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Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

★★★★ — Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

Hayao Miyazaki had already co-founded Studio Ghibli's spiritual predecessor through his work on the Lupin III franchise and The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), but Nausicaä was the film that established him as a singular voice in animation. Based on his own manga series, which had been running in Animage magazine since 1982, the film was produced by Topcraft (later reorganised into Studio Ghibli the following year) on a modest budget of around one million dollars. Released in Japan in March 1984, it arrived during a period when anime features were still finding their commercial footing, and its box office performance, nearly nine times its budget, gave Miyazaki and producer Isao Takahata the leverage to establish Ghibli proper. A notoriously butchered 85-minute English re-edit, titled Warriors of the Wind, circulated internationally for years before the full version was properly restored and released.

A masterpiece forged in 1984 that still feels light-years ahead of most modern fantasy. The animation is breathtaking, hand-painted skies, vast fungal forests, gliding airships… all done with such care and detail it’s hard to believe this is over 40 years old. The story is a haunting eco-fable about war, nature, and redemption. Nausicaä is one of anime’s greatest heroes. Compassionate, brave, and deeply human. It does take its time, some stretches are slow, almost meditative, but if you let it wash over you, the atmosphere is unforgettable. I loved it so much I built a D&D one-shot around it. That says everything. Not quite perfect pacing-wise, but as a vision? As a world? Pure genius.

Rating: ★★★★ | Year: 1984 | Watched: 2025-07-22

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Where to watch (UK)

Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Physical: Amazon UK

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