Celebrating the Unpopular Arts
 

A must-read epic: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Since I recently wrote about Rocketo, I thought it only appropriate to share my thoughts on another post-apocalyptic epic that I similarly finally pulled off of the Shelf of Shame this past summer. I’m talking about the awesome and immense (over 1,000-page) Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki (originally serialized in Japan under the title Kaze no Tani no Naushika from 1982 to 1994).

Although I haven’t read much manga (mainly a bit of Koike & Kojima’s Lone Wolf & Cub, a few of the great Osamu Tezuka’s standalone stories, Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell material, and, of course, a number of Jiro Taniguchi’s books), I can now easily say that Miyazaki’s masterpiece is my favorite.

The titular Nausicaä (with a war orphan)

The story is set about a millennium after the catastrophic collapse of industrial civilization, with most of the world’s land and oceans heavily polluted. Humanity survives, but lives on the fringes of what is called the ‘Sea of Corruption’ (a vast forest of toxic fungal life-forms, unbreathable air, and huge mutated insects and other creatures) in small, relatively uncontaminated areas that are mainly organized into kingdoms, with two larger empires to which they owe allegiance.

The technology is mostly primitive; people do have firearms but also use swords, while aircraft – either motorized or gliders – are the only sophisticated transportation technology. At the outset, the two empires, Dorok and Torumekia, go to war, and this draws in their vassal states. One of these is the Valley of the Wind, a small kingdom of a few hundred people, whose teenage princess, Nausicaä, has to lead its small contingent of troops to aid Torumekia in place of her ailing father. Nausicaä, though, who is otherwise generally more interested in donning a gasmask and conducting investigations in the Sea of Corruption, thinks the war is folly. Her view is more than validated once it becomes apparent that the Dorok Empire is using biological weapons, i.e., genetically modified molds, which eventually set off a major environmental disaster. As the story progresses and the war takes an increasing toll in human lives on both sides, Nausicaä learns much more about the nature of the Sea of Corruption and the life-forms that thrive there, and emerges as a key figure in preventing humankind from destroying itself completely.

The story is complex and fascinating. It’s an engrossing fantasy-style epic that can be appreciated and enjoyed on just those terms; the world-building alone is amazing. However, Miyazaki also interweaves a number of weighty themes as well, most notably environmental devastation and warfare. Another aspect I appreciated is that while this story centers around a princess, the titular Nausicaä, and another princess, Torumekia’s Kushana, is one of the principle characters, there are no romantic sub-plots or entanglements. The story never wavers from its focus is on an increasingly devastating  war and the looming threat of a potentially life-ending environmental disaster.

Princess Kushana

If it’s not obvious from the images posted herein, Miyazaki’s  art is wonderful throughout, as he excels at depicting ornate, fantastical settings (like the one above) or pitched scenes of battles…

…and everything in between, including some rather grotesque imagery involving genetically modified life forms and whatnot, and the fantastical creatures that populate this world.

Nausicaä flies her glider over a herd of stampeding Ohmu

Since I obviously read the English-language edition, I have to compliment the translators, Dana Lewis, Toren Smith and Rachel Thorn. There are several editions of the English translation; I have the 2-volume hardcover box set, but there is also a series of seven smaller paperbacks (that link takes you to the first volume; the rest are linked there).

To conclude, I can’t recommend this enough, and really want to see the anime film version (also by Miyazaki – he is in fact an animator first and foremost).

4 Comments

  1. Der

    The movie basically adapts, If I remember correctly, the first volume and then just ends. It’s a decent movie but not even close to the manga in my opinion. This manga is really good and I have the seven volume version, I’ve heard that the 2 volume version is somewhat bigger? (The 7 volume version is not manga-sized, is slightly bigger than regular comic paperbacks) If it’s true then maybe I should be looking to upgrade my version eventually

    1. Edo Bosnar

      Without taking them off of the shelf and actually measuring them, it seems to me that the hardcover volumes are roughly the same size as the omnibus reprints of US comics (so, yes, slightly larger than the standard hc or tpb reprint books).
      Initially, when shopping for these books, I was looking to get the paperbacks but could never find all 7 volumes at a reasonable price (including postage). The boxed hc set ended up being being the cheaper option for me – as I recall, I ordered it from the dearly departed Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) and had some kind of discount code (10 or 15% off, forgot which) to boot.

    2. Edo Bosnar

      As for the movie, yes, I realize that it doesn’t tell the complete story, but I’d still like to see it, just because Miyazaki is so highly rated as an animator – I’ve seen so little anime, and nothing by Miyazaki.

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