Pre-Nausicaä Book 5 Synopsis - Animage - 4 April 1990 (AH, 3/92)

Pre-Nausicaä Book 5 Synopsis - Animage - 4 April 1990 (Anime Hasshin, March 1992)

Dear People,

STOP THE PRESSES! The following article is really dynamite, as it contains lots of "Nausicaä" trivia that most American fans of the manga have never heard of... and yet only the end of said article contains spoilers. The spoiler section begins with the heading entitled "THOROUGH EXPLANATION OF THE REST OF THE STORIES," so if you don't want to "spoil" this part of the story for yourself, stop reading at the end of the chapter with the heading, "The Viscous Fungus." You've been warned. 8)

Steven Feldman <ar402004@brownvm.brown.edu>

Pre-Nausicaä Book 5 Synopsis - Animage - 4 April 1990 (Anime Hasshin, 12 March 1992)

Translated by Masashi Suzuki
Translation re-formatted and edited by Steven Feldman

The following article first appeared in English in March of 1992 as part of the Anime Hasshin-published "All Miyazaki Packet." (All the rest of Anime Hasshin's available "packets" are "synopsis packets.") Most of the remainder of the contents of this packet are culled from the Hayao Miyazaki Discussion Group nausicaa@brownvm.brown.edu computer mailing list. This article is not to be copied for profit and all parties must be credited if this article is reprinted . . . or Chikuku will get angry.

Special Edition: Manga - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

From ANIMAGE magazine, April 4, 1990 Translated by Masashi Suzuki

The following eight pages will show you everything about the manga "Nausicaä" and provides a thorough explanation of its characters and story.

At last, "Nausicaä" is resumed after a 3-year discontinuation. Because it might be difficult to remember the story, we recommend that you review this explanation in order to fully enjoy the manga.

The Characters in the Nausicaä World

First of all, let us review the main characters, including Nausicaä herself. "Nausicaä" is about the invasion of the kingdom of Doruku by the kingdom of Torumekia amid the presence of insects that live in the Decayed Sea.

The Valley of the Wind

Nausicaä - She is the daughter of Jiru, the chief of a small kingdom called the Valley of the Wind. After Jiru was killed, Nausicaa and her troops joined the Torumekian force according to a treaty signed long ago. Nausicaa meanwhile discovered that the Decayed Sea cleaned up the contaminated world, and by communicating with the Ohmu, the giant insects, she foresaw the coming of a great disaster. She fights bravely and hopes to witness the coming of a new world.

Yupa Meraruda - He is considered the best knight in the Decayed Sea region. He is skilled in both the long and short swords and tries to solve the secret of the Decayed Sea by traveling around the world. He is Nausicaä's teacher and Jiru's best friend. Yupa hopes to find out if humanity is destined to perish or not by the Decayed Sea.

O-Baba (Big Grandma) - She is the oldest woman in the valley, possibly over 100 years old. She is the teller of history since she is the most knowledgeable person in the valley.

Mito - He is one of the five castle keepers. He has worked for the castle for a long time and leads the valley's troops.

Jiru - The chief of the valley. He died in bed after being contaminated by the poisoned air. He worried about his daughter, Nausicaä.

Torumedian Kingdom

Kushana - The fourth princess of the Torumekian kingdom. She is the only princess who is a relative of the former king. She is on quite bad terms with her brothers.

Kurotawa - He is Kushana's staff officer and is not of noble blood.

The Others

Ohmu (Big Insect) - Huge insects that live in the Decayed Sea. These insects have as many as 14 eyes that turn red when they get angry. Called the masters of the Decayed Sea, they appear whenever people burn the Sea. They have a very firm outer shell.

Giant Soldier - These are creatures created by the biotechnology of the industrial civilization that perished in the past. They are the formidable weapons that burned the whole world during the Seven Days War.

Wood People - They are noble people who ceased using fire and live in the Decayed Sea quietly. It is said that they are the first people who were able to handle the insects.

Chikuku - A child who lives in a village in the territory of Doruku.

Pejite

Rasuteru - A daughter of the chief of Pejite and younger sister of Asuberu. She died when she escaped with the secret stone that could restore the Giant Soldier.

Asuberu - A brother of Rasuteru. A man with passion and temper. He shot at the Torumekian carrier with his gunship but was assaulted by the enemy. He was later helped by Nausicaä.

Doroku

The First Prince - the successor of the royal family of Doruku. Since he has no psychic ability, he was forced to give up power to his brother. He yearns to dominate the world by restoring the Hidora and the Giant Soldier.

The Second Prince - The ruler of Doruku. He has a strong psychic force but barely stays alive with the use of medicine.

Charuka - The bishop of Doruku's religious institution. He was an advisor for the Second Prince, but after having been saved by Nausicaä, he tried to solve the secret of the mutant created by the mucous germ. He realized that it was foolish to extend the Decayed Sea artificially.

Hidora - Soldiers who used to be in service when the holy emperor conquered the land where Doruku exists now. They are immortal unless their heads are damaged.

*The Story* from the Total War to Retreat

Now let's review the general story contained from Volume 1 to Volume 4 of manga. The story begins on a barren earth, burned during the Seven Day War. Nausicaa, who lives in the Valley of the Wind, sees a shell of an Ohmu in the forest called the Decayed Sea.

The industrial civilization that was born on the western edge of the Euroasian continent, spread throughout the world within several hundred years. Devastating the earth and polluting the atmosphere, the civilization reached its peak but soon started to decline. The war called the Fire of the Seven Days devasted the cities and emitted harmful substances into the atmosphere. The highly complex technology systems were lost, and most of the land became barren. Afterward, the perished civilization was not restored, and humanity was forced to confront the era of twilight.

The Valley of the Wind

After the industrial civilization was lost, the earth was covered with the forest called the Decayed Sea which emitted poison air. People lived in the places around the Decayed Sea and established individual kinqdoms. One of the them was the Valley of the Wind.

One day, Nausicaä was asked to keep the secret stone by Rasuteru, a princess of Pejite City, which was covered and devastated by the Decayed Sea. The stone was a part of the Giant Soldier that destroyed the world 1000 years ago. Although there were many fossils of the Giant Soldiers, the last one was buried and has survived in the ground.

The princess Kushana, who attempted to get the Torumekian throne by using the Giant Soldier, found that the secret stone existed in the Valley of the Wind. When she met Nausicaä there, the Torumekia War broke out involving the nations around the Decayed Sea.

Torumekian War

There are many countries small and big around the Decayed Sea, and they are divided into two sides, Torumekia and Doruku. Countries such as Pejite City and the Valley of the Wind are the allies of Torumekia. The two superpowers were under tension and broke out into war when Torumekia invaded Doruku.

Nausicaä participated on the Torumekian side but was soon shot down by a survivor of Pejite - Asuberu. She was barely able to make a forced landing in the Decayed Sea. She then saved Asuberu from an attack of the Ohmu, and they escaped, only to become the prisoner of the Doruku. Meanwhile, Doruku surrounded Kushana, who landed in the acid lake with the Ohmu. Nausicaä, who barely escaped, rejoined Kushana.

The Journey of Nausicaä

Kushana returned to the castle of Doruku's Sapata - a strategic location. Nausicaä fought at the battlefront on the condition that prisoners were to be released. Kushana was triumphant, although she lost her horse, Kai. After the promise was kept, Nausicaä left Kushana and went south where the Ohmu were headed. After landing in a small lake, she met a monk who worshiped the native god and was told that the old world perished and a new world would soon be recreated through purification. A swarm of insects passed above them. After she chased them, she found that Doruku's battleships emitted a poison gas.

The Viscous Fungus

After approaching the battleships, Nausicaa discovered that they were emitting poison air created by a viscous fungus used to extend the Decayed Sea artificially by the Doruku, who were in a disadvantaged position. In the battleship, she found that no one could control the viscous fungus, which was mutant. The ship's commander, Charuka, decided to dynamite his battleship as a last resort and was successfully rescued by Nausicaä. He gave up his attempt to spread out the fungus which would totally devastate the land after he realized that it was meaningless. He decided to save the soldiers from the fungus. In the meantime, Torumekia also encountered the swarm of insects. As a result, the second force was destroyed and the third force was forced to retreat.

    SPOILER ALERT  [this is your last warning]

Thorough Explanation of the Rest of the Stories

This part is taken from ANIMAGE COMICS, unpublished sections, and the manga series for ANIMAGE from February 1986 to June 1986.

The war between the superpowers Torumekia and Doruku was deadlocked, but gradually it appeared that Torumekia, which possessed more weapons, could win. The number of victims increased in both countries.

However, a terrible thing happened while both were engaged in the tragic war. In the emperor's battleship of Doruku, the new and unknown viscous fungus was created which emitted an unknown poisoned gas.

Meanwhile, Kushana, who led the surviving soldiers, met Yupa while retreating. Nausicaä, together with the monk of Doruku, chased the fungus. The fungus, gradually becoming more intelligent, multiplied and extended its territory in spite of the bombing. The four newly created fungus moved toward each other to join together. Nausicaä found that their rendezvous point was Sapata's granaries and that the world would be on the brink of ruin because of the fungus. Is the ruin of the world the process of the purification of the earth?

Nausicaä Finally Found Out the Secret of the Fungus!

The viscous fungus moved over the spreading Decayed Sea. The resulting damage was about to spread throughout the whole territory of Sapata. Nausicaä flew out in order to save the people from the poison air. Chikuku also helped her to save people by using supernatural power and evacuated the people of the village. The Doruku territory of Sapata was about to be covered with the fungus. While flying, Nausicaä witnessed insects meeting at the rendezvous point of the fungus. In the sky, she found a swarm of flying insects; on the ground she saw Ohmus. Since the insects couldn't eat the fungus, they extended the Decayed Sea by making their own bodies seedbeds. She was stunned by the act of nature.

The Struggle for Power Emerging in Doruku Brought a Threat

Sapata, threaten by the spread of the Decayed Sea and the fungus, had a new threat! Is there a way to save the world? What will become of Nausicaä, who tried to witness the future of the world at the rendezvous point?

Another threat was coming to the granaries Sapata threatened by the Decayed Sea and the fungus. The Second Prince, who possessed the dominion of Doruku and had the supernatural power, killed his brother, the First Prince, and headed for the battle front, declaring himself the emperor of Doruku. He attempted to invade Sapata having ambition to violate the taboo - to revive the Giant Soldiers for conquering the whole world.

Nausicaä landed on a hill close to the rendezvous point to quietly witness the change of the world.

[The next chapter of the manga appeared in this very same issue of ANIMAGE, i.e the April 4, 1990 issue.]