5. What genre or genres is Princess Mononoke? How does it relate to its ‘prequel,’ Nausicaā ?

It can be argued that Princess Mononoke (1997) combines two genres – fantasy and historical fiction. The film is set during the Muromachi era of Japan, which stretched from the 12^th to 14^th century, and was a time of the both great cultural and artistic growth for Japan, and the growth of industries such as agriculture and construction. This is made expressed in large part through the visual aesthetics of the film, such as in the design of the characters (especially characters of certain ‘classes’ such as the brothel women and the ainu) and the architecture of the buildings. From here, however, director Miyazaki divorces the film from it’s historical base and introduces aspects of fantasy, such as spirits and Japanese mythological figures, such as the shishigami (deer god) and kodama (forest spirits). Not only mythological figures, Miyazaki’s representations of them within Mononoke are unique in themselves, furthering the ‘fantasy’ element of Mononoke and creating, ‘an essentially personal mythology’. (Cavallaro, 2006, pp. 120-130)

In comparison, Nausicaa leans further into the ‘fantasy’ genre, lacking the specific historical base that Mononoke has, but with the two films sharing similar fantastical elements, particularly with regards to the creatures and animals the characters encounter, and their relations with them; a comparison could be made between Nausicaa, with her ability to communicate with animals, and San, who has been raised among the animals and treats them as her own family. However, the story of Nausicaa does draw partly from the character of the same name featured in Homer’s Greek epic the ‘Odyssey’ along with Japanese mythology featuring a girl who could speak to animals – another example (or early instance of, given the timelines of the two films) of Miyazaki creating his ‘personal mythology’ from pieces of real-world culture, similar to how he does within Mononoke.(Cavallaro, 2006, pp. 47-57)

While fantasy appears to be the main genre shared between the two texts, both also share similar themes that feature heavily enough in the films (and many of Miyazaki’s other works) that one could argue for them to be considered a genre of their own. ‘Ecofiction’ is a contemporary term for a genre (or ‘supergenre’) that covers texts in which nature or the environment play an integral role. (Dwyer, 2010, pp. 1-8) This rings true for both Mononoke and Nausicaa. Nausicaa takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting where the land has been made toxic through extreme pollution and is now overrun but giant, mutated insects. On the other hand, Mononoke focuses on the conflict between the industrialist Irontown and the various gods of the forest which the town is destroying and killing. Both films focus heavily on the relationship between man and the environment, and seem to have the aim of making the audience keenly aware of this relationship, through showing cycles of behaviour (as seen in Nausicaa, where war-mongering and industrialism of the ‘new’ society seems set about to bring the same destruction that the old did) and a distinct disconnect between human society and nature, often represented by spirits and gods (as seen in Mononoke, with the conflict between the people of Irontown and the forest spirits and, ultimately, the beheading of the deer god). (Morgan, 2015)

References

Cavallaro, D. (2006). Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers.

Dwyer, J. (2010). Where the Wild Books are: A Field Guide to Ecofiction. Reno: University of Nevada Press.

Morgan, G. (2015). Creatures in Crisis: Apocalyptic Environmental Visions in Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and Princess Mononoke. Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities 2 (3), 172-183.