AMHERST, Mass. -- On Thursday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m. in Amherst College's Stirn Auditorium, in conjunction with the exhibition Reinventing Tokyo: Japan's Largest City in the Artistic Imagination at the Mead Art Museum, the Amherst College Anime Club will present Princess Mononoke (1997), by Miyazaki Hayao, the first of four Japanese animated films.

The Anime Club's series presents four award-winning animated films by outstanding directors and studios. The anime genre is very popular in Japan and, in contrast to cartoons in the United States, most often not intended for children. Favorite subjects include Japanese history--as, for example, in Princess Mononoke--and classical literature. This series explores a variety of elements in anime production from the 1990s and 2000s: history, human emotions and relationships, mythology and fantasy, to name just a few.

Princess Mononoke tells the story of the boy warrior Ashitaka. A malicious spirit has cursed him, and in order to lift the spell, he must leave his village to find the Great Forest Spirit and "see with eyes unclouded by hate." While searching for the Forest Spirit, Ashitaka meets the Princess Mononoke, a girl who has been raised by the wolf spirits (mononoke being a general term for a spirit or monster). The conflict between humans and forest spirits arises from the discovery of firearms, which facilitate the demolition of the environment. This film is rated PG-13.  

The series continues with the following films, each of which will be shown at 7 p.m. in Stirn Auditorium:

5 Centimeters Per Second (2007), by Shinkai Makoto, on Friday, Oct. 12: How long does it take for a cherry blossom to fall? It falls with a speed of approximately 5 centimeters per second, according to Takaki as he tries to negotiate his relationship with Akari, a girl who has been forced to moved away due to her father's job relocation but tries to stay connected through mail. This film is rated PG-13.

Tokyo Marble Chocolate (2007), by Shiotani Naoyoshi, on Saturday, Oct. 13: Yuudai and Chizuru are a couple with some issues: Yuudai is awkward and bad at sharing his feelings, while Chizuru is clumsy and bad at maintaining relationships. In an attempt to be sweet, Yuudai buys a rabbit for Chizuru, but it turns out to be a strange donkey that escapes with Chizuru close behind. This romantic story is told first from Chizuru's perspective, then from Yuudai's.  This film is rated PG.

The Cat Returns (2002), by Morita Hiroyuki, on Sunday, Oct. 14: Haru is a girl who just wants something more out of life. One day she manages to save an unsuspecting cat from being hit by a truck, only to discover that this cat can talk and is prince of the Cat Kingdom. In a wild turn of events, Haru is crowned and betrothed to the prince and forcibly brought to the Cat Kingdom, where she slowly undergoes a transformation and must learn to stay true to herself. This film is rated PG.

To see the complete program of events accompanying the Reinventing Tokyo exhibition, visit the museum's events calendar.