The Film that Fans Forgot?: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Howdy, howdy, folks! May has officially begun-seriously, its May 1st
– and that not only means a new month of new reviews, but it also means the
start of Miyazaki May! Kicking off the
event today will be one of Miyazaki’s greatest films as well as one of his
firsts. In fact, the film was based on
the manga that Miyazaki wrote himself!
Yeah, by this point, I think you Miyazaki fans know what I’m talking
about. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the
first review of Miyazaki May on Nausicaä of
the Valley of the Wind!
A thousand years prior to the film’s
events, a catastrophic global war called the Seven Days of Fire took place that
nearly wiped out humanity and created a forest of poisonous plants and giant
mutant insects. In the film’s present
setting, this toxic forest is now spreading rapidly and threatening the existence
of the human race. However, one small
area called the Valley of the Wind has managed to stay clear of the spread of
the “Toxic Jungle” for hundreds of years.
Among one of the most well known in habitants of the Valley is the
princess Nausicaä. One day, the peaceful
lives of those in the Valley are turned upside down when a cargo ship crashes
carrying a mysterious object- which a survivor warns Nausicaä to destroy-, and soldiers
from the militaristic kingdom of Tolmekia invade and take over. The leader of the Tolmekians, Princess
Kushana, announces that she and five hostages from the Valley-one of them being
Nausicaä-will leave for the enemy kingdom of Pejite. During the trip, the fleet is attacked by a
fighter pilot of Pejite. Nausicaä,
Kushana, and the hostages survive, but crash land in the toxic forest, disturbing
the Ohm, the giant mutant insect inhabitants of the forest. Nausicaä is able to calm them down and learns
that the Pejite pilot is still alive.
Nausicaä manages to find the pilot- Asbel-, but is knocked unconscious
by another mutant insect and the two fall into quicksand. When Nausicaä comes to, she finds that she
and Asbel have fallen into an underground area underneath the forest that has
clean water, air, and soil. It is here
they learn that the forest is actually purifying the soil and water that was
polluted by the humans thousands of years earlier, also furthering Nausicaä’s
discovery made earlier in the film that
the plants in the forest are not toxic if grown in clean soil.
Meanwhile, back in the Valley of
the Winds, Lord Lupa- a big time celebrity in the Valley-learns more about the
cargo on the ship, which turns out to be a Giant Warrior, a bioweapon
responsible for the Seven Days of Fire.
Princess Kushana, who has returned to the Valley along with the other
hostages, reveals that she plans to use the Warrior to burn down the Toxic
Jungle. It is also during this time that
the Valley falls into chaos as poisonous spores from the cargo ship have spread
and are starting to take over. Later on,
Nausicaä and Asbel make it to the Pejite capital, only to find that it has been
destroyed by the Ohm. When they find the
survivors, they learn that the attack was instigated by the Pejites themselves,
and that they plan to use a stampede of enraged Ohm to destroy the Tolmekians
and the Valley of the Winds and reclaim the Giant Warrior. Nausicaä is taken prisoner but is released and
allowed to escape by Asbel’s mother.
Nausicaä returns to the outskirts of the Valley in time to spot a team
of Pejites with an injured baby Ohm and an angry swarm of Ohm not far behind. The Tolmekians try to stop the Ohm with tanks,
but prove to be unsuccessful. Kushana
awakens the Giant Warrior, but it dies shortly after because it was awakened to
early. Nausicaä frees the baby Ohm and
returns it to the Ohm, stopping the stampede.
Badly injured, the Ohm heal Nausicaä with their tentacles, which appear
golden. As Nausicaä walks on top of the
tentacles, the people of the Valley find that their ancient prophecy of a
person dressed in blue walking through a field of gold would end their dark
times had come true- Nausicaä’s dress is stained blue from the blood of the
baby Ohm. After this, the Ohm return to
the forest, the Tolmekians leave, the Pejite stay to help rebuild, and peace
returns to the Valley of the Wind.
Believe it or not, I knew nothing
about this film. Granted, I had heard
about it and had seen bits and pieces of it.
But in terms of plot, I knew nothing about this film. And after watching it, I was impressed! That’s why I’m giving Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind a four and a half out of a five
star rating. I’ll be completely honest,
the animation, particularly the background art, was what really got me. Now I know, Studio Ghibli films -Miyazaki’s
in particular-are known for having beautiful backdrops. Princess
Mononoke and Spirited Away are
probably the most talked about in this respect.
But honestly, I think that Nausicaä
had the most beautiful artwork. That’s
not because this was Miyazaki’s first Ghibli creation. The setting throughout the film was just so
beautiful to look at, even though it is poisonous, and really shows the detail
that Miyazaki took to make it look that way.
As far as the plot goes, this was the first anime I saw and knew
absolutely nothing about it before seeing it.
By the end of the film, I thought the story for the most part was
satisfying, which leads me to the downsides of the film.
The one thing that really bugged me
about the film was the end. Once Nausicaä
is better and the Ohm leave, the movie just ends. Granted, the credits give some idea of what
happens afterwards, but I expect something a little more for the end. I don’t know what could have worked, but not,”Yeah,
Nausicaä’s better! OK, we’re done.”
Yeah. Oh, and although this next
thing isn’t necessarily a downside to the movie, it was something that was bad
for the movie-and also explains why I gave this review the title that I
did. A while back I watched a
WatchMojo.com video of the top ten most underappreciated anime films, and Nausicaä was on the list. Why? Because it’s the first Studio Ghibli
film anime fans and otakus forget. And
in my opinion is a damn shame. I thought
that this movie was beautiful and well told.
Besides, it’s Miyazaki’s first original movies! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW IT EXISTS?!
So to wrap things up, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was a
beautiful and fantastic adventure that we all need to appreciate and remember a
little more. And it gets a thumbs up as
the first success of Miyazaki! You can
find this on DVD wherever anime is sold.
And that ends Part 1 of Miyazaki May, stay tuned next week for part two
where I take a look at the newer classic Ponyo!
-Hanime
on Anime
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