Hayao Miyazaki

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The plot and character development are far deeper and complex than in the movie. The environmentalism and spirituality takes on much more meaning. It has an interesting Dune-vibe. The giant worm-like creatures, the barren planet, the religion, the messiah figure (I love how Nausicaä is a female messiah). While reading the book I often wondered if Miyazaki had read Herbert's "Dune" before he wrote Nausicaä. The second book continues the journeys of Nausicaä as she finds her own answers and has to decide how much she is willing to sacrifice for the stupid human race who continue to do stupid things. Did that sound bitter? Let me ask you how many times do you think that some war machine from any number of countries has discovered something potentially dangerous and immediately wondered how they can use it to wipe out everyone that is not them. In this world where humanity had basically wiped out their world in seven days with the help of god warriors it seems history is not one of their strengths as those of power seek to repeat the past. After all it might not have worked the first time but we are smarter now right? Right? She is a girl with heart of a gold that connects her to the nature- the forests and its many dwellers. She can talk to them (of sorts) and feel their pain. She is princess of Valley of the Wind. Sounds familiar? But wait, this does not even begin to describe what her character really is. For she is not your typical Disney princess who sings and dances, or a damsel in distress waiting for price charming. She lives in an ugly world where even a puff of air from wrong direction could mean an end to her little country. She has a destiny that may ruin her forever, or it might not be a destiny at all but a whim of foolish headstrong girl listening to the creatures of the world gone wrong. She is the one who has to stand firm and rally for cause that she even doesn't fully understand. It will require courage and battles. But her courage and battles will not be of swords and guns alone; she might be the only hope in hopeless world. Along her journey she will come across some amazing cast of characters each of which may have a spin-off books of their own adventures. Such a strong characterization doesn't come easy in fantasy world, let alone graphic novels.

The story-telling and pacing are also excellent. Initially it starts off a bit slow, but after a while you become so immersed in the story and characters that things start zipping along. There is a lot of action, a lot of tension, and a great philosophical bent exploring human nature and the environment (themes which I love). Nausicaa is one of my favorite characters of all time, she is inspiring and yet not perfect (although close to it ha). Of course there is the classic trope of "The Chosen One," which Nausicaa is. But Miyazaki executes it really well without the usual corniness and emotional pastiche that tends to plague that concept. There are also a slew of fabulous secondary characters, each with their own evolutions and arcs that are interesting and well-executed. The villains are lots of fun too, although there were instances where I thought Miyazaki could have milked their villainousness a bit more haha. The title character is a young girl who wants to help all living things as best she can. Her spirit has a way of comforting and her kindness is inspiring which makes her an oddity outside her valley that is protected by certain winds allowing her people to live near the sea of corruption. An old friend of her father comes to visit after an exciting rescue from Nausicaä when he angered the large insects that live in the of corruption including an Ohmu which is one of the largest and seemingly most intelligent of the insects. There's many things to love about these eleven films and Miyasaki's distinctive worldview and aesthetic make it easy to talk about them as a cohesive group. There's the sumptuous visual style, full of lovingly-rendered landscapes (from the gorgeous countryside of Totoro to the lush forest of Princess Mononoke), cityscapes (Kiki's unforgetable city by the sea, The Wind Rises' Tokyo) and dreamscapes (the marvelous Fukai in Nausicaa, Laputa's titular island in the sky, the ethereal ocean-world of Ponyo) . There's that true sense of the fantastic that marries the enchanting to the horrifying: from Spirited Away's No Face and the undulating demons of Princess Mononoke to Nausicaa's Ohmu. Or the moral seriousness of stories unafraid to flirt with ambiguity or delve into the darkness of real-world politics (think of the bittersweet poignancy of The Wind Rises' elegy to a brutal war machine). I didnt finish this series, but dont let that totally discredit this review. Hayao Miyazaki is a very talented person; I love his work. Nausicaa is at times a charming story, and, as is usually the case with Miyazaki, the art is high quality. Copper lay there absentmindedly, while off in the distance a train rolled by, its sound playing dreamily in his ears.I feel really bad about not finishing this - it was an ARC, and it's the first ARC I haven't finished prior to reviewing it. I'm not going to rate it because I only made it 30% of the way through. Kiki is a trainee witch. On her thirteenth birthday she must follow tradition and leave home to find a new village. She knows she has to use only her powers…

This battle between two great college teams said to be the jewels of our baseball world is now in its thirtieth year! Even now, millions of fans across the country go wild with excitement. The honor of the two schools, the hopes of alumni and students, and thirty years of tradition—just think, it all comes down to this one contest…”This miraculous tree bestows special gifts upon the desert people. Young Anya is to become a moth keeper and carry the “Moth Keeper’s Lantern”. This lantern keeps the moths from returning to their home in the stars and bound to earth. Above all, Nausicaä is reminiscent of my favourite Miyazaki film, Princess Mononoke. Like that film, Nausicaä is much more serious and adult than Miyazaki's more whimsical works, like My Neighbour Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service. Whereas most Miyazaki films feel like fanciful fairy tales, Nausicaä is a full-blown high-fantasy epic, complete with a fleshed out world with its own history, geography, flora and fauna. Nausicaä is also surprisingly bleak, and often quite violent. But despite this, at its heart, this comic is full of the hope and goodness that shines through everything that Miyazaki produced. Waseda University, the champions of North Tokyo! Keio University, the champions of South Tokyo!” Copper continued in a grand voice. Thirty minutes before the heated battle, Jingu Stadium is buzzing with anticipation and emotion. Tens of thousands of fans have been streaming into the great stadium around the field since early this morning, and at this point there’s barely room to stand. The cheering squads for each school have occupied their sections along the infield and outfield and jammed their seats to overflowing. With Keio on the third-base side and Waseda on the first-base side, each commanding their own brass band, they have been sounding off fiercely since before the match…” In this magical and otherworldly graphic novel a village of desert dwellers were gifted by the moon spirit three enchanted moon moths and taught how to raise them so they would pollinate a special tree called “The Night Flower Tree”.

However, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, to me (of course to me), is pretty obnoxious. For one, Nausicaa's displays of selflessness towards any living creature becomes less and less interesting as the story progresses, and the situations she finds herself in are just different variations of the same thing. The answer to the world's problems are simplistic and thoughtless. It doesnt matter if it's good guys, bad guys, bugs or babies, Nausicaa does the same thing EVERY TIME. That is boring and preachy. It's like the recycled animation of the action sequences of Dragon Ball Z: cheap.

Far in the future of a world devastated by biological warfare, Nausicaa is the daughter of the chieftain of the Valley of the Wind. When the Torumekian emperor calls upon the Valley to send troops, Nausicaa goes to war against the Doroks. But have mankind learned anything by their past mistakes? And will Nausicaa's ability to speak to plants and animals save humanity or destroy it? A magical, joyous read, brought to life by the most beautiful illustrations' - Harriet Muncaster, author of Isadora Moon The story has all the usual Miyazaki themes - love, nature, urban decay, etc, and some truly excellent creature design. If you've seen the movie, you should know that the film only covers about a tenth of the entire story. It goes on well after that movie ended, and there's all kinds of amazing stuff in here you've been missing. And to continue, from the third-base side, Keio enters! Led by team manager Morita, the Keio players take the field. And to greet them, the Keio cheer section begins their fight song! Listen now. It’s a magnificent chorus.”

A sprawling, unique post-apocalyptic story. Even if you've seen the movie of the same name, do yourself a favor and read this, Hiayao Miyazaki's most significant work of manga. This is an excellent “life in art,” or a series of chapters on the major works in a biographical context. But rereading it as an adult and having knowledge of Miyazaki's politics and themes, it sort of cast a shade over the experience a little bit? I couldn't just get into the story the way I could if I had known less, I think. Nausicaa is just a little too perfect and a little too right all the time. Nausicaa, the gentle yet strong willed girl who can read the wind and talk to the Ohmu. Will she be able to stop this catastrophe? The one they call Daikaisho? This is absolute must reading for those who love comics. But the scope of the story reaches beyond comic lovers, this is something that someone who doesn't generally read comics should at least try reading imo. It is the apotheosis of the art form.An all-watercolor manga based on the memoirs of Otto Carius, a German tank commander. It was serialized in Model Graphix, under a new series name Mousou Nouto (Fantasy Notes). I’ve always been a lover of enchanted items—particularly brooms. Maybe this is because my grandfather used to handmake his own brooms (I can still remember that magical and musty smell of his workshop). It took me a long time to write my own “broom book,” with something different and distinctive to say. The books on my list are some that inspired me along my journey. In addition to being a writer, I teach creative writing and art therapy, which means I’ve logged many hours leading lit circles with kids. I feel it has given me a pretty good handle (pardon the pun) on what makes a child’s imagination soar. In 1971, he moved to A Pro with Isao Takahata, then to Nippon Animation in 1973, where he was heavily involved in the World Masterpiece Theater TV animation series for the next five years. In 1978, he directed his first TV series, Conan, The Boy in Future, then moved to Tokyo Movie Shinsha in 1979 to direct his first movie, the classic Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro. This book came out only a few years after my first encounter with anime and just blew me away, introducing me to a completely different world – a world that at the time was mostly out of reach because Western translations were still rare. Series of manga (or rather, "graphic essays") which Miyazaki has very sporadically wrote in a Japanese scale model magazine, Model Graphix (1984–92). They are totally independent manga stories, mecha ideas, or movie ideas about tanks, planes, or battle ships from the era before World War II - the "favorites" of Miyazaki.