NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF WIND
Created on 10/7/2003
Updated on 4/26/2005
I translated the last 3/7 of this series, and in nine years of
translating about 5000 pages of manga, this was the best and most
important title I worked on. If you go way back to the earliest
reviews here (1998), you'll find some very nice comments by Toren
Smith about my translation, but I must say Toren and Dana's was a hard
act to follow. They did an excellent job on the first 4/7, and my
biggest challenge was to maintain both their tone and their level of
quality. I give it four stars here only because I'm a bit disturbed by
the way fans treat this work as a sacred text, flawless and beyond
criticism. It is a great work, but, no, it is not the Lord of the
Rings. Tolkein spent his entire life creating the world of Middle
Earth (and not doing much else, itseems, other than teaching
linguistics). For Miyazaki, the Nausicaa manga was a side project he
worked on in between his many brilliant animated films. There were
often long breaks, and many fans feared he would never finish it. As a
result, yes, there is some inconsistency in tone and even theme. But
the story only gets better and better as Miyazaki matures and his
thinking becomes more nuanced and complex. The Nausicaa we see here in
the later volumes is not the two-dimensional messiah figure of
Miyazaki's (excellent) 1983 animated film of the same name. She is
wracked by doubts, is sometimes ready to give up, and even experiences
what might be a nervous breakdown. But what I want to talk about here
is the experience of translating Nausicaa and the almost religious
devotion of non-Japanese fans to this work. I never got so much e-mail
about anything else I ever translated. For example, one time I had to
translate an episode while I was on the road, and I didn't have the
previous translations with me. A character appeared who hadn't
appeared since the first volume, and I couldn't remember how Toren and
Dana had transliterated her name, so I took my best shot and asked the
editor to check for consistency. The editor didn't check, and as it
turned out I had transliterated it differently (I think they had named
her "Ketcha" and I had named her "Kecha," or something like that.)
Wow! When the episode was published, fans went ballistic! What was
more surreal, though, was the fact that fans were relying to a great
extent on a so-called "fan translation" of the animated movie for
reference. This unauthorized "translation" is laughably bad, and was
done by a person who, although prolific, is utterly unqualified to
translate Japanese. But this self-appointed translator has (or at
least had) an almost god-like status among fans, and I would get
letters complaining that I had "mistranslated" a line, because my
translation differed from that of the unauthorized translation. In
other words, the gross mistranslations of the "fan-subber" had become
canonical, even where they completely reversed the meaning of the
original! Today I am an associate professor in Japan's first and only
Department of Comic Art, at Kyoto Seika University. I teach about the
history and sociocultural aspects of manga and comics from around the
world to some of the most talented aspiring manga artists in Japan.
(Every year, about 400 applicants vie for 40 openings in our program.)
You could say that I have dedicated my life to preaching the gospel of
sequential art, and I mean that only half-jokingly. So I think I'm
qualified to say this. Take a deep breath now. Step back, and look at
things in perspective. This is a great manga. No, it's a great comic,
or graphic novel, or whatever you want to call it. But it is not the
Bible. It is not the Koran. It is not the Talmud, or the Lotus Sutra.
It's the side project of a man who considers himself foremost an
animator, and who creates comics almost as a hobby. There are actually
many manga that are arguably better than this (though this may be the
best ever translated into English). Uncritical worship will only make
prospective readers skeptical. Four stars is probably good enough, and
four stars is nothing to sneeze at.
by Matt Thorn
Difference in edition
Interesting comparison and contrast from Nausicaa de la vallée du vent
Original version at Nausicaa.net
NAUSICAA AND THE FANTASY OF HAYAO MIYAZAKI by Andrew Osmond
Fanart
Nausicaa fanarts from AnimeXX[German]
The Tragic Story of the God-Soldier Part 1 and Part 2 from Tang's Illustrated
Deadly Viper from Icarus Falls
Nausicaa from Tang's Illustrated
Nausicaa and Yokoshima from Tang's Illustrated
Nausicaa from Arioch's Well of Souls
Ghibli Fan Art Gallery: Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind Gallery from http://www.kyrn.org/
Gallery from Nausicaa Nocturne
Nausicaa and the Ohmu from DayDreamer
Nausicaa(Perreine) and Nausicaa (Eve-1996) from Lullaby
Nausicaa from BlackCat
Art of Ghibli from Kei's Homepage
Sleepy Nausicaa from Outsider Art
Nausicaa in the Wood and Nausicaa's Dream at American Anime
Nausicaa on Mehve and God Soldier from Insert Webpage Here
my nausicaa from GFXartist.com and JRTISTIC
nausicaa from Schleifer's Studios
Nausicaa and Asbel from StudioCYEN
Nausicaa from Boltcity
Usenet Images:Nausicaa
First two fanarts are from Alexe "Izumi" Cinz per request from me. With exception of
the last picture, the rest are drawn by German who goes by the name Sir Hellsing. You could
find the artist's other work by going to Nausicaa fanart section at AnimeXX
Doujinshi
Kushana - Kanraku(SHOUJOAI) by Sir Hellsing
Fanfiction
- My Nausicaa fanfictions
Pondering to write either an prequel or sequel to the epic novel.
+ ALTERNATE WORLD OF NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF WIND
+ Nausicaa fanfiction from Kushana's Third Army cavalry officer's POV
- Re: Lack of Miyazaki Fanfics
- Ghibli Between the Series from The Hursts
Similarity between angel in On Your Mark music video and Nausicaa, the theme of fanfiction
above, can be surmised in following quote:
People have claimed that all Miyazaki's heroines look alike. And there is some stylistic
resemblance which comes from the fact that they're all creations from the artistic talent
of the same person. But they're not identical in apperance. Nausicaa doesn't look like Kiki
who doesn't look Lana who doesn't look like Fio who doesn't look like Satsuki. But the
angel in On Your Mark does bear a very strong resemblance to Nausicaa, more so than any
other two Miyazaki characters. In fact in several interviews (here's one example) he refers
to the angel as the "girl of bird" or a better translation would be "bird girl", which is
the phrase he has often used both in the manga and in interviews to describe Nausicaa.
by Marc Hairston from Coda: On Your Mark and Nausicaa
On Your Mark review from The Anime Review
- The Man from the High Clouds by Nicholas C. Weaver
- Nausicaa and the Dorok Priest by Raymund Perez
Poem by Alexander Gyenizse about Nausicaa
ROLE PLAYING GAME
- Unofficial Nausicaa Role Playing Game
- Synopsis for RPG
- Mecha Pantheon's Nausicaa of the Valley Of Wind RPG from Yahoo Group: Nausicaamod
- 'Nausicaa From The Valley Of The Wind' Army List from Hordes of the Things
Nausicaa Links
Nausicaa.net
A&E 3300 -- Nausicaa material in "Natural Wonders"
Nausicaa: Movie versus Manga
A Gulf Between Anime and Animation
Articles and Interviews of Hayao Miyazaki
Comic Box Vol.98
Ever Forward, My Darling Wind
Ghibli films of the 80s - Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind from Pathea.Com
Kaze no Tani no Naushika
Kazetsukai-tsushin vol.8
Master Yupa
Le studio Ghibli
Nausicaa & Her Mehve HQ
Nausicaa de la vallée du vent
Nausicaa Nocturne
Nausicaa.Net
Shuna's Journey
Wingsee's Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind
Understanding Man And Nature With Nausicaa from The Tao of Anime
Le Studio Ghibli
101 Things to do with Dead Totoro
Introduction to Nausicaa from Triludan
Genesis Studios produces Nausicaa AMVs
Rookery
ALEXANDER KEY AND FUTURE BOY CONAN
Thru the Forgotten Door
Alexander Key Papers
Incredible Tide novel that inspired Future Boy Conan
OKKUN's Future Boy Conan Homepage
Highharbor
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