A Demon

The cue begins with a constant percussive buildup to the new Samurai/Emperor Theme while we see a village raided by samurai. As Ashitaka sees the battle in its entirety, the Samurai/Emperor Theme is fully formed. It actually has a very uncommon time signature of 7/4 setting up the ruthless brutality of the samurai.

Suddenly, as the unknown troups become a thread to Ashitaka himself, we hear the Ashitaka Theme with its 4/4 time signature playing alongside the Samurai/Emperor Theme with its unusual 7/4 time signature. It's a battle of themes. But as Ashitaka takes aim to shoot a samurai, the score completely transforms and we can hear a longer, extended version of the 5/4 phrase and the Eboshi Chords (A#m - G#m6), along with the mystical orchestration. We can hear a similiar musical phrase in "Wounded Prince". The phrase is put in to show how the curse affects Ashitaka's strength immensely. As he is targeted by further samurai, the battle of themes continues until Ashitaka shoots an arrow with his immense strength, thereby beheading a samurai. During this shot, we can hear violins in their highest register, playing a dissonant Samurai/Emperor Theme in a twisted kind of way. As Ashitaka rides on, we can hear tenor trombones playing triplets, resolving in violins playing the beginning of the Ashitaka Theme, together with a last rythmic phrase of the Samurai/Emperor Theme, ending the cue.