Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1

You might be familiar with Hayao Miyazaki from many of the animated movies he has produced. Some of the most popular are Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle or even Laputa: Castle in the Sky. These are wonderful productions and some of my favorite stories. Miyazaki has a talent at drawing you emotionally into his world and to enchant you with a world so completely different from our own, yet so beautiful. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, his seven volume graphic novel series is no exception.There is something awesome about graphic novels, and that is that the author is able to show you exactly what is in or her mind. Like with a movie, you don't need to use your imagination but are able to drown yourself completely into the story. If you've never read a graphic novel before, I recommend that you do at least once. Choose a good one and see what you think. I'll guaranty that there's nothing quite like it.Nausicaa is one of those action packed stories that starts you off in a world and plot that is already very interesting, but that leads you into something that you could have never imagined. By the time you get to the end, you want to start over just to connect the dots. The characters are completely unique and Nausicaa herself, the main figure, is somebody to fall in love with. The people all around her adore her and you can't but help to feel the same way. I sometimes get annoyed with the humble, perfect do-gooder in the books that I read, but she is a gem. I wish all the authors out there were able to get me attached to a character the way Miyazaki offers us Nausicaa...I would cry at the end of every book that I finished.There is a distinct push toward 'saving the planet' in this story as well as - amazingly - some christian undertones. Not very Japanese if you ask me, but the mood and the symbolism are beautifully mastered and honestly, I got to the end of the last volume thinking that "Yes, I do want to live my life better, treating people and the world I live in with more respect." And that's the point here. It's not forceful in any way or overwhelming, but it's there and it demands the readers consideration. The question that Miyazaki poses to his audience - and you'll see this in all of his stories, in some form or another - is "What can you do to be a better person?"I don't know about you but I hate being told what I need to do. It's the universal source of annoyance and revolt to all people, I believe. It hurts my pride and tells me that I'm not doing things right or that I need to do things different. Sometimes it's called for but sometimes it's not and that depends on the situation. But it's hard for me to read something or watch or listen to something that is telling me I've got everything wrong and that I need to change my ways. It makes me feel like I'm being treated like a seven year old and am trying to learn math all over again...it's insulting. But pose a question, "What do you think about this..?" or "How would things be if..?" Ah! Now there's a different story.The way to change is for a person to feel it for himself, and that is what Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind brings to you. It's the story of a princess in a world that is so very foreign, there are giant bugs, there are manmade monsters, there are flying ships completely unlike any we have seen here, there are evil emperors and righteous warriors...everything you could ask for. And along comes the open-ended moral of the story, "We could probably do a lot better than what we are doing now. How will you choose to do your part?"Good question! Who'd have thought I'd be wondering that after finishing a book full of drawings done by some Japanese guy? I love this series, it's incredible and there's nothing else to say about it. I'd recommend it to anybody!For more reviews, see my site: [...]

I first encountered Nausicaa in the four-volume "Perfect Collection" edition, which was in circulation at my local library. I believe I was 12 or 13 at the time. More than any other manga series I have ever read, or possibly more than anything I've ever read, Nausicaa was what, in many ways, propelled me down the path I currently walk.As with many of Miyazaki's works, the series is rife with ecological and social commentary, carrying the "green" message shared by many of his productions, like Princess Mononoke especially, and others to a lesser extent. However, this does not detract from the gripping storyline, the amazing artwork, and the wonderfully realized characters- all of whom grow and change greatly throughout the story. Indeed, except for a very few throw-aways (characters whose only purpose in entering the story is to leave it quickly, and the like), I don't think there is a single "flat" character in the series, an amazing thing when there are quite a few of them running about. Kushana, especially, shines as possibly the most well- and completely-developed character I've ever seen.While the ending of the series may seem a bit cliche now, Nausicaa was the first time I ever encountered anything like it. Even if you find that the words or themes seem somewhat familiar, I feel, and hope you will agree, that it loses none of its power.I would recommend this book, and of course the rest of the series, only on the merits of its art, but to do so would be truly selling the series short, as there are so many things to recommend it. It is truly amazing that this epic, which is expansive on both scope and scale of the plot and locations, manages to fit into so few volumes; and I think you will find that as the earlier reviewer Jay Rogers said, where a "trade" manga can be flipped through in about an hour, reading Nausicaa is a very different experience.Furthermore, if you have seen the movie of the series, do not take that to be anything like the series. While not a bad movie, the movie adaptation of Nausicaa suffers more in the transition than almost any other movie adaptation I've seen. Due to the necessities of time, the entire point of the series is changed, the main villain is different, the relationships between the characters are cross-wired, and many other things were also edited. Because of that, reading Nausicaa will be almost like an entirely different series, as I feel the movie fails to accurately represent the real themes of the manga. Do not see the movie expecting to see a motion picture of the series; likewise, do not read the series expecting a graphic novel version of the movie. Either one will lead to disappointment.I was actually originally wary of buying this seven-volume edition. I was worried it would be poor quality, or not include some of the the chapters in the "Perfect Collection," considering that the only copy of the "Perfect Collection" I could find available for sale cost something in the range of $120-200. As such, I really felt that I had no choice but to buy this edition of seven volumes, for a grand total of about $40 (the reason for my worry, actually. I couldn't believe something of this quality could be priced so low just because it was a different edition). Thankfully, I was not disappointed whatsoever- the books are of excellent quality, and even contain some things (diagrams, pull-out posters and maps, etc.) that are not in the four-volume set. I have yet to notice any missing chapters, if indeed there are any. Truly an excellent deal, considering the quality of the series.

First let me state that I am reviewing the whole 7 volume series here.Well, I am not the master of science fiction and fantasy books, but I have read two considered among the main classics: Lord of the Rings and the Foundation Trilogy (now I need to read Dune!). Both trilogies were very interesting works and the universes they created were both very impressive. But this work, however, blows them away by miles. The main reason is the characterization: the characters in Nausicaa are simply much more complex and interesting than those of these two works and the setting is also much more dramatic than in these other fictional universes. Here, the setting involves a dying world and the last bits of humanity trying to survive but destroying themselves in the process. It is truly a work of art for the ages and indeed, this is probably the best work of fiction ever written on a graphic novel format and one of the best works of fiction ever written. At least, from my experience as someone who read a rather small number of novels (only a few hundred), this is the one which had by far the greatest emotional impact over me.Yes, I even cried in some parts, this stuff is truly amazing. I am happy that I was able to finish it and that there isn't anything quite like it, since such type of literature is simply so good that it would have swallowed the rest of my life. :)So read it and try to begin reading at a time when you have plenty of free time. Since you will need it in order to finish up this series fast, otherwise, you will not get it by reading a couple of pages a day over a longer period. And will neither by able to appreciate it.Overall, I spent about 100 hours reading the whole series. It truly deserves to be read carefully and calmly since the story is very dense.

Excelente si con la historia que se cuenta en la película no te basta. El arte es uno de los más bonitos que he visto y el tamaño del libro es perfecto para poder visualizar todos los diálogos y dibujos.

A little larger then I expected but great for the collection

Muchos dibujos tipo comic. Diseñado estilo japones. Para niños más mayores o para adultos. La filosofia de Nausicaa es la ecología.

It is good quality. Thank you very much.

STORY-Story wise, other reviewers have gone into depth on that, but let me just say that this is an absolute MASTERPIECE, possibly the greatest manga and comic ever written in my opinion.The animated film was great, but this blows the film out of the water, developing much deeper and wider and with Miyazaki's own, beautiful artwork, it is a truly remarkable work.Great story, with rich, meaningful themes, masterfully told and developed thoroughly, in a fascinating world populated but great characters and tremendous action.What more could you possible want?EDITION- (For prespective - I have had the 'Perfect Collection'(also available on here) box set of Nausicaa for quite some time and it's a very nice collectors item, but it is printed on such delicate paper that I refrain from using it for fear of breaking it. It is also printed in quite a small format.)This edition however is what I would refer to as the definitive 'readers' edition.PRO'S - The A4 size lets the artwork shine in bigger format. It's great the read this story again in such a comfortable format. The larger size is truer to the original artwork and definately suits Miyazaki's style more than a compresed format. The story feels like it breathes more on the page and suits the epic nature of the subject matter.The stable binding makes this paperback a reliable one, and one that you won't be afraid to read and bump around a bit.The artwork is also printed with a 'sepia' tone to it, which is a nice touch and there are full colour maps included too.The story is presented in its original left-to-right format, with japanese sound effects left as they were. For me this is a plus as I dislike images being flipped or rearranged as this was not the original vision of the artist, leaving it like this makes it truer.CON'S - The ONLY con, is that the paper quality is not the highest, if it was higher grade this would be the 'Perfect' edition. It does not however diminish the enjoyment of the work, and for the cost, the paper is fine.As a long time fan of the work, I can say that this is my preferred edition.