Princess Mononoke – Man vs Nature
Posted: January 3, 2011 Filed under: anime, photography | Tags: nature, Studio Ghibli Leave a comment »The Japaneses have always very conscious and shown their love for their environment, from separating of their trash for recycling to how they assimilate their buildings into their natural surroundings. Guess this came from their love of the environment they lived in. Often you will see anime or manga with nature themes. The very good classic would be Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫), written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli.
The movie is set in medieval Japan depicting a struggle between nature and man. The introduction of man’s new technology, guns and iron, threaten the balance of nature. Ashitaka, a young warrior is inflicted with a deadly curse when he kills a ravenous, boar-like monster, which he discovered is an infectious “demon god,” transformed by human anger. Seeking for the cure that will save his life, he got involved in the battle of humans against the forest’s animal gods, who are led by Princess Mononoke, a young woman raised by wolves.
The most common ways how nature theme are shown in manga or anime – the Earth has changed or almost destroy due to how humans have “abuse” the Mother Earth. The main character(s) in the character get involved in some incident and how they can salvage the current situation. But Princess Mononoke tells the story in more in an old fashion story-telling method. It might not be that straight forward that tells directly in your face, but that’s the beauty about it and what I like.
Guess it’s from the influence of all these nature theme anime and manga that I’ve also started to take note of the beauty of my surrounding greenery. So slow down your fast pace and take a look at your surroundings. It would be different from what you usually see. Even in concrete forest such as Singapore, a small country with limited green area, you can still enjoy the beauty that our Mother nature has provided us. Below are some pictures I took when I went to Hortpark on the 1st day of the new year. Hope it triggered your interest to go out and have a look outside.
