While I am a Miyazaki fan, I haven't actually seen Nausicaa the movie. But when I saw the first of the graphic novel/manga adaptations in Barnes and Noble, I knew there'd be an audience for it in the library, and read through to preview it.

And while I love Miyazaki and the world-building was incredible and fully realized from the first panel, it just didn't really draw me in. I'm not sure if the difficulty was the fact that the illustrations were so full and detailed that it was overwhelming, or that the one-toned ink made everything very difficult to differentiate (my version was not in sepia, but in black and white, which it really suffers for).

I think it's definitely worth to get the other 6 volumes though - the themes of environmentalism, the cruelty yet inevitability of war, and the struggles with fate and the worth of humanity are always relevant. ( )

Well, straight-up, the manga has some notable differences between from the anime, from very early on. It's still absolutely gorgeous, but I would say that a few of the changes are for the worse (not by much, but just a little bit for the worse). ( )

One of my all time favourite graphic novels (along with Full Metal Alchemist and Vinland Saga). A great adventure story and thought provoking. ( )

Princess Nausicaa can communicate with the creatures of her home world. Her home world has been destroyed by pollution from the past. Creatures called the Ohmu are seen as monsters by many people, but Nausicaa can communicate them and helps people see them as animals who need understanding. The book has good messages about courage and taking care of the earth. ( )

One thousand years after a war destoryed much of the Earth, humanity clings to existence at the fringes of a vast, polluted forest inhabited by monstrous insects. Only Nausicaa, the princess of the tiny realm of the Valley of the Wind, grasps the environmental significance of the forest. She sees beyond wars and national rivalries to the only viable future for the planet.