"After what's felt like years of handwringing over the perils of AI, internet brainrot, and the inherent exploitation of streaming, it's nice to step into a world that finds the best in all of the above. That's arguably what Cosmic Princess Kaguya! does best: a Netflix anime that transposes an ancient legend into a cyberpunk futurescape, it's incredibly optimistic about virtual reality."
"Loosely based on the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Cosmic Princess Kaguya! completely reimagines the beats of that story to craft an upbeat love letter to streamers, Japanese VTubers, and anyone who's logged more hours than they should in an all-engrossing video game. Its scope may be niche, and its execution busy, but one doesn't have to be chronically online to gel with its charms."
"In so many ways, Cosmic Princess is an exercise in wish fulfillment. It's easy to sympathize with the plight of Iroha Sakayori (Anna Nagase), the film's overworked lead, who's been on her own since moving into the city to attend high school on scholarship. While she was a piano prodigy in her youth, her overbearing mother effectively smothered her love for music."
Cosmic Princess Kaguya! transposes the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter into a neon cyberpunk future that celebrates virtual reality and streaming subcultures. The narrative centers on Iroha Sakayori, an overworked scholarship student and former piano prodigy whose passion for music was suppressed by her mother. Iroha spends scarce free hours in Tsukuyomi, a virtual world where she quietly admires an AI pop star named Yachiyo. One night she discovers a baby in a glowing stalk of bamboo that quickly matures into Kaguya, a girl who claims to be from the moon and upends Iroha's solitary life. The film blends wish-fulfillment, VTuber fandom, and optimism about virtual communities while maintaining a busy, niche execution.
Read at Inverse
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