Introduction
Ten years ago, the Zol Empire conquered the neighboring lands of Aquafa, forcibly merging the two nations. Though the effort was a success, the Zol invasion could not seize Fire Horse Village, where an outbreak of a mysterious deadly disease known as Black Wolf Fever occurred. Since then, the people have believed the illness has been eradicated.
At a salt mine overseen by Zol authorities, Van Gansa is a prisoner of war carrying out a forced labor sentence. One night, a pack of spirit-like wolves attack the mine; while Van and a young girl named Yuna are bitten, the two escape as the only survivors. In the official investigation following the incident, the findings indicate that the wolves were carriers of Black Wolf Fever, which led to the swift deaths of the guards and workers.
Eager to experience freedom again, Van wastes no time settling down with Yuna in a small farming village. However, Van does not know that he is being followed. Pursued both by those who wish to harvest his blood to cure Black Wolf Fever and those who want to stop those efforts at all costs, Van faces a greater issue plaguing the nation that may spread to countries beyond.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
15 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
AkiraMiyazaki17
I’ve been recently working my way through Nahoko Uehashi’s translated works (and adaptations), after watching the fantastic Seirei no Moribito anime series, and falling in love with The Beast Player novel. I’ve heard her likened to Ursula Le Guin, no doubt because of her immensely detailed fantasy worlds and exploration of various political themes, though I think Uehashi ultimately aims her novels at a younger audience than Le Guin.
Of the anime adaptations of Uehashi’s work, The Deer King is by far the least beloved. I find the choice to adapt the two books into a single feature length film somewhat perplexing, especially considering that both the Moribito and Beast Player series received lengthy tv adaptations of their first book. The result is that much of what makes the Uehashi novel…
Read at the sourceSiluetta
On paper, it sounds like a grand fantasy, a former warrior, a little girl, a battle with a mysterious illness, and a journey through a brutal world. In practice, The Deer King is a more intimate story about bonds and survival, set against an epic backdrop.
In the background, we have political conflict, imperialism, religious themes and the motif of ‘who deserves to survive’. Sounds epic? Yes, but the problem is that the film doesn't have time to develop all of this. Some of the themes are only touched upon, and the finale rushes a little to wrap up the story. But what works best is the relationship between Van and Yuna. Intimate, touching, warm – it provides the emotional backbone of the entire story.
Animation & Art Style
The film is impressive in this regard.
Studio Production I.G. has…
Read at the sourcepocariswonk
5.5/10
The Deer King is an unfortunate bundle of squandered potential on all fronts of its story. It would not be hyperbole to call it "Walmart Mononoke Hime"
There are WAY TOO MANY 'riding' scenes, where character are in chase/pursuit and barely anything happens, and they last too long. "Look, this guy is riding a deer! holy shit!" x5
The pacing falls apart at about the halfway mark after dragging its feet through a slow slog of unnecessary scenes as the writers clumsily try to curry your interest in the world. It just screams budget issues as the pacing ramps up while the writers scramble to tie up all the loose ends.
The protagonist's character development falls flat. He is established as a large, brooding, quiet warrior with a tragic past, which isn't too hard to get right, but so…
Read at the sourceYemi_Hikari
Dear King feels like a love letter to Studio Ghibli. One of the first things those interested in this particular Anime title notice is that it utilizes a style very similar to the one used by Studio Ghibli. The story, despite the high rating, is also very family-oriented, but the Studio Ghibli movie that Dear King first and foremost reminded me of as I watched the movie wasn't Princess Mononoke but Grave of the Fireflies.
The movie does, after all, cover the effects of war following a man who lost his wife and son before becoming a soldier in a war that led to him being a worker down in the mines. This leads to him meeting Luna, whom he adopts as his daughter. Nor is the movie afraid to get nitty-gritty when it comes to the details, being very detail-orientated regarding what is going on…
Read at the sourceKenjiii00
I'm not sure whether to recommend The Stag King.
I will start with its artistic section, which I really liked. In my opinion, it is the best part of the film. The character design feels very strange. I feel like each character was created by a different artist.
As for the story, I found it entertaining for some moments, but
I expected more from the story knowing that one of the producers worked for Ghibli and Satoshi Kon, and I feel that its plot does not develop well at all and some things are left unfinished.
For my part, I would not see it again but I invite you to see it and draw your conclusions.
Read at the sourceKays90
Before discussing about each aspect of the movie, I'm gonna reiterate this - "This movie doesn't really belong & feels like a movie of 2021-22. Its a through & through late 80s or 90s movie in every way".
Now coming to the discussion about this movie, its gonna be broken into 5 broad aspects: Art & Animation, Sound, Character Development, Direction & Story;& Enjoyment.
Let's talk about art & animation. It doesn't really belong to a movie in 2021 or 2022. For a movie, its a through & through late 80s & 90s style. It has similar art style found in Ghibli movies of those times & even this studio's anime TV series of 2000s.
Moribito from same author has exactly same vibes in this department & others as well. Animation is smoother here than from those days. Guess something is improved aftera…
Read at the sourceozuosoroshii
The Deer King is not like Princess Mononoke. It is not trying to be. It is not about the same things as Princess Mononoke. This movie has a character that rides a deer and there are wolves, but that does not make it the same. Don't let all the media-illiterate reviews drawing parallels between this movie and Princess Mononoke/Studio Ghibli movies bias your attempt to understand The Deer King. Trying to view it through that lens will just decrease your ability to understand it.
Pro:
Visually, this movie looks very good.
There is some interesting world building and a decent story.
Con:
The most glaring issue is that this is a series of novels packed into a single less-than-2-hour movie. The pacing makes a valiant effort and they tried to write the screenplay to get as much in there as the…
Read at the sourcewhiteflame55
The movie evokes comparisons to Princess Mononoke, but falls short of it in virtually every measure. There's both too much going on to get a good grip of why things are happening (there are a lot of conflicting interests at play among the bigger groups as well as among a small number of more independent players), and too little that's all that interesting or unpredictable. I had trouble following why many of the people in this movie acted as they did and, based on what I've heard of the source material, it's because they cut quite a bit of it out. I had little trouble figuring out some of the central mysteries of the movie, which isn't a great sign, and the central characters are pretty bland. There are some decently cool visuals, the world seems decently interesting (wish we'd gotten to e…
Read at the sourceEinherjar81
Despite what its ratings might indicate, Shika no Ou (The Deer King) is a movie with a lot of interesting, worthy things to say, and is very deserving of your time, provided you're willing to forgive (or at least look past) the pacing issues typical of novel-to-movie anime adaptations. This is a film that, even with a nearly two-hour (quite long, by anime movie standards) runtime, still feels too tightly compressed, though stretching the story out over an entire season might have been a worse choice. Those who deride the movie for its purely visual similarities to Ghibli's Princess Mononoke ignore the wide gulf between the themes of the works. On the surface, Shika no Ou is very clearly about the triumph of science over superstition, but at the same time it demonstrates the value of tradit…
Read at the sourceMmmKale
Wowsers! This movie is so good. Not sure how the rating is so low. The art is absolutely amazing, the soundtrack great, and Yuna...one of the cutest characters I've ever seen. I do wish they had a second movie or made this one longer because I think they rushed the second half a bit. This movie really is just about a father and his daughter and besides that the story is not the craziest thing ever, but it is still very fun and reminds me of old Disney mixed with Studio Ghibli. Even if you do not end up liking the story, the characters make up for it 10 fold in my opinion. Overall I'd highly recommend this movie! :D
Read at the sourceadoyash
No spoilers
meh if saw the reviews here before watching i wouldn't watch so THANK GOD i didn't
to be fair parts of the story were confusing and you couldn't decide who is good & who is bad but i think that's a positive thing cause. yes in actual world everyone think they are on the right side.
so for me it was a nice 2hr watching experience ... The deer king is held in its story so manny emotions i can't explain with words though i saw a lot says there is no emotions?! .. i did feel connected with most of the characters and there ups and downs and specially liked the doctor maybe cause i'm in medical field!! ... I can say I enjoyed the mystery .. the creepiness .. the conspiracy ... the family bond ... the cuteness ... the fantasy & the science ... the science part was so logical for me…
Read at the sourceKongregate
Was first time watching an anime movie at a physical theater in America. Went to AMC , was going in knowing nothing about this show, all I saw was a photo of the cover. I wanted to go in fresh with no bias/no knowledge and make my own judgment. Was excited.
The characters/story was boring to me. In Anime, the most important element are characters in my opinion. I have seen anime with amazing artwork and music but the characters just didn't do it for me and I did not enjoy or dropped the show. The characters looked and felt bland. To the point where I honestly didn't care what they were saying or happened to them.
The story also is similar to a medieval / old setting where there are generals,farms,etc. None of the characters gave me any emotion / connection other than the little girl to…
Read at the sourceArdnaed
I'm upset because this movie could have been great. However, it somehow managed to make me feel like I was watching a cheap imitation of itself.
Story: Awful pacing. They wanted to show a lot and didn't have the time. Also, this feels like someone not trying to copy other Ghibli films as much as someone who tried to learn from them and missed the mark. It was clear what every scene was trying to convey and how we were supposed to feel about the characters and that was the problem. This movie somehow managed to commit the tell not show error by showing too much. It was almost impressive. Additionally every scene switch felt weirdly jarring even when it was the same character just walking in one room to another to me. Reveals were misplaced and scenes used too many times, which also lent t…
Read at the sourcegaussian_
Diving into a brand new world and getting to see everything old through new eyes is one of the primary thrills of good fantasy. When we try to build a new world where the foundations are different, we discover much more of ourselves than we expect as we consider what has been assumed to be a constant in human experience and what has been left out as only being a function of culture. Throughout almost all fiction, exploring how we experience and form familial bonds is at the heart of this consideration, and the Deer King is no exception to this rule.
The world building in the Deer King was superb. Taking full advantage of the beautiful artwork, the Deer King was able to really follow the maxim that our understanding of the environment should be driven by things being shown to us instead of…
Read at the sourceZetaZ98
This review does NOT contain spoilers.
This film harkens back to the old Ghibli films in its look and themes but is very much its own thing with a modern approach to animation. The director has made a point to highlight how this film's plot echoes the current times and that it only adds to the impact this film has on its viewers. The story is interesting and the animation is beautiful.
If I were to give any criticisms it is that some of the side plots and minor characters go slightly underdeveloped to an extent where it is sometimes confusing if you are not paying very close attention. This is 100% a film that benefits from being returned to and rewatched just like the old Ghibli films. You will notice and appreciate more/different things on a rewatch. Being an adaptation of a novel, I…
Read at the source