[Anime Girls] Princess Nausicaä

The name is definitely taken from Homer’s Odyssey character name.  Miyazaki’s Nausicaä is also a princess, but I think that is where the similarity ends, with Homer’s  Nausicaä.

Nausicaä as a character has developed personality from a Japanese folk tale on how much of a lover of nature and insects, she is. The insects are the ohmu in Kaze no Tani. Miyazaki’s movies are all quite successful and now I am not sure if I can ever put a ranking of which is my favorite, although several years ago, I was quite certain. I believe my attitude changed slightly from that time, but my friends may know of this movie as having a special place in my heart.

Nausicaä is the heroine of Hayao Miyazaki’s Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa. A film and manga series that made him well known internationally. This movie was made in 1984m and I must have been four or five when I first watched the Cantonese version of it. The dub was really out of there… of what was really popular in the 1980’s in Hong Kong, such as calling Asbel – Brother Marc, after Chow Yun Fat’s role in those Johnny Woo films.

Back to the character of Nausicaä though, for a long time she symbolized for me what a princess was. I admired her selfless characteristics as she is portrayed in the movie. I also like her independent actions. I have never finish reading the entire graphic novel series, so I can only recall that Nausicaä did have her own share of imperfect moments.

In this obvious post apocalyptic world, she has a great deal of responsibility and maturity. With her father dying from sickness, and there is a great burden for her to lead. She takes on the reins quite admirably. She is shown to try and live in peace with her people and the nature around them. The fact that she throws away everything to save the baby Ohm in the ending, that is just sigh-worthy for a good movie drawing to a conclusion.

I know that Miyazaki has that opinion of how our current world is going, but if the world around us, would prevent things as it is portrayed in the movie, then perhaps there is potential environmental actions to take.

I liked how the ending scene showed of her hat in the underground cavern, with that single leaf growing. It shows promise, for a renewal of the world. That scene is reprised in Miyazaki’s later Mononoke Hime movie, with that forest spirit in the end. The music is also something I really appreciate, and to see Nausica, as a character, with the persnality reprised in so many of Miyazaki’s other heroine… makes me wonder what should be the chracteristics of a perfect person? Now Miyazaki has stated his opinion on females being an inportant person, but like many of his movies, he has taken a stand of the women’s position as being responsibile to the people around them, and this is mainly family and friends.