Cosmic Princess Kaguya

Cosmic Princess Kaguya marks the third and final film in the animation deal forged between Netflix and Japanese studio Coloido. The previous films, A Whisker Away (2020) and Drifting Home (2022) were both of a high standard (both scoring 9's here on UKA), with imaginative stories and beautiful animation. This however might be the best of the bunch, which is impressive considering it marks the directorial debut for Shingo Yamashita.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya is a twist on the classic Japanese folklore story The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter which tells of a moon princess visiting the Earth as a baby, raised by an elderly man and then forcibly returned to her people despite the villagers fighting to prevent it.

In this tale, it’s a luckless Iroha Sakayori, a student working hard to make her own way, that comes across a baby in a lamp-post that grows over the following few days into the precocious, clueless but ever-optimistic Kaguya.

Poor Iroha, she's really not prepared for baby Kaguya...

Having found and exhausted Iroha’s credit card, Kaguya becomes obsessed with the digital world and it’s top idol Yachiyo. Wanting to win a competition in order to collab with her newfound heroine, Kaguya takes to streaming in order to qualify for the in-world competition. As she makes her way as an online idol, Kaguya's infectious energy and antics begin to repair Iroha's shattered hart and inspire her to rekindle the creative she abandoned after her father's untimely death.

The sumptuous animation is achingly beautiful

The first thing that strikes you is that the film is ridiculously pretty, especially once we leave the real world for the digital realm and imagination is free from Earthly constraints. The online world of Tsukuyomi is incredibly vibrant and detailed, the avatars walking around demonstrating many of the tropes we’ve come to know and love - animal horns/ears atop heads, wonderful architecture (one shot shows a giant barrel in the. background with a window showing that it's being used as a sauna - love it!) Every freeze-frame is rock solid, bursting with colour and detail. The digital lighting effects are integrated flawlessly too, making the film well-worth a rewatch, just to experience details you might have missed as other elements caught your attention the first time around. 

The animation is also full of energy and character, whether it’s expressive facial animation or grander battles and world-building, every frame has something wonderful in it. Kaguya makes a flamboyant heroine, full of life and wonder - the contrast between the downtrodden Iroha and her mysterious guest leads to some wonderful moments of interaction throughout the film.  In fact it's the dynamic between the two that really makes the film quite addictive. Sure, Kaguya is borderline bratty, but she's never obnoxious. When Iroha takes ill, Kaguya dutifully takes care of her with enthusiasm and gratitude. When Iroha bares her soul, Kaguya sincerely wants to help however she can. As their relationship grows into something deeper, it feels genuine and heartfelt. It's a relationship you want to root for, even with the knowledge that - should their friendship follow the same route as the folktale - it's ultimately doomed. The fact that both acknowledge this within the film a bittersweet note across what is an otherwise bright and energetic experience. 

The virtual world is given many chances to shine, with concerts, fights and even a mix of the two crating dazzling visual vistas to absorb, the only downside being that, at 2 hours and 20 minutes, it can feel a bit overwhelming. This does however give plenty of time to flesh out the virtual idol Yachiyo and rival idol team, Black Onyx. There are secrets big and small buried in these characters but it's really for the best I don't spoil them here - though I will say that when you rewatch the film, all the clues are there.

Yachiyo, Iroha and Kaguya

While the English dub is solid, including the musical numbers, it can’t compete with the excellent Japanese original. Japanese vocals just sound better on twee pop tracks. Frankie Kevich does a decent job, especially with the high notes, but it’s not as full and rounded as the original. A more technical niggle is that the film doesn't have subtitles for the on-screen Japanese text, which means in order to understand what's actually going on in some scenes, you have to pause and switch languages to read the translated on-screen text which comes with the English subtitles.

While I don't want to give too much away, there are a few rug-pulls toward the end of the film which are lots of fun, adding to the playful nature that drives the film. 

This is probably the most vibrant-looking films that Colorido has developed for Netflix - all of them deal with fantasy on some level, but this feels the most overtly outrageous. It's a joyous, silly and ultimately moving feature that finishes the arrangement with a flourish.