Anime Eiga Review: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Story Synopsis

It has been many generations since the fall of industrial civilization and in its place rose the Sea of Decay. Humanity has struggled to survive in the toxic air and the planet has become dominated by gargantuan insects know as Ohms. These hostile conditions have fostered great tension between many of the remaining settlements, thus war and violence still exist. However, there is one place that has managed to find peace.

Nestled deep within protect canyon walls is the kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind. The small nation has been spared the encroachment of the Sea due to the constant winds of its namesake. More akin to a large family than a country, the citizens go about their daily lives farming the land and scavenging materials from the boarding wasteland. Leading the effort, and brightening everyone’s spirits, is the beloved princess Nausicaä (voiced by Sumi Shimamoto).

Nausicaä loves her people deeply and has a strong connection with the natural world. Unlike most, she doesn’t fear the giant Ohms, but respects them. Her outlook is certainly unusual, but it has kept the Valley safe. That is until her home is invaded; not by the insect world, but by the human.

The militaristic Kingdom of Tolmekia arrives amidst its ongoing conflict with the nation of Pejite and claims it has discovered a way to push back the Sea of Decay. Whatever their intentions may be, the invaders take control of the Valley and to ensure the safety of her people, Nausicaä agrees to become Tolmekia’s hostage.

This begins a journey into the very depths of the Sea of Decay. Here Nausicaä discovers the nature of the Sea, the role of the Ohms, and humanity’s place amongst it all.

Film Positives

We start Ghibli Month off with a film that’s technically not a Ghibli production. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released on March 11, 1984, a full year before the studio was founded. Since the film was made by many of the prominent members that would go on to form Studio Ghbili, it is often included alongside its other works. Having seen the movie, I'd include it here anyway because of how good it is.

From a 1984 perspective, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind would have been an extremely promising start to the future Ghibli legacy.

Nausicaä

Nausicaä

Besides her name being in the title, Nausicaä is this movie. Whenever focus is on her, everything falls into place. This is when the story is at its most interesting and engaging.

Nausicaä is a princess; however this is a title not an identity. She’s not hidden away in a castle, she’s out and about with her people; doing general repairs, going on scavenger hunts, and learning how to become the next leader. Sure the events of the film are suddenly dumped on her, but she’s not out of her element.

She doesn’t struggle with doubt because frankly she doesn’t have the time. If Nausicaä doesn’t act, her people are going to die. Although she knows what needs to be done, she doesn't compromise her integrity.

Nausicaä didn’t earn the love and admiration of the Valley simply by working the fields. She listened to her people, comforted them, and went out of her way to help in whatever way she could; almost to a reckless degree. If there's one thing she needs to learn, it’s that her life is more important than she takes into account. People are relying on her, but they’re also going to be devastated should she get herself killed.

Nausicaä's connection with the natural world is awe inspiring. Her calm and soothing demeanor is able to quell the most ferocious of beast; from the smallest of animals to even the seemingly unstoppable Ohms. This isn’t some superpower; she simply has a strong sense of what creatures, including humans, are thinking. This allows her to take command of any situation and it gives her an advantage over others who are more narrow-minded.

Plus she's bad ass. She doesn’t do it often but she can easily carry herself in a fight. Nausicaä single handedly took out over a dozen heavily armored Tolmekian soldiers and could have kept going had she not been stopped by her teacher, Lord Yupa (voiced by Goro Naya); the greatest swordsman of the region. Unless fully angered, she will deescalate a problem peacefully before resorting to violence, but it helps knowing she would be hard to stop. Yet it's not fighting ability which makes her awesome.

In the climax, Nausicaä has to stop an incoming swarm of infuriated Ohms. She knows what has to happen and unfortunately it involves doing something that goes beyond dangerous and into the realm of suicidal. She stands her ground in front of the raging hoard to give back what was taken from them. She knows the Ohms are not going to stop before reaching her. She doesn’t flinch, she doesn’t cower, she holds and takes the stampede head on.

This is movie one, we still have a month to go and already the benchmark has been set high for a lead character.

Film Negatives

Nausicaä the character is good; she's the majority of the movie. Therefore the majority of the movie is good. Unfortunately, it’s the peripheral details surrounding her that holds the film back.

I want to read Miyazaki’s original story because it almost feels required. I say that because Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind feels as if it should have been the first in a series. The end doesn’t hint at or even suggest a follow up. This is a fully self-contained story, but with the amount of things going on a continuation is certainly possible.

Unneeded Details

There's an entire back story I simply don’t know. What happened to civilization, what were the Seven Days of Fire, what were the giants, how did the Ohms come to be? This list goes on, but the point is there are many lingering questions. 

As I've been saying, the focus is Nausicaä. Therefore all of these questions are ultimately not important. So what's the problem?

The problem is there are many different events and places that are referenced just enough to make them not insignificant, but are not expounded upon to make them important either.

For instance, the Kingdom of Tolmekia is trying to resurrect one the legendary giants to fight the Ohms. The nation of Pejite is fighting to stop Tolmekia from doing that and taking control over the region. Yet Pejite also has the same goal as Tolmekia. It’s all very complex and intertwined, as well as unimportant. 

None of this set up leads to anything, but a considerable amount of buildup is put into it. All these details are stitched to the main plot, so much so that they can’t be taken out. The film puts itself in a position where it became reliant on these non-important details; with the exception of one.

A prophecy is mentioned and by mentioned I mean said in passing. It serves no function and isn't talked about again until the end when it turns out, surprise, Nausicaä is the one who fulfills it. 

Nausicaä is a good enough character and didn’t need the assistance of a foreseen reason for her actions. In fact, she would have been made stronger if the prophecy was removed entirely. She didn’t do the things she did because they was preordained. She did them because they are what needed to be done.

None of these examples are movie breaking, far from it. They're simply more than what is required. I’m sure they all play a major role in the original story, but when it comes to this film, perhaps that’s where they should have stayed.

Final Thoughts

Ghibli Month has started and it has started strong.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, despite carrying around a lot of unneeded baggage, delivers a wonderful story that is both relaxing and tense. Even if you disregard that, the film gives us a truly amazing lead character. If you want to get lost in a world, it may be better to look to the original story. However, if you want to see where Ghibli started and have fun doing so, go ahead and check this one out.

Ghibli Month will continue tomorrow with 1986’s Castle in the Sky.

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