Loving the Alien

Although I lived in Japan for several years, I am not particularly an anime fan. But I am certainly a fan of Miyazaki-san, who made Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, and the movie I watched last night, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

I loved this movie. It is set in a future world thousands of years after pollution has caused an outbreak of toxic forests, filled with giant insects and poison pollens. Its hero, Princess Nausicaa, lives in a peaceful valley, and seeks to learn to live in harmony with the toxic forest. I will stipulate that:

• The animation is a little limited (not much actual fluid movement)
• The Princess Nausicaa is nauseatingly sweet and saintly
• The plot is insipid when not incoherent

But to counter this:

• The artwork is beautiful. The style reminds me a lot of the French artist Moebius, one of my favorites. The depiction of the toxic forest and the giant insects are stunning, jewelled fairylands.
  
• Nausicaa may be too good to be true, but her philosophy of non-violence and tolerance is a good one. Of course, we can't all expect to have the magic power to inspire peace and kindness that she has. Or her physical strength and courage. But don't hate her because she's beautiful.
  
• The plot belongs to a small genre that involves learning to live with an alien, seemingly hostile ecology. See, for example, Ian MacDonald's Evolution's Shore, where an alien ecology called the Chaga blossoms in Africa. Mankind can either try to eradicate it or learn to live with it.
  Then, there's David Gerrold's unfinished Chtorr series, where the aliens soften up Earth for invasion by infecting it with a poison ecosystem. Humanity fights back (this is not a tract on ecological non-violence), but there are hints that they will need to absorb and be absorbed in the Chtorr ecology to effectively fight it.

So, I'm not sure that I have made a case for watching this anime. Maybe, if you have a low tolerance for ecological/Buddhist woo-woo, you should give it a miss. If you like brilliant cartoon artwork and can accept a bit of heavy handed Message, don't miss it.