Prinzessin Mononoke

When Prince Ashitaka is struck by a curse while defending his village against a demonic boar, he finds himself caught between the fronts of a raging war in search of a cure. The animals and forest gods are trying to put an end to the ongoing destruction of nature by the humans and their ironworks. While he actually wants to mediate between his own species and the animals, he meets Princess Mononoke, who lives with the wolves, and is drawn deeper and deeper into the escalating battle.

In Princess Mononoke, Myazaki takes up one of the themes close to his heart. The destruction of the environment, which has already happened in Nausicaä (1984), is thematized here in the making. Industrialization has only just begun and the process is still facing considerable resistance. Myazaki once again uses fabulous creatures and, above all, children to address environmental destruction and the relevance of peaceful coexistence between humans and the environment. It quickly becomes clear why he chooses these particular means when you look at his main characters: Even in one of the most graphic Ghibli films, which is full of justified hatred and battle rage, Miyazaki's Prince Ashitaka embodies the good in humanity. And there is no better way to portray a hopeful perspective than through the eyes of a child in the midst of a fabulous world.