Hayao Miyazaki

The hero’s journey is consistent across countless movies and books. From Lord of the Rings to Star Wars there are many great examples of stories that dive into the motives of heroes and the events that build them into heroes. These stories are linked by common themes and moments. The hero always fights for good. There are always moments of temptation, weakness, and triumph. All of these factors make for great stories. Miyazaki does something special with his hero's journey, he crafts sensitively around human struggle.

While the aforementioned Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are great examples of hero’s journeys, they are mostly black and white in terms of morality. The hero’s only do good and villains only do bad there is not in between or gray area. The clothes they wear, the way subordinates are treated, the way they treat their opposition. All of these things are clear and decided by if the character is simply good or bad. While each story does still have interesting and relatable characters, there is little nuance and characters motives are seldom surprising. Miyazaki’s characters are never black and white. Hero’s often help their enemies and sometimes leave their companions behind. While violence is a part of how conflicts in Miyazaki’s films are resolved, there is also an element of compromise.

Heroes and their enemies while having differing backgrounds and passions always share an element of humanity. Villains in superhero movies often lack a relatable motive. It is unclear why many villains would do what they do beside from being innately evil. Characters like Darth Maul, Sauron, and Ronan the Accuser strike fear into the hearts of moviegoers and into the heroes themselves, but are easily forgotten because their motives are unclear and foreign. In Miyazaki’s films the villains have goals that aren’t clearly evil, but are incompatible with those of the hero. The resulting conflict therefore is more nuanced and murkey. Particularly in the case of Princess Mononoke the major problem the main characters face is that the peace that each of them want to achieve is in contrast. In this conflict the actions of the heroes at times lack compassion and the villains sometimes show more care than expected. The conflict that Ashitaka is forced to navigate is a fight between the forces of nature and machine. In his film there is a twist on expectations. While nature is often portrayed as peaceful and merciful, Miyazaki shows nature as harsh and unforgiving. The people who fight nature are also themselves ruthless, but the way they treat each other is more defined by compassion and understanding. Ashitaka therefore can’t simply join a side and fight for what is right, he must broker peace and help two opposing forces broker an agreement to fight with each other.

Nature itself is a constant in Miyazaki films. In almost every film there is a conflict between nature and machine. This conflict is complicated, but always highlights the problem that humanity seems to be moving away from nature. As mentioned before, in Princess Mononoke, nature is not a clear force of good, but it is something that humanity needs to learn to respect. It isn’t the fighting and violence that resolve the conflict. The conflict is resolved by characters coming to an understanding with each other. The real enemy in the end is loss itself and healing through compermis is the cure. Many masculine notions of peace are broken in this process. This focus can be seen in the number of key female characters in Miyazaki’s films.

Even great studios like Disney and Pixar struggle with representation in their films. While Disney princesses are easily recognizable and the newer princesses are more empowered, many of the original princesses are relegated to being damsels in distress. In many of Miyazaki’s films female characters are the most important characters. In Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke the female characters are the real movers in their respective stories. In the case of Howl’s Moving Castle, while Howl has his name in the title, it is Sophie which the film revolves around. Howl has impressive magical powers that make him a key character in the film, but it is through Sophie’s compassion that the world is saved.

Conflict between heroes and villains, the importance of nature, and the focus on strong female protagonists set films by Hayao Miyazaki apart from their peers. While all films mentioned above have an element of good vs evil, the each resolution of conflict offers more relatable emotions and characters. At no point in these films is the end or the next turn easily predictable. This isn’t because of plot twists or forced surprises, it’s because Hayao Miyazaki taps into a deeper understanding on human struggle.

#howlsmovingcastle #princessmononoke #myneighbortotoro #spiritedaway