What genre or genres is Princess Mononoke? How does it relate to its ‘prequel,’ Nausicaā ?
In terms of genre Princess Mononoke is a jidaigeki, the Japanese term for “era drama”, with many fantasy elements. It takes place in the Japanese Muromachi period and includes depictions of creatures inspired by Japanese mythology, but they are still unique creations from Miyazaki as he was “creating an essentially personal mythology” (Cavallaro, 2006). Within the historical fiction/jidaigeki aspects of the film’s genre, it is important to note that the Muromachi era of Japanese history is one where “in Miyazaki’s view, the fourteenth century is a period of historical transition from a world that was still in close contact with both natural and supernatural forces to a world that would become increasingly oriented toward the human.” (Napier, 2001). In this period of time Miyazaki believes the relationship between humans and nature shifted to one where humans began to shape nature around ourselves and our wants.
It is very early in the film that Miyazaki brings in the fantasy elements and tackles the main theme of the film, nature vs human technology. In Princess Mononoke the conflict is between the people of Irontown and the spirits of the nearby forest. The people of Irontown, in the pursuit of money and use of new industrial technology, are destroying the nearby forest and have angered the gods who dwell within it. Miyazaki’s conflicting love of technology and of nature is featured in most of his works, but none more than Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. While is was made before Mononoke, Nausicaa is almost a sequel of the themes shown within Mononoke.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a post-apocalyptic war world where most of Earth’s eco-system has become toxic and the few human survivors live separated by a toxic jungle swamp called the Sea of Decay. The themes of this story are of environmental destruction and the collapse of civilisation. For Miyazaki, the inclusion of apocalyptic themes in stories about the relationship between us and nature is paramount. It is clear from his works that he fears the impact humans have on the environment and knows that our future generations will have to live with the consequences.
Both Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind showcase Miyazaki’s belief in the conflict of humanity against nature. Mononoke shows the point in history in which humans began to turn against nature rather working with it, whereas Nausicaa shows us a potential future living with the consequences of out actions.
Reference List:
Cavallaro, D. (2006). Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers.
Jidai-geki. (n.d.). Retrieved October 01, from https://www.britannica.com/art/jidai-geki
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. https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/614511.
Napier, Susan. Anime: From Akira to Princess Mononoke. New York: Palgrave, 2001.
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