1. Ashitaka - Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke is, without a doubt, one of the greatest animated movies ever made. Words cannot describe the levels of brilliance that Hayao Miyazaki and his team over at Studio Ghibli achieved when they decided to make this thing - it's touching, beautifully-drawn, engrossing, surprisingly dark, the soundtrack is haunting and beautiful, and then... there's the main character, Ashitaka, who - although he serves his purpose - is about as interesting as a slap across the face. Or
less interesting, really given that he has no arc, and is consistently dignified. At the beginning of the movie, Ashitaka is cursed by a demon, and is forced to leave his village to find a cure. Okay, that's an interesting idea, and one that should - realistically - force Ashitaka to face some pretty conflicting emotions. Like, say, his impending death. Nah: he stays in one mood for the entire flick, wandering about stoically, delivering his lines in exactly the same way, and - worst of all - never making mistakes, or doing anything that might be deemed "wrong." He's
perfect. Ultimately, it might've been nice to have somebody a bit more... well, human.
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