Customer Reviews

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vols. 1-4

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I translated the last 3/7 of this series, and in nine years of translating about 5000 pages of manga, this was the best and most important title I worked on. If you go way back to the earliest reviews here (1998), you'll find some very nice comments by Toren Smith about my translation, but I must say Toren and Dana's was a hard act to follow. They did an excellent job on the first 4/7, and my biggest challenge was to maintain both their tone and their level of quality. I give it four stars here only because I'm a bit disturbed by the way fans treat this work as a sacred text, flawless and beyond criticism. It is a great work, but, no, it is not the Lord of the Rings. Tolkein spent his entire life creating the world of Middle Earth (and not doing much else, itseems, other than teaching linguistics). For Miyazaki, the Nausicaa manga was a side project he worked on in between his many brilliant animated films. There were often long breaks, and many fans feared he would never finish it. As a result, yes, there is some inconsistency in tone and even theme. But the story only gets better and better as Miyazaki matures and his thinking becomes more nuanced and complex. The Nausicaa we see here in the later volumes is not the two-dimensional messiah figure of Miyazaki's (excellent) 1983 animated film of the same name. She is wracked by doubts, is sometimes ready to give up, and even experiences what might be a nervous breakdown. But what I want to talk about here is the experience of translating Nausicaa and the almost religious devotion of non-Japanese fans to this work. I never got so much e-mail about anything else I ever translated. For example, one time I had to translate an episode while I was on the road, and I didn't have the previous translations with me. A character appeared who hadn't appeared since the first volume, and I couldn't remember how Toren and Dana had transliterated her name, so I took my best shot and asked the editor to check for consistency. The editor didn't check, and as it turned out I had transliterated it differently (I think they had named her "Ketcha" and I had named her "Kecha," or something like that.) Wow! When the episode was published, fans went ballistic! What was more surreal, though, was the fact that fans were relying to a great extent on a so-called "fan translation" of the animated movie for reference. This unauthorized "translation" is laughably bad, and was done by a person who, although prolific, is utterly unqualified to translate Japanese. But this self-appointed translator has (or at least had) an almost god-like status among fans, and I would get letters complaining that I had "mistranslated" a line, because my translation differed from that of the unauthorized translation. In other words, the gross mistranslations of the "fan-subber" had become canonical, even where they completely reversed the meaning of the original! Today I am an associate professor in Japan's first and only Department of Comic Art, at Kyoto Seika University. I teach about the history and sociocultural aspects of manga and comics from around the world to some of the most talented aspiring manga artists in Japan. (Every year, about 400 applicants vie for 40 openings in our program.) You could say that I have dedicated my life to preaching the gospel of sequential art, and I mean that only half-jokingly. So I think I'm qualified to say this. Take a deep breath now. Step back, and look at things in perspective. This is a great manga. No, it's a great comic, or graphic novel, or whatever you want to call it. But it is not the Bible. It is not the Koran. It is not the Talmud, or the Lotus Sutra. It's the side project of a man who considers himself foremost an animator, and who creates comics almost as a hobby. There are actually many manga that are arguably better than this (though this may be the best ever translated into English). Uncritical worship will only make prospective readers skeptical. Four stars is probably good enough, and four stars is nothing to sneeze at.

I am surprised that USA people watch this comic series in addition to the same title movie.

As you know, Naushika's story don't finish to the movie. The truth story start from reading this comic. Even if Japanase read them, the story is a little difficult, but there are more wondeful things than the minus point.
For instance, the drawing ways. Generally comic(Japanese MANGA) is simple drawing. But the comic is very detailed drawing. They is like art rather than comic.

And in addition to the wonderful drawing,the expression of the character's face is very excellent, for instance joy, sarrow, longing, anger... Mr. Miyazaki can write their expressions very well. There are writers that can write comics very well in the world, but there will not are writers that can write their expressions of face very well.

If there are people that was moved when watched the movie, absolutely we recommend this comis..art series.

You will not waste your money by buying this arts series.

I am sorry for my poor English.

I'm japanese and I'll tell you that Japan is flooded with comic books also known as Manga.Threre are hundreds of weekly all comic magazines published and almost EVERYBODY is into some sort of those things. And I'm not. I can't stand reading and gazing at drawings at same time, it almost seemed like impposible to me. Until I saw this. I saw the animated film version of the same title and was blown away! I had to read the Manga version. The story is deep. There is a lot more going on here than in the movie. Way more complicated, and made me cry so many times. You won't understand in 1 read. I've read it like a thousand and one times, but every time you read it you find more to it. Another message here, different meanings there.....
Mr. Miyazaki took like 16 or so years to complete this. It's a masterpiece. only 1 thing is towards the end it feels like he rushed himself to end it, like very anxious to finish it and get it over with.It could've been 50 more pages to have it ended more dramatically. But well it might've taken him another 3 years for that so.... that was enough for him I guess. Anyway...
I think it's great and this is the only manga book I own and love.

As a rule of thumb, I never consider comics or mangas as serious or deep literature material even though I read them every now and then for pure laugh. But this manga series is the exception to my rule, and the only one as far as I know.

The quality of the artwork is quite good when compared to other mangas on the market. I'm impressed by how Mr. Miyazaki capture the 'big picture' of an incident such as a battle (check the battle scene in book 2) with his sketches. Most other artists neglect that, instead focusing on the hero/ine. Yet I must admit that several other artists, such as Tsukasa Hojo of 'City Hunter', drew better pictures in terms of realism, details, light contrast, etc. However, considering Mr. Miyazaki drew all the panels ALONE (almost every other manga artists have several assistants to draw the background and such) and the fact that he has worked on several movies over the 13 years it took to complete the series, I must say he did a damn super job. I doubt more than a hand-full other artists could produce such good artwork given equivalent workload. I must note here that the English version is laterally inverted from the Japanese version, because in the Far East, people read from right to left. As a result all the drawings are laterally inverted too. Not that it's a big deal ...

But the series really shines with its character developments and storyline. The main characters display complex personalities; you just can't describe them with one word. And their characters develop after each incident in which they learn more about the world and/or themselves. I particularly like how Kushana the 'ice queen' gradually rediscover her gentle inner-self through Nausicaa and her own troops. despite growing up in the 'viper's nest'. The series also possess rich themes. Although the central theme is on the conflict between Man and Nature (as between humans and insects/rotwood), several other themes are implied, namely the suffering from war (check the refugees dying and fleeing from warzone), 'racial' discrimination (check the treatments toward worm-handlers), loyalty and betrayal (check Kushana's troops and her royal family), etc. And more interestingly, even the themes develop with the story as the author's view of the world changes over the 13 years. These themes are carried out in a very good storyline. Now I understand there are some scenes that appear to defy the laws of physics and reality such as telepathy, impossible 'stunts', etc. But that I can overlook considering it is a fantasy. On the macroscopic scale, you can really relate the world depicted in the series to our world through history.

To those of you who wish to 'test the water' by buying just book 1, I must warn you that in my opinion, the main purpose of book 1 is to introduce the main characters and create the setting for the rest of the story. Although there are plenty of actions and some themes are introduced, they are not as fully developed in book 1, and potential readers may find that disappointing. However, it only gets deeper and more thought-provoking later on, until book 4 when the author threw in some unexpected twists to the storyline. One of these twists would (I imagine) cast serious doubts on one of Nausicaa's fundamental beliefs. The ending is somewhat controversial as in you may not agree with Nausicaa in what she believes to be the right thing to do.

Overall, I'm very impressed by the fact that a manga can challenge my mind to this extent. It is not the best book I've read (though still very good overall), but it's definitely the best manga.

If you're tired of reading comic books (or any kind of books, for that matter) with one-dimensional characters, meaningless action, sloppy art, poor compositions, and generic stories, pick up this series. Nausicaa is my favorite story in comic books, and frankly, it's one of my favorite stories, period. Action-packed yet philosophical, violent yet ultimately about peace, you can't really appreciate it until you read it for yourself. If you've seen the movie, you've only seen about 1/4 of the full story.

Mr. Miyazaki is considered by all the world to be the greatest living animator, and surely among the greatest of all time.
He did this as something to pass the time between film projects.

I'm struck by the 'camera angle' placement, depth-of-field and movement in each scene, to say nothing of the philisophy and story depth. He's working miles above his peers.

This is a Lord-Of-The-Rings, from Japan.
In 100 years it will still be in print and widely read.

But the DVD release is only the first 1/3 of the series with a much simpler and less interesting plot with fewer characters. It's basically a 'worship the forest & nature' yarn which was too earthy-crunchy for me. The larger series has these elements but so many other issues are in play that it's never a one-note orchestra.

Hayao Miyazaki lent his drawing talent, and extraordinary eye for detail and storytelling to this epic. A cautionary tale of an all too possible future, focuses on what ignorance, neglect, and exploitation of the environment may cause. The scope of this tale could easily translate into a season or two, of quality anime in Japan. It would be hard to turn down such a Miyazaki backed project, given his track record. Unfortunately, his production company specialized in movies, and not anime series. A movie of Nausicaa was made, and the Japanese version is considered a classic. The film however, condensed too much of the story that existed, and other parts had not even been completed as yet in the manga. It would be nice one day to present the entire epic in anime form.

Like many long epics, this story follows the classic line of what is called, the "Hero's Journey". Nausicaa a young girl with a kind, determined heart, and a sense of destiny, is the hero. Like most tales of such scope, the hero's call to action, must be precipitated by dire events. The hero is not usually someone who sees him or herself in that role. Like Nausacaa's character, they possess extraordinary characteristics, which are brought to the surface by need or tragedy. Along the way, (Journey) the hero, (heroine in this case) is changed by his/her accomplishments.

This graphic novel set is unlike any other that I own. I can read through a 200-page Ranma 1/2 book in an hour. Many others, whether humor or action, rarely take more that an hour and a half. They are entertaining for sure, but I rarely feel like I've read any real literature. Nausicaa is different, I found that to follow, and enjoy the story, reading 20-30 pages at a sitting was quite fulfilling. The depth of story, detail of the art, inspired my imagination, and I wanted to take a break to digest what I'd read. It took me six months, of off and on reading to complete the four volumes, "Perfect Collection".

I think the author of the graphic novels forward was correct in saying, this is considered to be the greatest graphic novel ever written. This is definitely not for the casual comic book reader. If you want to see big booms, and bangs on every page, pass these books on by. Better yet check out the free pages Amazon.com has posted and determine if you like what you see. You'll rarely find a better value than this, in compiled manga collections.

If you do not know who Hayao Miyazaki is, shame on you! Hailed as one of the few to master Japanese Animation, Miyazaki has delighted many through his films, which contain beautiful art and incredibly rich story lines and charcterzation.
This is the cream of the crop, the "baby" of all of Miyazaki's projects. It took him exactly 15 years to conclude Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind and it couldn't be any better. With his tradmark style and flare, this world-reknowned film maker as proven once again that you do not have to like Japanese Anime or Manga in order to praise excellent story telling.
Set a thousand years after the Earth was burtally scarred in a devestating ecological diaster, humans are a dying species. For those who are still alive, they live outside and far away from the posionious forests in vallies and contries. Now a fight between them has come about, and who ever wins will claim the last of Earth's usable resorces. Caught in the middle is Nausicaa, the last heir to the Valley of Wind's thrown and the only surviving daughter of the now dying king. Despite she doesn't want to be apart of the war, she braves ahead as she discovers a prophacy that states that this war will begin a cleansing of the Earth and that she is the one to do it.
An engrossing and time consuming manga, this is a major treat for anyone who either loves Miyazaki's pervious works or Anime and Manga in general. Although it tends to get political and lenghty at times, there is still plenty of action and suspence to keep the reader on his toes and discover the startling conclusion of this wonderful series.

Back in 95 I watched the poorly translated American version of Nausicaa, entitled "Warriors of the Wind" At the time I believed this to be the only version in existence and was quite happy with it. Time went by and I had entered into college, where a fellow student brought up Nausicaa. "Nausicaa?" I asked, "what's that?" And he showed me, and to my disbelief it was a 4 book series based on the anime I watched so long ago.

He let me borrow his four graphic novels, and on that day I had read them from page 1 to 1050. These books are something special. A world as multi layered, beautifully realized, and wonderfully imagined as Tolkien's Lord of the rings. I've read these books countless times, and each time the drawn images on the page breathe with life like no other comic I've ever read. There are messages here that enlighten us on Ecology, Genetic engineering, Philosophy, Religion, war, life and death. And that's only the tip of the ice berg. Miyazaki has crafted a world that seems alarming real, yet delightfully surreal, and it is here that all of his current films have drawn inspiration, a wonderful inspiration that has inspired thousands and will do so for many years to come. (Now if only they'd make this into a four part movie like LOTR, then I'd be truly happy.)

I recieved vol. 2 of this collection about 2 years ago and was just dying to read the rest of the series. This is the most beautiful manga you will ever read! It is abosolutely wonderful! I cried when I finished reading, it was so beautiful. Take my advice--READ THESE BOOKS!!!