History Anime / TheTaleOfThePrincessKaguya

* MoodWhiplash: The fifth suitor triumphantly grasping a swallow's egg before pratfalling into a large kettle slap-stick style is PlayedForLaughs, until the very next scene reveals he died from the fall. Princess Kaguya is understandably [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone distraught]].
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Kaguya is ''distraught'' to learn that her ImpossibleTask got her fifth suitor killed.

* RebelliousPrincess: {{Justified|Trope}} with the titular Kaguya, [[ModestRoyalty as she grew up in a hamlet]] surrounded by nature and friends, as well as allowed more freedom than when she became a princess. This is also downplayed is that she does succumb to much of the traditions for a time to keep her father pleased.

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* AmnesiacGod: The film plays with this, as Kaguya is revealed to be [[spoiler:a Lunarian -- an immortal celestial being from the Moon, whose ranks include the Buddha -- who was temporarily exiled to Earth with her memories of her prior life being erased as punishment. When the other Lunarians place a celestial robe on her, restoring her divine status, her memories of her mortal life on Earth are erased]].

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese folk story ''Literature/{{The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter}}''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and the fourth-longest animated film in the world. It's also the longest animated movie to not be tied to a preexisting media franchise.

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese folk story ''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and the fourth-longest animated film in the world. It's also the longest animated movie to not be tied to a preexisting media franchise.

** Money can't buy happiness. A poor and happy life is better than a rich and miserable one.

** The third suitor brings a single wild flower he plucked from the side of the road as a symbol of his (allegedly) simple but realistic affection. His wife (whom it's implied he wooed with this same pickup line) turns up and demands to know how many ''more'' flowers he intends to pluck and discard in this manner. If anything, this indicates what the wild flowers ''[[AnalogyBackfire truly]]'' symbolize, how he only wants a woman so long as she's [[TrophyWife attainable]].

** The third suitor brings a single wild flower he plucked from the side of the road as a symbol of his affection. His wife (whom it's implied he wooed with this same pickup line) turns up and demands to know how many ''more'' flowers he intends to pluck and discard in this manner.

''The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' is a 2013 Japanese animation film from Creator/StudioGhibli, directed by Creator/IsaoTakahata, based on the 10th-century Japanese folk story ''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter''. Clocking in at 2 hours and 17 minutes, it stands as Ghibli's longest film ever released and the third-longest animated film in the world, only bested by ''[[LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'' from three years prior and the 70mm cut of ''[[Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato Final Yamato]]'' from 1983. It's also the longest animated movie to not be tied to a preexisting media franchise.

* BigDamnHeroes: Me no Warawa almost pulls one off [[spoiler: when she recruits then neighbourhood kids to sing Kaguya's childhood nursery rhyme about the blessings of life on Earth as she's about to be taken away. It doesn't work, but it does make her pause and drop the robe of forgetfulness long enough for her parents to reach her and say goodbye one last time.]]

* PatrickStewartSpeech: Kaguya starts to give one of these as [[spoiler: she's saying her final goodbye to her parents and to the Earth, adamant that the Moon people's attempt to downplay her hesitation by pointing out the impurity of Earth and the sorrow and pain that exist in it only reveals that they don't fully grasp the complexities and blessings of life on this planet and of the humans who inhabit it. Indeed they don't (nor do they care), for they place the robe of forgetfulness on her [[ShutUpKirk mid-speech and shut her down]].]]

** A subtle one near the start of the film. While Kaguya is still a baby, a number of kids nickname her "bamboo" and beckon her toward them. Her father insists that her name is "Princess," and beckons her toward him instead. While little Kaguya would obviously prefer to be with the kids, she's swayed to go to her father instead. When she gets older, even though she'd rather stay with Sutemaru and live as a bamboo-cutter's daughter on the mountain, she lets her parents (particularly her father) persuade her to move to the city to live as a noble lady instead. [[spoiler:This leads to years of unhappiness, and she dies full of regret.]]

* {{Lunarians}}: [[spoiler:The Moon People]], which eventually [[spoiler:arrive to collect Kaguya]].
* MidSuicideRegret: One of the most tragic examples. [[spoiler:When the Emperor embraces her from behind she wants nothing more than to return to the moon, inadvertently summoning the People of the Moon to come fetch her. After the shock wears off, she realizes she still wants to stay on earth, and realizes she could still leave her GildedCage behind and live the life she want... if only the People of the Moon weren't coming to get her no matter what so soon. In the end they come to get her and place a Cloak of Forgetfullness above her, which WordOfGod explains symbolizes a young woman dying tragically young and experiencing TheNothingAfterDeath.]]

** The third suitor brings a single wild flower he plucked from the side of the road as a symbol of his affection. His wife (whom it's implied he wooed with this same pickup line) turns up and demands to know how many ''more'' flowers he intends pluck and discard in this manner.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: [[spoiler:The emissaries from the moon are not even remotely bad beings, but they also do not seem to realize that no-one considers what they're doing to be something good. They are, to put it simply, in an uncanny way harmoniously detached and oblivious of how utterly inhumane they really are. The way they envision earthly life as "impure", and something worth to be punished longing for could put them in the ScaryDogmaticAliens category.]]

** A subtle one near the start of the film. While Kaguya is still a baby, a number of kids nickname her "bamboo" and beckon her toward them. Her father insists that her name is "Princess," and beckons her toward him instead. While little Kaguya would obviously prefer to be with the kids, she's swayed to go to her father instead. When she gets older, even though she'd rather stay with Sutemaru and live as a bamboo-cutter's daughter mountain, she lets her parents (particularly her father) persuade her to move to the city to live as a noble lady instead. [[spoiler:This leads to years of unhappiness, and she dies full of regret.]]

* DoubleStandard: The film critiques this big time, since Kaguya grows up in a patriarchal environment. She and her mother receive scolding for out-of-line behavior while the more bumbling suitors and Kaguya's father are virtually free of reproach. Kaguya and her mother are also forced to adhere to much more restrictive "in-line" behavior, while the her father and suitors still can't be bothered to follow the lax rules set out for them.

* ItsAllJunk: Kaguya eventually realizes her treasured little garden (that she shaped to resemble their old home in the mountains) is just a fake imitation of the real thing she always wanted.

* SoundtrackDissonance: The TearJerker ending is set to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCSJEI4nDy8 very happy festival music]]. JustifiedTrope as [[spoiler: the inhabitants of the Moon do not know anything about sorrow or suffering; they are pretty much incapable of realizing that a Soundtrack Dissonance is even possible]].

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* ChildhoodFriendRomance: [[spoiler:Poor Unlucky Sutemaru. Or rather, Kaguya is this to him since she dies tragically young while he marries and starts a family.]]

* RescueRomance: Kaguya first meets her childhood friend Satumaru when he rescues her from a wild boar.

** The people of the moon could easily be read as a TakeThat to UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}. Not only does the leader of the moon people resemble the Buddha, but they're described as ageless, immortal beings who who never experience the miseries of mortal life (hunger, pain, fear, sorrow, loss, grief, aging, sickness, or death) but also never its joys or pleasures either. (One of the core tenants of Buddhism is rising above worldly suffering and desire to obtain enlightenment.) The moon and its people can be seen as symboling nirvana (a state of permanent peace, liberation, and "consciousness without feature, without end" beyond suffering and desire). Kaguya's passionate speech that she's learned that it's better to experience all the joys ''and'' hardships of mortal life than the bland immortal existence, and them [[spoiler:putting the cloak of forgetfullness on her anyway is unambiguously depicted as a DownerEnding.]]

* AnalogyBackfire: The fourth suitor claims that he offers Kaguya, not the Buddhist Begging Bowl he promised, but a [[RuleOfSymbolism simple wildflower]]. He explains to Kaguya that in his search for the treasure, he happened upon the wildflower instead and found it more suitable to represent his 'devotion' for her. As opposed to his and the other suitors' claims of how their love for her were like impossible treasures, it makes it look like his love has shifted to becoming just like that flower: simple but natural and blooming. But when it's revealed [[YankTheDogsChain he's made that speech before to other girls]] (including his begrudging ''current wife''), said-wife makes a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing point]] that his wildflower speech is but a glorified pick-up line. If anything, it only serves to reflect how he ''really'' views women: as [[TrophyWife easily attainable]] as common wildflowers to pluck up and then dispose of when he tires of them.

* AnalogyBackfire: The fourth suitor claims that he offers Kaguya, not the Buddhist Begging Bowl he promised, but a [[RuleOfSymbolism simple wildflower]]. He explains to Kaguya that in his search for the treasure, he happened upon the wildflower instead and found it more suitable to represent his 'devotion' for her. As opposed to his and the other suitors' claims of how their love for her were like impossible treasures, it makes it look like his love has shifted to becoming just like that flower: simple but natural and blooming. But when it's revealed [[YankTheDogsChain he's made that speech before to other girls]] (including his begrudging ''current wife''), said-wife makes a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing point]] that his wildflower speech is but a glorified pick-up line. If anything, it only serves to reflect how he ''really'' views women: as [[TrophyWife easily attainable]] as flowers to pluck up and then dispose of when he tires of them.

* AnalogyBackfire: The fourth suitor claims that he offers Kaguya, not the Buddhist Begging Bowl he promised, but a [[RuleOfSymbolism simple wildflower]]. He explains to Kaguya that in his search for the treasure, he happened upon the wildflower instead and found it more suitable to represent his 'devotion' for her. As opposed to his and the other suitors' claims of how their love for her were like impossible treasures, it makes it look like his love has shifted to becoming just like that flower: simple but natural and blooming. But when it's revealed [[YankTheDogsChain he's made that speech before to other girls]] (including his begrudging ''current wife''), said-wife makes a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing point]] that his wildflower speech is but a cheap pick-up line. If anything, it only serves to reflect his true nature: to him, women are like wildflowers for him to so easily "pluck" before he disposes of them.

* AnalogyBackfire: The fourth suitor claims that he offers Kaguya, not the Buddhist Begging Bowl he promised, but a [[RuleOfSymbolism simple wildflower]]. He explains to Kaguya that in his search for the treasure, he happened upon the wildflower instead and found it more suitable to represent his love. As opposed to his and the other suitors' claims of how their love for her were like impossible treasures, it makes it look like his love has shifted to becoming just like that flower: simple but natural and blooming. But when it's revealed he's made that speech before to other girls (including his begrudging ''current wife''), said-wife makes a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech scathing point]] of how hollow his wildflower speech is. If anything, it only serves to reflect his true nature: to him, love means somebody you can easily pluck from the side of the road like a common flower, and then

* MoodWhiplash: The fifth suitor triumphantly grasping a swallow's egg before pratfalling into a large kettle slap-stick style is PlayedForLaughs, until the very next scene reveals he died from the fall. Princess Kaguya is understandably distraught.

** Kaguya's [[LadyInWaiting handmaiden]], Me no Warawa, dresses rather similarly to and looks very much like [[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} another Princess Kaguya...]]

** A subtle one. The old woodcutter is voiced by Creator/TatsuyaNakadai in the Japanese version. Nakadai had played a woodcutter in one of the ghost stories in ''Film/{{Kwaidan}}''.

This was Takahata's last directorial work before his death in April 2018. It was dubbed and released in North America in 2014, and was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestAnimatedFeature, a first for an anime film not directed by Creator/HayaoMiyazaki. It was also the first Ghibli film to be distributed on home video by Creator/{{Universal}} in North America. It also is currently the highest-budget anime film ever made, having a budget of $49 million (5 billion Yen)[[note]]more than twice the budget of the previous film to hold this distinction, ''Anime/{{Steamboy}}'', which had a budget of $20 million (2.108 billion yen)[[/note]].

** OrWasItADream: Both moments are ambiguous and indicate that at least ''some'' of it might have happened as her dreams seem to overlapped with actual events [[spoiler:(Kaguya is given some plot-relevant information in the former, and with the latter, while it's reasonable to assume that the running off and flying part must have been a dream, everything up till that point is presented in a perfectly down-to-earth, realistic manner... And everything Kaguya says and does is things Sutemaru would have no possible way of knowing about.]]

** The people of the moon could easily be read as a TakeThat to UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}. Not only does the leader of the moon resemble the Budda, but they're described as ageless, immortal beings who who never experience the miseries of mortal life (hunger, pain, fear, sorrow, loss, grief, aging, sickness, or death) but also never its joys or pleasures either. (One of the core tenants of Buddhism is rising above worldly suffering and desire to obtain enlightenment.) The moon and its people can be seen as symboling nirvana (a state of permanent peace, liberation, and "consciousness without feature, without end" beyond suffering and desire). Kaguya's passionate speech that she's learned that it's better to experience all the joys ''and'' hardships of mortal life than the bland immortal existence, and them [[spoiler:putting the cloak of forgetfullness on her anyway is unambiguously depicted as a DownerEnding.]]

* YourCheatingHeart: At least three of Kaguya's suitors are implied to be married already, and just want her as a shiny status symbol. [[spoiler:Her childhood friend Sutemaru is revealed to have a wife and kids at the end, and he's willing to abandon them without a second thought to run away with Kaguya.]]