One of the most important aspects of a story is its ending. You can start things on a high note and get as abstract as you want in the middle, but you have to stick the landing before the credits roll, or else that bitter taste that people walk away with will define their whole viewing experience. And then they’ll inevitably forget about all the understandably great stuff that you and your team have done over the course of your movie or show. Franchise-enders like The Deathly Hallows Part 2, Breaking Dawn Part 2, and, most famously, Return of the King have suffered from this problem; some have warmed up to RotK, but I don’t know about the other two. When it comes to shows, the final seasons of Game of Thrones and Stranger Things are infamous for overstaying their welcome, with the latter probably taking the top spot. That said, I am willing to give all of them a tiny free pass because they are wrapping up a narrative that’s gone on for several years. What’s Cosmic Princess Kaguya’s excuse? Maybe it thinks it is a legacy sequel to its source material. Does that make it worth a watch? Let’s find out.
Shingo Yamashita’s Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, which has been adapted from The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter by Saeri Natsuo and Yamashita, tells the story of Iroha, a regular girl who has moved to Tokyo to make a name for herself in the world of music. But that dream seems unachievable with every passing day, because her daily routine has become so hectic. Between going to school, working odd jobs, and amassing a following in the virtual world of Tsukuyomi, she doesn’t have any time for herself, and she feels that she’s going to be stuck in this cyclical process forever. That’s why when she spots a shooting star, she asks for money, because she thinks that’s the only thing that can solve all her issues. Instead of money, though, she finds a baby inside a street light, which grows at a rate that’s not exactly human. Since Iroha doesn’t have the time to think about it, she names the baby girl Kaguya, as she has seemingly fallen from the Moon, and makes her a part of her life, both the physical and the virtual one. Eventually, Kaguya grows popular, and Iroha rides her coattails to the heights of fame. However, as the dynamic duo gains popularity, Iroha begins to question if this success is permanent or just a dream.
I am going to be really honest here: I had a hard time figuring out what exactly Cosmic Princess Kaguya! was talking about. Sure, it’s a modern reimagining of the folktale, and it follows the beats of that story to a T. But when your protagonist is a single girl and the realm where a major chunk of this narrative is taking place is a virtual reality run by an AI program called Yachiyo, then things get a little complicated (and I don’t mean that in a good way). For starters, Iroha and Kaguya’s whole dynamic feels like a metaphor for teenage pregnancies, how they happen unannounced, and then force the women in question to “grow up” quickly. That might sound like a stretch, but there are several moments where Iroha sees herself behaving like her own mother while dealing with the erratic Kaguya. And that’s actually great, but then the movie doesn’t really go anywhere with that theme. Why? Because it starts talking about blending mythology and music with AI programs to create some kind of utopia where everyone can live happily ever after. However, instead of dealing with that whole can of worms (especially the part about attaining fame online), the writers decide to spend the last 40-or-so minutes of the movie trying to find a happy ending, in a meta way, while pondering on the concept of endings.
Credit where credit is due, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! looks and sounds absolutely fantastic. The realm of the mortals feels so lived-in and tangible. The techno-futuristic Tsukuyomi is magical and awe-inspiring. Every single fight sequence is extremely dynamic and bubbling with energy. The song-and-dance numbers are alright. The character animation is genuinely impressive. The range of emotions displayed through the body language and facial expressions is mind-boggling, to say the least. However, what hampered my enjoyment of these understandably great aspects of the movie are the lack of a cohesive narrative, the overall pacing, and all those endings. I mean, there are essentially 3 mini-movies packed into the film’s 2-hour and 22-minute-long runtime. And while many films have tackled such an unwieldy form of storytelling, it becomes apparent very quickly that Yamashita isn’t cut out for this task. The movie starts dragging after the 1-hour mark, and never regains momentum. I appreciate Yamashita and Natsuo’s attempt at doing something radical in its concluding moments. However, since the foundation of the film is so weak, that last-minute swing for the fences causes the whole structure to collapse. Well, one of the characters does say that this is just a fairy tale and that you shouldn’t put too much thought into it. So, I guess that makes the film critic-proof.
Voice-performance-wise, Yuko Natsuyoshi and Anna Nagase do most of the heavy lifting in Cosmic Princess Kaguya! And bless their vocal cords, because I don’t know how they survive such a grueling ordeal. Saori Hayami, Rie Kugimiya, and Miyu Irino are quite impressive. Yuma Uchida, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Yoshino Aoyama, Konomi Kohara, and the rest of the supporting voice cast are pretty great as well. With all that said, I don’t think this movie is my cup of tea. I am sure that the audience that it’s geared towards will sing its praises and make it the new streaming hit. But nothing about it stuck with me, thereby making the overall viewing experience pretty forgettable. In fact, I felt a little disgusted by the fact that the movie was trying to celebrate the most hollow forms of feminism and girlhood because it benefits the system that profits off of the labor and insecurities of women. I mean, human civilization is going through a phase where we need to have important conversations about what women are resorting to to seek employment after every formal sector has become so oversaturated. And then you have this movie, which is promoting such regression whilst being all bubbly and manic-pixie-girly. The songs and the visuals are cool though, right? So, yeah, if that sounds like a recommendation, give it a watch. Alternatively, check out any of Satoshi Kon’s work, and feel free to thank me later.
