A thousand years had passed since the Seven Days of Fire, which was an apocalypse that destroyed civilization and made a toxic jungle, filled with humongous bugs. But the kingdom of the Valley of the Wind remains. 

There, the princess, Nausicaä, is exploring the jungle and communicating with the bugs. Her goal is to understand their issues more. That way, humans and insects can coexist peacefully.

Shortly after, Lord Yupa comes. He also has a little creature that’s somewhat aggressive. But it learns to trust and love Nausicaä. Nausicaä returns to the palace with him.

One morning, though, the Valley of the Wind ends up in danger. A large cargo aircraft from the militaristic Empire of Tolmekia crashes. Its only survivor is Princess Lastelle of Pajite. She takes over.

Not long after, Nausicaä goes into the basement of her palace. It is filled with various plants. Lord Yupa comes to that area and is surprised with how clean the air is.

However, Nausicaä is devastated by what’s happening. She breaks down crying.

Later, Nausicaä decides that she needs to leave her kingdom to fight and save everyone. She bids goodbye to her people and takes off in her glider.

The battle goes on for some time. But Nausicaä eventually falls out of her aircraft and into the jungle. She ends up underground. There, she meets Lastelle’s twin brother, Asbel.

The two get to Pejite. Unfortunately, it is devastated thanks to a bunch of insects. That is because the local survivors had the bugs eradicate the Tolmekians. The same plan is in effect for the Valley of the Wind.

If that’s not bad enough, Nausicaä gets captured and locked up. Can she still complete her mission and save her kingdom?

I will admit that this film did not engage me as much as I hoped it would. The pacing was a bit slow, the scenes sometimes lagged, and the story was kind of hard to follow.

Although Google says that this movie is 1 hour and 35 minutes, it’s actually almost 2 hours. So, I’m not very happy that the runtime on Google is incorrect. 

On the bright side, however, the characters are well-developed, and the morals taught are strong. Nausicaä was very likable. I admired her kindness, ability to empathize with animals (including bugs), and her bravery. I also loved her relationships with Lord Yupa, her pet, and her people. 

I do wish she’d wear something under her mini dress, though. There were too many shots that showed her butt when she was flying and moving around. I also noticed that when she wore something on her head, it would make her hair longer, like just past her shoulders. But once she took it off, her hair was back to being above her shoulders as a bob. I do find that a bit sloppy, even in a cartoon.

That being said, the animation and art style was beautiful. The violence levels also didn’t go too far. But the tension levels remained high enough, especially during battle scenes.

But overall, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind ended up being just okay. Even though the movie is appropriate for all ages, I’d recommend audiences be at least 10 to understand it.

I give this movie 3.5 out of 5 stars.