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A review by nigellicus
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 5 by Kaori Inoue, Izumi Evers, Walden Wong, Hayao Miyazaki, Joe Yamazaki, Rachel Thorn
5.0
The daikasho is in full flow, the mutant slime molds are converging, the Dorok empire has ousted his younger brother, who held the real power because of his supernatural powers. The Dorok lands are over-run with dying insects sprouting the seeds of a new fungal forest poisonous to humans. The people flee and famine, pestilence a long, bloody, futile conflict over the remaining patches of clear land seems inevitable. The forest may be a natural process to clear toxic pollution from the ground, but will any of humanity survive to see it? Should they?
Close utter despair, Nausicaa travels to the heart of the new forest, but even as she discovers the truth about the Sea Of Corruption, she is surrendering to a desire to take of her mask and become part of the forest.
It's the big question, isn't it? The planet will keep on turning no matter what we do with it - will we keep turning with it or will we be spinning in our graves? It's not even a question of deserving it or being worthy - it's a simple matter of practicality, about being smart enough not to turn your home into a toxic dump full of acid and carcinogens. As the story moves towards its penultimate volume, the artist is visible wrestling with this huge but simple question - where to find hope in a world we're turning into a toxic dump and then fighting over the last chair.
Close utter despair, Nausicaa travels to the heart of the new forest, but even as she discovers the truth about the Sea Of Corruption, she is surrendering to a desire to take of her mask and become part of the forest.
It's the big question, isn't it? The planet will keep on turning no matter what we do with it - will we keep turning with it or will we be spinning in our graves? It's not even a question of deserving it or being worthy - it's a simple matter of practicality, about being smart enough not to turn your home into a toxic dump full of acid and carcinogens. As the story moves towards its penultimate volume, the artist is visible wrestling with this huge but simple question - where to find hope in a world we're turning into a toxic dump and then fighting over the last chair.