Ett djupdyk i den glittrande världen och missade möjligheter med den kosmiska prinsessan Kaguya!

The anime film Cosmic Princess Kaguya!, now streaming on Netflix, presents a narrative with elements that may feel familiar to followers of Studio Ghibli and fans of traditional folklore. The story finds its roots in the Japanese epic tale Taketori Monogatari, which translates to "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." This classic fable, centered on a girl from the moon discovered by her adoptive Earth parents as an infant inside a bamboo stalk, is a foundational story in Japan. Writer-director Shingo Yamashita takes the core details of this original material and reimagines them within a hyper-technological, pop-aesthetic context.

He trades the feudal setting of the original for a contemporary Japan where life revolves around the internet. While this approach allows for an experience filled with mesmerizing visuals and beautifully crafted character designs, the film ultimately falls short of realizing the deep emotional potential inherent in its story. The central character is Iroha Sakayori, a high-school student whose life is defined by a heavy workload and a rigidly structured routine. Her carefully organized world begins to unravel when a mysterious girl from the moon unexpectedly enters her life.

The discussion around the film often points to its folklore origins in " The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter ". This story gained significant global attention in 2013 with the release of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, the final cinematic work from the celebrated Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata. In Yamashita's version, after an exhausting period of intense studying combined with the demands of a part-time job, Iroha discovers a glowing telephone pole.

This unusual structure opens to reveal a baby, sleeping peacefully amidst a display of colorful lights and an upbeat melody that fills her small compartment. Iroha, though reluctant to disrupt her schedule, feels she cannot leave the infant behind. Unsure of what to do and worried about the implications of this strange encounter, she decides to take the baby home with her. The supernatural child experiences accelerated aging, magically transforming from a newborn to an infant in the span of a single night.

Iroha finds herself unable to explain the child’s mysterious origins to the authorities, leaving her without any official support. Before much time passes, the small toddler develops into an energetic teenager named Kaguya. She adapts to her new environment with incredible speed, learning the intricacies of online shopping as quickly as she learned to walk. Despite appearing to be the same age as Iroha, Kaguya lacks the same level of independence, which fosters a sense of responsibility in her human friend.

One day, while feeling bored as she waits for Iroha to return from school, Kaguya uses Iroha’s money to purchase a pair of expensive VR contact lenses, identical to the ones Iroha already owns. She then asks Iroha to teach her how to use them. These lenses are the key to accessing Tsukuyomi, a vast metaverse that serves as a popular hangout for livestreamers, gamers, and their fans. As Iroha witnesses Kaguya’s pure joy and fascination with the novelty of this digital world, it sparks a memory of her own more carefree and gleeful younger days. This shared moment prompts her to agree to guide Kaguya through the world of Tsukuyomi and help her find success there.

The initial phase of their relationship serves to highlight the depth of Iroha’s anxieties about her own future. She is so consumed by her fears of falling behind in her studies or failing her exams that she never stops to question the series of inexplicable events unfolding right in front of her. However, as Kaguya begins to explore the possibilities within Tsukuyomi, she seeks a happier narrative for herself than the one associated with her traditional fable. In doing so, she inadvertently helps her human friend rediscover her own creative side. Kaguya decides she wants to enter a competition for livestreamers, and this motivates Iroha to revisit the music compositions she had long since abandoned. The event is organized by Yachiyo, a famous AI idol who also functions as the administrator of the Tsukuyomi metaverse. The grand prize for the contestant who can attract the most fans during the competition is the opportunity to record a collaboration with Yachiyo herself.

Yamashita, along with co-writer Saeri Natsuo, utilizes the fundamental components of the original tale and the character of Kaguya-hime to create a reflection of Iroha. This narrative device invites the audience to consider what Iroha lost in her struggle for self-sufficiency after moving out on her own while still in high school. The film does not present an overt or aggressive critique of capitalism, but it does touch upon the theme in a subtle manner by illustrating the exhausting effects of the demands placed upon Iroha. Although this film marks Yamashita’s directorial debut, his extensive background as a key animator on acclaimed anime series like Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is evident throughout the production. Every character movement flows with remarkable smoothness and naturalism. While Cosmic Princess Kaguya! is a coming-of-age story, its action sequences are crafted with a quality that rivals some of the best battle shonen anime.

During the fighting games held within the metaverse, which resemble a unique adaptation of League of Legends, the impact of each blow is rendered with thrilling effect. The dance scenes, in particular, stand out as a testament to the skill of the animators involved in the project. Animating dance is a notoriously difficult task, as it can often result in movement that appears stiff, robotic, or uncanny. In this film, the characters’ movements feel distinctly human, expressive, and perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of the music.

Instead of depending on fleeting references to real-world pop culture to elicit simple moments of recognition from the audience, the film constructs a world that is deeply and entirely rooted in contemporary Japanese pop and digital culture. The Japanese VTuber livestreaming scene is a fascinating and complex phenomenon that extends far beyond simply broadcasting gaming sessions or engaging in "just chatting" streams. Japanese VTubers have developed their own unique rituals and traditions. These include debut livestreams, where they introduce their avatar's features and share personal details, and graduations, which are formal departures from their streaming careers.

These graduations are typically accompanied by an official statement from the VTuber and a final livestream to commemorate the occasion. The Japanese VTuber scene has evolved into a massive industry. Many VTubers successfully launch careers as creative artists after cultivating a dedicated online fandom. With agencies like HoloLive transforming VTuber acts into touring sensations, the pathway from streamer to famous musician is more established than ever. The film explores this modern phenomenon as Kaguya actively pursues her own base of new fans within the Tsukuyomi metaverse. Music is a central element of the film, serving as the primary motivation for Kaguya and Iroha’s participation in the competition. It is also intrinsically linked to Iroha’s past and her family.

The movie’s soundtrack features contributions from famous names in the Vocaloid scene, such as 40mP and HoneyWorks. This was a strategic choice for a film where technology plays such a pivotal role. The songs effectively give the world of Tsukuyomi a fittingly electronic and colorful atmosphere. The visual design of Tsukuyomi is beautifully animated. The cityscape, with its glowing neon flying fish soaring amidst traditional Japanese architecture, gives the film a futuristic, Blade Runner-esque aesthetic that anime often captures so well. This visual style creates an exciting and effective contrast with the movie’s folklore source material. The music and visuals were carefully conceived and executed to create an experience that feels both modern and magical.

The character design is also a highlight. Iroha's and Kaguya's online avatars are a representation of the significant attention and energy that many people invest in expressing their identities within virtual spaces. However, the real star of the design work is Yachiyo, the AI idol. Her design successfully conveys the character’s divine, almost ethereal nature, while simultaneously giving her the distinct flavor of a music idol, an effect comparable to some of the best real-life Hatsune Miku figures. The beautiful scenarios and uplifting music make the 143-minute movie an entertaining watch, but these elements are not quite enough to make up for the narrative’s underwhelming resolutions.

Iroha is just a young girl, despite the heavy responsibilities that forced her to mature too quickly. The chaos that Kaguya brings, along with her childish and dreamy perspective, acts as a catalyst for Iroha's transformation. She gradually finds the strength to pursue her own happiness again. However, the film unpacks Iroha’s significant emotional baggage too easily and hastily. Early in her life, she lost her father, who was the only person who supported her engagement with music as an act of creative freedom. Her brother left home, which deprived her of both a gaming companion and a source of emotional support. Most importantly, Iroha's relationship with her mother played a fundamental role in shaping her insecurities and anxieties.

After the death of Iroha's father, her mother became stern and distant, telling the young girl that her creative pursuits were not worth exploring unless she could be successful. This deep, family-centered emotional drama is never fully resolved within the film. The expected resolutions do not occur. The movie dedicates too much of its runtime to demonstrating the strength of Iroha’s relationships with her new and old friends by placing them in challenges like the livestreamer competition or even battles against aliens. This focus shifts the narrative more towards a power-of-friendship adventure rather than a fully realized coming-of-age story centered on Iroha’s personal journey.

Kaguya's friendship does change Iroha, but the film eclipses her personal growth by focusing too heavily on their relationship dynamic. It feels as though Iroha comes to terms with her feelings about herself and her mother at some point off-screen. While she does visibly change, learning to rely on her friends to achieve her goals, the narrative never provides the cathartic climax she clearly needs with her mother. It is a waste of the emotional tension that was carefully built in the first half of the film. Iroha never actively confronts the pain she carries in a way that feels earned or complete, lacking a powerful moment like Taki and Mitsuha’s mountaintop confrontation in Makoto Shinkai's 2016 film Your Name.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya! stands as a high-value production and a prime example of what the modern anime industry is capable of achieving. From its visuals to its music, it is a top-tier anime movie.

It invites viewers in from the very beginning with its colorful settings and stunning character designs. There is also a subtle poetic tone in the way it links the culturally foundational tale of Kaguya-hime to the coming-of-age story of a girl living in modern Japan. Yet, this long film ultimately waters down its emotional potential. While it is clearly designed to allow director Shingo Yamashita to flex his years of experience as an animator, showcasing his keen eye for beautifully animated scenes, these scenes do little to advance Iroha's journey of healing. Her significant personal issues deserved better closure, a resolution equal in magnitude to the visual spectacle that surrounds her story.