THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA. Parenthood & Responsibility

I don’t see The Tale of the Princess Kaguya as a single story, but as three interwoven legends.

In the first one, a poor woodcutter discovers an abandoned, heavenly-sent child and a pile of gold in a bamboo grove. The man takes the miraculous being in his arms and brings her to his wife. The couple has never had children of their own, so the princess instantly awakens in them a deep paternal and maternal instinct they had never known before. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is a parable about parenthood and responsibility. It’s a warning against greed and a plea to truly understand the signs. For the most obvious interpretation is not always the correct one. And the parents’ interests do not always align with the needs of the child.

The second legend takes on a mythical tone, highlighting two distinct realms of the story’s world. At the forefront stands the princess, exiled from the Moon for breaking its code. The inhabitants of the Silver Globe are forbidden to long for mortal, earthly life. To feel and think like humans is a transgression—and this is precisely what the titular heroine has done. Her punishment is to experience human life: to befriend people, to love some of them, and then abandon everything when the time comes.

Over time, she will either be crushed by the emotional weight of earthly existence or realize that, in fact, she is immune and indifferent to human inner turmoil. Director Isao Takahata leaves open the question of which of these two extremes proves to be true.

The protagonists of the final parable are five suitors—high-ranking men of state—competing for the princess’s hand. Kaguya is unimpressed by their wealth, social status, or power. She gives each of them a task: the first to fulfill it will win her hand in marriage. Yet Kaguya’s wishes are impossible to realize. She demands a branch from the Tree of Wonder, a diamond from a dragon’s neck, a fireproof fabric…

One by one, the desperate suitors return, either admitting defeat or bringing forged artifacts. Takahata, however, is only marginally interested in the men’s adventures. He uses them instead to build the story’s unique dramatic arc. We move from the comedic return of the first suitor to genuine romantic feeling from another, and finally to the devastating tragedy that grows from Kaguya’s fear of loving anyone. This is one of the story’s climactic points—a masterfully crafted sequence that overwhelms with a sense of helplessness, the urge to escape, and bitter disappointment.

These are the three main narrative axes of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. They are connected by the same characters and settings, yet each sheds light on a different problem and tests different people. What elevates this Studio Ghibli animation beyond the black-and-white simplicity of a fairy tale—and what makes this film so exceptional—is the ambiguity of motives and emotions. Parental love is portrayed as selfless and devoted, but also possessive and domineering. Kaguya herself can be honest and tender, yet also calculating. Takahata works with familiar narrative templates and universal cultural tropes—material and spiritual wealth, the clash between dreams and reality, the pursuit of unattainable ideals—but rather than offering hope, he leaves the viewer with a sense of bitterness and resignation.

For in The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, everyone ultimately loses. Happiness and prosperity come too briefly for each character. In rapidly changing circumstances, no one can truly find their place. For Takahata, the fundamental feeling connecting these different characters is longing. For what was lost. For what one doesn’t have. For what one doesn’t know. For what is unattainable. The delicate, at times almost translucent linework of the animation only intensifies the sense of fleeting time and place. More than once, it seems that just a slightly stronger breeze would be enough for this world to dissolve into thin air before our eyes. As a result, every viewing of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya feels like a truly unique experience.