Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a masterpiece from beginning to end. It's a beautiful epic, woven in words and acts of kindness and folly, in moments of tragedy and joy, of despair and hope. Artwork, story, world and characters are all expertly made. It is a must-read for all manga and Ghibli fans.

It comes as no surprise that it looks, feels and runs like a Miyazaki film, though in a different and much longer form. Themes, structure and characters are in line with those that pervade his other works. It bears most resemblance to Princess Mononoke and, of course, to the ... film adaptation of Nausicaä.

With Princess Mononoke it shares a certain bleakness, both thematic and in incidents, as well as a sense of utter respect for nature. The urgent need for reconciliation with nature, for striking a balance between human civilization and the natural world, present throughout Miyazaki's works, shines most brightly in these two. Both deal, after all, with hubris, with humanity's persistent defiance of nature and the world at large. In both, human folly and vanity can only lead to the downfall of civilization.

Mononoke and Nausicaä present, nevertheless, a message of hope, of life, recovery and regrowth beyond all despair, loss and calamity. Humanity endures, even if burdened with the knowledge of the harm it did to the world and to itself; nature, even if forever changed, finds a way to reclaim its place on Earth (Mononoke was, tellingly, the first film Miyazaki worked on after finishing the Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind manga).

The manga's relationship with its film adaptation is a different matter, though. The film is smaller in length and scope. It's an abridged version, in a way (Miyazaki had only published 16 of the total 59 chapters by the time he started working on the film). It glosses over most of the wider conflict and danger present in the manga and focuses on the Valley of the Wind itself. For a film just shy of a two-hour runtime this was the ideal choice. Nevertheless, the film does add another layer to the manga's enjoyment. It gives colour and sound to an unequal world and story, and is to many their first – and, sadly, to many more, their only – contact with this most sublime work. It gives the audience a taste of many things that the manga explores and develops to the extremes of perfection. However, film and manga are two different mediums and experiences, and this is a case in which the manga clearly takes the prize.

Other, even more obvious, similarities could be pointed out, such as narrative structure, character dynamics and the protagonist’s personality. These are, of course, prevalent throughout Miyazaki’s filmography. Laputa: Castle in the Sky’s astounding pace, for instance, is comparable to Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind’s rhythm (the manga’s, in this case). There's almost constant action. This, coupled with an impressive plot development, makes Nausicaä the true definition of a page-turner.

It suffices to say that Nausicaä and the Valley of the Wind’s story is exceptional, growing ever in scale as it progresses. All characters are distinct and memorable (some more than others, naturally). The most remarkable, besides the titular character, princess Nausicaä, are, in due order, Kushana, Charuka, Miralupa, Ohma, Namulis and Lord Yupa. Kurotowa, Selm and Chikuku are also, in their own way, interesting, and play an instrumental role in the narrative. Finally, Teto (Nausicaä’s “squirrel-fox”) and Kai (the “horseclaw” Nausicaä rides) also deserve mentioning as two of the titular character’s closest companions.

Miyazaki Hayao is, first and foremost, an animator and filmmaker, and his art style proves it. It's filled with movement and sound, teeming with life and emotion. There's beauty and wonder to be found in even the simplest of panels.

It's interesting to note that there is a clear difference in Miyazaki's artwork between the first and the final volumes. Panels become less cluttered as the story progresses, allowing the characters to stand out more against the backgrounds and the dialogue and action to breathe. This is in part due to the change in scenery (as the landscape of the Dorok lands takes over), but no doubt also due to the author's growing sensibility towards the medium he was working on (after all, more than a decade elapsed between the beginning and end of the manga's release and publication).

It must also be noted that Miyazaki was clearly influenced by European comics, departing greatly from Japanese manga tradition, both in page composition and page dimensions (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was first serialized in A4).

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is in all ways a masterpiece. In a career filled with some of the most beautiful, heart-warming and action-packed films ever made, the seven volumes of Nausicaä stand out as another proof of Miyazaki-san's genius and of what he, as an artist, can achieve. It's a work deserving of greater attention and praise. A masterpiece.

Nausicaä – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 9/10 – 9 x 0.275 = 2,475
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 8/10 – 8 x 0.225 = 1,8
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2,1
Total: 7,975 -> 8

Story – 9/10
Nausicaä is definitely an amazing story full of epic moments and even better plot lines. Without going into spoilers, the story can be roughly divided into two main sections, cut right in the middle: the first and second half. The first half is a little heavier and a little introductory to the plethora of characters, entities and the very geography of the world ... of Nausicaä, while the second half develops all of the things that were introduced in the beginning, being, in general, the better half of the story. Especially in the second half, there are memorable moments not easily forgettable by any account – and some of the most epic moments in manga history.
Nausicaä, in typical Miyazaki fashion, also tells a tale with an ecological message at its core. This message is ubiquitous throughout the manga and plays a major role during the conflicts – and, on one hand, it makes them just that: useless political strife that causes the death and agony of entire populations. The story is also brutal and incredibly violent: massacres, genocides, forces resettlement, violence, and war: Nausicaä has it all. Since it is action-packed, the reader has little time to dwell on any other matters, being constantly reminded of the brutal world that Miyazaki made.
There are many plot lines in Nausicaä, but definitely the one that got the best execution was clearly the one considering Nausicaä herself – which ends up being the main plot. The other plot lines seemed weaker in comparison – but in no way bad.
Another major aspect of Nausicaä is the impeccable world-building. Nations, empires, fallen kingdoms, tongues, different people, lore: Nausicaä has the capacity to encompass all of these aspects in its plot – and masterfully so.
Violence, Ecology and the Messiah: the three main keys to understand Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

Art – 8/10
Nausicaä art is unique, although not stellar.
One can see that the art style is not made by a mangaka by nature but by an animator such as Miyazaki – there is a lot of movement in his art style. In compensation, the art is not that well-polished nor detailed. There are panels that look like more polished drafts than actually fully-fledged panels. The panels that are, indeed, detailed are drowned in it, making it a heavy read.
But Nausicaä's biggest problem is definitely its page composition skills – which are probably explained by the fact that Nausicaä was made in the 80s. He doesn’t organise panels by their importance, nor does he give emphasis – only rarely and more towards the final volumes of the manga. Basically, Miyazaki drew inspiration from French comics and not from his fellow mangaka. This is evident in his choice of format: an A4 page, in contrast to the much smaller pages that are used in manga. There are also true walls of text – pages filled with dialogue – although they are only a few instances of such and almost completely dissipate towards the latter volumes of the work.
All of these make his art a little hard to read. It is too heavy, and the reader has little space to breathe between the panels. There are also no overall scenery panels during fight scenes – which occupy a large percentage of Nausicaä’s panels. Panel fluency also has some problems, although not critical. This isn’t to say that the art is bad – not at all –, but it is far from perfect.
However, the art is semi-functional – if it weren’t so hard to read, especially in the first volumes – and they tell the tale well. It does get better during the second half of the story.
Nausicaä art is great, but one can see its influences and the weight of its age.

Characters – 8/10
Nausicaä’s characters are well-developed and have a firm personality of their own. More than just the protagonist herself – Nausicaä –, Nausicaä counts with a vast memorable cast that just leaves its mark, such as Kushana, Yupa, and even Teto, an animal! Miyazaki once more makes incredible female characters, such as Nausicaä and Kushana. In fact, they are the best characters in the entire manga, being almost polar opposites in the beginning. They share the spotlight and have epic moments, showing that the interaction of both philosophies – an ecologically driven, non-violent course of action and a bellicose path – results in the ultimate demise of the latter. Their character arcs reach new heights in storytelling.

Enjoyment – 7/10
Nausicaä does have some problems with the readability of the first volumes, which hinders the enjoyment of the manga; it either makes you get the deluxe edition for the full experience or makes you reread the manga time and time again. This is Nausicaä's most annoying aspect, without a doubt. In compensation, you have a fantastic story that you will rarely get in a 7-volume manga and also a good cast of characters. On a more personal note, when I point to Nausicaä problems, it doesn't mean I don’t like the manga – quite on the contrary, but it just isn’t problem-free. There is no doubt in my mind of the place that Nausicaä deserves: to be considered a masterpiece and receive an enthusiastic recommendation.

Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind is one of those manga/films duos where, like Akira, I recommend watching the film first and then reading the manga. Get a glimpse of all the cool stuff in the world of the story, and then read the true tale that wants to be told.

Our little princess who loves bugs still exists, she still deals with the Torumekians, there’s still a forest of corruption and a god warrior… but a lot changes. In the books, the war between the Dorok and Torumekian empire for more land takes center stage. Nausicaä sides with the Torumekian princess not because they ... force the Valley of the Wind, but because her kingdom must respect old alliances. Kushana is no longer the main villain, thank god, and she ends up being a parallel to Nausicaä instead: very loyal to her men, very against all the bloodshed in her family, yet she knows she will “always walk the bloody path”. A much better character for sure, and she’s not the only one changed for the better.

We barely see anything about the Valley itself because Nausicaä does go to war and becomes entangled in all the mess of the Dorok imperial family and Torumekian royal family. Interestingly, the story focuses a lot on biological warfare, the horrors of war (not in a gorefest kind of way, but paying attention to all the suffering nonetheless: things like the Wormhandlers pointing out the Dorok villages weren’t prepared for the man-made miasma and died, but the families put their babies in ovens in the hope someone would come rescue them), the different religions, cultural differences, whether Nihilism is a good choice or not, and the power of believing a better future you know won’t happen.

There’s also like actual telepathic powers and some basic forms of magic in this world, which help things make more sense and explain why Nausicaä can talk to the bugs and animals as well as reach people’s hearts so well.

The art is quite detailed, especially the backgrounds, and it is a feast for the eyes. There's also a lot of small details that add to the believability like the characters covering their ships with plants to hide them. These aren't things that are ever mentioned or pointed out, but you can see them nonetheless.

This is not a happy story about a girl saving her village from enraged ohmu with the power of love, but a powerful tale of how a prophecy came true and a legend walked amidst the suffering on the earth as two empires fell and humans inched ever closer to extinction.