Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, I by Hayao Miyazaki.The Age of Chitin,
after the Ceramic Age,
when humans were bugs.
Yep, so this is amazing. I knew after watched the Ghibli movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind & found out that there was a manga, I knew I had to read it. It just had that spark of...what did I call it after I saw The Secret World of Arietty? Demiurge, yeah; you can see that it is a world that percolated in Miyazaki for a long time, gathering layers like a pearl. Oh man it is so great, & this was just the first volume. I'm really excited. Most of the "big secrets" of the movie have already been played out, which means that I'm going increasingly into virgin territory. The art is done in brown ink, lending a feeling of...an organic manuscript, copied by monks? As with the movie, I'm astonished by the subtly ways he distinguishes cultures, using jewelry & weapons, fashion & technology. & the rotwood, the Sea of Corruption? The alchemy behind the underground deserts? All of it is so great. & Nausicaä! Lord Yupa! Princess Kushana! Now comes the torment of not reading any spoilers-- at least I've got another two volumes to devour. & yeah, I already started the next one. There are seven volumes? Better get cracking!
