The Tale of Princess Kaguya Review

Go round, come round, come round... come round, oh distant time. Come round, call back my heart. Come round, call back my heart. Birds, bugs, beasts, grass, trees, flowers. Teach me how to feel. If I hear that you pine for me, I will return to you.

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The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a 2013 anime film based on the oldest surviving folklore narrative in Japan from the late 9th or 10th century called The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. It was produced by Studio Ghibli and was the last movie Isao Takahata, the director of beloved films such as Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday, made before his tragic death in 2018.

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The Bamboo Cutter

The film starts with a bamboo cutter who finds a glowing light coming out of a bamboo shoot. He finds a miniature girl inside the shoot and believes her to be a princess and of divine royalty. He then takes her home where he and his wife decide to raise her as their daughter. The princess grows at a rapid rate like a bamboo shoot and soon enough makes friends with the other village kids who nickname her Little Bamboo. Kaguya develops a close relationship with the oldest village kid, Sutemaru. Meanwhile, the bamboo cutter finds a fortune of gold and cloth in the same bamboo shoot Kaguya was found in. He decides that they should relocate to the capital and that his daughter should get the proper training to become a princess.

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The Shining Princess

There is a huge contrast between the free countryside lifestyle the soon-to-be princess shared with her friends and the isolated imprisonment of moving into the city. She is forced to leave her friends behind and her father assigns her a governess to train her to become a noblewoman. Later she gets her true formal name as “Princess Kaguya.” Princess Kaguya is one of the most well-developed and sympathetic characters in Studio Ghibli history. You can feel every emotion she feels throughout the movie just through her eyes and facial expressions. At first, Kaguya finds happiness in her new lifestyle, but it quickly turns to pain as she finds herself more and more unhappy as time goes by. Her joy turns into disgust as she realizes more about her situation and has to come to terms that she'll never have the same carefree countryside lifestyle with her friends that she now longed for so badly.

As Princess Kaguya gets trained to be “proper,” she realizes how inhuman and fake it actually is. This is made clear through the situations she is forced to go through such as having an arranged marriage to a suitor she would only meet on her wedding day, or Kaguya having her teeth dyed black as part of a tradition.

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Growing Despair

Princess Kaguya although distraught tries to make the best of her situation. She makes a garden with her mother full of flowers and bugs and she also has other interests, such as playing the koto. This isn’t enough to save Princess Kaguya from her growing depression, however. As the movie goes on, she’s treated more like a doll by the people around her rather than a human being with her thoughts and feelings being pushed to the side. The only exception, and the person who genuinely listens to Kaguya, is her mother. Kaguya’s father on the other hand abuses the blessing he’s been given. Instead of listening to Kaguya’s pleads and desperation, he only makes things worse for her as he has convinced himself that he is acting in the best interests of his daughter.

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The Princess's Despair

There are two excellent scenes that really showcase the pain and inner feelings Kaguya goes through. The first scene is simple but extremely effective. A caged bird originally from the woods is given to Kaguya as a gift from her father. Instead of keeping it, she immediately lets it go out of its cage as soon as her father leaves. This symbolizes not only Kaguya’s love of nature and her deep longing to go back to her old life, but also how Kaguya and her father will never truly see eye to eye.

The second scene involves a dialogue nearing the third act of the film where Princess Kaguya feels the most defeated. Her father comes in and excitingly tells her that the emperor wants to marry her. Kaguya tells him that she’ll do whatever her father tells her to get him a better position in society, and right afterward would then kill herself. It’s a reality check for the father and one of the most effective scenes in the movie. It shows how broken and defeated Kaguya has become and it's really the first scene in the entire movie where her father actually listens and understands how hurt his daughter is.

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Birds, Bugs, Beasts, Grass, Trees, Flowers

The animation and music in The Tale of Princess Kaguya are also phenomenal. The animation itself is based on traditional watercolor paintings with the countryside being portrayed as relaxing and comforting. It’s digitally colored and is produced by computers even though it looks completely hand-drawn. The most impressive scene showcasing the variety of animation involves Princess Kaguya running away frantically out of anger and sorrow. During the scene the lines become jagged and the animation becomes chaotic and less-detailed looking as frantic as the emotions she’s going through.

The soundtrack in the film is of course great as it’s from legendary film composer Joe Hisaishi. Light pianos and strings are used to portray the easier and happier moments in Princess Kaguya’s life. These are extremely effective at matching the emotions the characters are feeling. A song Kaguya sings throughout the movie has a big importance to the story. It’s used effectively not only to talk about the beauties of life but is also an important piece of Princess Kaguya’s character.

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When I Remember This Life

Overall The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is an amazing film. It evokes every emotion possible and has many themes of what life is all about and what matters most. It’s a slow burn that doesn’t strive to be a grand adventure, but one of sorrow and seclusion. It’s a story that teaches you that you should listen to other people and keep their interests in mind instead of forcing your wishes upon them. It’s a film that ponders the meaning of life, and what will make you truly happy. Yet it also shows that living a different lifestyle may not be the best option for your individual happiness. It’s got everything that makes a Studio Ghibli film great and shows you the importance of everyday things: the birds, bugs, and bees.