Review: Cosmic Princess Kaguya

The latest princess movie on Netflix is inspired by an old Japanese legend, but it isn't a direct retelling \like The Tale of Princess Kaguya. Instead, Cosmic Princess Kaguya takes place in a futuristic world where most young people are obsessed with a popular virtual reality game, similar to the anime movie Belle. It also follows the recent trope of modern musicals like Six and Between the Lines of taking back the narrative by attempting to give Kaguya a happier ending than she had in the fairy tale. Many aspects of the movie are fun and interesting, but it tends to jump around between too many different ideas.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya tells the story of Iroha, a teenage girl whose mother all but abandoned her, leaving her to grow up quickly at a young age. When she finds a baby trapped in a utility pole, she struggles with the decision to take it in or bring it to the police. The baby magically grows into a preteen overnight and bonds with Iroha, who names her Kaguya due to the similarities of their unusual birth circumstances. Iroha and Kaguya form a makeshift family and enter a popular VR world, where they are drawn into a streaming competition to perform in a virtual concert alongside Yachiyo Runami, a Hatsune Miku-like mascot and administrator of the virtual world.

The story starts out strong, but then it pivots in a confusing direction involving half-formed ideas that don't seem to go anywhere. I was intrigued to see how this lonely teenage girl would handle raising a child, but that storyline is quickly and conveniently resolved almost instantly by having Kaguya grow up overnight by magic. Though the virtual world is beautiful and incorporates many impressive-looking effects, the plot deteriorates at this point into a montage of gameplay and streaming videos that bloat the film's runtime unnecessarily.

Without spoiling too much, the ending of this movie takes a big risk that throws a lot at the audience at once. I enjoyed the concept of rewriting Kaguya's ending. The original story, in which she goes back to the moon and forgets her Earth family forever, is unsatisfying. Though the Kaguya from this story is appalled by that ending at first, she later accepts it without regret, leaving it up to Iroha to find a way to reunite their small family. Within the final minutes of the film, time jumps, revelations, and new concepts pop up all at once, making it feel both staggered and jarring at the same time.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya is a film with an intriguing premise that's hindered by its own ambition. Despite its beautiful visuals and original concepts, the movie's scattered narrative and abrupt pacing keep it from reaching its full potential. While it takes a bold risk in rewriting the classic tale, the execution feels rushed and disjointed, leaving viewers with a sense of missed opportunities. Do you prefer the original classic tale of Princess Kaguya or the new futuristic one? Let me know in the comments!