Movie

Princess Mononoke

Name: Princess Mononoke
Released: 1997

1997 • Animation, Adventure, Fantasy

Woke Score

4.6

out of 10

Plot

While protecting his village from rampaging boar-god/demon, a confident young warrior, Ashitaka, is stricken by a deadly curse. To save his life, he must journey to the forests of the west. Once there, he's embroiled in a fierce campaign that humans were waging on the forest. The ambitious Lady Eboshi and her loyal clan use their guns against the gods of the forest and a brave young woman, Princess Mononoke, who was raised by a wolf-god. Ashitaka sees the good in both sides and tries to stem the flood of blood. This is met by animosity by both sides as they each see him as supporting the enemy.

Overall Series Review

Princess Mononoke presents an epic and complex conflict between human industrialization and the natural world. The narrative is defined by moral ambiguity, with no simple heroes or villains. Lady Eboshi, the leader of Iron Town, is an industrialist destroying the forest, but she is simultaneously a benevolent matriarch who has created a sanctuary for the era's outcasts, including lepers and former sex workers, granting them agency and purpose. San, the titular character, is fierce and committed to the forest gods, representing the raw, destructive, yet beautiful force of nature. The young warrior Ashitaka acts as a compassionate, non-partisan mediator, trying to find a path for coexistence, not conquest. The film's primary focus is on the environmental and social costs of human progress, advocating for a transcendent, harmonious morality rooted in respect for life and nature. While the film subverts traditional gender roles by placing women in powerful, complex leadership positions, it maintains a strong male moral anchor and judges all characters by their character and actions, not their identity group. The story is a deep dive into Japanese mythology, spiritual concepts, and historical feudal and class struggles.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics4/10

The film avoids 'race-swapping' and the vilification of 'whiteness' as it is set in historical Japan. The narrative does feature an intersectional hierarchy lens by making the community of Iron Town explicitly composed of society's most marginalized—lepers and women bought out of brothels—and showing their meritocratic success under Lady Eboshi. Character merit is the ultimate deciding factor for Ashitaka's trust, but the plot highlights the systemic oppression of historical outcasts.

Oikophobia6/10

The score is elevated because the story critiques Japanese civilization, specifically the feudal system and unchecked industrial expansion (Iron Town's logging/mining), framing this progress as corrupting and destructive to the land. The powerful, spiritual forces of nature and the forest-dwelling communities are depicted as morally superior, representing the 'Noble Savage' trope and a preference for the ancient, non-institutional Jomon culture over civilization. However, Iron Town is not purely evil, offering a better life for its marginalized people.

Feminism6/10

Lady Eboshi is the archetypal 'Girl Boss' figure, a powerful, ruthless, and highly competent leader of an industrial village who uses guns to defeat both the forest gods and the male-dominated feudal lords (samurai). San is also a fierce, independent female warrior. Women are depicted consistently as competent and holding positions of leadership or critical importance, undermining the societal power structures of the time. The male lead, Ashitaka, is a compassionate and skilled warrior, acting as a moral mediator, which prevents men from being broadly emasculated or depicted as bumbling idiots.

LGBTQ+1/10

The movie contains no centering of alternative sexualities, no deconstruction of the nuclear family unit, and no focus on gender ideology. Traditional male-female pairing (Ashitaka and San's growing bond) is the normative structure, although it is not a traditional romantic arc.

Anti-Theism6/10

The spiritual life of the world is a central theme, but it is strongly rooted in the polytheistic, animistic traditions of Shinto and nature-worship, where life and death are balanced by a great nature spirit. This narrative displaces any need for or reference to a monotheistic 'Objective Truth' or 'higher moral law' as understood in Abrahamic religions, replacing it with transcendent, ecological morality. Organized, institutionalized human religion is represented by the monk Jiko-bō, who is manipulative and works for the Emperor to kill the Forest Spirit, framing human institutional authority as fundamentally corrupt.