Mononoke Hime is the story of a war between the expanding civilization of man and the giant beast-gods of the forest with threatens to destroy the delicate balance of the forces of nature. Set in the time of the Muromachi era, around the 15th century, Mononoke Hime takes place in a time of great chaos and change in Japan. This was a time when there were no distinctions between peasants and samurai, when women were bolder and freer, and when the lines between life and death were more clear-cut.

The story begins in the remote village of the Emishi, a clan of warriors that had been driven to Northern Japan by the forces of the Yamato rulers of Japan in the latter part of the 14th century. Ashitaka, the last prince and warrior of the dying Emishi clan, is forced to kill a gigantic demon-monster that threatens his village. The villagers discover that the monster was actually a giant boar, a protector-god of the forest. In killing the god-turned-demon, Ashitaka has brought upon himself a curse, a dark, twisted scar on his right arm that is slowly spreading and will eventually kill him.

Ashitaka is told that he should go to the West Country to find out what caused the boar-god to turn into a demon and to search for a cure to his curse. He leaves the village with his riding companion, a red elk named Yakkuru, never to return. During his journey, he meets many people. The first is Jigo Bo, a fast-talking monk with an external agenda that helps Ashitaka and tells him of the legend of the Forest Spirit.

Taking Jigo's tale to heart, Ashitaka continues on until his path leads him to the Forest of the Deer God, a mystical region that is protected by the giant beast-gods. There he is thrust into the middle of a never-ending battle between man and nature. He first encounters the forest's Wolf Clan, Moro, a giant wolf-god that is sworn to protect the forest and the Deer God. He also sees San, the Princess Mononoke, a human girl that has been raised by the wolves. Later he ends up in the industrial city-fortress, Iron Town, where he meets Lady Eboshi and the Tatara Clan. The inhabitants of Iron Town, an odd assortment of hunters, lepers, prostitutes and outcasts, are on the edge of the wilderness fighting for their very existence by making iron from the ore in the mountains surrounding the town. Ashitaka gets a first hand view of both sides of the struggle and tries desperately to find a way to end the fighting and hatred on both sides and still keep the balance between man and nature.

Take that scenario and throw in a bunch of samurai, a big pile of wild boars, arrows whizzing wildly through the air and some extraordinary special effects and visuals and you get a timeless epic that causes the viewer to take a step back and think about what they had just seen. The film shows that there is opposition in all things, including inside ourselves. It shows us that despite all the hatred and fighting in that remote area of Miyazaki-san's 15th century Japan, that the same scene still continues today and that there is a way to preserve both sides. That's the key feature to the story of Mononoke Hime. We all are left with the final solution.