Groups Always Seen as Only "Good or Bad"
First, as we can see in the story, there are two major clans. They are depicted as having totally opposed ideas. Irontown is a symbol of the human life in general, with no vegetation at all in it. On the other side, the spirits live in the forest. The movie plays with the first perception: we first see the situation in the eyes of the villagers: they are afraid of the small spirits that populate the forest. We see a woman with wolves trying to kill their leader, and she protects lepers. But then, the spectator sees how the village is destroying nature. Having these two opposite perceptions shows the spectator how situations aren’t easy to solve, and how extreme opposites always lead to endless wars.
The spectator discovers this at the same time as Ashitaka because the spectator is in some sort Ashitaka. He is neutral and has no backstory with any of these clans. That’s what enables him to see the entirety of the situation. It shows how we must always stay back from the conflict to see the solutions that can exist, and Ashitaka succeeds at doing it, it makes at the end both clans change their minds. The movie shows how discussion is a solution, and not war. The discussion here is done through Ashitaka, who, instead of staying in a particular clan, perseveres at trying to speak to both (isn’t accepted by San at the beginning, and isn’t accepted by Irontown, as they don’t understand in which clan he really is).
In reality, both clans try to do what is « good » for them: Lady Eboshi helps women and lepers, and San helps the spirits protecting their home. But they do things that have consequence that go further than what they think: the madness of the boar attacking Ashitaka’s village come from the gun shot from Lady Eboshi. The clans act with their own interest without thinking of the consequences, and Ashitaka is here to tell the truth and witness their actions.
A Call to Protect Nature
The nature in this movie is very powerful. Depicted with the help of spirits, the movie shows how it has the right of death and life on beings. Nature always wins, because it’s pacifist: we see this in the scene when Lady Eboshi tries to shoot at the Great Spirit of the Forest: her shotgun covers itself in vegetation, preventing her from shooting. The Great Spirit of the forest tries to stop the problem at its root. The animals and spirits are in this movie personified. This makes them as important as humans, on the same level, so they can express themselves. It helps the spectator understand their fight and sadness. It makes the combat between both clans more terrible, as we can hear their point of view.
The ultimate goal of Ashitaka in the movie is the search of a balance. It is very hard to find, and if there is any, it’s very weak and hard to maintain. Unfortunately, this balance is only found after the final war between Irontown and the spirits of the forest. We see that, before, Irontown wants to expand without caring about the nature and therefore makes the spirits mad. The message is that people must find a balance so that the others have the same rights. It’s weak because every individuum can change something, and every action, even small, has consequences.
Finally, the nature is depicted as beautiful in this movie. There is a remarkable difference between the nature and its vibrant colors, and Irontown entirely brown. This highlights how their conception and goals are different and makes the combats more impactful.
