Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1

While most Japanese anime are produced based on an original manga that was published, successfully, in a manga journal, the animes produced by Miyazaki Hayao are usually original and not based on a precedent manga. Miyazaki himself wrote somewhere that he gave up the career as a manga writer and focused on anime production. He is recognized in Japan as a great anime producer, of course, but not as a manga writer. Nausicaa is the only exception, with a good reason.

If you are familar with the modern manga drawings of, say, Otomo Katsuhiro, you cannot fail to recognize that the drawings of Miyazaki lack some strength the serious Japanese manga have achieved, looking rather like rough sketches or something. There is an essay on Nausicaa by Miyazaki himself in the Japanese edition, which I hope the American publisher has retained in the English edition. There, he said that he was urged and urged to publish the manga version of Nausicaa (this book) and finally forced to do that.

Mr. Miyazaki is known as an outspoken person. Then, what is this modesty about? Nothing, except that he does not want to admit that he could not fully express the notion in the Nausicaa in an anime and was forced to publish it in a manga format. OK, it's well done.


One of the three or four truly great works in graphic novels,   August 21, 2005
Jay Rogers (Buda, TX United States)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

I can flip through a typical "trade" graphic novel (usually a compilation of six issues of a monthly book) in less than an hour. I found myself luxuriating in the dense richness of Miyazaki's world and sometimes only getting through a dozen pages in an evening. The concentration of writer and artist in a single voice mean that there are no throwaway panels that serve just to stretch out dialogue, nor dialogue that seems there only to fill up a panel... When you read this work, you'll realize the weakness inherent in the separate writer/artist system so common in comics - writers (verbal people) often just can't pace a story visually like a graphic artist can. True, Miyazaki's dense dialogue is a little forced and unnatural at times, but the story and imagery unfolding before you literally have no precedent in the world of art. There are not many works which reward this level of attention: Maus, or the complete Akira collection, are the only ones that come to mind.

I had avoided this work for years, somehow getting it confused with fluff trash like Escaflowne or something. Not so. Recommended.


Gentle and elegant   August 13, 2004
wiredweird (Earth, or somewhere nearby)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Nausicaa takes place in a fantasy world. It is an ecological failure in some post-apocalyptic, post-technological world. The kingdom wrestles its living from the scorched earth, even as the "corrupted" forest advances. A young girl must take control, although women have never ruled. There is a force within her --

The eco-fable gets a bit thick at times. Also, the narrative seems to jump, as if the writer just stepped past some plot hurdle that the reader must leap. Still, the story flows fairly well. Most transitions make sense, or will make sense in a moment.

I value good artwork, and this is good. It's "black and white", but black is replaced by a warm brown. The paper also has that held-back character: unfussy, and not so bright that the ink color gets lost - a thoughtful compromise. The few color spreads remind me of Moebius, but Miyazaki's artwork is unique.

Miyazaki has done some relatively recent movies - notably 'Spirited Away' - that cemented his reputation as visual storyteller. Movies like that, even with computer aid, are expensive, though. Studios want to see a proven performance record before speculating on the next production. Nausicaa, I'm sure, is part of why the studios chose to back his movies, or at least the first.

This comic is enjoyable in its own right. It's even more enjoyable when seen as one piece of Miyazaki's ouvre, and one moment in his career as story-teller.

//wiredweird


Wonderful book   August 15, 2005
Mario Venegas Carrillo
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

... in a better edition and better size.
Only one warning: the previous box set "Perfect Collection" is more friendly to read. In this new edition you must read from right to left and the sound effects are in "japanese" (is included a guide to descipher the meaning of these sounds).