So basically, after an apocalyptic conflict that devastated much of the world's ecosystem, the few surviving humans lived in scattered semi‑hospitable environments within what has formed into “toxic jungles”. Young Nausicaä lives in the Valley of the Wind and can communicate with the massive insects that populate these areas, and trouble arises when the Tolmekia kingdom’s cargo ship crashes, killing everyone in it besides the princess, who told Nausicaä to get rid of the cargo, and shortly dies as well. Soon after, Tolmekia troops invade The Valley of the Wind, led by Princess Kushana, and leads up to a pretty fierce battle between these two forces. Kushana had this huge goal of destroying the Toxic Jungle by maturing the Giant Warrior that inhabits it, going against Nausicaä’s view of restoring peace and rebuilding it. Later on, Kushana and the Tolmekia troops take Nausicaä and five others as hostages, but later crash into a jungle after being shot by a Pejite (enemy) ship. During the trip in the jungle, she calms down a Ohm, and even forms a friendship with Asbel, the sister of the deceased princess and a Pejite pilot. In the end, Nausicaä liberates the baby Ohm and gains its trust, and even though she and the Ohm were ran over by the herd, the Ohms calm down and use their golden tentacles to resuscitate her. And as she stands before them, dress drenched in the blue blood of Ohms, walks over and fulfilled the prophecy of her world, and herself, as the toxic jungle rebuilds itself.
I obviously love the plot and themes and how they intertwine with each other seemlesly throughout the movie! Of course, the main theme of this film is the Enviornment and how important it is to maintain it, and it’s shown in how Nausicaä wants to restore the Toxic Jungle, and technically achieves it in the end when non-toxic sprouts start to grow. It’s a new beginning for The Valley, and it leads the imagination on what will happen next!
Now for the charecters, Nausicaä I can safely say is a very likeable protagonist, and I never got bored or annoyed by her in any way! I love how she always has faith and hope in the people she meets, like her people, Asbel, and even Princess Kushana when they worked together at one point. For Asbel, his relationship with Nausicaä was great overall, and I liked the trust they had in eachother, such as Nausicaä helping out a Pejite ship full of people or when she worked together with him till the end. As for Kushana, I thought she was pretty good for the most part! She was still so tied with her reasons in the end, thinking killing all the Ohms and causing destruction was the way to go. It’s a bit concerning that she wasn’t really influenced by Nausicaä at all, but it’s alright.
Again, Nausicaä of The Valley of the Wind is overall a beautiful masterpiece, and one of the highlights of Miyazaki’s films. And for being his first film is amazing! I would obviously love to watch the movie again when I have the time to. Besides that, this was my review on the film, and I hoped you like it!