Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)

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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaa2cover.jpg
North American cover of the second volume of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
風の谷のナウシカ
(Kaze no Tani no Naushika)
Genre Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Manga
Written by Hayao Miyazaki
Published by Tokuma Shoten
English publisher Viz Media
Magazine Animage
Original run February 1982 – March 1994
Volumes 7
Portal icon Anime and Manga portal

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Japanese: 風の谷のナウシカ Hepburn: Kaze no Tani no Naushika?) is a manga written and illustrated by anime director Hayao Miyazaki. It was serialized intermittently from 1982 to 1994 in Japan, and the English translation is published by Viz Media. It tells the story of Nausicaä, a princess of a small kingdom on a post-apocalyptic Earth who becomes involved in a war between kingdoms while an environmental disaster threatens the survival of humankind. On her journey, she struggles to bring about a peaceful coexistence among the people of her world, as well as between humanity and nature.

The first sixteen chapters (approximately the first two volumes) of the manga were adapted by Miyazaki into his film of the same name.[1]

Contents

Story [edit]

Setting [edit]

See also: List of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind characters

The story is set in the future 1,000 years after the Seven Days of Fire, a cataclysmic global war, which destroyed industrial civilization. Although humanity survived, the land surface of the Earth has become heavily polluted and the seas have become poisonous. Most of the world is covered by the Sea of Corruption, a toxic forest of fungal life and plants which is steadily encroaching on the remaining open land. It is protected by large mutant insects, including the massive Ohmu. Humanity clings to survival in the polluted lands beyond the forest, periodically engaging in bouts of internecine fighting for the scarce resources that remain.

Plot [edit]

The Dorok prophecy: "And that one shall come to you garbed in raiment of blue and descending upon a field of gold..."

Nausicaä is the princess of the Valley of the Wind, a state on the periphery of what was once known as Eftal, a kingdom destroyed by the Sea of Corruption 300 years before the story begins. The leaders of the Periphery states are now vassals to the Torumekian Emperor and are obliged to send their forces to help when he invades the neighboring Dorok lands. The Torumekians have a strong conventional military, but the Doroks have developed a genetically modified version of a mold from the Sea of Corruption which they use to overwhelm invaders. But when the Doroks introduce this mold into battle, its rapid growth and mutation result in a daikaisho (roughly translated from Japanese as "great tidal wave"), which floods across the land and draws the insects into the battle, killing as many Doroks as Torumekians. In doing so, the Sea of Corruption spreads across most of the Dorok nation, uprooting or killing vast numbers of civilians and rendering most of the land uninhabitable.

The Ohmu and other forest insects respond to this development and sacrifice themselves in order to pacify the uncontrollable expansion of the mold. However, the fact that the mold can be manipulated and used as a weapon disturbs Nausicaä. Her treks into the forest have already taught her that the Sea of Corruption is actually purifying the polluted land. The Forest People, humans who have learned to live in harmony with the Sea of Corruption, confirm this is the purpose of the Sea of Corruption and show Nausicaä a vision of the restored Earth at the center of the forest. Nausicaä travels deeper into Dorok territory, where her coming has long been prophesied, to seek those responsible for manipulating the mold. There, she discovers a God Warrior, which allows her to evade both the Dorok and Torumekian armies.

Nausicaä eventually reaches Shuwa, the Holy City of the Doroks, where she enters the Crypt, a giant monolithic construct from before the Seven Days of Fire. There, she learns that the last scientists of the industrial era had foreseen the end of their civilization. They created the Sea of Corruption to clean the land, altered human genes to cope with the pollution, stored their own personalities inside the Crypt, and waited for the day when they could re-emerge. However, their continual manipulation of the population is at odds with Nausicaä's belief in the natural order and has led to the cycles of violence which have plagued the world for a thousand years. She orders the God-Warrior to destroy its progenitors, giving humanity the opportunity to live or die without the benefit of the old society's technology.

Development [edit]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was written over a period of twelve years, with breaks taken to work on other projects and films. According to the "Birth of Studio Ghibli" featurette, Miyazaki only wrote the manga because Studio Ghibli film producer Toshio Suzuki was unable to get funding for a film that was not based on a manga.[2] However, other sources tell a different story: Miyazaki started the manga on the condition that it would never be made into a film. He later agreed to do a fifteen-minute OVA, but Animage editors eventually convinced him to make an entire feature-length film.[3]

Miyazaki drew the manga in an A4 size, which was "much larger" than other manga. He did not use ink, and instead used only pencil. Frederik L. Schodt has suggested that the page and panel layouts are more reminiscent of French comics than of manga.[4]

Although Miyazaki had given other names to the main character during development, he settled on Nausicaä' based on the name of the Greek princess of the same name from the Odyssey, as portrayed in Bernard Evslin's dictionary of Greek mythology, translated into Japanese by Minoru Kobayashi.[5][Note 1] He was also inspired by the "Princess who loved insects",[9] a Japanese story based in the Heian period[10] about a young princess who preferred to study insects rather than wearing fine clothes or choosing a husband.

Localization [edit]

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was initially translated into English by Toren Smith and Dana Lewis. Smith, who had written comics in the U.S. since 1982, wrote an article on Warriors of the Wind (the heavily edited version of the film adaptation released in the U.S. in the 1980s) for the Japanese edition of Starlog, in which he criticized what New World Pictures had done to Miyazaki's film. The article came to the attention of Miyazaki himself, who invited Smith to Studio Ghibli for a meeting. Upon Miyazaki's insistence, Smith's own company Studio Proteus was chosen as the producer of the English-language translation.[11]

Smith hired Dana Lewis to collaborate on the translation. Lewis was a professional translator in Japan who also wrote for Newsweek and had written cover stories for such science fiction magazines as Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Amazing Stories. Smith hired Tom Orzechowski for the lettering and retouching.[11]

Studio Proteus was responsible for the translation, the lettering, and the retouching of the artwork, which was flipped right-to-left to accommodate English readers. The original Japanese dialogue was re-lettered by hand, the original sound effects were replaced by English sound effects, and the artwork was retouched to accommodate the new sound effects. When Miyazaki resumed work on the manga following one of the interruptions, Viz chose another team, including Matt Thorn and Wayne Truman, to complete the series. [11] Although the current English-language edition is published in right-to-left reading order, it retains the original translations, as well as the lettering by Orzechowski.

Media [edit]

Manga [edit]

The manga was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's monthly Animage magazine between 1982 and 1994.[12] The first chapter was printed in the February 1982 issue. The finale, chapter 59, was eventually published in the March 1994 issue of Animage. Interruptions, caused by Miyazaki's work related travel and the development of films, had delayed the creation of new chapters several times. The chapters were slightly edited and collected in seven tankōbon volumes, in B5 size.[13] The first edition of volume one is dated September 25, 1982. It contains the first eight chapters and was re-released on August 25, 1983 with a newly designed cover and the addition of a dustcover.[Note 2] Volume two has the same August 25, 1983 release date. It contains chapters 9 through 14. Together with chapters 15 and 16, printed in the Animage issues for May and June 1983, these were the only 16 chapters completed prior to the release of the Nausicaä film in March 1984. The seventh book was eventually released on January 15, 1995. [5][7] The entire series was also reprinted in two deluxe volumes in hard cover and in A4 size labeled Jokan (上巻 first volume?) and Gekan (下巻 final volume?) which were released on November 30, 1996.[15][16] A box set containing all seven volumes was released on October 31, 2003.[17]

English translations are published by Viz Media. As of 2013 Viz Media has released the manga in five different formats. Initially the manga was printed flipped and with English translations of the sound effects. Publication of English editions began in 1988 with the release of episodes from the story under the title Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind in the "Viz Select Comics" series. This series ran until 1996. It consists of 27 issues. In October 1990 Viz Media also started publishing the manga as Viz Graphic Novel, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind. The last of the seven Viz Graphic Novels in this series appeared in January 1997. Viz media reprinted the manga in four volumes titled, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Perfect Collection, which were released from October 1995 to October 1997. A box set of the four volumes was later released in January 2000. In 2004 Viz Media re-released the seven-volume format in an "Editors Choice" edition titled Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. In this version the manga is left unflipped and the sound effects are left untranslated.[18] Viz Media released its own deluxe two-volume box set on November 6th, 2012.[19]

No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 September 25, 1982 (1st Ed.)[5] —
  • Chapters 1-8
1 August 25, 1983 (Revised)[20] ISBN 4-19-773581-2 March 10, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[21] ISBN 1-59116-408-7
  • Chapters 1-8
2 August 25, 1983[22] ISBN 4-19-773582-0 March 31, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[23] ISBN 1-59116-350-1
  • Chapters 9-14
3 December 15, 1984[24] ISBN 4-19-775514-7 May 5, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[25] ISBN 1-59116-410-9
  • Chapters 15-21
4 March 1, 1987[26] ISBN 4-19-777551-2 June 02, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[27] ISBN 1-59116-352-8
  • Chapters 22-27
5 May 25, 1991[28] ISBN 4-19-771061-5 June 30, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[29] ISBN 1-59116-412-5
  • Chapters 28-35
6 November 11, 1993[30] ISBN 4-19-773120-5 August 10, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[31] ISBN 1-59116-487-7
  • Chapters 36-46
7 December 10, 1994[32] ISBN 4-19-770025-3 September 07, 2004 (Editor's Choice Edition, 2nd Ed.)[33] ISBN 1-59116-355-2
  • Chapters 47-58
  • Finale
No. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN English release date English ISBN
上巻 November 30, 1996[15] ISBN 4-19-860561-0 November 06, 2012[19] ISBN 9781421550640
  • Chapters 1-27 (Vol 1~4)
下巻 November 30, 1996[16] ISBN 4-19-860562-9 November 06, 2012[19] ISBN 9781421550640
  • Chapters 28-58 (Vol. 5~7)
  • Finale

Film [edit]

Main article: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)

The film adaptation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind was released on March 11, 1984. Although it was released before Studio Ghibli was established, it is generally considered a Studio Ghibli film.

The story of the film is much simpler than that of the manga, roughly corresponding to the first two books of the manga, the point the story had reached when film production began.[1] There are significant differences in plot, with more locations, factions and characters appearing in the manga, as well as more detailed environmentalist themes. The tone of the manga is also more philosophical than the film. Nausicaä explores the concepts of fatalistic nihilism and struggles with the militarism of major powers. The series has been interpreted from the views of utopia[34] as well as religious studies.[35]

Although no chapters of the manga were published in Animage magazine, from July 1983 until the resumption of serialisation in August 1984, series of Nausicaä Notes were printed in this interim period.[1] Frequently illustrated with black and white images from the story boards as well as colour stills from the upcoming release of the film, these publications provided background about the story and development of the film. 1984 was declared The Year of Nausicaä, on the cover of the February '84 issue of Animage .[36]

Other books [edit]

Several other books of the series were released. An art book titled, The Art of Nausicaä (ジ・アート・オブ　風の谷のナウシカ Ji āto Obu kaze no tani no naushika?) was released by Tokuma Shoten on June 20, 1984. It contains artwork during the early stages of production of the film, and commentary of assistant director Kazuyoshi Katayama.[37]Kaze no tani no Naushika Miyazaki Hayao Suisaiga-shū (風の谷のナウシカ　宮崎駿水彩画集 literally "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Hayao Mizayaki Watercolor Art book"?) was released by Tokuma Shoten on September 5, 1995. The art book contains artwork of the manga in watercolor, storyboards for the film, autographed pictures by Hayao Miyazaki and Interviews on the Birth of Nausicaä.[5] The book has been translated in English and French.[7][8] Two bunkobon books with the story boards are among the materials released related to the film adaptation.[38][39]

Reception [edit]

The manga has sold more than 10 million copies in Japan alone.[40] After the release of the film adaptation, sales for the manga dramatically increased, despite the plot differences between the two works.[41]

Setre, writing for Japanator, said "Nasuicaa [sic] is an amazing manga. And no matter what you may think of Miyazaki this story deserves to be read. It has great characters (some of which could star in their own series), a great sense of adventure and scale, and an awesome story."[42]

Michael Wieczorek of Ex.org compared the series to Princess Mononoke stating, "Both stories deal with man's struggle with nature and with each other, as well as with the effects war and violence have on society." Wieczoek also gave a mix review on the detail of the artwork stating, "It is good because the panels are just beautiful to look at. It is bad because the size of the manga causes the panels within to be very small, and some of these panels are just crammed with detailed artwork. That can sometimes cause some confusion about what is happening to which person during an action scene."[43]

Jason Thompson says that "Nausicaa is as grim as Grave of the Fireflies".[44] Mike Crandol of Anime News Network praised the manga stating, "I dare say the manga is Hayao Miyazaki's finest work ever--animated, printed, or otherwise--and that's saying a lot. Manga allows for a depth of plot and character unattainable in the cinematic medium, and Miyazaki uses it to its fullest potential."[45]

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has cited the manga and film as an influence on his series.[46]

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ Minoru Kobayashi (小林稔 Kobayashi Minoru?).[6][5][7] In the French translation of Hayao Miyazaki's Watercolor Impressions book, and on some Nausicaä related websites, the translator's name is given as Yataka Kobayashi.[8]
  2. ^ Volume One was published as Animage Special, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ((アニメージュ増刊 風の谷のナウシカ?).[14]Subsequently released Volumes were published as Animage Comics Wide Ban, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (アニメージュコミックスワイド判　風の谷のナウシカ?).[5][7]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c Ryan, Scott. "Chapter guide". Nausicaa.net. Team Ghiblink. Retrieved 2008-12-30. 
  2. ^ The Birth of Studio Ghibli (Documentary), Studio Ghibli Collection: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (UK DVD Release), Optimum Releasing Asia, 2005
  3. ^ "First of Two-part Miyazaki Feature". Animerica 1 (5): 4. July 1993. 
  4. ^ Schodt, Frederick L. Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga. p. 278. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f 宮崎, 駿. 風の谷のナウシカ　宮崎駿水彩画集 (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 April 2012. 
  6. ^ "Webcat Plus Database entry for Minoru Kobayashi". 
  7. ^ a b c d Miyazaki, Hayao. The Art of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Watercolor Impressions by Hayao Miyazaki. Retrieved 14 January 2013. 
  8. ^ a b Miyazaki, Hayao (November 9, 2006). Nausicaä de la vallée du vent : Recueil d'aquarelles par Hayao Miyazaki (in French). Glénat. p. 105. ISBN 2-7234-5180-1. 
  9. ^ Mushi mezuru himegimi in Tsutsumi Chūnagon Monogatari.
  10. ^ Hayao Miyazaki's essay on Nausicaä, 1995 Viz Graphic Novel, Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Perfect Collection volume 1.
  11. ^ a b c "The New MIYAZAKI Generation". Comix Box. Retrieved 11-20-25. 
  12. ^ Miyazaki, Hayao; Isao Takahata (2009). Starting Point 1979-1996. Viz Media. pp. 442–445. ISBN 978-1-4215-0594-7. 
  13. ^ "Nausicaä Manga Comparison". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 31 December 2012. 
  14. ^ 宮崎, 駿 (昭和57年9月25日) [1982]. In [[尾形英夫|尾形, 英夫]]. 風の谷のナウシカ (Softcover B5) (アニメージュ増刊) (in Japanese) 1. 小金井道宏 (first ed.). 東京: 徳間書店. 
  15. ^ a b "風の谷のナウシカ　上巻" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
  16. ^ a b "風の谷のナウシカ　下巻" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
  17. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ　ワイド判「風の谷のナウシカ」全７巻函入りセット[トルメキア戦役バージョン]" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 29 December 2012. 
  18. ^ "Nausicaä Around the World". Nausicaa.net. Retrieved 30 December 2012. 
  19. ^ a b c "VIZ Media Announces the Release of Nausicaä Manga Box Set". Anime News Network. Retrieved 25 November 2012. 
  20. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 1" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 25 November 2012.  Text " Re-release Volume 1: アニメージュコミックス　ワイド判　風の谷のナウシカ1, 昭和58年8月25日発行 雑誌コード 47810-33 ©徳間書店 1983 " ignored (help)
  21. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.1". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  22. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 2" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 25 November 2012. 
  23. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.2". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  24. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 3" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 25 November 2012. 
  25. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.3". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  26. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 4" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 
  27. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.4". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  28. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 5" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 
  29. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.5". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  30. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 6" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 
  31. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.6". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  32. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ 7" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 20 November 2012. 
  33. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, Vol.7". Viz Media. Retrieved 15 February 2013. 
  34. ^ ナウシカ解読―ユートピアの臨界), 稲葉 振一郎 (in Japanese). ISBN 4-943983-87-1. 
  35. ^ はじめての宗教学―「風の谷のナウシカ」を読み解く (in Japanese). ISBN 4-393-20301-1. 
  36. ^ "月刊アニメージュ【公式サイト】" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 30 December 2012. 
  37. ^ "ジ・アート・オブ　風の谷のナウシカ" (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 April 2012.  Another art book titled,
  38. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ　絵コンテ[1]" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 26 November 2012. 
  39. ^ "風の谷のナウシカ　絵コンテ[2]" (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. Retrieved 26 November 2012. 
  40. ^ http://www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/manga/nausicaa.html
  41. ^ Ingulsrud, John E.; Allen, Kate (2009). Reading Japan Cool: Patterns of Manga Literacy and Discourse. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 33–34. ISBN 0-7391-2753-5. 
  42. ^ "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Reviews (Vol.1-7)". Japanator. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  43. ^ Wieczorek, Michael. "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Perfect Collection". Ex.org. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  44. ^ Thompson, Jason. "Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga". Anime News Network. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  45. ^ Crandol, Mike. "Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind Perfect Collection (manga)". Anime News Network. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 
  46. ^ "In Defense of Final Fantasy XII". Edge. Retrieved 15 November 2012. 

External links [edit]

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