Author: Ippei Otsuka

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is a 10th-century Japanese monogatari (fairy tale).It was also occasionally known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya. It primarily details the life of a mysterious girl called Kaguya-hime, who was discovered as a baby inside the stalk of a glowing bamboo. Life in this sacred space is idyllic, and the young sylph soon earns the nickname Takenoko (Little Bamboo) for the speed with which she grows. But the equally miraculous discovery of gold and rare fabrics convinces Sanuki that this glowing creature deserves better, and he moves her to the capital to seek a husband befitting her imagined regal status.

A succession of suitors ensue, all desperate to earn the hand of the mysterious young woman whose ethereal beauty has become the stuff of legend. But trapped within the gilded cage of a noble home and rigid social etiquette, the now formally named “Princess Kaguya” longs for the lost countryside of her childhood, and the friendship of handsome ragamuffin Sutemaru, which has sparked an eternal flame in her heart. Animation interpretation of Hayao Miyazaki studio Ghibli and his 79-year-old co-founder Isao Takahata keeps the animation studio’s stock high, amid reports of closure, with what has been rumoured to be his own final film. This adaptation of the 10th-century Japanese folk tale Taketori Monogatari (which has previously inspired such cinematic adventures as Kon Ichikawa’s live-action Princess from the Moon) boasts a sketchier, more impressionistic palette than the bold strokes of Spirited Away or Howl’s Moving Castle, which made Ghibli a global brand.