A spoiler-filled explanation of the original manga of Hayao Miyazaki's timeless masterpiece "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind"! We'll introduce the plot, the differences from the movie, and the ending!

//Summary - Level-C2//

The manga "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind," a profound work by Hayao Miyazaki, expands on the film by exploring deeper themes, such as environmental decay, war, and humanity's role in the world's renewal. Nausicaä's journey reveals ancient secrets and confronts technological and moral dilemmas, culminating in her rejection of a controlled future in favour of freedom and life in the present world.

A)
1)
The film "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" was released in 1984. Some 40 years after its release, it remains a timeless masterpiece, famous at home and abroad, and has even been made into a Kabuki play.

2)
The series began in 1982 in "Animage" and is a masterpiece drawn over 13 years that has influenced creators worldwide.

We will introduce the mysteries not depicted in the film version of Nausicaä and the story's ending.

B)
3)
The good-hearted girl from the Valley of the Wind gets caught up in the war... (until the end of the film)

A world where the great industrial civilisation that brought humanity close to the realm of the gods has declined, and the surface of the Earth has become a barren land due to a war called the "Seven Days of Fire." Civilisation has collapsed.

The world is gradually being eroded by giant creatures such as the Sea of Decay, an area where humans cannot live, and the Ohmu who live there.

4)
Despite this, humanity continues to fight between two nations: the Alliance of Dork Principalities and the Tormekian Empire. The Valley of the Wind, where the protagonist Nausicaa lives, is a small nation allied with Tormekia, but it is also drawn into the battle after a merchant ship crashes.

It's not much different from the movie. Still, the manga version includes the appearance of another organisation called the Dork and the alliance between Tormekia and the Valley of the Wind.

5)
The secret stone given to Nausicaa by the princess of the city of Pejite aboard the merchant ship is the key to resurrecting the Giant God Warrior, and Kushana, daughter of the Tormekian king, comes to the Valley of the Wind to retrieve it.

As the chieftain's daughter, Nausicaa traditionally participates in the Tormekian battles with a gunship. Since she has the secret stone, she fights alongside Kushana and the others almost as a prisoner of war.

C)
6)
Meet Asbel:

As the Valley of the Wind and Tormekia gather in the air, Prince Asbel of Pejite launches a surprise attack on Nausicaa and her friends. In the confusion, Nausicaa and Asbel fall into the Sea of Decay.

They are lucky to reach a less polluted area deep within the Sea of Decay. Asbel is given the secret stone, and a conversation between Nausicaa and the Ohmu reveals that the Sea of Decay exists to "purify the world."

D)
7)
Nausicaa and her friends communicate with the Ohmu:

Nausicaa and her friends escape the Sea of Decay and return to the sky, but this time, they collide with a ship belonging to the enemy force, the Dork. Nausicaa and her friends are captured.

They learn that the ship was sent to destroy Kushana's forces. Nausicaa, realising that the war has engulfed the Valley of the Wind, forcibly escapes from the Dork ship to stop the fighting.

8)
By this time, however, the Dorks had taken a child Ohmu hostage and sent a large number of Ohmu to the Tormekian army.

Seeing this, Nausicaä negotiates with Kushana to save the Ohmu child. She rescues the child in exchange for the location of the secret stone and the fact that Tormekia has informed the Druks of the battle for the throne.

Nausicaä returns the child to the Ohmu, stops the Ohmu's rampage, and has a heart-to-heart with them. She then joins Kushana and the others, whose forces have been destroyed.

E)
9)
During the fierce battle, the secrets of the world are revealed:

After talking to Ohmu, Nausicaä has a premonition of a catastrophe called the Great Tsunami. This phenomenon occurs when the Sea of Corruption boils and surges like a tsunami, covering the world. It has happened three times during the Seven Days of Fire.

10)
The most recent occurred 300 years ago, triggered by a civil war in the land of Ephthal, where frontier tribes, including those from the Valley of the Wind, lived while protecting a great industrial civilisation.

Nausicaä and Kushana head south to prevent the fourth great tsunami, to find out about the safety of Asbel, who was left behind with the secret stone on Dork's ship, and to get closer to the mystery of Dork, who seems to be connected to Ohmu.

11)
During the journey, Nausicaä witnesses the cruelty of war in various places, and although it pains her, she makes up her mind. Kushana and the people around her also begin to see the potential of Nausicaä's power, and Nausicaä advances into even more intense battles.

F)
12)
Doruk's Overtechnology:

The sacred city of Shuwa, the capital of Dork. Using ancient technology said to lie dormant in Shuwa's tomb, Dork creates a slime mould that emits a vapour that even a mask cannot prevent.

The slime mould grows out of control, destroying Tormekia and Dork and triggering a massive tsunami. They also use forbidden technology to create an immortal creature called Hydra and the Giant God Warrior.

13)
Meanwhile, at the temple of Dork, Nausicaä meets a boy called Ruwa Chikuku Kurvalka. He has the supernatural power to communicate telepathically without words and rushes off with Nausicaä to save the stranded people.

G)
14)
The approaching Horde of Ohmu:

Nausicaä learns that the escaped slime moulds and the Ohmu are heading towards a single rendezvous point. She has mixed feelings about them as they move across the land, devouring it.

15)
Then Nausicaä realises that they have gathered to purify the Earth, which foolish humans have polluted, and are sacrificing themselves to save the people. The Ohmu use their bodies as a breeding ground for the slime moulds, creating the Sea of Decay.

Nausicaä grieves over their fate but is also captivated by their deep blue eyes and prepares to become a breeding ground for the Ohmu and the slime moulds.

H)
16)
What will Nausicaa choose in a world that is about to end?:

The Ohmu swallows Nausicaa. Sensing that Nausicaa is gone, Chikuku sets out to save her with Chayarka, a priest of the Dork tribe who Nausicaa has also influenced.

There, they meet a Forest People called Selm. The Forest People live in the depths of the Sea of Corruption, descendants of the Ephthalites who were wiped out in the Great Tsunami 300 years ago. They live in symbiosis with the Sea of Corruption and the forest. The three find Nausicaa in the Ohmu, which has become their breeding ground.

17)
The Ohmu narrowly saves Nausicaa's life, but when she peers into the depths of the Ohmu's heart, she loses her life force and cannot move.

Then, the spirit of Miralpa, the Emperor of Dork who possesses supernatural powers and whose spirit has been wandering since his brother's death, arrives and tries to win Nausicaa over.

I)
18)
A long journey in the spiritual world:

Nausicaa was wandering in the profound spiritual world. Miralpa and Selmu also visit her. Selmu tells her about the Emperor's sadness and the secret of the Sea of Decay, and she learns that a beautiful world awaits after the world is purified.

She is moved by the beauty of the world that will come after their destruction and feels happy. Nausicaa does not wish to live in such a beautiful world but wants to leave it for future generations by living her life to the fullest in the present.

19)
Selmu invites her to live with him, but after completing her journey in the spirit world, Nausicaa is no longer lost. She will live in this polluted world.

Meanwhile, the Tormekians and Dorks fight over the remaining land and people and try to start another war.

J)
20)
Resurrection of the God Warrior:

Nausicaa uses the Chikukus' powers to appeal to the people to stop fighting. Nausicaa's thoughts are conveyed gradually, but the Dork Emperor's brother Namulith resurrects the God Warrior who caused the Seven Days of Fire.

21)
However, the revived God Warrior sees Nausicaa, who has received the secret stone from Asbel, as a mother and decides to act with her. Although Nausicaa recognises him as dangerous, she calls him "Ohma" and treats him as her child.

Nausicaa travels with him to Shuwa and tries to put an end to the forbidden civilisation. Pretending to be a mother, she wishes for the death of Ohma, the worst life form the civilisation has created.

K)
22)
To the Tomb of Shuwa, where the Elder Humans rest:

As Nausicaa and her friends head for Shuwa, Kushana and her friends follow. However, a battle with the Dork soldiers is inevitable, and Nausicaa's mentor, Yupa, sacrifices himself to protect Kushana.

He wishes to protect Kushana, even at the cost of his own life, and to continue ruling with Nausicaa.

23)
Nausicaa and Ohma travel to Shuwa with the princes of Tormekia. On the way, they discover a beautiful garden. They bury Tet, killed by Ohma's power, under a tree and rest in the garden.

There, Nausicaa and her friends meet a goatherd and enjoy nature and music in the beautiful garden, but it turns out that the Elder Ones are stopping people on their way to Shuwa.

L)
24)
I can only live here:

The goat herder is a hydra created by the old humans and is the tomb's guardian. He has locked the new humans in the garden so they never approach the tomb. In the past, the first Emperor of Dork also visited, and it was said that he left this garden to save humans. (After that, the world was in a mess...)

Selm, a forest man, also appears to rescue Nausicaa. But the Hydra reveals the secret of the new humans.

25)
Nausicaa and the other New Humans cannot live in the world after the Sea of Corruption has cleansed it. If they breathe too clean air, they cough up blood and die. This is why the Forest People can only live in the depths of the Sea of Corruption, not in the purified land.

Nausicaa realises that the Old Ones created the Ohmu and the Sea of Corruption and remade people and creatures to purify the world.

M)
26)
Finally, Reaching the Tomb:

At that time, King Vu of Torumekia arrived at the tomb first. He believed that the tomb's existence would cause conflict and tried to negotiate with the old humans about its future, but Ohma, who came to fulfil Nausicaa's wish, attacked the tomb to seal it.

However, the tomb is also equipped with an interception system and resists, resulting in a large-scale artillery battle between the God Warrior and the tomb. Ohma then loses all his strength.

27)
The tomb is also wounded and silent. Nausicaa heads deeper into the tomb, thinking about her many sacrifices.

Finally, she touches the main body of the tomb left by the old humans and receives a message from them. The purification will end, and a beautiful world will come.

N)
28)
The Bird that Lives Again and Again:

Nausicaa was angry at the old humans. They created a new human race and enslaved them to purify the world, but they did not tell them the truth, causing a lot of blood to be shed.

The tomb argues that humanity cannot live without them, but Nausicaa and King Vu refuse. They declare that even if they bleed out and die, they will become free birds that will live again and again.

29)
Nausicaa uses the last of the God Warrior's power to destroy the tomb and the eggs of the old human race. Nausicaa then returns to the surviving people. However, she decides not to reveal to them that a painful fate awaits the new human race.

No matter what happens, humans must live for tomorrow.

Nausicaa declares that she will survive this twilight world with Kushana and the others, and the story ends.

30)
A masterpiece that depicts the universal darkness and light of the world! :

The world of Nausicaa and her friends, depicted in seven volumes, is relevant to reality and is a work that touches people's hearts in all eras.

In addition to Nausicaa, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind features many other fascinating characters, including the popular Kushana, who is said to be the other main character, Yupa of the Valley of the Wind, and the Emperors of Toki. Their episodes are also very moving.