Studio Ghibli Countdown: ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ 

The second film in our series on Studio Ghibli is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. What a weird movie. Seriously, it’s just so strange. But that is definitely not a criticism! I

Without spoiling too much of the film, I’ll give you a brief overview of the film, so you can see just how different it is. The first big plot point doesn’t sound that unique these days, as the film is set in a post-apocalyptic world. I know that post-apocalyptic movies are a dime a dozen right now, but this was released back in 1984 and just exudes the feeling of that era. However, it does not limit itself to just feeling like an 80’s movie, the whole thing has the same timeless quality that embodies most of the works of Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.

suffered from a very different sort of apocalypse than most, in that it has been poisoned by the evolution of a toxic jungle, brought on by a great war, a thousand years before the events of the movie. After this war, poisonous plants took over the world, and insects evolved to enormous sizes and quickly became the dominant life forms on the planet. One species of these insects, the giant Ohmu, (pronounced Ohm) are featured heavily, and it is hinted that they may have a far higher intelligence than the others.

The plot of the movie revolves around the titular Nausicaä, who is the princess of one of the last remaining pockets of humanity left. She and the people of her village, the Valley of the Wind, become embroiled in a conflict between two other neighboring counties. This conflict involves the use of the embryo of a Giant Warrior, an ancient and terrible bioweapon from the past used in the war that had brought an end to the world as it had been. Nausicaä must find a way to bring peace to the human world, without further disrupting the world of the Ohmu.

is also technically not a Ghibli film. It was made before Studio Ghibli was officially founded, but it is a Miyazaki film, and the people who worked on this movie would eventually go on to found Studio Ghibli. Since its influence was so instrumental in the founding of the studio, most people consider it as a Studio Ghibli film, regardless of exactly when it was made.

Nausicaä is also the reason that those of us living in English-speaking countries now get such faithful translations of the films from Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Sadly, this is because when it was first given an American release, the film was completely butchered. It was released in English in 1985, but the studio responsible for the dubbing cut out well over 20 minutes of the film and wrote a completely new script. They retitled it

 and promoted it using posters featuring male characters not even in the film, as well as making it seem like the Giant Warriors, featured very briefly in a flashback, were a prominent feature of the story.

Understandably upset with the drastic changes to his film, Miyazaki adopted a strict “no-edits” clause for future foreign releases of all of Studio Ghibli’s films. When the studio got wind that one of the chairmen of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, was attempting to edit

to make it more “marketable” in the US, one of Studio Ghibli’s producers sent him an authentic katana with the message, “No cuts.” Since then, the foreign releases have been as faithful as possible to the original scripts.

I wasn’t sure what to think. I hadn’t seen much anime, and it was so different from pretty much any movie I’d ever seen. It was seriously strange, and it didn’t let up on that.

was a very weird movie compared to those that I had been used to, but by the end, it had completely won me over. I now regularly cite it as one of my favorite movies of all time. In addition to my own opinion, everyone I have shown it to has liked it as well, even those who generally stay away from films they might deem to be too weird.

is beautiful, strange, captivating, and unique. It is a completely different experience than what you are used to, especially if you have never seen any anime, but don’t let that stop you! I know anime can have a stigma, especially among people who have never seen any, but

, as well as all the works of Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli transcends what it means to be anime and are works of art, each in their own unique ways.

The original manga by Miyazaki was interesting too (Movie is up to volume two). More story (seven volumes), more world building and more blood and gore, way more then Princess Mononoke.

I have a Teto plush that my dad bought for me while he was in Japan. I carried it around all over even though kids teased me, saying it was an eevee. Kids can be ignorant and cruel.

I don’t remember this film much, but I do remember that I didn’t like it.

I love all the Ghibli films, but this one is definitely one of my favorites

Without question my favorite animated feature film.

I know I’m in the minority saying this is my least favorite film from Miyazaki. I found both the conflict and protagonist Nausicaä to be rather boring, especially for an epic. Still an okay movie, though.

I somehow remember watching the ending to this film when I was very little on cable, but I would really love to see this movie and in all it’s glory from all the amazing thing’s I’ve heard from this article and in passing! Such a great article and getting me to want to see it more!!

I’m similar to you. I found it a little jarring at first but it won me over with its amazing lead character and world building. Nausicaa isn’t just a bland pacifist but a complex leader. I was rooting for her throughout

Nausicaa is my all time favorite Ghibli movie. I love it’s complex environmental and anti-war themes and it’s message about how humans can destroy the environment are still relevant today. But it never feels overly preachy and like the later Princess Mononoke, it doesn’t have a simplistic view on morality but shows everyone involved have their own reasons that can’t be easily summed up in simplistic good guy versus bad guy terms. Nausicaa is such a wonderful heroine that makes you want to believe in her. I love the scene when she realizes how traumatic her engaging in violence was even though she felt she was justified in vengeance at the time and the supporting cast is so quirky and weird. The 80s animation still looks even more beautiful than even a lot of modern anime do and I love how haunting the music is. The Disney dub is really good too and I love Patrick Stewart in it as Yupa. There’s also a manga in English the movie is based on that’s written and drawn by Miyazaki. The manga actually continues the story than the movie as the movie only covers the first volume of the story but I’m not sure if it’s still available in print. But the whole manga was released in English.

That’s interesting about the manga and I agree with you about Nausicaa. She learns a lot and is a flawed ruler who tries her best. I really felt bonded to her by the end. It’s a more hopeful film than Princess Mononoke and so I find I’m more drawn to it sometimes

I find it interesting that she has a high body count for a heroin in an animation.

Also you can find the manga on amazon if anyone is interested.

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