Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Kaze no Tani no Naushika in japanese) is among the immortal manga classics which received an anime film version that was partly responsible for the creation of what we know today as Studio Ghibli.

It’s set in a post-apocalyptic future where manking almost wiped itself off the Earth.
The beautiful artstyle and an unique complex world built for it could be enough reason to read, but the true beauty in Nausicaa is the story.

It’s kinda hard to describe the whole scenario, because it’s complex and there are lots of details to talk about, but I’ll do my best to simplify it…

The story goes a thousand years after what is known as the “Seven Days of Fire”, a cataclysmic war that, allied to excessive industrialization left toxic oceans and a partially toxic and uninhabitable land.

Nausicaa, our protagonist, is the princess of a small village called Valley of the Wind.
This village among others was created after what is known as the “Sea of Corruption” engulfed an once prosperous land known as “Eftal”.
The “Sea of Corruption” is a toxic forest that covers a big part of the land, with strange creatures and a big variety of plants and specially fungus that are lethal to humans.

Despite the post-apocalyptic scenario, once again two major nations are at a long term war. And from time to time, even small villages like the Valley of the Wind has to send representatives to join forces with their allies.

Nausicaa is a young princess that’s always making her people impressed not only for her love for them, but also for being very close to nature and animals, even the ones most people can’t comprehend.
The story begins just a while before she is sent into war, since her father, who represented the village for several battles, is now ill and don’t have much time to live anymore.

Ok, I think that’s enough for an introduction… but I must say that there’s LOTS more on the story than what I just wrote.
Check the Wikipedia entry for Nausicaa if you wanna know more, but I really recommend just getting the manga and reading it yourself, because it’s really a must for every manga fan (and even non fans).
It’s also among the works that is good for all ages, and helps building a critical sense on several important subjects we have today.

Among the subjects present in Nausicaa: War, the way we are treating the environment today, the struggle for power, dictatorships and the relation of trust and betrayal, how to face life and death, human relationships and other insteresting ideas to think about.

As I said on the beginning of the post, there is also an anime film adaptation for the story, made by Studio Ghibli cast before they actually formed the Studio. Though the adaptation has a story far smaller than the manga version, it was still a huge hit (just like the manga) which received tons of prizes over the years, and made possible the creation and consagration of Studio Ghibli.

Here’s the trailer:

Hope you enjoyed this post, and that you can read the manga and watch the movie.

All my english mangas were bought at Amazon, so here’s a glimpse of the stuff I’ll be posting on the next reviews: