Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1 - Softcover

Miyazaki, Hayao

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1569310963 ISBN 13: 9781569310960

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC, 1995

Synopsis

In the tradition of J.R.R. Tolkien comes an epic environmental cautionary tale created by world-renowned animator Hayao Miyazaki! Humanity in its hubris, has precipitated a devastating ecological disaster. Flourishing industrial civilizations have been swallowed up and Earth is covered with the Sea of Corruption, an enormous forest of fungi that releases a miasma of poisonous spores into the air. Nausicaa, a gentle young princess, has an empathetic bond with the giant mutated insects that evolved in the wake of the destruction of the ecosystem. Traveling by cumbersome flying ship, on the backs of giant flightless birds, and perched atop her beloved glider, Nausicaa and her allies must negotiate peace between kingdoms battling over the last of the world's precious natural resources.

About this title

Review

Hayao Miyazaki is probably best known in the West for his films; My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service are celebrated for their lavish animation and sophisticated treatment of their young heroes. But among his many fans in Japan, his epic manga tale, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, which Miyazaki later made into a animated movie, is often cited as his greatest work. Indeed, the Comics Journal once described the first volume as "the best graphic novel ever." Many critics favorably compare the story to such fantasy classics as C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia or J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

In Nausicaä, as in most of his work, Miyazaki centers his narrative on a strong young woman who struggles to create peace in a world torn by war. Readers of Homer's The Odyssey will recall that Nausicaä is the name of the Phoenician princess who healed Odysseus when he washed up on her shores. Miyazaki took that character as the inspiration for his Princess Nausicaä, but their worlds could not be further apart. Underscoring the book's deep ecological messages, Miyazaki's Nausicaä is a passionate defender of the natural world, and her ability to commune with the creatures of the forest appears almost magical. As a princess, she is testing the waters of leadership as her father languishes on his deathbed. As a citizen of the Valley of Wind, she has mastered reading the shifting wind currents and air pockets as she navigates the skies in her glider.

Readers learn at the beginning of her tale that the Earth has become a hostile place. Environmental crises have made the forest--known as the Sea of Corruption--into a kingdom of spores and giant insects called Ohmu. The remaining humans huddle in the valleys and sheltered cities while holding on to the remnants of technologies long-since rendered mysterious. Now, the Imperial family has begun a massive campaign to extend its hold on the remaining pockets of civilization. However, intrigue between the reigning Princess Kushana and her brothers suddenly place Nausicaä and her people at the center of a civil conflict that could extinguish the last people on earth. With the grandeur of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and the grace of Miyazaki's Totoro, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind is a classic of fantasy literature and one of the finest works ever in the comics medium. --Patrick O'Kelley

Edition details

• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1569310963
• ISBN 13: 9781569310960
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 264
• Illustrator: Miyazaki Hayao