Is Kaguyahime your favorite Takahata film and, if so, why? How do you think Takahata's style developed over the years and was it for the better?
It's very hard to choose between Only Yesterday and Kaguya-hime. I would probably go for the latter, if only for its unparalleled beauty, but both are top-tier films.
I don't feel I'm fully qualified to talk about the evolution of Takahata's style until I watch the rest of his stuff, but his development from his earlier and more traditionally Ghibli realistic aesthetic to his modern style, with more cartoonish characters and faded backgrounds, seems like something very interesting to look into. Only Yesterday is the natural transition point and the collaboration with Osamu Tanabe the apparent catalyst, although I recall reading about the influence of traditional Japanese art (in particular wall scrolls) on the style of Kaguya-hime... either way, I would need to do a lot more reading and watching to write something consistent about this, lol
I don't feel I'm fully qualified to talk about the evolution of Takahata's style until I watch the rest of his stuff, but his development from his earlier and more traditionally Ghibli realistic aesthetic to his modern style, with more cartoonish characters and faded backgrounds, seems like something very interesting to look into. Only Yesterday is the natural transition point and the collaboration with Osamu Tanabe the apparent catalyst, although I recall reading about the influence of traditional Japanese art (in particular wall scrolls) on the style of Kaguya-hime... either way, I would need to do a lot more reading and watching to write something consistent about this, lol