This is my sumbission for this month's LAMB MOTM. I'll make this as quick and painless as possible.Nausicaa is the princess of the Valley of the Wind, living 1,000 years after the "Seven Days of Fire," an event that virtually destroyed most of humankind and Earth's natural resources. At the center of it all is the Toxic Jungle (English version), which plays host to insects and plants that pollute everything around them, making even the air impossible to breath.
One day a cargo ship crashes on the cliffs of the Valley. The ship is carrying a the embryo of a Giant Warrior, one of the weapons used to destroy the Earth during the "Seven Days of Fire." A clan of people named the Pejite had unearthed the embryo, but a rival clan, the Tolmekians, stole the Giant Warrior to use to burn the Toxic Jungle. The Tolmekian queen comes to the Valley the day after the cargo ship crashes to reclaim the Giant Warrior, taking Nausicaa hostage back to Tolmekia, only to be shot down by a Pejitan gun ship over the Toxic Jungle.
(NOTE: First and foremost, let me just say that anime is not my thing. I don't watch it and am completely ignorant on the genre. I think this is the first full length feature in anime that I've sat through.)
With all the stuff going on in Nausicaa, I was left a little bored. That's probably because I felt there was just too much going on and stopped paying attention. The action bounces around erratically, leaving little time to even absorb whatever had previously transpired. And even with all that was happening, I still didn't find the story very interesting. I actually had to watch the movie in three separate sittings, because I'd either fall asleep or get distracted and walk away. It's a terrible thing to admit, but true. And as soon as the old blind woman brought up the legend of mankind's savior, I had the ending figured out very quickly.
Though I liked the feminist perspective of the film, I must say Nausicaa was pretty boring for a heroine. She spent too much time whining about peace and flying around on her glider instead of kicking ass. No wonder her people were in danger. I just couldn't find much in the film to root for.
I did like parts of the soundtrack. Not the blatantly 80s parts, but the rest of the music I liked. And that's about it.
Though I didn't care for the movie much, I am still left curious to know how it would've turned out if it were live action. I'll live if I never found out though.
Rating:
5 pieces of fan mail:
I agree... I really didn't like this movie at all... and I *do* like anime. So it isn't just because you dislike the genre.
Though if I could make a suggestion... watch 'Spirited Away'. It's the one anime that even people who don't like the genre love. It's an amazing film, and I think you'd enjoy it.
I've had Sprited Away recommended to me before. It's on my never ending list. And it's not that I dislike anime, it's just that I've never given it much of a chance. I guess Nauiscaa wasn't a good way to start.
Yeah, I've even read from other people that if you're not big into anime, you probably shouldn't start with Nausicaa. Miyazaki is the greatest, I think, in the field of anime, but he didn't really impress me with this one (probably because it was one of his first).
But like I said, Spirited Away is my favorite of his. Princess Mononoke is another really good one, too, though I'd recommend the former first.
And if you ever wanted to get into an anime TV series, I'd recommend Death Note. Highly suspenseful and pretty awesome. It's about this super-genius college kid who finds a notebook from the death world, and if he writes somebody's name inside with the image of their face in his mind, it kills them (and you can also write how a person dies, too. If you don't, they just have a heart attack). So he becomes this genius serial killer (only going after criminals), and the kid's father is the police guy in charge of his case. Meanwhile, there's this super-genius detective trying to figure out who the killer is, too, so the majority of the series becomes this cat-and-mouse game between the kid and the detective guy, both constantly outsmarting the other.
I don't know.. I really enjoyed this movie, but then again I'm a huge fan of Miyazaki's work... and not just because I'm asian, lol.
For me, the pace of the movie was just fine. i will admit that I enjoyed Howl's Moving Castle more. I don't know if you've seen that, but I would recommend it, along with Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away, like Nick did above.
In any case, always glad to read stuff from another LAMB. Be back soon!
Intermission at Work - Joe
Joe, it's not that I conciously have anything against anime, it's just not something that particularly appeals to me. I may have a mental block when it comes to it, but Nausicaa just left me really confused. I may get around to some of Miyazaki's other films someday and be far more impressed.
But thanks for stopping by!
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