Rues of Roo

I would say that people who think comics are incredulously childish and for little boys (and girls) who like to wook at wittle pickchers! Awwww … are not seeing things in a different light… but in that vein, they probably have never picked up anything remotely intelligent other than Archie.

But in a world that is becoming increasingly graphic, comics can be an amazing, effective and even intelligent means of communicating. Obviously I think most people would have to agree, but thence comes the notion that really, only children need pictures to be communicated to.

But arguments aside, maybe for another day, there’s a graphic novel that you really must look up entitled ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind’ which is just epic on so many levels (and no, it doesn’t have big planes that turn into giant robots).

You’ll probably recognize the style of drawing as that of Hayao Miyazaki, the little known creator of Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away. That aside, Nausicaa is an old project of Miyazaki that started in 1982 all the way to 1994.

The incredible thing about the Nausicaa story is the depth and development of the protagonist, Nausicaa herself. To summarise (if you can summarise 7 volumes of 8 chapters of graphic literature totalling 1,264 pages), the world has been infested with some sort of poison producing mass of forest and fungus which is inhabited with ginormous insects. Humans are fighting over the remaining inhabitable land. Nausicaa, a peace loving princess of a land known as the Valley of the Wind, gets involved in this war while in the meantime discovering the secret of the strange expanding forest/fungi anomaly. Along the way she inspires, leads, defends and naturally her loving nature spawns quite a following, and along the way discovers the true nature of the poisonous forest as well as its terrible origins.

Miyazaki’s common ecological themes are obvious throughout the novel, while addressing other political and social themes throughout. But what is most endearing is really Nausicaa herself. The use of a woman as the person you empathise with is so effective, considering that in a post-apocalyptic world one would most likely associate a leader with someone of strength and all that, but that is what creates the identity of Nausicaa and is quite common in Miyazaki’s work (think of Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle). Nausicaa’s strength in her weakness and determination and refusal to compromise are the carrying features of the story, and the touching sacrifices that others make for her, because of those qualities, are moving to say the least.

On a graphical note , ironically something that you remember as an afterthought after reading this incredible epic graphic novel, the illustrations are incredible. The detail and effort put into each frame is a sight to be hold and anyone who has seen the detail in any of Miyazaki’s animated works will appreciate what level it is on.

The strange thing about Nausicaa is that despite its greatness, I suppose on the forefront it does not come across as a ‘popular’ manga probably due to the depth of plot, as well as its immediate put offs. I mean, seriously, even after reading what I have just written above, there are not many people who would find a manga that dwells on social and political issues through the means of portraying a world full of giant insects and poisonous forests and fungi particularly entrancing, unless you are some sort of ecological green horticulturist. This is evidenced by the fact that I can only find 4 out of the 7 volumes of Nausicaa on Amazon.com. So, I have no idea where you can buy or read Nausicaa, though I’d probably go with amazon or Ebay and hope the rest of the volumes are released at some point . I don’t think Borders stocks it anymore but I could be wrong.

For evidence in just how deep and how metaphorical the uses of Miyazaki’s novels are, there’s actually a lecture series here you can read about it from University of Texas.

sample of Nausicaa