Nausicaä
Whew. OK, so I just finished watching Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind and boy are my arms tired!
No, that sounded even worse than I expected. Let's try that again.
When I was but a young lad, deadunicorn and I spent much of our time scouring comicbook shops. We didn't have much money to spend and were voracious readers, so we often stuck to the discount bins for the sheer bulk, wasting too much on the occasional X-men/factor/force/man/cetera. Somehow, in our delving, we came across the first two books of Nausicaä (initial Viz `87 version). As I recall, he was the one who bought them (being more shrewd- I was heavier into the Vault of Horror scene). Eventually, though, I got them in trade. I still didn't really appreciate them, but I knew they were different- they were more like what we call graphic novels now than comic books (although short), and the story was a bit... off formula. This was, of course, my first unwitting experience with any form of manga.
Well eventually I did read them. You know how something left unfinished can remain trapped in your brain? (Zeigarnic effect) Well anyway, it's been about 15 years since I first finished the second book (of 7) and went "ok, so where are the rest?" I never tracked them down- at first due to difficulty, and then because I had sort of written it off as imposterble my attention waned, and I all but forgot (with exceptions last year on hearing about the movie and perfect editions).
So finishing the movie was cathartic just for having finished the story. But DAMN, what a story. OK, it's not incredibly intricate by some standards, and I know many people might find that it just doesn't hold their interest. But personally, I loved every minute. I can now remember the last movie I cried while watching, because this is it. Then again, I still reread the Lorax. I may not be strictly religous, but my personal library of fable is fairly well stocked, and these two rank at the top.
Really, it was just what I needed, and I'm thankful it found me.
No, that sounded even worse than I expected. Let's try that again.
When I was but a young lad, deadunicorn and I spent much of our time scouring comicbook shops. We didn't have much money to spend and were voracious readers, so we often stuck to the discount bins for the sheer bulk, wasting too much on the occasional X-men/factor/force/man/cetera. Somehow, in our delving, we came across the first two books of Nausicaä (initial Viz `87 version). As I recall, he was the one who bought them (being more shrewd- I was heavier into the Vault of Horror scene). Eventually, though, I got them in trade. I still didn't really appreciate them, but I knew they were different- they were more like what we call graphic novels now than comic books (although short), and the story was a bit... off formula. This was, of course, my first unwitting experience with any form of manga.
Well eventually I did read them. You know how something left unfinished can remain trapped in your brain? (Zeigarnic effect) Well anyway, it's been about 15 years since I first finished the second book (of 7) and went "ok, so where are the rest?" I never tracked them down- at first due to difficulty, and then because I had sort of written it off as imposterble my attention waned, and I all but forgot (with exceptions last year on hearing about the movie and perfect editions).
So finishing the movie was cathartic just for having finished the story. But DAMN, what a story. OK, it's not incredibly intricate by some standards, and I know many people might find that it just doesn't hold their interest. But personally, I loved every minute. I can now remember the last movie I cried while watching, because this is it. Then again, I still reread the Lorax. I may not be strictly religous, but my personal library of fable is fairly well stocked, and these two rank at the top.
Really, it was just what I needed, and I'm thankful it found me.