The "feminist" princess film Princess Arete - Anime Review

Princess Arite is a 2001 children's anime film, a fantasy about a princess. But there's no prince, no rescuer. This is an anti-princess film based on a feminist novel by British author Diana Coles. To make things even more complicated, the director, a Studio Ghibli alumnus, who, by the way, also directed Black Lagoon, My My Miracle, and more recently, In This Corner of the World, is a guy. And he felt uncomfortable presenting a feminist story from a man's perspective. So he somewhat broadened the film's themes to encompass more general ideas like respect and agency. The film focuses on the eponymous Arite, a young princess locked in a tower. And, by the way, when I say young, I mean she looks like she's about six years old, although her age is never stated. She's a little more than half the height of the adult, so she's a little kid. The story is set in a clearly medieval, low-fantasy world. There are swords and spears, but no elves or dwarves. While a wizard does show up, he's the only magical character in the film. And this is actually really interesting. Characters have to solve problems with their wits, not with a magic sword. And one of the most remarkable things about Princess Arite is its art style. The staff chose a muted color palette and more simple character designs, highly reminiscent of actual medieval art. That choice draws you into the film's low-fantasy world. It feels gritty in a way that a movie with bright traditional anime colors simply wouldn't. It's a high-budget movie, too. While characters don't move constantly, there's a lot of detailed movement, even in small moments. And because this isn't an action film, you really get to focus on these subtle movements as characters think and react. It's a movie where the characters are acting, not just moving. And fortunately, you'll have plenty of time to appreciate that movement, because this is a slow film. And I don't mean that as a complaint. It's clearly trying to avoid the frenetic pace of so many films aimed at young audiences. As a result, shots go on for a while, really letting you grok how characters are reacting to events. Now, that said, I must admit, the film's second act does drag significantly, as characters are basically waiting around for things to happen. Without getting into spoilers, suffice to say that Arite is a classic princess locked up in a tower waiting for a prince. But partway through the film, she leaves her home, creating a scenario that plays around with that classic trope of the princess waiting for a rescuer. As a result, while the middle of the film certainly explores an important aspect of the film's themes, it does rather crawl, because characters are just waiting. I have a whole other video about what I do about that, but that's another thing. Another potential difficulty with the movie, for some people, lies with its characters. There's a relatively small cast of characters, and the last two-thirds of the film spends all of its time with only four of them. Further, while some of them pursue agendas, they're mostly reacting to events around them. Now, I actually did not have a problem with this, because I found those characters interesting to watch and think about. The animation and pacing also certainly helped here, but I can certainly see why some viewers might get frustrated. Difference though. That said, the relationships do feel very realistic between these characters. They don't become friends instantly or leap into danger unnecessarily. People react reasonably to new input, a welcome change from so many anime protagonists. The staff also did a great job of making each character's dialogue sound distinctive, both in the writing and in the performance. The old wizard speaks with austerity, but his lines are relatively short, like he only has so many breaths left. Arite speaks intelligently, but still with the directness of a child. Ample, a female character, has the rough, sassy speech of a commoner who's had a rough life but worked her way through it, while the wizard's apprentice wheedles and constantly jokes as if to keep his master entertained at all times. Now, unfortunately, Arite has never been dubbed into English, so I listened to the Japanese dub, which was perfectly effective. In terms of standouts, hardly the one voice that worked best for me was the wizard's. While the female actors delivered their lines just fine, I really liked Ample's, actually. The wizard gave real character to his lines, injecting humor where the character was being served by events around him, and gravitas when he was trying to impress people. Now, before I go, I do want to mention one thing you will probably want to know. There is a scene near the very end of the film that shows a completely nude young boy running on the beach. It's completely innocent, but it is also completely anatomically accurate, so it might raise some eyebrows if played in the wrong environment, so FYI. Overall, Arite really impressed me with its gritty world, very different approach to the princess story, and mature approach to storytelling. I really hope this comes out dubbed in English, so more US kids can watch it. It deserves a larger audience of people, especially girls.