The Tale of The Princess Kaguya

A bamboo cutter finds a tiny girl inside a glowing stalk of bamboo and takes her home, where he and his wife raise her as their own. She grows at an extraordinary rate, and when the old man discovers gold among the bamboo, he moves the family to the capital so she can be brought up as a noblewoman. Now known as Princess Kaguya, her beauty draws suitors from across the land, including members of the imperial court, but she sets them seemingly impossible tasks and remains distant from the life chosen for her. The story, drawn from a classic Japanese folk tale, follows her through childhood, courtly expectations and the fate she says awaits her.

Isao Takahata directed and co-wrote the film with Riko Sakaguchi, working with producer Toshio Suzuki and Studio Ghibli. It is the eighth entry in the list of films Takahata directed, arriving twenty-five years after Grave of the Fireflies and fourteen years after My Neighbors the Yamadas. The voice cast includes Aki Asakura as Kaguya, Takeo Chii as her adoptive father, Nobuko Miyamoto as her mother and narrator, Kengo Kora as Sutemaru, Atsuko Takahata as Lady Sagami and Tomoko Tabata as Menowarawa.

Released in Japan in November 2013, the film blends traditional-looking animation with a running time of 137 minutes. It drew an 8.3 out of 10 critics' rating across 96 reviews, on IMDb 8 out of 10 from 61,000 votes and on TMDB 8.1 out of 10 from 2,050 votes, placing critical and audience responses closely together.