[Anime] Die Legende der Prinzessin Kaguya

The Tale of Princess Kaguya is based on the classic Japanese fairy tale "Tale of the Bamboo Cutter". Chances are you don't live in Japan and don't know this tale. Luckily the movie is told in a way that requires absolutely no prior knowledge so even people who don't know much about Japanese culture and folklore can enjoy this (in fact very Japanese) story. Though the original fairy tale was certainly intended for children, I'm
not sure many children would enjoy this kind of movie in this age, so it's probably more of a pleasure for mature viewers who know what kind of story and storytelling to expect.

Art & Animation – 10

The first thing you will notice about this work is its unusual artstyle. You can clearly see Isao Takahata here, but at the same time the sketchy style is something you will rarely find in animated works. It's more like a moving artwork. Ghibli movies are usually very expensive and very well animated, and this one is no exception (in fact it was the most expensive and most delayed work of the studio, and predicted to be unprofitable due to its high cost and low mainstream appeal from the beginning). Even if you are not a fan of the artstyle, some moments are undeniably breathtaking such as the Kaguya running scenes. The animation is definitely a pleasure for the eyes: Unique, positively artsy, very fairy-taleish, very Japanese and certainly beautiful.

Sound – 9

The music was composed by Joe Hisaishi who usually only does the score for Hayao Miyazaki's movies. His orchestral style suits the atmosphere of the story very well. I particularly noticed the music in the first and the last part of the movie. It's also nice to see so many traditional Japanese elements in this score. Kaguya, for instance, plays the koto (a Japanese pluck instrument), but the traditional music is not limited to actual in-movie music. All in all Hisaishi did what he always does: He delivered a great score with some memorable tracks. The calm and beautiful ending song leaves you with a nice aftertaste after the end of the movie.

The voice acting is also quite well done. There are many old people and children in this movie, and I was particularly happy that those children were actually voiced by real children. Thus conversations and laughter sound very natural. Kaguya's voice is very pleasant to hear, and her voice actress delivered a vivid performance, most notable in Kaguya's energetic moments.

Story & Characters – 7

It is very hard to properly rate the story and the characters. Since the movie is based on a fairy tale, the story itself is fairly simple, and so are the characters. It is very easy to follow the events and naturally there are not many surprises or innovations. There is, however, lots of charme found in this kind of presentation. Isao Takahata was always very skilled in portaying the interactions between humans and daily human emotions and actions. You can witness all of this here as well. Though the characters are generally not very developed, it is easy to understand Kaguya's feelings and her colorful personality makes her memorable.

The other characters act mostly according to her roles: The caring mother who understands Kaguya's feelings, the charing father who does everything to make Kaguya happy, not understanding what actually makes her happy. The children that act as her friends and family. The five nobleman – some not so noble – who woo her and fail. All of those characters are pretty stereotypical, but they do their job well and never wanted to do more.

The story unfolds in a more or less predictable way, except for the end which might be a surprise, especially if you are more familiar with western folklore. The beginning was very executeddone: Kaguya's rapid development was portayed beautifully, as was her personality. In the second part of the movie the pacing is a bit slower – not much happens, actually –, but it gets better again toward the ending.

Value – 9

"The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter" is a very famous Japanese fairy tale, and this movie is unique in many ways: It is most likely the most elaborate and expensive adaption of a Japanese fairy tale we have seen in animation movies so far. The artstyle deserves lots of praise and definitely makes the whole experience memorable. The storytelling itself, though there's basically no narration, captures the atmosphere of a classic fairy tale very well.

Furthermore Isao Takahata is definitely an interesting director and this is his last work, so fans of his other movies should definitely watch The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Fairy tale adaptions used to be very common in the early age of animated movies, but lately Japan has produced few such works. This might be one of the last attempts to bring a classic tale to the big screens without modernizing it unnecessarily.

Enjoyment – 7

I definitely enjoyed the beginning of the movie a lot. It got a bit tedious in the second part – there was too much repetition in the part involving the five wooers, and it was obvious how Kaguya felt from the beginning, so I didn't enjoy this part very much apart from some really well-animated scenes and some nice moments. The last part of the movie gets better, though – especially the little dreamlike romance scene towards the end was fantastic.

Overall I enjoyed this movie, but it is very long (140+ minutes), and it definitely would not have hurt to remove or shorten a couple of scenes.

Final verdict: Watch this movie if you want to see a well-animated, well-told classic Japanese fairy tale. The movie is beautiful in many ways, but don't expect a complex story, a typical Ghibli movie, a typical Takahata movie (what's that, anyway?) or a typical anime movie at all. The emotional reaction you will feel will very much depend on how much you can sympathize with Kaguya. Though her emotions are very well depicted, there is a natural distance between the watcher and the fairy-tale characters, so even though there are heart-warming and sad scenes, they might not leave a huge impact on you.