A key animator on numerous classics including Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Your Name, Masashi Ando teams up with Masayuki Miyaji, another Studio Ghibli veteran, to co-direct this sprawling adaptation of Nahoko Uehashi’s fantasy novel series. This long-awaited endeavour, however, lacks the directorial deftness that has elevated their previous credits.
Stretching itself thin to cover the lengthy source material, The Deer King is laden with meandering, expository details. A tale of conflict between the Aquafa and the Zol peoples as a plague rages runs parallel to a spiritual journey towards healing. After breaking out of prison, Van, an enslaved Aquafa resistance fighter, finds the loss of his wife and child softened by Yuna, an orphaned toddler whom he rescues during his escape. Though bitten by the same rabid dogs that spread the deadly disease, Van does not get infected but instead gains a superpower that grants him the ability to alter nature, like making leafy branches sprout from a wooden log. This special ability becomes a curse, as different forces of good and evil are hot on Van’s trail, threatening to disrupt his new life as a deer tamer in a small village with Yuna.
Juggling palace politics, magical animals and medical ethics, The Deer King can’t get over major pacing problems: the emotional moments are not given enough time to land, as the plot rushes to its next world-building intrigue. The visuals are pretty enough but, like the repetitive score, they lack distinctiveness; unlike Spirited Away, which both Ando and Miyaji worked on, it is difficult to recall any single image. One can only hope that, in future, the directors will have a better script that may befit their talents as animators.
• The Deer King is released on 27 July in cinemas.
