Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Kaze no Tani no Naushika) is a manga by Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki that was serialized on Tokuma Shoten's Animage magazine from 1982 to 1994. It tells the story of Nausicaä, a princess of a small kingdom on a post-apocalyptic Earth with a bioengineered ecological system, who becomes involved in a war between kingdoms while an environmental disaster threatens humankind. The first volume was adapted into the film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind in 1984 and a Kabuki stage play in 2019.

The story itself was inspired by the 1971 comic Rowlf by American cartoonist Richard Corben, while the name Nausicaä was derived from the Greek epic Odysseus. Miyazaki was also strongly inspired by French comic artist Jean Giraud Moebius' Arzach (1975), as seen in the documentary, Ghibli: The Miyazaki Temple.

The manga began serialization in the February 1982 issue of Animage magazine and was completed in March 1994. Production was delayed four times due to Miyazaki focusing on film production. It received the 23rd Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize (大賞, Taishō) in 1994 and the 26th Seiun Award Comic Category in 1995. As of December 2020, the cumulative circulation of books has exceeded 17 million. It has been translated and published in eight languages ​​overseas.

Plot
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, a poisonous forest, 300 years ago. An inquisitive young woman, she explores the territories surrounding the Valley on a jet-powered glider, and studies the Sea of Corruption.

When the Valley goes to war, she takes her ailing father's place as military chief. The leaders of the Periphery states are 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 military, but the Doroks, whose ancestors bioengineered the progenitors of the Sea of Corruption, have developed a genetically modified version of a mold from the Sea of Corruption. 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 to pacify the expansion of the mold, which is beyond human control. Nausicaä resigns herself to joining in their fate. However, one of the Ohmu encapsulates her inside itself in a protective serum, allowing her to survive the mold. She is recovered by her companions, people she met after leaving the Valley and who have joined her on her quest for a peaceful coexistence. 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 one of them shows 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 encounters a dormant God Warrior who, upon activation, assumes she is his mother and places his destructive powers at her disposal. Faced with this power and its single minded and childlike visions of the world, she engages the creature, names him and persuades him to travel with her to Shuwa, the Holy City of the Doroks.

Here she enters the Crypt, a giant monolithic construct from before the Seven Days of Fire. 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 of pollution, altered human genes to cope with the changed ecology, stored their own personalities inside the Crypt and waited for the day when they could re-emerge, leaving the world at the mercy of their artificially created caretaker. However, their continual manipulation of the population and the world's environment is at odds with Nausicaä's belief in the natural order. She argues that mankind's behaviour has not been improved significantly by the activities of those inside the crypt. Strife and cycles of violence have continued to plague the world in the thousand years following their interference. She orders the God-Warrior to destroy its progenitors, forcing humanity to live or die without further influence from the old society's technology.

Setting
The story is set in the future at the closing of the ceramic era, 1,000 years after the Seven Days of Fire, a cataclysmic global war, in which industrial civilization self-destructed. Although humanity survived, the land surface of the Earth is still 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. The ability for space travel has been lost but the earth-bound remnants of humanity can still use gliders and powered aircraft for exploration, transportation and warfare. (Powered land vehicles are mostly nonexistent, with humanity regressed to dependence on riding animals and beasts-of-burden.)

Autonomous States of the Periphery (辺境諸国)
A small number of nation-states situated on the shores of the Sea of Corruption, which include the Valley of the Wind, the Valley of Sand, and Pejite. With each passing year, more and more of these smaller city states are swallowed by the Sea of Corruption, reducing the amount of habitable land. These minor nations have small population sizes, with the Valley of the Wind having roughly 500 citizens. Some of these nations, such as the Valley of the Wind, rely on farming for their livelihood, while others such as Pejite, focus on excavating relics of past civilizations hidden in underground ruins.

Many of these nations are allied with Kingdom of Torumekia, although their relationship isn't equitable, as many of them lie within Tormekian territory. In exchange for their autonomy, these nations are required to participate in any war in response to the convocation order of The Vai Emperor.

The Kingdom of Eftal was once the largest, most technologically advanced kingdom in the land that prospered even after Seven Days of Fire. They were destroyed by the last Daikaisho around 300 years prior to the events of the manga. Much of their territory fell to the Sea of Corruption, and those that survived went on to create the Kingdom of Torumekia and its outlying nations. Many of Eftal's gunships were later reclaimed by minor nations.

Valley of the Wind (風の谷)
A small and remote country, with a population of about 500. They are ruled by Nausicaä and her family. Their nation is made up of medieval-level agriculture and harvesting activities, and they have a reservoir that draws water thanks to a large windmill that takes air currents delivered from the ocean of salt. The strong wind from the valley helps protects the land from rotten sea spores and the toxic miasma. Despite this, the nation still suffers from the sea-borne poison that can cause stillbirth and fatigue among its people.

In the film, many of their structures are made from old derelict spacecraft, while their tools are made from ceramic. In the manga, supplementary materials show the nation of the Valley of the Wind neighboring (around 360km) an mining town which houses a ceramic mine.

Pejitei (ペジテ市)
A minor industrialized nation. Pejitei is known for excavating, processing and supplying engines, ceramic material taken from underground ruins that lay intact after the Seven Days of Fire to other nations.

They eventually uncovered a tomb containing several skeletons of God Warriors. This discovery led to their nation being invaded by the Kingdom of Torumekia, which was headed by Princess Kushana and the Emperor's Imperial Guard. Hundreds of refugees fled the nation on large airships, which were later attacked and destroyed by rampaging bugs. Asbel was one of the few survivors during this attack.

In the film, the excavated God Warriors were meant to used to incinerate the Sea of Corruption. Survivors of Pejitei also draw out the bugs to wipe forces of Torumekia.

Kingdom of Torumekia (トルメキア)
The Kingdom of Torumekia is located to the east of the Valley of the Wind. The capital city of Tolas is lined with many skyscrapers, all of which are in ruins. The current ruler is The Vai Emperor, and his four royal children consist of three princes and his youngest daughter, Kushana. The Vai Emperor's residence is an aerial palace with functioning elevator. The Torumekian people have a look and culture reminiscent of European descent.

The Dorok Principalities (土鬼諸侯国連合 lit. "Union of Lords of the Earth Demon")
A coalition of tribal nations collectively known as the Dorok Principalities. It is located to the south of the Sea of Corruption. It is led by the Holy Emperor whose territory consists of seven great nations, with more than twenty minor princes and twenty-three lesser tribal nations. The emperor's coins are of better quality than the coins of the Kingdom of Torumekia, and is popular enough to be used outside the territory of Dorok.

The Holy Emperor and its bureaucracy are led by monks, who were placed in charge of national affairs. There is a strong political consensus among its ruling class, and many of its monks act as chieftains, each with their own personal guard, and many of its national affairs are ritualized. The Holy Emperor is named Miralpa and is said to possess supernatural powers, compared to his older sibling Namulith. Miralpa used religion to help control the indigenous people, but when his brother Namulith murdered his younger brother and regained power, he stripped the monk's power and purged its members. This internal strife mimicked ancient Japan, which was rife with conflict between its tribal nations. To maintain order, they began relying on awe and worship towards monks and the Holy Emperor, inspiring a politics based on fear and reverence towards power.

Outside of the Holy Emperor's grip are the Forest People, a tribe that has chosen to abandon fire and civilization to live in harmony with nature in the corrupted forests.

Development
See /Development/

Reception
In 1994, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, received the Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize (大賞, Taishō), an annual prize awarded by a panel of association members, consisting of fellow cartoonists.

The manga has sold more than 10 million copies in Japan alone. After the 1984 release of the film adaptation, sales for the manga dramatically increased, despite the plot differences between the two works.[97] In the spring of 1994, shortly after serialization had concluded, a combined total of 5.27 million Nausicaä tankōbon volumes had already been published. At the time Volumes 1 through 6 were in print. Volume 7 was not released until January 15, 1995. By 2005, over 11 million copies had been released for all 7 volumes combined.

Professor Susan J. Napier, director of the Japanese program at Tufts University, has described the manga as "an entertaining and engrossing fantasy which genuinely deserves the description Tolkien-esque".[101] Napier described the eponymous protagonist as "one of the best examples of a truly "empowered" female" and went on to write that Nausicaä "adds up to an impressive feminine role-model".[102] Napier also contrasts the manga and film portrayals of Princess Kushana's character, who she identifies as Nausicaä's Doppelgänger, observing that the manga version allows for a "far more complex and sympathetic, perhaps even genuinely "feminist" representation of Kushana".

Nausicaä was included by Stephen Betts in the comic book-centered reference book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die, who said of the series:

"Miyazaki's sepia-inked art is precise, delicate, and detailed. He achieves an incredible dynamism and motion across the page. The rich array of characters, multiple themes, and densely interwoven plot ensure that the message, while worthy, is nuanced. Exploring conflict, politics, and religion, Miyazaki achieves a grand, epic sweep that is rarely seen in comics, and particularly in such a stunning action comic. Yet he also manages to keep the whole story accessible and relevant thought the human qualities of his timeless heroine."

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."

In his July 14, 2001 review of Viz Media's four volume Perfect Collection edition, of the manga, 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 gave a mixed review on the detail of the artwork in this, 8.08 in × 5.56 in (20.5 cm × 14.1 cm) sized, edition, 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." The Perfect Collection edition of the manga is out of print.

In his article series House of 1000 Manga for the Anime News Network (ANN) Jason Thompson wrote that "Nausicaa is as grim as Grave of the Fireflies ".] Mike Crandol of ANN 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."

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

In the Coda On Your Mark and Nausicaa to their April 1999 lecture series on manga, anime and the works of Miyazaki at the University of Dallas Pamela Gossin, Professor of Arts and Humanities, and guest instructor Marc Hairston, research scientist in the William B. Hanson Center for Space Sciences, discussed On Your Mark, the music video Miyazaki created for the song of the same title by Japanese duo Chage and Aska and drew parallels to the Nausicaä story, its titular character and its conclusion. Gossin and Hairston interpreted the release of the winged girl at the end of the music video as Miyazaki setting free his character in a manner reminiscent of William Shakespeare's symbolic liberation of his characters, through Prospero's release of his servant Ariel in his play The Tempest. Miyazaki started creating On Your Mark the same month the seventh volume of the Nausicaä manga was released.

Publication History
The manga was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's monthly Animage magazine between 1982 and 1994. The series initially ran from the February 1982 issue to the November 1982 issue when the first interruption occurred due to Miyazaki's work related trip to Europe. Serialization resumed in the December issue and the series ran again until June 1983 when it went on hiatus again due to Miyazaki's work on the film adaptation of the series. Serialization of the manga resumed for the third time from the August 1984 issue but halted again in the May 1985 issue when Miyazaki placed the series on hiatus to work on Castle in the Sky. Serialization resumed for the fourth time in the December 1986 issue and was halted again in June 1987 when Miyazaki placed the series on hiatus to work on the films My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. The series resumed for the fifth time in the April 1990 issue and was halted in the May 1991 issue when Miyazaki worked on Porco Rosso. The series resumed for the final time in the March 1993 issue. The final panel is dated January 28, 1994. The last chapter was released in the March 1994 issue of Animage. By the end Miyazaki had created 59 chapters, of varying length, for publication in the magazine. In an interview, conducted shortly after serialization of the manga had ended, he noted that this amounts to approximately 5 years worth of material. He stated that he did not plan for the manga to run that long and that he wrote the story based on the idea that it could be stopped at any moment.

The chapters were slightly modified and collected in seven tankōbon volumes, in soft cover B5 size. 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. 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. 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. The seven books, which remain in print individually, have also been released in box sets twice, on August 25, 2002 and, with a redesigned box, on October 31, 2003.

English translations are published in North America and the United Kingdom 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. Viz Media released its own deluxe two-volume box set on November 6, 2012

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Nausicaä aus dem Tal der Winde (Manga)