Princess Mononoke Review

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[00:02:33] And welcome back to the Radioactive Ramblings podcast, a podcast where three buddies get together

[00:03:00] to ramble about our favorite shows, movies, TV, whatever we're talking about today, and we always struggled to stay on topic. I'm one of your hosts, Aaron. Their host, Chase. And I'm the third and final host, Richard. Today, we're going to be talking about the Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke. Yeah. And Richard, how can people get a hold of us if they want to give us some feedback or talk to us about all of these podcasts that we're doing?

[00:03:30] Yeah, we got a few different ways, of course. We've got our email, which is radioactive at thelorehounds.com. We have a channel set up for radioactive ramblings in the Lorehounds Discord server and send us a message or chat about the show. We also have a contact form or you could leave us a voicemail at thelorehounds.com. And consider giving us a follow on Blue Sky. It's radioactive 141. We try to post on there

[00:03:56] more now, now that we've got a more consistent schedule going and everything. And we'd appreciate a rating on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, wherever you listen to us. It helps other listeners like you find us. Yeah. And Richard, I believe that Chase has assigned the massive responsibility of doing the rundown to you today. Oh, he has. It's only fair. It is. It is only fair, I suppose. Don't worry. When we do the Elden Ring stuff, you're getting a

[00:04:26] long one, buddy. All right. So this is our recap of the main plot of the movie. And of course, because we'll be talking about the whole plot, there will be spoilers for the rest of the, you know, this is the end of our spoiler free segment. So if you haven't watched it and are listening to this and you do care about spoilers, turn us off. Go watch the movie. Come back to us. You know, don't spoil it for yourself. It is a great movie.

[00:04:51] Princess Mononoke starts us off in ancient Japan with a young warrior, Ashitaka. If I am butchering pronunciations, by the way, I'm sorry. I'm not great at that. I think that was pretty good. Ashitaka. Yeah, that was more just my warning for the rest of the episode. So the young warrior Ashitaka is cursed by a demonized boar god, pushing him to seek a cure in the Western lands. His journey leads him to the Iron Town led by the ambitious Lady

[00:05:20] Eboshi, who aims to clear the forest for iron, spiking conflict with all of the different forest gods and creatures living in there. Amidst the battle, Ashitaka meets San, also known as Princess Mononoke, a fierce human girl who's been raised by wolves and vehemently opposes the humans' destructions of the forest. Ashitaka finds himself torn between the human advancements represented by Lady Eboshi and the untamed beauty and wrath of the forest spirits embodied

[00:05:49] by San. As the conflict escalates, Ashitaka and San search for ways to balance the needs of human civilization with the sanctity of nature. This journey is fraught with different challenges, betrayals, battles, all sorts of great things, and they ultimately confront the deer god, who is the forest's ultimate protector, and its fate ties to the land's future. Thank you, Richard. I think that the themes of this movie in particular, especially with the

[00:06:18] whole idea behind trying to find a way for human civilization to be in balance with nature, I think that that's something that in modern society we struggle with a lot. So it's definitely something that's relevant to today. Oh, for sure. Should we jump right into the characters, or does anyone have any initial things that they want to share before we get into our very nicely

[00:06:43] procured outline that Chase has done for us today? I'm ready to just shoot right into characters. Yeah. I do want to give a disclaimer that even if I might seem like I'm hating on this movie a little bit throughout with my opinions, I thought it was a good movie. I just think that the other Ghibli movies have more to offer. But that's my disclaimer that if it seems like I'm being hard on this film, I hope it doesn't sound too harsh.

[00:07:13] Yeah. What do you mean? You're talking about how much you hated it earlier and that you never watched it. Wow. I'm on the same page as Aaron, but not as much of a hater, obviously. He's just full of hatred for this movie. Richard was like, I don't know, more paying attention. Aaron was on his phone the whole time. Oh yeah. We didn't even watch it together. Shut up.

[00:07:39] But yeah, I guess I can start us off with our characters. We have Ashitaka, who is a noble and courageous young warrior from the Amishi tribe. Ashitaka is marked by a curse that grants him supernatural powers, but it's at a very lethal cost. Driven by a strong sense of justice and duty, he is a mediator who seeks peace between the warring factions of humans and the forest spirits.

[00:08:06] Throughout the film, his character embodies the struggle to balance human progress with environmental preservation. Richard, what did you think about Ashitaka? I liked him as a protagonist. I mean, he was definitely trying to be the mediator and it didn't always work out for him, but I feel like that's just how it goes as the mediator in these types of movies. Chase, what do you got? I know a lot of people criticize the movie because they're

[00:08:32] like, well, why can't Ashitaka just fucking pick a side? Why is he always so torn? And it's, and I'm like, I don't know. I feel like when you look at a real like human person, they often have trouble delineating between who is a bad or a good influence in their life. And even though they know that someone or something might be harmful or bad for them or, or the people around them, doesn't mean that they completely cut them off. I think that this is a more like realistic

[00:09:01] look or spectacle into an actual person that is dealing with all of these extremely important topics and, and issues. Yeah. And also he's extremely, not extremely young, but he's a fairly young person. I don't know if they ever specify his actual age, but I, I think I could be wrong, but is he not 18? Maybe. I, I don't remember them specifying his age, but I, you can totally

[00:09:31] correct me on that. 17. 17. So he's still like, Hey, I'm like, Hey, what's up? Hello. Sorry. Sorry. Oh my God. Just a little Fetty Wap for the fans. Right. That was beautiful. Chase. Yeah. Thank you for that. But I mean, being a 17 year old, he might also have even more trouble,

[00:09:56] which not to say that he's not very mature for being such a young person. I think that he exhibits a level of perception and being able to look at things from a very fair perspective that is not present in a lot of the older characters like Lady Eboshi, which I have some thoughts about her last minute change at the end of the movie, but I just, he's a really well-written character,

[00:10:26] if not a little bit on the boring side and he could use a little bit more personality in my opinion. But yeah. Uh, any other thoughts before we move on to Lady Eboshi? No, I think Richard probably doesn't have to say anything as per usual. All right. All right. My bad. I'm kidding. I hate you. Uh, Chase, you want to start us off and tell us what you thought about Lady Eboshi?

[00:10:55] Uh, did we go over her? Oh, you're so right. You're so right. Rushing ahead. Aaron hates this so much. He just wants to be done with the episode, but the real tweakers on the other side of this. No, no. He just wants to fucking finish the episode because he's such a hater on this movie. Yeah. Unreal. So up next we have Lady Eboshi. Didn't you say you liked Megalopolis and Joker Fualia Du more than this? I didn't watch either one of those movies.

[00:11:26] Oh my God. So next up we've got Lady Eboshi, the ambitious and pragmatic leader of Irontown. She is a complex character who is both a ruthless industrialist and a benevolent ruler. She's dedicated to the development and protection of her community, especially the marginalized group groups like the lepers and the former prostitutes. Oh my God. Like the lepers and the former prostitutes. Yeah.

[00:11:53] Oh, I'm actually struggling. Do you, do you want to like get it right this time? I think it's fine. I think we just don't even cut it out. We just let you look like a clown. Especially the marginalized groups like the lepers and the former prostitutes. Her actions, though controversial, are driven by her vision of eradicating the gods and spirits to make way for human expansion and prosperity.

[00:12:19] I think that Lady Eboshi is one of the best written characters in this movie. I think that she's the perfect example of a complex character. Okay. When you said the other day that you didn't like the movie, I was worried you're going to say you didn't like Lady Eboshi. And I was like, I feel like she's one of the better villains. I liked her a lot. I think she's a really good villain. Yeah. I would say she bumped up my score by a whole, like, because I gave it an eight out of 10.

[00:12:48] I would say she bumped it from a seven to an eight for me. The only complaint I had about Lady Eboshi's character comes at the very end of the story when in the aftermath of everything that went on with the spirits and they're all sitting down in the overgrown iron town. And she's like, all right, I guess we need to find a way to move forward and make peace with nature, which like I get that she just went through a lot of stuff that would have pointed her in that direction.

[00:13:16] But I just don't see her making such a big leap after five minutes ago saying, I want to kill a god. Yeah, it does feel like a very Disney ending for a movie that didn't feel that Disney. Right. Obviously, they wanted to put a nice bow at the end because I think a lot of the Ghibli movies have like a very like, nice ending to them. But I also do think that her character is a I mean, I feel like she's shown to be like

[00:13:44] quite progressive and willing to take risks in order to get progress. So I think like it's not out of character for her. Yeah, it's not completely something that I it's not something I wouldn't see her doing necessarily. But I just feel like there would have been a longer build up to that moment. Maybe a little bit more interaction with Ashitaka, where he explains to her why it's important,

[00:14:12] just something to plant those seeds in Eboshi's character. But other than that, I thought that she was the best character in the film. So Richard, what were your thoughts on Lady Eboshi? Lady Eboshi, as I said earlier, he made the movie a lot better, in my opinion. I mean, she was just a fantastic villain. And I think you wrote this later, Aaron, like she's a good not like like she's obviously antagonist, but she was a good like morally gray character. Yeah.

[00:14:40] And I love morally gray characters in the fiction. And I really liked her being that I think that the role that she plays in the story is perfect for her to be that type of character. Yeah, I think that it's something that we haven't seen in a Studio Ghibli movie before this point is that kind of morally gray character. I mean, I guess you could say the witch of the waste a little bit in Howl's Moving Castle,

[00:15:08] but I think that this is the first really strong example of a morally gray character that doesn't wander into the realm of having almost like Chase was saying, a kind of Disney ending where they just end up making a good decision towards the end because the story wants everyone to see the good in everyone. This is a real human person.

[00:15:34] Yeah, like I could run into Lady Eboshi walking down the street in her, you know, in her mid 1500s outfit. Exactly. Chase, anything to wrap us up before we move on to San? No. All right. Well, San, not to be confused with Spirited Away's Sen.

[00:15:59] San was raised by wolf gods and is a fierce and brave warrior deeply connected to the forest and its creatures. Known as the Princess of the Wolf Gods, she is vehemently opposed to humans and their destructive impact on nature. San is conflicted by her human origins and her loyalty to the forest, embodying the wild resistance against the encroachment of human civilization. Okay. I have a quick connection to what I've been watching.

[00:16:29] I just finished today Castlevania and the way that San is always saying how much she hates humans, even though she is a human reminds me so much of the way that Isaac and Hector operate in the first couple of seasons of Castlevania. That's just a pretty good parallel. Yeah. Just watching those two things back to back. I was like, oh, this is I see a lot of that in in these two stories.

[00:16:57] So yeah, just kind of an interesting connection there. But but real quick thoughts on the ending, like just real quick. Yeah. Spoiler free thoughts on the ending of Castlevania. Mm hmm. I would rate it pretty high. That was it was a pretty fantastic. Right. Like, I feel like it got a little crazy, a little out of hand, but it's kind of what I wanted from it, to be honest. Yeah.

[00:17:25] And I I think that you'll love Nocturne. I'm excited to talk about Nocturne season two, of course. Yeah, I'm excited, too. I don't know if we'll get around to that this month or if that's going to be a February deal, but I'd like to get around to it this month. I think that we can fit that in. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, Chase, what were your thoughts on San? I don't know. I think she's definitely the most boring of the main cast.

[00:17:49] Her character is like, I feel like fake complex, like it's not actually complex. Her character is just like she's was taken in by nature and sees the damage that humans have done to nature. So she's become like self-hating because of it and and hates humans for it. Like, I don't think it's like that much. Her conflict is just very surface level. Yeah.

[00:18:19] Self-hating character, which I think that would have added a lot of complexity to her if she had some self-hatred because she is a human. She rejects her own humanity. Well, yeah, I I think that that's why she doesn't really have that self-hatred is she doesn't even see herself as a human. She sees herself as one of the wolves. Right. I guess. Yeah. So I never got that. I think that that would have been an interesting thing for her to have to grapple with the idea that she really hates humans. But, you know, obviously she is one.

[00:18:50] And I don't think that we see her grapple with that in any significant way. There's a lot of things that I would have liked to see this movie expand upon that we just never got. And that is a byproduct of the time constraint that comes with making a movie. And especially with an animated movie, it just it takes forever to do anything with animation. So I understand why there were those limitations.

[00:19:16] But I just would have liked to see more development from San, from Ashitaka and from a few of the other side characters. Right. Richard, did you like San as a character? She could have been way better. I mean, we we know she could have been better because they typically do write some just absolutely insanely well-written characters in these movies. I think that she is like I agree with Chase. She's definitely the weakest out of like the three big characters that we're talking about today.

[00:19:46] And I will say, though, her design was cool. I liked her. Oh, yeah. I liked her mask a lot. Yeah, the mask was sick. You know, I liked the vibe, but I I'm with Chase on that. It was very like surface level conflict and kind of a shallow character where they could have gone a lot deeper. Yeah, I agree. I agree with you on that. There were a few side characters that were a little bit less important, like Gonza, Jikobo,

[00:20:16] Moro and Lord Okoto. Richard. Richard. Which which one was he? It's it's been like two weeks. I think, you know, who we're talking about. No, no, no. Who is he? Come on. Tell me. Anyone who's listening right now. Let us know if you think Richard is like Jikobo. I think so. Yeah, I did. So, I mean, is he more like Jikobo or more like Yubaba? Oh, my God. I feel like. Okay. Shut up about Yubaba.

[00:20:46] He has like the head proportion of Yubaba and like definitely like acts like Yubaba, but he's definitely like looks more like. Yeah, he does kind of have the like head to body ratio of Yubaba. I cannot believe that this is happening. I also who was it earlier you texted me or you you were talking about that. I looked like that wasn't Yubaba. Maybe you said the last night.

[00:21:15] I don't know. You said I looked like someone else. No, I'm not losing it. I swear to God. He was comparing me to someone else. Not Yubaba. You're just always bugging. I guess my God. What was it? I might be bugging. I think that you're just looking for you're just digging. I'm just looking for a fight. Like how you're looking for reasons to hate on this movie because you're just you're just a hater. I don't hate this movie.

[00:21:42] I just think that there were a lot of things that bothered me about it that I thought could have been done better. And I know how good Studio Ghibli is like 99% of the time and seeing them fall short when I know that they could have made something. Fall short is a little crazy. Keep hating. Keep hating, dude. I write later that like a lot of my love for this movie is definitely out of nostalgia. And like I know that definitely affects my rating.

[00:22:11] So like I'm not going to be like, you're wrong. You're wrong to say the other ones are better. You're wrong. Like obviously I don't I don't feel that strongly about it. But to say fall short is a little much like the movie was not a significant drop off. Aaron, how much are they paying you? Who is they? The Studio Ghibli Ops. The Studio Ghibli Ops. I'm listen. I'm not a Studio Ghibli Op.

[00:22:40] I do not work for the Studio Ghibli Ops. I am a Studio Ghibli lover. Chase, this sounds like something a Studio Ghibli Op would say though. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not going to lie. I just sent you a friend request on the Pokemon app, by the way. Okay. Okay. That's nice. But yeah, you do sound like a Studio Ghibli Op, brother. I see. Well, I have loved the other two. You sound like a Princess Mononoke Op, actually.

[00:23:09] Anyways, one of the side characters that I really enjoyed was the boar god, Akoto. Aaron, I found it. Huh? You said I look like Jedi Master Yara El Poof. That's good. That's good. Jedi Master Yara El Poof. And he does have a cool-ass lightsaber. And the hilt is cool. Jinky, shut up. Gaper Bingzoid.

[00:23:41] What's this guy even saying? Dude, it's like the same guy who talks about Jinky Minus and all the other ones. And Ben Cordeneros. Pro thinks he lives on the other side of the moisture farm. Oh my god. As I was saying before Richard came to his epiphany. No, I was going through Instagram, TikTok. Oh my god, are you done? Messages and everything. I had to figure it out.

[00:24:11] As I was saying before Richard came to his epiphany about whatever that guy's name was. Yara El Poof. How dare you? Yara El Poof. Okoto, I thought was a really well-done spirit. I really enjoyed his character a lot more than I enjoyed the wolf god, who was San's mother or adoptive mother.

[00:24:37] I thought that Okoto had a lot more to do in the story, which is not a diss on the other spirits, because I think that they all had an appropriate role to play. I don't think that I needed any more from any of them except for what we had. I talked about his design a little bit in our art section, but I just think that he was a really interesting guy and had some complexity to him. Does anyone want to say anything about some of the minor characters that popped up in this story?

[00:25:08] Yeah, I just looked up Jacobo. I cannot believe you said that. That's evil. What about you, Chase? Did you have any thoughts on any of the minor characters? Not really. I feel like in this movie, the minor characters don't have as much of an impact on the story as they do in the others. Yeah, they're even more minor in this, whereas Spirited Away, we had a few.

[00:25:38] We had Kamaji and Bo, the baby. Yeah, I think that the other movies with those minor characters, they're given really unique designs and they're also given some interesting things to do in the plot and given a lot of fun personality traits that make them really lovable and memorable. And those were definitely missing from a lot of the minor characters in this film.

[00:26:07] Jacobo was a good minor character. I thought that he, in addition to his Richard-esque appearance, was a good plot device. And towards the beginning, I thought he was kind of a fun little companion for Ashitaka. And then by the end of it, I thought that he was a good, sufficiently cartoonish villain. But yeah, should we move on to some interesting moments? Yeah, I'm ready. Chase, you want to start us off with your thoughts and feelings on this movie?

[00:26:37] Uh, thoughts and feelings? I thought we were doing interesting moments. Interesting moments, yeah. Just, well, I guess your interesting moments are your thoughts and feelings in a way. Dude, like I said earlier, Aaron just wants to be done with this episode. He can't stand talking about Princess Mononoke. Alright. Chase, what were your interesting moments? He's just mad Ashitaka doesn't have a bob like Howl and... Howl Haku. Haku had the fuck-ass bob. Haku also had a bob. Or not Haku. Howl also had a bob. I feel like it was less of a fuck-ass bob, though.

[00:27:07] Yeah, this movie would be a 10 out of 10 if Ashitaka had a bob. I think every character needs to have a bob cut. What would you say if he removed his little hat and he had a bob? That would be kind of fire. You know what would have been even better if the nature spirit's head got cut off and then underneath it was a bob? Right, like from the next stop? Underneath it? Like from the next stop. There'd be a bob coming out. I don't know. Richard gets me in a way that no one else does.

[00:27:36] What if the wolves all had bobs? Oh my god. What if G-Cobo had a bob? He does because his hair looks like yours. I don't have a bob cut. I have an afro. Yes, you do. I have an afro. You don't have a straight hair bob cut. I actually don't have straight hair. My hair is naturally curly and I kind of like that. It's kind of fire. I see you put the rollers in your hair every night. Oh my god. I don't think that I could get my hair to look like this if I put rollers in my hair.

[00:28:05] You have an Adam's apple length bob cut. Oh my god. That's so specific. It actually isn't that long. Well, hold on. Yeah, no, it's not that long. I had to check. All right. Interesting moments. I said Lady Eboshi's employment of marginalized individuals such as lepers and former prostitutes presents a complex moral landscape, which she provides them refuge and employment.

[00:28:35] But I also kind of noted that some viewers may see her actions as exploitative since these groups play a role in her aggressive expansionist policies against the forest. Like, obviously, she's taking advantage of them, like the fact that they need work. But I don't know, like, I don't think it's portrayed that way where it's like her being like predatory.

[00:29:02] Yeah, like she's not completely unreasonable with how she works them, I guess. I think that in the context of 16th century Japan, I do think that she is giving them better lives and opportunities than they would find anywhere else. Yeah, she's giving them an opportunity that otherwise they would not have been able to get.

[00:29:57] Yeah. She treats them as pretty much full citizens and gives them a lot of responsibility and respect. And I think that that is a good mark on her character.

[00:30:11] My next interesting moment was, like, the representation of gun use and how it, like, massacres every other force they, like, use it against and how well this depicts the brutal impact of rapid technological advancement on nature. Which is, like, contextually, this is, like, Japan's, like, hyper-industrial era, too. Right. Yeah. It's just...

[00:30:41] Yeah. We could talk about that more later. Yeah. The first interesting thing that I took note of was, at the very beginning, the laws and customs of the Amishi people. They say that Ashitaka is essentially dead to them and that once he leaves, he can't ever return, even if he were to cure himself. I thought that was really interesting. I don't know what kind of historical basis that part has.

[00:31:08] If that was an actual thing where the Amishi people would not allow exiled or otherwise people who left to just not come back. I can't imagine that that has a ton of basis in history, but... We are Teresa and... Nemo. And therefore, we are to Shopify ge移動. The platform, the platform, the we before Shopify used, has used to have regularly updates, which have sometimes been brought to the shop. not worked.

[00:31:36] Our Nemo Boards shop makes a good figure on mobile devices. The illustrations on the boards come now much clearer, what is important to us and what our brand also makes it look like. Start your test today for 1€ per month on Shopify.de. I marked down a few things about the Amishi people.

[00:32:00] They lived in the northern Honshu region which is the main island of Japan and they are related to the Ainu people which is the northern island of Japan and or not the northern island but the Ainu people live in the northern island of Japan and some of the southeastern parts of Russia so that's sort of their origin there. But the backstory of the Amishi people being persecuted is straight out of history.

[00:32:29] Historical records all say that their tribes resisted the rule of the Japanese emperor throughout much of history so the idea that they were pushed to the brink of extinction by the Japanese emperor, that's very much a historical thing that was happening in the 1500s all throughout the rule of that specific shogunate and emperor. So, yeah. Dang, this guy's just got the historical context for everything.

[00:33:00] Yeah, what a fucking nerd, holy shit. Thank you, I appreciate that. That's what this podcast is all about is me being able to nerd out about shit. I think that's what it's for for all of us, right? No, just for me. Oh, okay. Well, that's what this show is. For me, it's the Red Rising stuff. I get to nerd out. I get to lose it. No, that's the that's half the fun in this is being able to make connections to different

[00:33:27] media and make connections to history and just kind of see where all of these different shows, movies, games, whatever it is that where they took inspiration and how they impact our lives today. One thing I wish I'd met, I've talked about more actually, was, and I'm going to keep this rant short, but the writers of Arcane were actually heavily inspired by Brandon Sanderson's amazing trilogy. If you say the Stormlight Archives.

[00:33:57] Mistborn. Mistborn Era one is what inspired a lot of Arcane. I'm looking down at my wrist and it has a watch on it. Unbelievable. No. And Aaron, you'll wait, you know, when you read that, you'll know. Do we start tallying it every time he brings it up? I think I think we shouldn't do that pretty please. Just like whenever I have to marker it, you owe me another $80. Whenever you mentioned Brandon Sanderson, it's another $80 too. Dude!

[00:34:26] This is like an actual connection. No! No, no, no. Okay. We're just messing with you. Please go ahead. Yeah, that's what I thought. Fuck. But no, Jace is very similar to Ellen Venture in that series. If you've read it and you've seen Arcane, you'll know. And if you haven't, I'm just fucking rambling and you can ignore me. If you haven't seen Arcane. That's actually true. I am radioactive. I'm radioactive. Sorry.

[00:34:56] Oh my God. I almost sang your favorite Imagine Dragons song after Enemy. Right. But yeah, if you haven't seen Arcane, go check it out because it's fantastic. But anyways, moving on to my second interesting moment that I took note of here. The presence of guns in the film really gives us an insight into when specifically this takes place.

[00:35:22] Portuguese traders first brought guns to Japan in 1543, which lines up with the setting of the late Muromachi period, which the Muromachi period was also known as the Ashikaga period due to the prevalence of the Ashikaga shogunate in Japan at the time. Which just a disclaimer, which I should have said earlier. I'm not an expert in Japanese history or the Japanese language. So I could be butchering these names.

[00:35:51] But I am trying to get as close as I can. But when we see the samurai or bandits, this is also consistent with the Muromachi period. It was a time that had a lot of unrest, banditry, violence all across Japan, but specifically in the countryside, which is the main setting of this movie. And in addition to these factors, rapid industrialization was happening at the tail end of the Muromachi period.

[00:36:17] So that's a little bit more of the historical context because the Muromachi period was, I believe, like over 200 years long and they didn't have guns in Japan until the very tail end of it. So that gives us a little bit more insight into the actual time period, which is cool. I always like when these types of movies can leave us some little breadcrumbs to let us know what's going on without explicitly spelling it out.

[00:36:45] But that's all I really have for my interesting moments. Those were some interesting moments. I definitely agree. And I just wish that I had been working on the outline earlier so that I could have could have snagged one of those. Although I wouldn't have the historical context like you because I'm just not as educated on that as you. Damn right. Damn right.

[00:37:09] Actually, quick shout out to the Shogun coverage that the Lorehounds did because they had a Japanese historian, Nate Ledbetter, on I believe it was the final two episodes that they did of Shogun. And he was also on their coverage of the show Pachinko on Apple TV Plus. And he just has a lot of really great insight.

[00:37:34] So if you are interested in Japanese history, go check out those episodes of Shogun and check out the episodes of Pachinko because he has a lot to say about Korean, Japanese and just a lot of East Asian history. But yeah, anyways, Richard, what did you have for your interesting moments? I really only had one. Oh, no, I had two. I'm fucking lying. Holy shit. You're always lying. I am lying. I don't even know where I was going to go with that.

[00:38:05] I really like the way that the film showed the downsides of industrialization. Of course, I like that in media. And obviously, it's I like the fuck. What am I trying to say here? Maybe just cut that. I like the way the film shows the downsides of industrialization. It really reminds me personally of Isengard's transformation during the Fellowship of the Ring.

[00:38:33] Great, great piece of art. Those movies. I was guessing the Stormlight Archive. Actually, there's no industrialization in the Stormlight Archive. So shut up. I don't know. I really liked that. And I liked that parallel. And that's really all I got for that. But it was cool. I think that's a really good parallel. I mean, we just were watching Fellowship of the Ring together the other day.

[00:38:59] And I always like seeing the depiction of rapid industrialization as this evil force that is moving against nature. Yeah. The other thing it reminds me of, and even though it's capitalism and this, but it reminds me a lot of cyberpunk, too. With the whole metaphors that they do for capitalism and like how bad. Yeah. Yeah. I am a choom. Damn right. You're a corpo.

[00:39:29] I'm not a corpo. I'm actually not a corpo. You're definitely a corpo. What do you mean? What do you mean definitely? You're definitely a corpo. How? Explain. Because you're just a corpo. Oh, all right. All right. Yeah, that was. Okay. On to the next interesting moment I thought was cool.

[00:39:51] It was just like the, and this really ties into the first one because it's really just connecting the two points of like industrialization and the unceasing march of time and like technological progress. It's I like the depiction of it. It's cool. Yeah, I think so, too. Thank you. Um, any final interesting moments? Any last minute add-ins from people before we move on?

[00:40:20] I just think it's interesting how much you hate this movie. Yeah. Should we move on to the art, Chase? Seems like you are first here. Um, the first interesting moment was the Nightwalker. Like, the, like, giant, like, water spirit that the forest spirit becomes at night.

[00:40:48] He just walks, like, through the giant trees. I thought that was just, like, such an interesting transformation and also just, like, such an interesting design.

[00:41:00] And it kind of, um, the, like, Avatar, the last airbender, like, when they're in the water tribe and Aang uses the, like, the Avatar state to, like, combine with the fish spirit and becomes that giant water avatar. That kind of reminded me of the Nightwalker. That's what I thought of, too. That's a good connection.

[00:41:29] And then, yeah. And then, the other art thing that I chose was the forest spirit's head being returned to the forest and how it, like, immediately started the regrowth of it. Back to that first point that you made about the Nightwalker kind of looking like the Avatar thing. And I think last episode for Spirited Away, I said that No Face reminded me of Ko the Face Stealer.

[00:41:56] And it seems like Avatar The Last Airbender took a lot of influence from Studio Ghibli movies in its art style. And some of it is definitely more intentional than others. And some of it is just because both of those properties kind of, they're largely inspired by East Asian culture. So, it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

[00:42:22] But I can definitely see a lot of connections between Studio Ghibli and The Last Airbender. I mean, if I was making an animated show, I would definitely draw from Studio Ghibli, too. Yeah, for sure. I mean, such a good point to start from if you're looking for inspiration. Just unparalleled character design and creature design.

[00:42:52] But speaking of really good character design, I absolutely loved the Chief Slash Lord Boar Okoto. He had some really detailed design. The crusty eyes, the fading color on his fur, all the battle wounds. It all added to the fact that he's a really old animal. And I thought they did a really great job of visualizing him. The crusty eyes, every time they did a close-up of it, it kind of made me gag.

[00:43:21] But it was a great detail. Yeah. I mean, it reminded me of like the gross-ups in SpongeBob. The gross-ups in SpongeBob. Yeah. I can see where you're coming from with that. Yeah, it kind of does. Uh, you remind me a lot of... Never mind. Yeah, I remind you of what? Come on. Let's hear it.

[00:43:50] I was just about to say. Come on, let's hear it. I was about to say that you remind me of the lady who buys chocolates from SpongeBob. I don't like you. The other thing that I really loved about the art in this, the little forest spirits with the funny faces and the spinning, clicking heads. Wait, who's the guy that orders the triple chug you still love? Oh my god. Oh my god, Bubble Bass.

[00:44:19] Bubble Bass is crazy. That's actually just Richard. That's actually... I don't like you. I don't like you one bit. I love how I remembered the meme. Not even his real name or order. Oh fuck. But yeah. Chase, we should have left you in 2024. It's not too late.

[00:44:49] I guess it's not too late. You're right. One of my favorite things in Studio Ghibli movies is, whether it's the little guys in this or the coal sprites in Spirited Away, I'm always a fan of the goofy little background spirits. So the little forest spirits who had the funny faces and the spinning heads in this one were some of my favorite. I just really liked any time they were on screen,

[00:45:14] seeing all the different faces and seeing them running around acting goofy. It's always a highlight. And I don't know if every Miyazaki movie has this type of stuff in it, but I hope so because it's always entertaining to me. Yeah. I definitely think that they're, in my opinion, they're always one of the better parts of these movies because the designs are always unique, but they're, I don't know. They're just cool little guys. I love them.

[00:45:44] They remind me so much of, there's like a TikTok thing or a meme where someone will say, you look easy to draw and it's like supposed to be a diss. And that's what I think about every single one of these goofy little guys is they look really easy to draw, but that's kind of what I love about them is they just have these really simple designs and it just adds to it that they're not complex.

[00:46:09] You just have this movie where there are such beautifully done characters with such great detail like Okoto or the wolves. And then you've got these little sprites that I could draw and I am awful at drawing and have shaky hands. So... I think Richard would be extremely hard to draw. I don't, I don't know how to take that as a compliment or... I have a drawing of Richard.

[00:46:40] Shut up, dude. I know exactly what... Richard, what were some of your favorite things about the art in this movie? I, I only had one thing cause like, I agree with both of you on what you already said. So I really don't have too much to say. I'd just be, uh, you know, repeating a lot, but I thought that the, the way that the demon spirit was depicted was cool. Both when it was like attached to the first born, when it was attached to Ashitaka.

[00:47:10] I don't know. I liked it. Oh, are you talking about like the worms? Yeah. The like worm stuff coming out. Yeah. Because of the, the like bullet that was stuck in it. Yeah. Yeah. Another great way of showing how evil like industrialization and everything is in this world was the bullet causing the curse.

[00:47:35] Depicting it as more of like a supernaturally evil thing than just technological. Yeah. And showing that these spirits didn't start off as evil, but due to pressures from humans and intervention, they eventually would become cursed and angry and evil. So that's just a really cool depiction.

[00:48:03] I think that Studio Ghibli always does a good job of making their demons and spirits forces of nature instead of being these inherently evil things. There's always a reason behind spirits being angry and causing harm. And it's usually kind of justified. I think that has a lot to do with like Japanese folklore too. It's like that usually spirits aren't like all good or all bad.

[00:48:32] There's always the humans usually incur their anger in all those stories. Yeah. That's a really cool representation. I like that a lot more than just having some sort of spirit or ghost that's evil for the sake of being evil. Yeah. I feel like they're definitely a lot more reactive, but until that point they're more neutral or even on the good side. Yeah.

[00:49:02] Then there are just straight up evil monsters that are like, I'm not, I'm not, I'm going to murder you. Yeah. Richard, since you did not have a second art thing, do you want to go first on the, how we feel? Oh, sure. Of course. Slotted him in first, actually. So, yeah, I was going to bring that up. Oh my God. I'm trying. Listen, the people at home can't see the outline. I'm trying to bring things up in an organic way.

[00:49:32] Well, why don't you just write out the outline in the show notes? Dumbass. Oh, then they could see it. Oh shit. Write it out though. Don't copy and paste it. That'd be, that'd be cheating. you should write it word for word. Yeah. Letter for letter. I don't think that the character count is that high. Um, you'd find a way. I believe in you. Well, with that being said, I'll go look for, I'll go look for a way while you tell us how you felt about this movie.

[00:50:02] All right. I, I will tell you how I feel about this movie. As I've said before, I was not as much a fan of this movie. However, I was not as much a hater as one of the hosts here. Oh my God. But, but I put it at a solid eight out of 10. Um, the animation was fantastic. The soundtrack of course was fantastic. They, you know, they never miss on that stuff. That's almost completely consistent. And when it's not like the exact same, it's better in some,

[00:50:32] but that's really it. Like I thought how well and spirited away, maybe we're a bit better, but you know, it's still one of the like high points of these movies. Of course. I think this movie is like six years older. Yeah. I think it was one of the earlier ones too. And that's probably why they're, why it's not as good as the other two that we've talked about already. Cause those were definitely written. They were written a bit later. They were made a bit later,

[00:51:04] but that aside, uh, the portrayal of characters doing the wrong things for the right reasons was always great. It's, I feel like it's a lot more realistic and you can actually see that happening in real life. And I don't know. I thought it was still a pretty good movie. I, I, I should rewatch it though. Just to maybe go back and give it a better, better rating. Yeah. Um, anything else?

[00:51:34] Not really. I, I just don't have a lot to say on this one, I guess. Yeah. Do you ever have a lot of anything important to say? I was going to say, I have a lot to say. It's just not important. Yeah. That's where I got, that's where I got that little clause. Yeah. I almost made a stormlight reference earlier, but I stopped. I saw, I saw you writing while I was talking. Yeah. Um,

[00:52:02] so this movie didn't necessarily click with me. Oh, we know. I think that it's worth another watch soon. I think that there was a lot to like, and maybe I just, maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset, not in the right mood when I was watching it, but the movie felt kind of impersonal. The stakes, the characters, the setting, it didn't really draw me in the way the other two movies have so far. I think that where the story excels though, is in its ability to create morally gray characters like Eboshi,

[00:52:31] who have very real motivations, even when they are a little bit misguided, you can see that she has good intentions. Uh, some plot points like the rival Lords assault on Irontown, it felt like really underdeveloped and unnecessary. Um, it just kind of felt like they were throwing things in there to make it more of a period piece, but certain things like that felt more of a distraction than like a real addition to what was going on.

[00:53:00] I also didn't think that the soundtrack particularly stood out in the same way that the Spirited Away and Howl soundtracks did. Overall, I think that it's a very solid film that was maybe hindered a little bit by its own ambition to tell too many stories, and impart a few too many lessons, which made it feel, for me at least, a little unfocused. But obviously the voice work, the animation, the character design,

[00:53:27] all of those things are fantastic without a doubt. However, however, I would give this one a 7 out of 10. Uh, me when I'm just the biggest hater on the planet. Yeah. How much do they, like, my God. I'm not gonna lie. You're doing overtime at the hater building. I don't, it's gonna be a really long time, I think, before I give a single one of these movies below a 9 out of 10. Um,

[00:53:57] but yeah, I'll get on with my, how we feel. Um, I like this movie a lot. Um, I think that it touches on a lot of topics that are still very relevant today. I very much appreciate the depiction of environmental issues in this movie too, because it's not just humans who are bad and destroy. It's so much more complex than that, and it's intertwined with the desire for progress. I do like the main character. I do like how,

[00:54:27] or I do like that the main character serves as a middle ground for the two sides of the story. of the story, as in, this, holy, as in, as you can do it. As how in this movie, the lines are a little more blurred, and I would say that Eboshi is, more, more bad than good. But, what Irontown stands for isn't necessarily evil,

[00:54:57] and that, this is my favorite Ghibli film, but it also has a lot to do with nostalgia. So, it's hard to give it an unbiased review, but I will give it a 9.5 out of 10. And there are definitely issues with the movie, but as I was hinting at with our Spirited Away review, I think this movie does a good job of actually addressing more moving topics with a realistic view on them. I don't disagree with anything that anyone has said today, despite my, hatred,

[00:55:27] my slight naysaying. But, oh, also, I wanted, I meant to touch on this with our last review, but we got some, like, notes about the way that we were saying Ghibli. From everything I could find online, Ghibli seems like the way that it is pronounced. I don't, every, every source that I can find is saying that it's pronounced Ghibli. I'm not sure I, if there's something more to it, but if you have more info,

[00:55:57] please write in and let us know. But, until then, I think that we will continue on the Ghibli train. Yeah. Any final thoughts, feelings, stupid questions from the crowd? Yeah, where's your stupid question, buddy? I was going to say, thank you for putting in that last part for me. I know I have a lot of stupid questions. Richard. No.

[00:56:28] If you were. Oh, God. If I was. If you had to choose between, being you Baba, or being. Jacobo. Who do you think that you would want to be? What about my third option? You don't have a third option. You get to pick out of two. I can't be Yriel Poof. No. Yriel Poof is not a studio Ghibli character. Well,

[00:56:58] if I had to pick. I know. I also be the witch of the waste. You could be the witch of the waste. Thanks. I think I'll take none, honestly. I'm good. That wasn't an option. There was no. That's not how this works. Okay. It was A, B, and C. There was no D. No above all. No, none of the above. Just A, B, and C. All right. I'm going to go with, um, God, this is such a stupid question. Uh, Jacobo. Sure.

[00:57:27] You Baba is the only right answer. GG. Yeah. I don't know if I could live up to you Baba's swagger though. That's the problem. You already do every day. Yeah. Oh, thank you. Chase was nice to me. Yay. No, Chase, if you had to be Howell, Ashitaka, or, um, let's see, who else can we, no, if you pick between Howell and Ashitaka,

[00:57:57] who would you rather be? Uh, that's actually tough. I guess Howell though, cause he has magical powers. And like a sick house and he's got motion. Right. And on that note, I think that that's all we have for today. So Chase, you want to take it away? Uh, you already took half of it away from me, but yeah.

[00:58:27] Uh, thank you everyone for joining us today and we hope you tune in again. Before we let y'all go, I did want to give a quick shout out to all of the other podcasts in the network. First to the ones who make all of this possible, our parent podcast, the lore hounds, they've got some great coverage, uh, just wrapping up about Dune prophecy. And, uh,

[00:58:50] they're soon going to be doing a joint production with the properly Howard movie review to review the new season of severance when it comes out. Also in the, uh, in the network are excellent podcasts like we'll shift dust. Who's currently doing the second season of silo. And I've been following along with that, listening to the podcast and watching. It's a really fantastic show. So if you have Apple TV plus, go check it out and go check out the podcast. Star Wars cannon timeline podcast is also,

[00:59:19] uh, going to be coming back very soon. Rings and rituals, uh, has some ruminations about how they're going to cover the second season of the rings of power. Properly Howard movie review is doing their new season. A few good movies, which is all movies that star the main cast of a few good men and the newest affiliate, nevermind the music. And Mark and Nicole are going really strong on their new, uh,

[00:59:48] podcast and they're just super entertaining. They make everything really accessible. So links to all of these and info on how to get ahold of us as well as a link to our Patreon is all going to be in the show notes. So thank you all for listening and we will see you in the next, next studio Ghibli review.

[01:00:49] Hey everyone, David here. Severance is back. The lorehounds are partnering with properly Howard to bring you in depth weekly coverage of season two. Join me, John, Anthony, and Steve as we unpack every twist theory and revelation. We've created a dedicated feed just for our severance coverage. Simply search for severance lorehounds in your podcast app,

[01:01:17] or find the direct link in our link tree. Our weekly episodes dig deep into the show's mysteries, themes, and bigger questions about identity and consciousness that makes severance so compelling. Season pass and regular community subscribers get ad free access to our weekly episodes, plus exclusive content like our supply closet bonus series featuring fascinating conversations with experts like the team from Nevermind the Music.

[01:01:46] We've explored the neuroscience of memory and personality, decoded the hidden meanings in the show's musical themes, and there's much more to come. You'll also get Steve and Anthony's complete season one rewatch series. We believe in total transparency with our listeners. And unlike Mammalians Nurturable, we're happy to share all of our secrets. Find the link for the severance feed in the show notes below,

[01:02:16] or search severance lorehounds wherever you get your podcasts. Come theorize with us about what's really happening at Lumen.

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