Reviews for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 7

The average rating for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Volume 7 based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-01-13 00:00:00 Tammy Sharp I need six stars for this volume. No, I need sixty. I can't even begin to react to this. The story, the incredible and wonderful characters, the world and its mind-blowing history... to describe and evaluate them is beyond my capabilities. What I will say is this: This series was finished long after the movie we all know and love was released. And while said film was the start of something wonderful (Studio Ghibli, to a large extent), I wish the manga had been finished first. If the film followed the manga to the letter, it would be an epic to rival Lord Of The Rings. And I cannot say that lightly. But I will explain why I say it. One, length; a proper Nausicaa film would be at minimum double the length of the original, and likely closer to triple or even quadruple. It would probably be broken up into several volumes, and that would be fine because this story is worth it. Two, scope; though their focuses and messages are different, both Nausicaa and LOTR are about really, truly, saving the world. Three, power; in this respect, at least for me, Miyazaki surpasses Tolkein. I have this mental image of a world in which Nausicaa is as long as it deserves to be on film. There would be day-long gatherings to watch Miyazaki movies, culminating appropriately enough in Nausicaa. Groups of fans would sit in awe for hours, so enraptured that their popcorn would go cold and the butter on it congeal. Drinks would sit abandoned until they went flat- or until someone punching the air in jubilation missed the air and knocked them over. Still, no one would dare pause the movie. And afterwards, when night had fallen (as surely it must), they would all sit back and close their eyes and rest in amazed stupor. The philosophical discussion that would arise when everyone had reconfigured their brains would be lengthy, and morning light would find this imaginary group still hard at it, arguing about morality and war and environmentalism and peace and nurturing and history and truth and faith and love. And more than that. I wish Mr. Miyazaki would make that movie.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-02-17 00:00:00 John Sliwicki This review is for the entire 7 vol. series I wish I wasn't restricted to giving just 5 stars to this cruelly ignored masterpiece. Seldom have I been so hooked to a book and enraptured by its power, epic storytelling with a strong human touch. Not since Brave New World and Heart of Darkness (books that are considered among the best of the 20th century) have I pondered so much on the ending and the philosophical questions raised by it. It is naive and almost degrading to classify this as just another "stereotyped" manga series; it's epic storyline and broad based exploration of the human condition means it shouldn't be circumscribed by such restrictive literary classifications as "1 of the best manga/graphic novels". Well, before I start raving about this series again, let me just say that this labor of love took 12 years to complete by 1 of the greatest animators of all time - Hayao Miyazaki (unfairly called "The Disney of the East" which actually doesn't do him justice) who is known more for his films. The reason he took 12 years is partly because he kept writing this book in his spare time as a labor of love while continuing to work on his many film projects. Yet, this novel would surely be his magnum opus. The epic story-line is set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future 2000 years after the Industrial Revolution and 1000 years after the "7 days of fire", a cataclysm brought on by excessive industrialization (a symbolic rendition of World War 3) that destroyed industrial civilization. Although part of the human race survived, having regressed to a technologically inferior society (kind of reminiscent of Einstein's famous line "If the 3rd world war is fought with nuclear weapons, the 4th will be fought with bows and arrows"), the Earth has become heavily polluted and covered by the "Sea of Corruption", a toxic forest of fungal plants which is steadily encroaching on the remaining open land. Humanity clings to survival in the polluted lands beyond the forest, periodically engaging in bouts of fighting for the scarce resources that remain. Amidst this background, is presented Nausicaa, princess of a small kingdom and a larger-than-life character who is a lover of nature and humanity. While her kingdom has learnt to co-exist with nature, they remain subservient to the war-hungry Torumekian empire, and she finds herself in the cross fire in the war between Torumekia and the Dorok kingdom as she is forced to go to war. While the film version was done in 1984, it encompassed only the 1st 2 volumes, after which Miyazaki wrote for another 10 years and expanded on the story - and we can see the difference of those years. The manga allowed for a depth of plot and character unattainable in the cinematic medium, and Miyazaki uses it to its fullest potential. While the film covered just 20% of the story and retained the strong environmental theme, a recurring feature in many of Miyazaki's films; that's where the comparison ends. Now, (1) add a complex story of epic proportions in the scale of the Lord of the Rings. (2) Add the human touch and the strong emotional connect with not just the protagonist but the other characters, none of whom are in black and white, instead all of them have been fleshed out in endless shades of grey. (3) Also add an epic portrayal of the horror and the ugly side of war as good as any in literary medium, and the unintentional folly of man that drives it. (4) Add the surreal touch in the 6th vol. (5) But finally, what makes this work of speculative fiction rise above other great high fantasies is the final vol. which makes the reader ask questions on morality, and the meaning of human existence through the lens of nihilism and fatalism vis-à-vis existentialism (no, I am not just dishing out fanciful jargon here). I will not say further at the risk of disclosing some major spoilers. As one progresses beyond towards the 2nd half of the series, the change in the tone of the story is quite evident - what started as a large scale adventure story with an environmental theme, begins to take on a much darker, sometimes almost cynical tone as we move deep into the war in the Dorok empire against the Torumekians (the Dorok kingdom where most of the story takes place is totally ignored in the film). The story moves through a gruesome portrayal of self inflicted misery in war and shows how the cycle of destruction that triggered the 7 days of fire is about to be initiated again, as the Doroks try to manipulate the violent side of nature using the remnants of the advanced technologies of the past for their own means to win the war, which backfire with disastrous consequences. While in the film Nausicaa brings the peoples of 2 warring kingdoms together in what is a simplistic ideal "Deus ex machina" ending, in the book she must go through the waste of war and gradually lose her innocence as her attempts to save lives at every opportunity comes to naught, and is often made to question her love of life. Also in her quest for a peaceful co-existence between nature and humanity, she goes deep into the heart of the Sea of Corruption, only to uncover the shocking secret behind it and the truth of all humanity that survived the 7 days of fire. In the end, the fateful decision that she takes for humanity will itself pose many questions as to the morality behind it, the idea of existence and the dangerous consequences of a futile idea of achieving Utopia (as she says "suffering and tragedy will not disappear in a 'purified' world, they are an intrinsic part of humanity"); in the end we see her image as a far cry from the idealist that she was at the beginning. In fact, the shift in the story's tone and Nausicaa's character is often attributed to the fact that Miyazaki took 12 years to finish his work, during which time his own philosophies and beliefs undertook a change, and were influenced by contemporary events like the civil war in Yugoslavia, the fall of the Soviet Union, etc. While in that period, he continued to make more optimistic films like My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, he has often hinted that while the films were his route to retaining a more optimistic view on life, he needed to work on Nausicaa as a safety valve to express his changing views on humanity and society. It is often said that Princess Mononoke, one of Miyazaki's best films, is more true to the manga's themes as it retains much of the darkness, complexity of characters and moral ambiguity lacking in Nausicaa the film. But, even then, I would say Princess Mononoke didn't go so far as to explore the philosophical dilemmas encountered in the manga, nor does it have the scope for an epic story to dazzle the reader as this. On the technical aspect, the artwork of this book is quite different from traditional manga, in fact it's meticulously detailed style has been compared to the work of the French artist Moebius. Miyazaki decided to use a black and white grainy style of sketching in contrast to his lush vivid use of colors in his films; probably this only accentuates the dark brooding atmosphere of the manga. Although lacking color, the panels are rich in artistry, as no space his left unused. Also, there are a large number of panels per page and sometimes copious use of text, as the story moves at a rapid pace unlike typical serialized manga/graphic novels, where the events are stretched out over many pages and many large panels are used to depict action sequences. Also, for those who want to read the whole series, do yourself a favor and go for the seven-volume format ("Editors Choice" edition) titled Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind rather than the cut four volume format titled, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Perfect Collection (a not so perfect collection). Really, it is my dream that one day a films series will be made on this work (just like my futile dream of seeing the Silmarillion being adapted into film), or maybe a TV Series whose length can do it justice. I really wish it is done, because if it can be pulled off while maintaining the essence of the manga, it will be 1 of the greatest production of any kind. I wait for that day. For more on Miyazaki's views, fans of the book can have a go through detailed interviews with the author such as -