This is easily one of my favourite movies of all time. Ghibli pretty much always covers complex themes with wonderfully crafted worlds. A thing you might notice watching more of their movies is that there are basically no classic villains in their movies. The antagonists are always complex characters with their own hopes and dreams and I think Lady Eboshi sums all of that up perfectly. These are not just movies, they're pieces of art.

The line near the end where he says "I didn't know the Forest Spirit made the flowers grow" gets me EVERY TIME.

Eboshi is in an interrsting position because Iron Town was formed by stealing land away from the forest and the animals but it is simultaneously being seiged by Samurai who want to do the same thing to iron town (and the forest). So she finds herself in the position of both a victim and an aggressor.

The message isn’t so simple as to destroy iron town, but to coexist

Catharsis is absolutely the name of the game when it comes to Ghibli films. Ashitaka has to be one of the most amazing protagonists in all of animation, if not in movies in general - even though he's cut off from his heritage by his curse, he does everything to hold on to what it means to be a prince - put your own life on the line first, act with diplomacy, and protect the weak.

I watched this with a friend blind in the theaters. One of the few who did since it's a small run. We were blown away. Still one of my fav movie experiences.

Prior to watching this movie, I thought either Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle were my favorite Hayao Miyazaki movie, but this has absolutely become my favorite out of all of his films. It was the first movie to make me really think about the environmental impact humans make and how to try and reduce my impact when I can.

Absolutely love this film. Been an annual watch for a good few years now!

There is no good and evil in this film, just sides. In some another story you would cheer for Jigo and Lady Eboshi. They are not bad people, just antagonists in this one. We are so conditioned to always see one side is good and other side is evil. Also, i belive, we are conditioned to see that nature is always "good" but it's not. Nature is just there, it's neither good or evil. People "invented" good and evil. Maybe when we all see with eyes unclouded, we will understand something important..

I’m so happy you picked this for your first. It’s my all time favorite of all the Ghibli films! Next would be Spirited Away.

Wonderful reaction. My first studio gibli film was Laputa Castle in the Sky. I remember seeing it in the origional Japanese dub,and loving every moment. Would recommend that version as unfortunately some of the charm is lost in the english dub. Anyways these films make you feel like a kid again,along with the child like wonder of youth. The emotional kick they bring is hard to describe,but definitely welcome.

Many of his films are full of Japanese folklore and culture. It’s a wondrous thing to get a dose of Japan into your very soil via his work. But also get a chance to see a great example of why people love Japanese creative content so much. ❤

This movie was announced when I was still in elementary school, and it was the first anime movie I saw in a full-fledged movie theater. It goes without saying that I was inspired by beautiful landscapes, epic music, fierce struggles and deep messages. And for most Japanese people, the basic themes and detailed descriptions of this movie are very familiar, and I feel that it evokes the memories of our ancestors engraved in our cells. The decline of the ancient Jomon or Emishi people and the rise of the Yamato people, the balance between reverence for nature and technological innovation, and the relationship between gods, nature, and humans. It's not easy to express them well. Miyazaki-san and his staff have done it with incredible talent and passion.

Many of Miyazaki films are full of Japanese folklore and culture which is still strong in that country. I’ve been studying such things for my entire life since I was 11❤❤❤

Ashitaka is hands down one of the best protagonists in modern cinema. He's blunt and straight forward and more than a little awkward. But his dedication to TRUE pacifism is beyond any other depiction in modern fictional media. He goes SO far out of his way to save everyone, that it makes every character in the movie who doesn't listen to him look utterly foolish in comparison. He only uses violence when he has to, and puts himself in harms way for the good of everyone. Making his line to Jigo 'Dont force me to kill you." So much more chilling. He has compassion for the violent samurai even though he just saw them killing innocent civilians, he has compassion for the woman who shot him, he feels compassion for Nago, grieving the boars death even though it cursed him and forced him to leave behind his people. Even when the demon Nago is trying to kill his sister, he still asks it politely to leave, giving it one more chance before he shoots his arrow, ready to take full responsibility for what happens next. and doesn't even blink when the gods of the forest repeatedly threaten to kill him, he just keeps helping them anyway. The simple visual of him hugging the woman who just stabbed him is his whole character. The knife that symbolized the love of his family and village, the knife he was willing to give up to show San how much he cared for her, and it gets literally stabbed into his chest in an act of hatred, and he just instantly forgives her. Gotta love that little dude.

10:19 I am Japanese. I think that foreigners often do not understand what is happening in movies unless they know Japanese history, customs, religion, and folklore. Women are not forced to work. They are war victims who lost their families in the war and were trafficked into prostitutes. Eboshi saves them, educates them so that they can be independent, and hires them as technicians.

This movie did what Avatar with all the hours of filming couldn't do. Ashitaka realizes the enemy is neither the forest nor the humans but it is the hatred. Humans are not demons and neither is the forest. Both sides are struggling to survive and that both sides need to coexist. And yes human greed exists here but so does nature's unforgiveness. Lady Eboshi is the antagonist but she also offers shelter to women children and ill people giving them jobs Nature is sustainable but lives on the rules of survival of the fittest. Nature and humans are equally destructive but also equally creating The movie isn't idealizing nature and demonizing humans but shows both sides live in the same world and try to survive

Princess Mononoke takes place in Japan between 1336 to 1573. Although it appears to be a happy ending, Japan then enters the Sengoku period, and wars ensue for approximately 140 years (1467 to 1615). Therefore, he said, ``In this era when humans have begun to question the existence of humans, I feel that these questions are not just a problem for adults and philosophers, but are instinctively spreading among children as well. I felt that I had to answer how I thought about that question.The main reason I made this film was because I felt that Japanese children were asking the question, ``Why do I have to live?'' These are the words of director Hayao Miyazaki in an interview.

I saw a statement on this movie that made an interesting point. They said that neither side was wrong but neither was right. They were only doing what was natural. The forest animals were protecting their home and the forest because that is in their nature. The humans were trying to build a place where the weak could survive and were using the resources they found which was in their nature. It’s why the forest god who represented life and death did not exactly pick a side. Both sides were doing what was natural to them. It’s open to argument and interpretation but it did make a valid point and I can’t help but think about it when I watch the movie.

Studio Ghibli movies never disappoint. I can recommend you "grave of the fireflies" but attention it is really sad but also beautiful.

This movie is how the man vs nature story should be done. No side is better or worse than the other, both have understandable motives and intentions, but wrong ways to deal with them. Every character is so complex. Moro despises humans yet took pity on a human baby she raised as her own daughter. San hates humans as well but was capable of showing compassion to an injured one by feeding it. Eboshi wants to destroy the forest but at the same time gave a home to former prostitutes and lepers when society rejected them.

Studio Ghibli has the very very best animation style.

this movie should just be called "I can Fix Her: the movie" referring to how Ashitaka falls head-over-heels in love with San Mononoke despite how violent she is (or used to be probably)

Thank you for your reaction

Ashitaka is the model of positive masculinity to to me that all young men should aspire towards. To be the man that can see with eyes unclouded by hate.

I first saw this movie when I was 5. I am 25 now, these past few days I've been rewatching this movie over and over again. cried everytime

I watched this masterpiece while on vacation in Western Australia, which left me with many questions and insights. I kept asking myself who's the good guy and the bad guy? It turned out that the true evil is fear, in which "fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." (Yoda, 'Star Wars').

Watched this for the first time like 1 month ago, perfect timing. Great movie, some of the best anime out there is in the form of movies and most people tend to forget about them, me included when i started watching it.

Princess MONONOKÉ 🐗 A MASTERPIECE ☆☆☆☆☆

I first saw this movie in a preview screening which had a Q&A with Neil Gaiman afterwards. Neil wrote the English adaptation of the screenplay. It was a great movie and a great experience.

Joe Hisaishi, Master of Music, everytime on this entrance ive goosebumps

TL;DR Lepers are hurting and need bandages, but not injured. 19:52-20:03 No. She is not. 11:27 Those people in the secret room designing weapons are not "injured" they are lepers. People with chronic heath issues that usually causes visually obvious skin and/or limb disfigurement: as little as a rash that just doesn't go away, to your arm slowly dissolving off. Lepers are usually cast out of all societies for fear that they will spread their issues to everyone around them. Unfortunately this makes it VERY difficult to get basic needs met and their conditions tend to get worse and worse. Often they will make their own communities and farmlands, but no one is an able bodies person and some of those lepers have issues that really are contagious, so already weakened people can get more then one kind of leprosy from their shared communities. They don't leaves because there's no where they can go that will accept them. In fact traveling NOT in a group is a great why for fearful brutes to remove the leper from existence, If they can get over the fear of possibly getting diseased themselves from touching said leper. It's a 2 way shield/wall.

Just a small advice. Don't try to decide which Ghibli movie is the best. Deciding which is the best is futile. You'll sit on it forever and even if you make a choice, you will never really know if it was the right one. Just got for which you like the best. That might already be a tough decision. I like and enjoy all of them, but 'Porco Rosso' is my favourite, a choice few share, but that doesn't matter.

Ghibli and many Japanese anime have awakened many people who can only think of things in terms of the dualism of right and wrong.

I absolutely love your reaction here! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I showed one girl this on our second date. We didn't end up together, but are still friends and she still tells me how awesome the movie is every time I talk to her. She was skeptical going in.

You must see GHOST IN THE SHELL ( 1995 ) A masterpeace Cyberpunk.

The most powerful film of all time.

"Castle in the sky" is another great Ghibli movie! 😀👍

WOA HYES WOA HYES! I hope that you enjoyed this one as much as I thought you would!!!

Three of my favourites. 😊 Here's a couple more fantastic movies from Ghibli that I love. "Grave of the Fireflies" (1988) "Only Yesterday" (1991) "Ocean Waves" (1993) "Whisper of the Heart" (1995) "Howl's Moving Castle" (2004) Actually I love them all❣👌🙏

GHIBLI films are always meant to invoke deep thought that will last years and years of your life.

I love how the narrative tackles "man vs nature" which is to say that it refuses to. Carnivores herbivores, the forest spirit gives life and takes it away. Peace and violence exist in nature, and humans are just another kind of animal, humans are peaceful and violent all the same. The conflict between the humans and the animals is not because they are different, but because they are the same. They both want to survive, and they see each other as obstacles instead of comrades.

Studio Ghibli si like a Japanese Disney.... but better.

The free trial on yer Patreon is kinda nice. First time I see that!

This movie is more ambiguous and complex than just the simple (and boring) message: 'human bad, nature good', at the end of the day, human can't just die out and extinct in order to preserve natures, but human also can't live without nature, it's about coexisting and harvest resources in a reasonable and responsible way. In any other story, Lady Eboshi will be consider a hero, she saved women from being sex slaves, she helped men and women with illnesses, give them respect and a good, comfortable life--she is strong, caring, badass and fun fact, the clothes she is wearing is traditionally for men in that era, this is what makes her such a fascinating antagonists, where her actions do came from a morally-correct reason (to protect her people and providing a safe heaven for those that are deemed outcasts), in this perspective of Princess Mononoke, her good reasons caused suffering and death to other lives. The forest god is also ambiguous in its own way, it's not a god of life, but a god of cycle of life, life and death. It was not doing anything during the boars vs humans battle; it didn't remove Ashitaka's curse at first; and by the end of it, it showed that it had the power to remove san and Ashitaka's curses--but it didn't save Moro or Okkata, I believed the forest god euthanized them instead, it's neither good or evil, it's neither on human or animal's side--it took almost an unbiased position, just watch everything unfolded and continued the cycle of life and death until its own death. At least that's how I see this movie, it's all about perspective.😆

I watched it yesterday on my birthday and it was amazing!

Great video! Also super interesting analysis at the end, you're so perceptive for your first watch.

This is one of my favorites from Ghibli, but it can be a little bit shocking from the graphic violence or a little bit dark for people having their first contact with these movies. But the message is beautiful and makes us to slow down and reflect upon some aspects of our own lives. I hope you keep watching the Miyazaki films.

I never heard about this movie until last year

Cloud atlas might be for you.

You must watch Kiki's delivery service 100%You will like it 😀

Miyazaki tends to SHOW and not tell and leaves the interpretation up to the viewer. I'm sure you have gotten plenty of recommendations for which Ghibli film to watch next. Howl's Moving Castle and Spirited Away (some of his best work) but also My Neighbor Totoro and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, they're all fantastic, However I wanted to make a note on two of them. I re-watched My Neighbor Totoro recently and I realized, there is come context that might be missed by a Western audience. (not spoilers: premise of the movie) The film is set in the 1950's in post war Japan. While the film never states anything specifically, the fact that the family moves to the country side and the mother is sick and in the city Hospital implies a potential. Radiation sickness and disease caused by it was common and widespread in Japan in the years after the war. The fact that radiation was still relatively new and that very often there might not be obvious external signs makes the perpetually sick/sickly character a type of trope. I've seen this in a lot of anime and the cultural significance was lost on me for a long time. Totoro specifically deals with a family living in post war Japan and because Miyazaki doesn't beat you over the head with what to think/feel, If you don't have this in mind, you can miss alot of the subtlety. I thought it was a silly kids movie the first time I watched it. - Last week I bawled my eyes out watching it. Different time, place, and different me. but also context! Like Totoro, many of his films reference the war or war in general and they ALL have environmentalist undertones. However there is one film that stares unflinchingly at the effects of war. Grave of the Fireflies. - as a general rule I tell people DO NOT watch this film. It will HURT you. If you choose to watch it, that's on you. I think it's a film that deserves to be seen, and I will NEVER FUCKING watch it again! LIPPS... The Human Centipede is a fun time movie for me.... - I refuse to watch Grave of the Fireflies. just so we're clear, that if you do I properly warned you.

My favourite animated movie ❤❤❤🐺🌱

this movie made me develop a crush on Ashitaka! LOL he's another one of my fictional crushes besides Haku from Spirited Away and Howl Jenkins Pendragon from Howl's Moving Castle

The boy and the heron, The story is MAHITO who during a bombing 🔥loses his mother, he has visions he apparently discovers a passage he enters a strange world and will meet the HERON. December 8 in IMAX

I apreciate that, u are trying to get this movie, how it is without stupid comentar. This is really good to see at reaction. So much people didnt get it. In this movie is much things to think, maybe some not seen at first. Really thank for the video and telling about what is going on, i mean about to control our emotions.

Ok I cried

If you enjoyed this film, then I would recommend watching Pom Poko which is also by Studio Ghibli. It also involves the encroachment of humans into the natural world.

Only small thing. GHIBLI is pronounced Jiburi in Japanese but English is: Jibli/interchangeably with Gib-lee.)

Maybe my favourite reaction video of this film. You are so insightful and passionate.

I watched in in Japanese with subtitles. the Japanese voices have a distinct quality. American movies usually are good guys against bad guys. Japanese movies, or at least studio Gibli movies, are different people with conflicting goals.

the first time i sow this movie is when it was premeired on RTL II channel back in the day, i watched lots of anime movies, and its hard for me to place this movie a second to another movie. its simply a lifetime unique masterpiece .

15:19 same! that whole part is my favorite! specifically where she was about to stab him and he tells her "you're beautiful"

I've always wondered why would San go alone armed with only a dagger in a town full of people who wanna see her dead. Then a heartbreaking theory hit me: taking into account that she was hated by humans for her connection with spirits and ostracized by the animals (outside of the wolves) for being a human, she was most likely suicidal. So Ashitaka quite literally saved her life by showing her not all humans are bad and making her more open-minded.

Most of them I’ll recommend the original Japanese language with subtitles so the nuanced meanings conjured by the thousands of years old language. But I’ll also recommend watching the English dub versions for some of them since there were some very amazing voice actors in many of these movies that many would be surprised to hear or notice in the credits that were involved. They were entire productions that included several cool things on the DVDs with how they were made ontop of going into the life of Miayazaki and the studio ! Even full on greetings from American studios introducing these films to the world. Many cool interviews from all the voice actors which are still timelessly wonderful to watch.

Do we get a Whisper of the Heart watch sometime

Lovely movie. Now decide, which of the two princesses is good?

Sub’d 😃 You’ve got a lively comment section 👏 … as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, Ghibli doesn’t do Absolutes- except in regard to Mother Nature & Life. You’ll discover that Anime, for the most part, is also very Gray about evil and good. Also, they take on subject matter and deliver it to a vast demographic. The series NOIEN actually discusses multiverses in a way that a child might understand. I ❤️ the nation of Japan 🇯🇵 for their creativity.

1990s is the peak of human culture, it's been collapsing since the early 2000s

Lady Eboshi is the spirit of progress, she creates benefit for society by destroying nature

I don't know if there is anything worse in this world than English dubbing? and is there a greater crime than watching anime with English dubbing?

hermoso

Howls moving castle next?!

this movie follows the "Prince of Egypt" rule of being a good animated movie while having voice actors with toxic reputations

LOTR: Return of the King?

モロの声はやっぱり日本版の美輪明宏の方がいいですね、男の人なんですけど この人が母親狼の声をやってます kzfaq.info/get/bejne/brR7bM2ltd-1lJ8.html

Are you still doing lord of the ring number 3

i like your reaction! I'm a fan from Japan! Thank you for watching Japanese anime! There are many anime in Japan that will make you think about the various things happening in various countries! I want to see your reaction after watching the anime “Attack on Titan”! This is a Japanese anime that has many fans overseas!

17:04 OMG, it’s SCP-2845

In the old Japanese culture, the chief was a polygamous system.🤔🧐

Should watch ghibli in Japanese dub. The work of voice actors were monitored by the director Hayao Miyazaki and if he didn’t agree he let voice actors record their phrases over and over. Real emotions exist there.

English dub... Ew!

31:42 the second girl from left has no more leper