Miyazaki further explains: “I thought of Kaya as a girl who is determined to do so.
In his interview with Mononoke-hime Theater Program in July 1997 (translated to English by Ryoko Toyama), Miyazaki says that Kaya loves Ashitaka and isn’t his sister, and that her reference to him as “Anisama” (older brother) is simply the way that girls in their tribe address older boys. According to Princess Mononoke director Hayao Miyazaki, this wasn’t his vision of the two characters. The responsibility for the confusion regarding Ashitaka and Kaya’s relationship lies at the door of the English-dubbed version, which changes her identity to that of his little sister.
