The Tale of the Princess Kaguya ( かぐや姫の物語) is a modern retelling of the early Japanese folktale and was the last film by Isao Takahata, animated by Studio Ghibli. The film includes lovely expressions of technology in rural early Japan. This expression is used by Takahata as a means of grounding scenes in the reality of earth.
The talk, however, applies a concept from media studies to the film. This is the concept of the gaze, who is allow to see who and in what context. In this film the concept of the gaze provides a useful framework for understanding Takahata’s choices of images and designs.
The following talk was presented at Mechademia conference in 2015. Mechademia conferences (http://www.mechademia.net) are held annually at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and biennially in Asia.
Studying Anime 