Princess Mononoke

First Ghibli film I’ve seen, and what a way to start it off. Princess Mononoke is a beautiful story about the clash between the human desire to keep developing and the destruction to the natural world that often ensues as a result. The score is beautiful, and I really like how the plot doesn’t demonise any of the parties involved; I feel like it makes the story all the more bittersweet. One tiny complaint I have is about Ashitaka as a character — he felt a bit too perfect and didn’t seem to have any flaws, making him seem slightly flat in my opinion. I also really wish we learned more about Princess Mononoke, since I felt she was the most interesting character and would have really benefited from some more development. That said, this film is still a must-watch and I definitely gotta watch more Ghibli films. The hand-drawn animation is so intricate, and the use of the natural and the supernatural to push the viewer to come to their own conclusion, rather than sharing a single message, is something which I’ve not seen before and really like.