Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Plot Summary

• A thousand years have passed since the catastrophic Seven Days of Fire, an apocalyptic war that devastated civilization and led to widespread ecocide, creating the Toxic Jungle-a vast, poisonous forest teeming with giant mutant insects. In the Valley of the Wind, a small kingdom spared from much of the destruction, a prophecy foretells a savior "clothed in a blue robe, descending onto a golden field." Nausicaä, the Valley's curious and compassionate princess, ventures into the Toxic Jungle, where she communicates with its creatures, including the massive, armored, trilobite-like Ohm. She seeks to understand the jungle and discover a way for humans and nature to coexist.One morning, a massive cargo aircraft from the militaristic Tolmekian Empire crashes in the Valley despite Nausicaä's attempts to save it. The sole survivor, Princess Lastelle of Pejite, pleads with Nausicaä to destroy the cargo before succumbing to her injuries. The cargo is revealed to be an embryo of a Giant Warrior, a terrifying bio weapon responsible for the Seven Days of Fire. The Tolmekians had seized the embryo and kidnapped Lastelle, but the aircraft's crash into the Toxic Jungle triggered an insect attack. When a wounded insect emerges from the wreckage, Nausicaä calms it with her bull roarer and guides it away from her village.Shortly after, Tolmekian soldiers, led by Princess Kushana, invade the Valley, killing Nausicaä's father, King Jihl. Overcome with grief and rage, Nausicaä confronts the invaders but is stopped by Yupa, the Valley's wise and elderly swords master, who urges restraint. Kushana seizes the Giant Warrior embryo, intending to use it to destroy the Toxic Jungle. However, the Valley's wise woman, Obaba, warns that any attempt to burn the jungle will provoke the wrath of the Ohm, who have destroyed cities and claimed countless lives in the past. Meanwhile, Yupa discovers Nausicaä's secret garden of jungle plants, which she has nurtured in clean soil and water. Her experiments reveal that the plants themselves are not toxic, but the pollution-tainted soil they grow in is.Kushana orders Nausicaä and five villagers to accompany her to Tolmekian-occupied Pejite. En route, Pejite rebels intercept and shoot down the airships, causing Nausicaä, Kushana, and the hostages to crash into the Toxic Jungle. Their crash disturbs several Ohm, but Nausicaä calms them. She rescues Asbel, Princess Lastelle's twin brother, but their aircraft crashes through quicksand into an underground, non-toxic ecosystem. There, Nausicaä realizes the jungle plants are purifying the polluted surface soil, producing clean water and land beneath.Nausicaä and Asbel travel to Pejite, only to find it destroyed by insects. Survivors reveal they deliberately lured the insects to wipe out the Tolmekians and intend to do the same to the Valley. When Nausicaä protests, the Pejite rebels imprison her. However, with the help of sympathetic Pejite villagers, including Asbel and his mother, she escapes and discovers the rebels using a wounded baby Ohm to provoke an enraged herd of Ohm into attacking the Valley.As the Tolmekians battle the approaching Ohm, Kushana deploys the prematurely hatched Giant Warrior. The unstable bio weapon manages to destroy a few Ohm before disintegrating. Meanwhile, Nausicaä rescues the injured baby Ohm, but its blood stains her pink dress blue. With the baby in tow, she confronts the stampeding Ohm, standing before them as they charge. The herd stops and uses their golden tentacles to heal her wounds, calming at last. Nausicaä, walking across the golden field of tentacles, fulfills the ancient prophecy.With peace restored, the Ohm and Tolmekians leave the Valley, while the Pejite survivors remain to help rebuild. Beneath the Toxic Jungle, a new, unpolluted tree begins to sprout, symbolizing hope for the future.

Storyline

• Set one thousand years from now, the Earth is ravaged by pollution and war. In the Valley of the Wind lives Nausicaä, Princess of her people. Their land borders on a toxic jungle, filled with dangerous over-sized insects. Meanwhile, two nearby nations are bitterly engaged in a war and the Valley of the Wind is stuck in the middle. — grantss In the aftermath of the Seven Days of Fire, an unavoidable conflict of apocalyptic proportions that destroyed civilization and the Earth's ecosystems, noxious fumes and mutated insectile behemoths threaten the remaining humans. And then, a millennium after the destructive war, ruthless invaders set foot in the verdant Valley of the Wind, a peaceful community ruled by a charismatic young leader. But a toxic forest of dangerous fauna and flora encircles the land. As blind ambition and stubborn disregard for all living things trigger a new murderous clash between warring human factions, the valley becomes the breeding ground for unbridled violence and methodical annihilation. With nature's survival hanging by a thread, can valiant Princess Nausicaä restore peace and stability before it's too late? — Nick Riganas