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2009-07-19

Photos - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind





Some hi-res photos of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, because...well, I think this movie should get more votes. It's really the movie that saved Hayao Miyazaki's career, and let to the creation of Studio Ghibli and all the followed. It's also a masterful film, certainly the greatest anime film after Horus, Prince of the Sun.

And it should be said that Sumi Shimamoto is fantastic. She really is the voice of the Miyazaki Heroine, and her Nausicaa was the first performance in animation that really made me sit up and take notice. This is great acting.

So is this really Miyazaki's finest movie? I can never decide. But there's a strong case to be made.

8 comments:

The Cat and the Crow said...

Unwittingly stumbling upon Nausicaa many years ago, I fell in love with everything: the strong characters, the resonant storytelling, and the rich musical score. To this day it remains my first and favourite Miyazaki film.

Anonymous said...

@Rain
Hah, finally someone else who likes the music of Nausicaa, too. ;)
Nausicaa really is a fine movie by Miyazaki, but in the end I had to decide between Lupin III. and Mononoke in the poll and opted for Lupin III. because I so thoroughly enjoyed it the last time I watched it, this movie is a good spirit raiser. Nausicaa was my second choice not because it is inferior to the other two movies, the reason is that the Nausicaa manga is so much richer that the movie seems 'lacking' somehow to me, hard to explain clearly why.
SignorRossi.
Sorry for my rugged English, it's not my native language.

James said...

Nausicaa ought to rank as one of Miyazaki's finest. Mononoke is very similar to this movie. Even though Mononoke is technically superior in animation, score, direction, Nausicaa's like an old friend but better.

C. McKane said...

I voted for Nausica because even though it wasn't the first Miyazaki I watched if I had to choose a favorite then that'd be it.

But Howl's Moving Castle and Porco Rosso were way up there too.

BionicVapourDude said...

Speaking of the Nausicaa manga, I just picked this up recently because of the recommendations on this page... (Bought the whole 7 book set) Having never read manga before, is it normal that they don't color in the drawings? Some of the pictures that have lots going on in them are kinda hard to discern because of this... Not sure if it was just a stylistic choice or what...

And I just started vol. 2, and I am loving it so far. I am really surprised at how different the story is in the manga than in the film.

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Yes, it's very common for Japanese manga to be in black-and-white. And Miyazaki is very, very detailed with his drawings in his Nausicaa manga. It's highly unusual for Japan, much closer to European designs like Moebius.

At least you get to read the large 7-volume set, and not the older 4-book "perfect collection," which was much smaller. You can appreciate the drawings in their original size.

Just wait until you get to volume 3....that epic battle...ah, I shouldn't say any more.

James said...

These Hi-Res photos look great. I'm not even sure Blu-Ray could capture that quality.

Somebody captured a number of HD shots from the Joe Hisaishi in Budokan blu-ray disc. They look terrible in my opinion: http://blog.affenheimtheater.de/en/2009/07/11/studio-ghibli-hd-blu-ray-disc-preview-screenshots/

Daniel Thomas MacInnes said...

Yes, the screenshots from the Hisaishi concert Blu-Ray are not hi-def, but simply upscaled DVD screenshots. So you won't be greeted with anything approaching Blu-Ray quality.

I don't know if Blu-Ray will bring these movies to the same level as the original cels that we see in these hi-res screenshots, but I would expect it to be damned close. For a good example of how anime fares on the new format, check out the new Akira Blu-Ray

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