Studio Ghibli Animation and Film Studio released Princess Mononoke for American audiences in 1999. The critically acclaimed film is a standard-bearer for award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki on the world stage and a popular choice for vivid and innovative displays of tattoo artistry. .
Princess Mononoke centers on the adventures of the noble Prince Ashitaka as he journeys west to undo a deadly curse placed on him by Nago, a boar god turned into a demon by Lady Eboshi. The young Ashaitaka’s curse manifests as an evil worm centered on his arm.
Along the way, Ashitaka’s curse worsens, and he stumbles upon a war between the proud people of Iron City’s human outpost, led by the industrious Eboshi, and the creatures that live in the sacred depths of the great forest, led by the great white wolf Moorish god and warrior saint
san is the enigmatic princess mononoke, a young girl raised by the Moorish wolf god who will do anything she can to prevent humans from destroying her forest home, the forest god and the animal spirits that live there.
Princess Mononoke is the epic masterpiece that catapulted the legendary Studio Ghibli into the collective consciousness of the West. The epic story and beautiful animation created a legion of passionate fans, paving the way for the 2002 Academy Award winner Howl’s Moving Castle and My Neighbor Totoro.
With her amazing human character and motivation, memorable animal and supernatural characters, exciting battles, disturbing imagery, and adult material addressing the environment, capitalism, and disability, Princess Mononoke has provided the opportunity to design brilliant tattoos. in a variety of styles, colors and technical approaches.
Keep reading for brilliantly etched examples of bloodthirsty and cute pop culture tattoos of princess mononoke.
1. traditional japanese animation tattoos
While Princess Mononoke and other Studio Ghibli films feature Miyazaki’s signature animation, these tattoo renditions shift to another popular anime style.
Delicate fine lines and framing are reminiscent of classic manga, branching into more individuality in the use of the kodama piece’s cheeky blue background color, or the anime-style rendition of flat, well-chosen color palettes. The delicate lines in other featured tattoo designs allow the skillful work to shine through without needing to be overly complicated.
massive color sleeve tattoo is an epic masterpiece that features wonderful use of color, and cleverly delivered sections for main characters like san, young prince ashitaka yakul moose and kodama, its a piece that true tattoo art enthusiasts can enjoy.
the last piece is a prince ashitaka red yakul moose toddler anime cartoon banger done in solid color and skillful lines framed.
2. black and gray tattoo styles
The absence of color allows these black and gray tattoos (all variations incorporate san) to fully realize the technical skills of each tattoo artist. they are great for completing your images with just the right style: thick lines and darker shadows, delicate single-needle work in Japanese animation style, a fully explored traditional tattoo, cleverly applied grayscale.
Color can be bright and exciting, but there are some princess mononoke tattoos that need black and gray to fully stretch the technical skill set.
3. Moorish and saint tattoos
Moro is the 300 year old wolf god who adopted the girl san when her parents sacrificed her to get away from the attacking creature. the name san refers to the fact that she is the third daughter of a moro. San often rode her into battle against the humans of Iron Town, whom she passionately hates but respects. Moro wants nothing more than to smash the Eboshi business lady’s head.
These girl and wolf tattoos do a brilliant job of capturing elements of their father/son relationship. the artists have engraved tattoos that show an impressive imagination: the capacity for violence and blood, but also a deep humanity, the care of the forest, the love and protection they show each other.
4. kodama forest spirit tattoos
In Japanese mythology, kodama are gentle forest spirits that live in trees. when they are abundant in number it is a sign that the forests are in good health. In Princess Mononoke, the forest spirits are depicted as little white creatures; in opposition, there are the black goblins of soot that appear in abandoned houses and in the homes of the disappeared.
All kodama tattoos in these examples are drawn with black outlines and filled with negative space. it is their environments and situations that create an amazing tattoo design, with very different colored fills contrasting with tattoos etched purely in black lines or skilfully drawn fine lines.
5. masked saint tattoo inspiration
Many people in the cosplay world have donned the san mask for an event or a party. Outside of the Kodama, and the San herself, she is the most recognizable image of Princess Mononoke, perfectly round, red-striped, and featureless.
These tattoos are awesome. I especially like the contrast of a masked princess san armed to the teeth against the beautiful blue color of the flowers, and the sense of humor of the user who opts for a combination of mask and kodama. other pieces opt for representations of lines, in full color and even with a very black shaded fill to represent their ink.
6. princess mononoke neo-traditional tattoos
The use of the neo-traditional style fits into the display of different aspects in these tattoos. I especially like the multi-antlered head of the forest spirit engraved and surrounded by surprisingly sober colors.
Tattoos that show san’s spear, or his face surrounded by bright flowers or animal gods of the great forest, fit perfectly with the technical specifications normally found in tattoos of this style. the use of vivid, highly saturated colors, a trait shared by Japanese animation and tattooing, thick black defining outlines and shapes, and the lack of gradient shading in these features are all hallmarks of new wave tattooing.
7. saint tattoos
Each san tattoo uses a different style to bring their features to life, be it classic color or black and gray manga, anime portraiture, or slanted realism reminiscent of traditional Native American features.
There is significant variation in line type, ranging from straight and true to calligraphic hair and form line accents, while each piece deploys the all-important red ink with a fine splattering sense of style to bring the image to life. enigmatic princess mononoke.
8. technical tattoos
This latest group of tattoos has clearly focused on both their technical style and their sense of delivery. I particularly enjoy the final tattoo’s use of heavy black ink balanced against the stain of red on san’s mask.
the flowing ink, whether it be long fine needle strokes, short strokes and crosses, or very heavy contour work, relies on the excellent technical skills of each artist depicting scenes of the forest god, saint and the wolf dwells
frequently asked questions about princess mononoke tattoo
what does princess mononoke mean?
You could be forgiven if you think Princess Mononoke refers directly to a person, like Prince Harry or Prince Fielder. however, the term mononoke is not a name but rather the Japanese word for a spirit or monster. A mononoke is a shape-shifting supernatural being, more human in appearance than the oni demon or kitsune spirit animal, and one of the many mythical creatures central to Japanese folklore.
Part of the confusion surrounding the film’s title also lies in the translation of the Japanese title mononoke hime, into the English language Princess Mononoke. There isn’t really a way to translate the nuance of the title in a simple way, and of course English subtitles for a title like this don’t help.
what is studio ghibli?
studio ghibli is one of japan’s most beloved animation studios, home to some of the most beloved animated film titles. Under the direction of acclaimed director and animator Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli Film is responsible for the 2002 Academy Award-winning film My Neighbor Totoro (Japan loves its pets, and the studio uses Totoro as its primary totem), and the castle howl’s mobile among many quality titles besides princes mononoke.
Did you like these princess mononoke tattoos? Click the links below to see more galleries of inspirational anime and Japanese-themed tattoo art.
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