Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Volume 1) - To War?!

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Volume 1 Cover

Nausicaa is the heir to the Valley of the Wind, a small village surviving amidst the toxic jungle that spreads across the Earth. With her father on his deathbed, Nausicaa will represent her people in the coming war.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (Volume 1) – To War?!

What happened?

Nausicaa was exploring the toxic jungle when she came across an Ohmu shell. It had no doubt just malted and left this perfect specimen behind. She would have to tell the others in the village as this would provide them with a vast amount of raw materials. However, she heard a disturbance in the jungle and then gunfire. After sending off a flare to offer assistance, she saw one fly back her way. They needed her help. She swept down on her glider and managed to soothe the rampaging Ohmu and guide it back to the jungle.

She was amazed to see that the person she helped was Master Yuta, returning from his travels. He was amazed to see how much she had grown and how in tune with the bugs and animals she was. It was a truly mysterious gift. He was also shocked to discover that Nausicaa would be going to war in her father’s place. It was the only way to keep the autonomy of the Valley of the Wind and a price she was willing to pay.

While running some test flights of the gunship, Nausicaa spotted a ship in distress and tried to guide it to safety despite the swarms of bugs crawling all over it. Unfortunately, they had done too much damage and the ship crashed into a mountain. Nausicaa found one survivor in the wreckage, a Princess from Pejitei. Her homeland had been invaded by Torumekia, a supposed ally. Before she died, she gave Nausicaa a stone and asked her to return it to her brother.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind Volume 1 Nausicaa finds an enraged Ohmu

What did you think?

I watched the anime not that long ago with my kids and they thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s one of my favourite Studio Ghibli movies so it’s needless to say that I loved it too. So, when I spotted the Nausicaa manga at my library, I had to read it. Now, this is early in the review, but I feel like I need to say that anyone that is a fan of the movie needs to read the manga. There are seven volumes in all and the first one covered about half of the movie. It also included details and things that made much more sense. The movie works, but this makes you see something that you might not have noticed before.

There is so much more to this world than the movie told us and I can’t wait to dive into the other books. I think it’ll increase my love of the anime and probably make me want to see a full series production of the entire story. There’s no way it’s going to take six more books to get to the end of the movie, so I think there’s a lot more to the story. This is going to be an incredible ride. I can feel it already.