One of the most weirdly, wonderfully built worlds of Hayao Miyazaki – and that’s saying something. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind takes place centuries after a cataclysmic world war that has left much of Earth polluted. Various clans cling to little pockets of life – the valley of the title is one of them – while massive mutant insects roam the surrounding, toxic forests. Nausicaä is the princess of one of these clans, exploring the surrounding lands in her soaring glider. Just as she begins to understand that there may be a way for humanity to live in harmony with this environment, a new wave of fighting breaks out. And so Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, early on, establishes what would become one of the defining themes of Miyazaki’s career: the mess we’ve made of creation, alongside our yearning to restore it.
