Watching animation may not be the cup of tea for everyone; however, it played an important part in my life and helped develop my own character through the stories and lessons learned. The movie called “Princess Mononoke”, impacted me in my juvenile days and the anime called “Dororo”, that impacted me when I became an adult. The first text had given me a different perspective to nature and influenced me to be a better person as a juvenile, while the second text had given me encouragement as I delve into adulthood, in which had me making important decisions, that may have a strong impact to my life.

“Princess Mononoke” was a film made in Studio Ghibli in 1997. The film was about the different perspective and conflict between the humans and the mythical creatures of the forest. For the sake of industrialization, the humans tried destroy the forest. In additional, presenting the head of the forest spirit to the emperor would grant Lady Eboshi’s town protection from warring samurai lords. Even though she did that for the sake of her town, it was unjust and proves that people would commit all sorts of atrocity for their own gains, without compassion for other lives, just like how humans commit savage acts towards other humans or animals. On the other hand, the creatures of the forest wanted to protect the forest, leading them to blindly hate the humans, with the goal of driving off all the humans, by all means necessary. This shows how hatred can lead you to make poor decisions, as majority of the creatures had perished in vain during the battle. Ashitaka was the main character, who was a pacifist that tried to stop the war and conflict between both sides and to persuade them to coexist peacefully, instead of resorting to violence with each other, in which would only create more suffering for everyone.

The theme of the story is about nature, and how it should coexist and be preserved alongside humans. Life should allow nature and mankind to coexist peacefully, without the spoliation of one another. However, the humans had decided the destruction of the forest for their own gains, and not to mention their industrialization, therefore polluting the environment. For instance, the apes had lost their homes because of the Iron town taking resources and destroying the forest to develop weapons. Likewise, in the real world, humans disregard and cause harm to the environment, and the lives of humans and animals alike. In the end of the film, the humans had decapitated the head of the forest spirit, which caused an after effect of the forest spirit unleashing its wrath towards the world; that destroyed anything with life around. That would be the consequences the humans have to face for trying to kill the protector of the forest. The only way they had salvation was by returning the head back to the forest spirit. As a result, the forest spirit decided to undo and heal everything that was destroyed during the war: lifeless people, torn trees, and withered flowers. Although, the forest spirit had truly died, it had left behind something, with the theme of rebirth. The rebirth of the forest and nature signified that the humans and the forest can start over and try to coexist with each other. The same thing can be applied to society as there are hate, racism, animal cruelty, and destruction of nature occurring everywhere. People should learn to coexist and respect other people, animals, and nature; which is necessary for evolution to thrive on.

The lesson here is to take care of nature and nature itself would take care of you. Nature and humans are both needed to coexist and benefit each other. It related to me in a way because before I understood this film, I didn’t care about nature whatsoever. I thought trees were a gross place for insects to be on, grass were smelly plants that I was allergic to, and technology or industrialized places were all that mattered. As I grew up, I began to see the beauty in nature and appreciate the fact that every part of nature was necessary to humans. For instance, the trees that were full of insects and were getting chopped for different purposes served as natural oxygen tanks for us for all. I’ve learned compassion for all living things; essentially, I’d try not to kill any insect I may come across; whereas I wouldn’t think twice about stepping on a creepy crawler in the past. Treating my environment nicely meant that I shouldn’t litter and pick up trash on the ground. I used to not care about throwing a piece of candy wrapper on the ground, since the ground was already full of trash anyways. Yet, that mindset changed for me, when I decided to not act like other people who pollute the environment.

The 2nd text that influenced me was an anime called “Dororo”, made by Studio Mappa in 2019. The story is about Hyakkimaru, who was offered as a sacrifice to demons by his own father. His father was a samurai lord who made a pact with 12 demons in order for his dying land to prosper, in exchange his unborn son had to pay a heavy price by being born with no skin, no eyes, no ears, no nose, no limbs, and no voice. He was then left to die, however, got rescued and adopted by a medicine man who made prosthetic limbs and weapons for him to fend for himself. His father signifies that human greed that knows no bounds. The fact that he could throw away the life of his own child, for the sake of his rule and prosperity was horrendous. I for one, would never do anything that would harm a loved one. Too much greed might backfire on you, just like how he lost everything in the end. Hyakkimaru began his journey to slay the 12 demons, in order to gain his body parts back, one by one.

I can relate to Hyakkimaru because we were around the same age at the time, when we started to experience a tough goal. Hyakkimaru to me, was a symbol of will power. While his goal was to slay demons to get his body parts back and my goal was to get through bootcamp to become a marine. Being a small and shy guy, no one would expect me to join the toughest branch. I had lots of doubt and anxiety even before getting shipped out to Parris Island. Especially when a close friend of mine didn’t make it through, when we sort of promised each other, that we would go for it together. I needed a lot of support from family and friends, although this anime had influenced me more and given me encouragement that I needed. Bootcamp was a complete time of dread, loneliness, and confusion for me. It was hard to get used to the culture shock and strict environment because of all the chaos and fear of the unknown. Just as Hyakkimaru had gotten confused to what sound is, after his ears grew back. Hearing was scary for him since it’s something he’s never experienced before; likewise, bootcamp was simply something I’ve never experienced either, making it incredibly hard to take on. Bootcamp was 13 weeks long. I associated the 13 weeks with the 12 demons that Hyakkimaru had to kill, just to sort of give myself reassurance, that every week that I passed through was a progress towards my graduation. As Hyakkimaru had to basically grow up by himself, I also had to be hundreds of miles away from home for the first time, and had to go through the harsh training independently. We both started a journey where it is up to ourselves to see it through the end. He walked on a path of revenge for his  own justice, as I had hiked the never ending trail to become a warrior.

I’ve had many tough times that I had to overcome. During the crucible, I’ve had to march with a rucksack half my own weight, plus a rifle, for about 48 miles over the course of a 54-hour event, leading to a strained and burning back. That was all with a swollen ankle and blisters on my feet. I’ve had pneumonia and vomited for 2 weeks. I’ve been deprived of sleep and food many times. The worse part would still be the mental part. It was hell for me because I was constantly being targeted by my drill instructors. Hyakkimaru had strived till the very end until he got all of his body parts back. He went through many phases of learning to use his 5 senses, just as where I had to learn things from scratch. I got broken down and built back up. Being completely independent for the first time was hard enough, but constantly being hazed and “bullied”, along with the strenuous physical activities takes a toll on you. As a result, you get broken down and slowly built back up by transitioning into a warrior with more discipline, courage, strength, bearing, and knowledge, etc. There were days, I couldn’t help but cry a little. I’ve thought about quitting but I didn’t want to disappoint my loved ones and I didn’t want to place the burden of my tuition on my parents. When I felt hopeless, I reminded myself of what Hyakkimaru had to go through and that I should preserve at all cost. Those were the only things that kept me going, until the day I’ve earned my title as a marine. Dororo had encourage me to continue my transition into a warrior when I felt like I wasn’t strong enough to continue. At the end of the day, I was able to accomplish something I never thought I was capable of. I became mentally and physically stronger as a result.

In the end, everyone gets influenced and learn as they grow. Some through reading and some through music. The person I am today is partly due the lessons and morals that I learned through anime. It wasn’t just cartoons in my perspective, anime helped me realize that I can be someone with kindness and strength, or at least someone I can be proud of. Princess Mononoke had influenced my younger self to be a more compassionate person, and to protect nature and things that are important to life. Dororo had influenced me to stand my ground and persist until I achieve my goals despite what I may endure. They are all crucial aspects of life that people should know. These lessons held a significant meaning in my life, and may continue to assist me, as I face the future.