In Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke, the young prince who travels west after being cursed is Ashitaka.
Ashitaka is the last prince of the Emishi people, a historical group depicted as living in northern Japan. At the beginning of the film, he is wounded by a boar god transformed into a demon. The wound leaves him with a spreading curse and gives him extraordinary physical strength, but it also threatens his life.
Ashitaka leaves his village to search for the cause of the curse and reaches the western forests. There he becomes caught between Lady Eboshi’s settlement, Iron Town, and the forest gods led by Moro, the wolf goddess.
Rather than treating either side as completely heroic or villainous, the film makes Ashitaka an observer and mediator. His repeated wish to see events “with eyes unclouded by hate” expresses the story’s concern with conflict between humans, nature, industry, and tradition.