each major character in-depth and the qualities that not only make them deeper characters, but also what stylistic and structural choices that go with their surroundings and define their attributes.
Character: Ashitaka
Let’s start with Ashitaka. His name could be derived from the words tomorrow and bright in Japanese which is a nod to his character bringing harmony and a “brighter tomorrow” to the lands of the west once again. However, another interpretation of his name could be from the Japanese words “足” (ashi) and “高” ((taka) meaning “long legs”. This could also allude to the derogatory term of “土蜘蛛” (tsuchi gumo: loosely translated to “long-legged spider”) used to refer to the real "蝦夷” Emishi people that allegedly disobeyed the Emperor. The Emishi were a group of supposed “barbarian people” that dissociated their culture with the Emperor. And while during this feudal time the hierarchy of samurai, the Emperor, and commoners was still rocky, the Emperor found this behavior from the Emishi unacceptable. This triggered an attack on their people and drove them towards the northeast region of “本州” (honshu: or the main island of Japan).
Little to no information of the Emishi people exists today, giving Miyazaki creative freedom with the character design and basic environment that Ashitaka lives in. For instance, Ashitaka’s companion Yakul, the “あかしし,” or red, elk is a fictional animal. However, Yakul, as well as Ashitaka’s fighting style of bow and arrow, does derive from factual evidence of the Emishi style of horse archery.
Miyazaki describes Ashitaka as a “melancholic boy who has a[n unfortunate] fate”, his character design reflects this. Ashitaka is not a happy boy; he usually has an expression of concern or determination with only the occasional smile.
Voice actor, “松田 洋” (Yōji Matsuda), perfectly encapsulates Ashitaka’s nature through his tone. When addressing conflict his voice is firm and determined, and when in peace, his tone is kindhearted and gentle.
In an interview with Miyazaki, he stated that there are no expectations for Ashitaka, as he is a free spirit and his actions tend to reflect that. He is not seduced by the charm and prosperity of Irontown, despite it being the only comfortable place he can stay. Ashitaka’s clothing is colorful, yet simple which reflects both his status as a prince and his humble nature.
In addition, all of the men, except Ashitaka, have facial hair which is not only historically accurate to the Emishi people but also reflects on the narrative perspective that Ashitaka is the last living prince in a dying society. Top-knot hair is a distinct feature of the Emishi peoples, and Ashitaka cutting off his hair is a symbol of his condemnation and ban as an Emishi.
When Ashitaka travels he hides his face and head with a headcover and mask and his body with a straw coat. The covering of his body while he rides this bizarre, unknown elk-like creature makes him almost look god-like or unhuman himself, as he is now possessed with this demon-like curse.
The village that Ashitaka resides in has natural pathways lined with stone, and the buildings are made of straw and wood, which reflect the nature that surrounds the village as well as the traditional Emishi people. The simplicity of the village, usage of natural resources, yet attention to not destroy the surrounding nature reflect their respect for their land.
The interior scenes of Ashitaka’s town reveal once again simplicity as the interior is made of wood and lit with candlelight. There is little to no furniture as all the characters in the scene are sitting on the ground. This once again reflects the humble nature of the Emishi.
When we are first introduced to Ashitaka, the color scheme within the scene is bright with blues, greens, and light browns, which is reflective of the nature of this character. Compare this to the scene prior to Ashitaka’s introduction. The dark blues, greys, and blacks, which foreshadow the doom that is set upon our protagonist. This same color scheme is then carried over to when we see Nago’s demon form. These dark colors of maroon are left behind by Nago as he storms to destroy Ashitaka’s village symbolizes the hatred that mankind possesses and the destruction that will follow if we do not treat the environment with the respect it deserves.
Ashitaka, while being the only apparent protagonist of the film, is not a completely perfect character. He is an “unlikely hero” as some would call it. His main drive for traveling westward is only to cure himself of his curse. The reason behind why he was cursed is unknown and peculiar, as he has done no wrongful ill besides killing one of the kami. Miyazaki believes that Ashitaka explicitly saying that he will become an environmentalist because of his experience at the end of the film would only be a cop-out. Ashitaka is human and has flaws. His relationship with nature, although respectable, will not surpass the conflict of saving human lives. He distrusts human ability to remain impartial with nature and knows that with time comes the destruction of the forest. He is forced to make a difficult decision at the end of the film to sit in silence while nature is continuously destroyed.
Character:
Jigo-Bo
“ジコ坊” Jiko-bo is introduced next in the string of characters that Ashitaka encounters. Jiko-bo is a mercenary acting as a simple monk. He carries around “念珠” (nenju) which are Japanese Shinto prayer beads often carried by monks. He carries an umbrella and wears what is seemingly a “浴衣” (yukata) and “下駄” (geta), which are both traditional commoner articles of Japanese clothing.
Although at first, he is seemingly a friend for Ashitaka, it is soon revealed that he is a selfish businessman and hunter who is set on the reward of the shishigami head. It is ironic that he is disguising himself as a Shinto monk who should believe in the peace between man and nature, when, in reality, Jiko-bo takes no care for nature. This is furthered by his introduction as a character; we see him sitting and eating a stew of some sort, symbolizing this greed.
Miyazaki was, at first, puzzled on what narrative to give to his character. He was stuck between a government spy, ninja, member of a religious group, or a “very good guy”. Miyazaki ultimately took elements of each idea and created Jiko-bo. Jiko-bo is not an antagonist, per se, rather a man corrupted by a growing society fueled by greed.
Character:
San
San is the “Princess Mononoke” that the film concerns. The word “もののけ” (Mononoke) has no real translation but roughly means “vengeful monster or spirit” which perfectly captures her as a character. She is the third child of “モロ” (Moro), who is the queen of the wolf clan. Her name as “三”(San) in Japanese translates to three.
While the legend of “Princess Mononoke” is fictional and all Miyazaki’s original storytelling, San’s character could be inspired by the Shinto kami “荼枳尼” (Dakini) that is often depicted riding a white fox while carrying a sword and gemstone. This reflects San’s animal tooth knife as well as the crystal dagger gift Ashitaka gives to San.
San, being raised by wolves, has deep-set hate for all humans which reflects in her dialogue. Voice actress, “石田 ゆり子” (Yuriko Ishida) often says phrases like ”人間臭い”(Ningen kusai: I smell [bad] like a human) and “人間が嫌い” (Nigen ga kirai: I hate humans). She especially has great animosity towards Lady Eboshi because Lady Eboshi is slowly killing San’s home.
When we are first introduced to her character she is sucking the blood out of Moro with an expression of anger. The colors are bright with the glaring color of red especially contrasting to the pure white of Moro’s body. This iconic image perfectly encapsulates the feral image of this princess of the forest.
Her clothing seemingly is made of materials that could be found in the forest, including animal fur and teeth. She wears mostly white to blend in with the rest of the wolf clan. Her most iconic article of clothing is her mask which consists of white animal fur, red ears, and red “Kodama” looking mask (Kodama are little spirit creatures in the film that I will explain later on in the monograph).
San wears this while invading Irontown or while in battle which gives her a mysterious, menacing look.
Character:
Lady Eboshi
Lady Eboshi, leader of Irontown, is first introduced when Ashitaka steps foot into Irontown. Let’s first do a comparison of Lady Eboshi’s Irontown with Ashitaka’s Emishi village. The colors are browns blacks and greys reflect an industrial setting compared to the lush greens and blues of Ashitaka’s agricultural town.
While the buildings are still made of wood, they are much more developed than the rest of the villages in the film. In the center of Irontown, there is a furnace run by the women in the town. This hard-working, manufacturing town is also defined by the constant movement of characters in the background holding guns, hammers, swords, and other advanced weaponry. Miyazaki actually took inspiration from John Ford, a famous Irish-American director who is widely known for his westerns for he wanted to give Irontown a “tight-knit frontier” feel.
Lady Eboshi is one with her town, as her character perfectly represents a strong, hard-working leader of Irontown. Her intricate and beautiful clothing could not only be a symbol for her greed, but also an allusion to a “白拍子” (Shirabyoushi) which were Japanese women in the Muromachi period who served as prostitutes or dancers for men. This insinuates that she has been through hardship in her life, which gives her more of a headstrong, independent nature.
While Lady Eboshi may appear as the main antagonist of the film, she is a compassionate woman that helps her people, only trying to survive. That entails deforestation, destruction, and killing. “田中 裕子” (Yūko Tanaka) has the perfect voice for this, as she is both gentle, yet firm with her intonation.
Character:
Moro
The final major character I would like to discuss briefly is Moro. Moro is the queen of the wolf clan, and mother of San. She is an oversized white wolf with two tails which implies that she is more powerful and older than her one-tailed cubs. In Japanese folklore, each tail represents a century of life which puts Moro at 200 years old.
Wolves in Japan are seen as guardians of the mountainous forest which are seen as a deadly place. In fact, wolf in Japanese is “オオカミ” which translates to great god. Wolves are also seen as demon’s as “送り犬” (sending off wolf) is seen as a malevolent creature who bites off the limbs of lost travelers in the forest. Moro represents both the evil wolf as she attacks Lady Eboshi and her army on the mountain and the kind wolf by raising San as her own cub.
Interestingly, while Moro is a female wolf, she is voiced by a man: “丸山 明宏” (Akihiro Miwa) who is androgynous himself. This is because wolf gods in Japan are seen as masculine, regardless of gender.
SHOT COMPOSITION
The craftsmanship and beauty behind the film that runs for 136 minutes and has over 144,000 animation cells, all inspected by Miyazaki himself, definitely shows while watching Mononoke. It is amazing to see such meticulous effort put into a film. In order to truly capture the reality of movement, Miyazaki often made his producers reenact scenes in the film.
A plethora of shots are used throughout the film, however, most strikingly are the slow pans that show the entirety of the background of a scene and the montages of various scenes of the wild. This creates a feeling of wonder for the audience as the slow gradual shots allow for the audience to really understand the intricate beauty of the forest and nature that the “山の神” (yama no kami: forest gods) are trying to protect.
Take for instance this scene where Ashitaka takes a break in the forest of the shishigami. There is a close-up shot of butterflies dancing around an unknown footprint which then cuts to a mid to close up shot of Ashitaka’s face where he then says “足跡。まだ新しい” (a footprint.. It’s still rather new). It then cuts to a medium close up shot that zooms into a close up shot of the footprint. It then cuts to a slow pan to the right which highlights the beauty of the clear water, moss ridden trees, and general lush greenery of the shishigami forest, with pockets of light shining through. Miyazaki’s ability to create such realistic backgrounds while maintaining the strange beauty and exaggerated appearance of the characters, is so profound and gives an interesting feel to the film. It is almost as if this story could have happened in real life with the realistic backgrounds, but still feels fantastical with the bizarre character designs.
The scene then cuts to a close-up shot of Ashitaka observing something in the distance. It cuts to a wide-angle shot of trees with a light coming from the distance that zooms in to reveal deer walking in the distance. It cuts back to a close-up shot of Ashitaka that slowly zooms to a big close up shot of his concentrated face. These close-up shots are widely used throughout the film to emphasize the tension or concentration of a character’s expression. The shot continues with a cut back to the light in the forest where it is then revealed that it is coming from the shishigami.
CAMERA ANGLES
EDITING
Various angles are used throughout the film but one that I would like to highlight is the low angle shot. Two examples of this are when Ashitaka and Jiko-bo first meet and San when attacking the Irontown village. While the scene with Ashitaka and Jiko-bo is a full shot and the scene with San is a long shot, they still invoke the same feeling that these characters are powerful and feel higher than us. They are almost depicted like kami.
When it comes to editing, there is not much to mention besides the usage of continuity editing and many cuts which is indicative to the animation style of film.
COLOR AND LIGHTING
I have mentioned before in my visual monograph that the usages of greens and browns are most prevalent. Yet, there is still one more color that is highly utilized: red. Almost every major human character has clothing or items that are red. That meaning red is symbolic for each character.
For Ashitaka, it symbolizes his wealth and god-like status. This can be inferred by the way Jigo-bo admires his eating bowl, and his costume design of only having his hood red. This red hood along with the low angle camera angles as mentioned before give him the look of a god.
San wears red war-paint and a red mask. This may symbolize the amount of bloodshed she has done out of hate.
Lady Eboshi has red clothing and weapons, which may allude to either her former prostitution clothing or the same as San: amount of bloodshed she has done out of hate
The film occurs in setting ranging from dawn to dusk, which obviously make both the lighting and the colors different with each setting. One great use of light is when Ashitaka leave Jigo-bo after their meeting. The crack of dawn is beautifully captured by the streams of light that are cut by Ashitaka and Yakul.
MUSIC AND SOUND
Music and sound is an integral part of any Miyazaki film. “久石 譲” (Joe Hisaishi) is the composer for most Ghibli films, including Princess Mononoke. The main theme with the same title is carried throughout the soundtrack. This orchestral music that plays mostly during these scenes of montage and when Ashitaka is traveling highlights the importance of Ashitaka’s quest. The usage of war drums and fast-paced orchestral music add to the intensity of the battle scenes. Hisaishi combines both techniques from traditional Japanese music as well as modern Western music, giving it that old yet new feel. While traveling through the forest, the music playing is bizarre and almost sounds primal. This highlights the peculiarity of the magical forest and Kodama (once again I will explain this later). The music that plays while the shishigami is in frame is whimsical just like the character.
There are two vocal songs that are prevalent in the film, one of which I would like to analyze. The song “タタラ場 奪われた山” (Irontown stolen mountain song or tataraba women’s song) is sung by the women in Irontown while they power the furnace. The lyrics coincide the hard work they are doing for Irontown:
“One, two, even babies can push. Three, Four, even an ogre would cry. The golden love of a Tatara woman. Melts and flows, changed into a blade.”
Music is strategically placed in scenes where it emphasizes the drama and beauty of a scene, however, the usage of non-diegetic sounds throughout the film also define the world that we. as the audience, are immersed in. Sounds outside of Irontown include birds chirping, water flowing, and the noises of Yakul and the animal gods which are all natural sounds that characterize the environment. Sounds from within Irontown include the banging of hammers, rustling of footsteps, and yelling of people. This underscores the bustling environment of the manufacturing village of Irontown.
There are even parts of the film that have complete silence, including the absence of human voices. This adds to the intensity of certain scenes.
THEMES
As mentioned before the main theme of Princess Mononoke is the environment, however, there are several other themes that are to be discussed. This includes disability and feminism and a loss of innocence. The town of Irontown consists of outcasts including prostitutes and lepers. Although it is not completely validated in the film, the bandaged people of Irontown highly resemble people with leprosy. The women of Irontown all seemingly are former prostitutes, as Lady Eboshi once was as well. There even is a line where Ashitaka asks if the work in Irontown is too grueling for the young ladies and they respond by saying that it beats being outside for the men know how to behave themselves. Eboshi's strong leadership allows for the women to remain free from any society order or hierarchy.
Lady Eboshi can be defined by her duality. While she has great hatred for San, she also has great compassion for her people. Every person in Irontown is equal when it comes to labor and hierarchy, regardless of sex or disability. This is a very revolutionary thought process for the Muromachi period. Another potential theme could be the loss of innocence. Miyazaki wrote Princess Mononoke as a response to the wars in the former Yugoslavia; he believed that man never learned from their mistakes and we continuously have this hatred in our hearts.
CULTURAL AND SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS
Some cultural elements that I have not mentioned yet are that the curse that Ashitaka is inflicted with can be derived from the Shinto belief that sorcerer's used balck-worm spells to curse individuals called “こどぐ” (kodogu or worm poison). They were inflicted on vengeful creatures. This explains the black slithery creatures that corrupt Moro and follow Ashitaka.
Kodama are little tree spirits that are said to appear in forests that are healthy. This is probably why Ashitaka says “お前たちの母親だ” (your mother) when referring to the tree that the Kodama climb.
While in traditional Shinto belief the Kodama are seen as lights, animals, or human figure. Miyazaki took an unconventional approach to the Kodama as he got inspiration from the manga “MudMan”.
The design of the shishigami may look strange but it has important cultural meaning behind it. In Shinto, kami are sometimes depicted as animal bodies with human faces.
The weaponry that Lady Eboshi and her army use is reminiscent of the first protypes of Chinese firearms. These were invented before the Porteguese brought the common rifle to Asia.
Two other traditional Japanese weapons visible are the "薙刀" (naginata) whish is a long blade on a stick and "刀" (katana) which is a Japanese samurai sword. Since the naginata require a longer distance combat style, the naginata are used by the women in the film in order for the men to protect the women from harm.
