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Movies & Series 19 March 2022, 23:00

author: Ann Orzech

Princess Mononoke. Best anime showing apocalyptic future

Table of Contents

  1. Romanized original title: Mononoke-hime
  2. Release date: July 12, 1997
  3. Running time: 134 min
  4. Where to watch: Netflix

Time for a classic.Princess Mononoke is considered the most outstanding work of the Ghibli studio. Can we avoid the climate cataclysm? Can humanity develop without smothering nature? These are questions many of us ask today – and certainly everyone should ask them. Hayao Miyazaki, the director of this production, full of symbolism and magic, was also looking for answers. Nothing is obvious or clear-cut in the film, and the story forces us to look for a golden mean for the relationship between man and nature. It's an amazing story both in terms of plot and technical delivery, and the animation, despite being created back in 1997, doesn't feel dated.

The story begins when a young man named Ashitaka stands up to defend a threatened village. One day, a demon appears in the settlement of the Emishi tribe, casting a curse of death on the warrior during their fight. It turns out that only a legendary animal god can cleanse it. So, Ashitaka sets out to find him and soon finds himself in the midst of a conflict between the civilization and mythical forces of nature that have turned against it. Forces of nature are led by title princess Mononoke, who fights against a settlement that threatens the existence of forests. Ashitaka has to take his sides.

Future in Princess Mononoke

Princess Mononoke is becoming more and more relevant every year. We live in times of intense technological development, which does come at a tremendous price for the environment. The Amazon, "the lungs of earth," is being decimated, bringing about an irreversible climate change that's already unfolding before our eyes. It's a moving story about the conflict between nature and man, but there's also a beautiful love story. The film suggests that civilization is almost impossible to stop, and even if it happens, the changes and devastation wreaked by it make it impossible to go back to the way things used to be.

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