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With director Hayao Miyazaki having retired from theatrical features, and the distinct possibility of the animation house he cofounded doing the same, anime fans looking for straight-from-the-source Ghibli magic are left with no choice but to rewatch the studio’s previous works. But with all the passion that Studio Ghibli puts into its movies, revisiting an old favorite is likely to put you in the artistic mood yourself, which is why a pair of admirers have made a condensed retelling of Princess Mononoke with old-school video game-style pixel art.

We’ve taken a peek at the videos of YouTube channel CineFix’s 8-Bit Cinema before, specifically its takes on Frozen and Spirited Away. Now the group has gone back to the deep waters of the Ghibli well again, mixing their creative juices with what was originally intended to be the grand finale of Miyazaki’s career, Princess Mononoke.

Even with only about three minutes to work with, animator David Dutton hits all of the film’s plot beats, as we see Ashitaka become cursed…

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…set out on a journey to find a cure…

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…and meet the people and spirits that will change his life.

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Despite Miyazaki’s often-expressed blanket dislike of video games, the video shows that Princess Mononoke actually has the makings of a pretty cool side-scroller, with multiple sequences that would work perfectly as action levels.

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▼ Boss fight!

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Still, gamers who actually grew up in the 8-bit era will no doubt spot plenty of visual touches that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for the NES or Sega Master System, such as transparencies and several layers of scrolling backgrounds. And while Henry Dutton’s musical score for the video is beautiful yet retro, the sound chips of the 8-bit systems probably wouldn’t have been up to task of playing it, at least using the programming methods of the day.

There’s also quite a bit more gore than was common for 8-bit games, although it is faithful to Miyazaki’s film.

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On the other hand, 8-Bit Cinema has absolutely nailed the abrupt endings that were slapped on to so many of the games from which they’re drawing inspiration with this single-screen conclusion.

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Just a little tidier than the way the movie ends, isn’t it?

Source: IT Media
Images: YouTube/Cinefix