Took a break from Western Horror movies to try to watch some Animu again...
So I finally hunkered down and sat through "Princess Mononoke". It was really good, definitely one of the better fantasy oriented Ghibli films which anyone who knows me knows I think they tend to be much weaker than the grounded ones. The themes were as unsubtle as usual for a Miyazaki film, but I did like that the morality of characters was portrayed as more complex and that there needs to be some give and take between man and nature. Lady Eboshi was an especially interesting character, the grayness of her actions to save the outcast poor and lepers from the Empire by sacrificing the Nature spirits was quite compelling, as was Ashitaka's resolution to break the cycle of hatred at the end by not only saving her life during the climax but by staying with her to help the downtrodden townspeople find a compromise that will benefit all parties. Animation was gorgeous as usual and held up pretty well, my only real complaint was the usual Ghibli sameface making it hard to remember which secondary character is which. Soundtrack was also excellent as expected of Joe Hisaishi.
Overall a very good anime movie that actually lived up to its hype. :)