Having cleansed my writing palate with my review of “F3”, I move onward to a movie that is one of my favorites of all-time. Hayao Miyazaki has been called a visionary in the world of anime, and this movie is a prime example of this. Spoilers follow, so take care if you don‘t want any of the plot lines to be spoiled...

Ashitaka is a young man who saves his village from a demon god. However, a death curse befalls Ashitaka, and he is sent from his tribe to find the source of the iron ball the caused suffering that caused the boar god to become a demon.

Confused yet? It comes together in a longer period of time that it takes to read that sentence, so it’s much easier to understand when you see it unfold.

So, Ashitaka cuts his bun, and searches for the cure to the curse that threatens to take his life. During his adventure, he runs into many different characters, and therein lies one of the things that I love the most about this movie.

You see, there really is no real “evil” character in this story. The characters do not fall into a category of black or white… there are many shades of gray, instead. The character interaction is phenomenal in this day and age of pre-chewed stories that are fed to the viewer, much like applesauce to a toddler.

Not so with Princess Mononoke. The monk is a wise man, but he dabbles in a little bit of evil. Lady Eboshi seems to be pure evil when you first meet her, but you later find out that she has quite a bit of good in her character. You can never write off any characters when they make their first appearance.

The mark of the curse causes extreme pain to Ashitaka, and it causes other side effects… primarily superhuman strength. Ashitaka uses water to stop the pain from the mark, however, it’s spreading throughout his body, and will cause his death. His only hope is to request that his life be saved by the elusive forest spirit.

However, other forces seek out the forest spirit for their own ends. One of these is Lady Eboshi, a woman who runs a clan of humans that smelt iron for their survival… and fight the animals and their respective gods for territory. Doing this draws the ire of a clan of wolves, and the woman raised by the wolves, and Ashitaka realizes that he needs to keep both sides alive to survive his curse.

The humans lead by Eboshi have an equalizer. They’ve designed guns used to kill the animals before they would be killed for trespassing. These guns fire iron balls that are remarkably similar to the one that caused the ancient boar to become a demon. And they plan to kill the forest spirit with their guns to receive a boon from the Emperor, which is rumored to be immortality.

So Ashitaka tries to keep everybody alive, while he tries to save the forest spirit so it may reverse the curse and save his life. He also finds a kindred soul in Princess Mononoke, the young woman raised by the wolves, but one thing hinders their romance: she hates humans!

The visuals in the movie are some of the most beautiful hand-done scenery I have ever seen. I’d put Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within just past this movie, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. The first time I saw the movie, tears welled up in my eyes. The magical clearing where the forest spirit dwells is incredibly well done.. Awesome stuff.

The sound is very clear. The orchestral soundtrack is very, very strong, and the dialogue (both Japanese and English) is well done. Hell, the English track is one of the best dubs I have ever heard in anime OR foreign live-action. Why? Because they used major name actors to speak the lines, and these actors knew what they were doing. The American cast list is a veritable “Who’s Who”: Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Billy Bob Thornton, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson, Jada Pinkett Smith, and so on, and so forth.

The movie is a true masterpiece, and one of the anime pieces that I would recommend for anime newbies. The story is easy to comprehend when you get started, and though it is a tad long (134 minutes), the visuals suck you right in.

The DVD is very well done, with one small complaint: very little in the way of extras. There is the American trailer and a Miramax featurette, but other than that, there is a lot of wasted space on the DVD. They could have had an interview with Miyazaki, or other previews, or even a “Making of…” piece.

However, the lack of extras is a very minor gripe. This movie reeks of awesomeness. I suggest you see this movie before Dizzney rips it off as well, billygunns it, and tries to pawn it off as an “original” idea.

RATED: 10 out of 10

My next review will be Ranma ½, one of my favorite series. I will attempt to answer the age old question: “Ever feel like a large breasted young woman trapped in a man’s body?”

I appreciate feedback, because without it, I can't become a better writer. Also, I'm a loner that needs human interaction, so any contact would be great. So, send me something if you like the review, if you don't like the review, or if you want more hentai reviews. (Don't we all? -Josh)

(Originally posted on ohemgee.com (now bereft of life); reprinted by permission of the author.)