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Environmentalism was a mistake: Nausicaä and nature
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 ส.ค. 2024
- How Miyazaki became a "true simpleton" by abandoning traditional environmental ideology and embracing the wild power of emotional growth.
Essays and Articles-
DazzReviews., 2020. Nausicaa: The Uncomfortable Conversation | The Director Project. • Nausicaa: The Uncomfor... .
Geekritique., 2020. Nausicaä and the Rise of Studio Ghibli | The Director Project. • Nausicaä and the Rise ... .
Kamimashita., 2021. We Are All Just Afraid - Lessons from Nausicaa. • We Are All Just Afraid... .
STEVEM., 2021. Miyazaki’s MAGNUM OPUS. • Miyazaki's MAGNUM OPUS .
Pause Between Panels., 2021. Why You Should Read Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. • Why You Should Read Na... .
Evan Mullicane., 2021. Hayao Miyazaki’s True Masterpiece Isn’t His Films, It’s His Manga. screenrant.com/hayao-miyazaki....
Zeria., 2019. Miyazaki’s Marxism - The Politics of Anime’s Legendary Director. • Miyazaki's Marxism - T... .
Hanlunn., 2021. How Nausicaa makes you care about the environment. • Video .
Joriam Ramos., 2020. Ghibli’s believable nature in Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind. • Ghibli's believable na... .
Music-
RebeccaETripp & Gabriel Tripp., 2019. “Goldpath”. ocremix.org/remix/OCR03895.
donut, Deckels, Sean R. Hanson., 2022. “Mystic Mycology”. ocremix.org/remix/OCR04361.
Joe Hisaishi., 2008. Deep Sea Pastures (From: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea Soundtrack).
Joe Hisaishi., 1988. A Huge Tree in the Tsukamori Forest (From: My Neighbor Totoro Soundtrack Collection).
Video-
Hayao Miyazaki., 1984. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Production: Topcraft, Distribution: Toei Company.
Hayao Miyazaki., 1988. My Neighbor Totoro. Production: Studio Ghibli, Distribution: Toho.
Hayao Miyazaki., 1997. Princess Mononoke. Production: Studio Ghibli, Distribution: Toho.
Hayao Miyazaki., 2001. Spirited Away. Production: Studio Ghibli, Distribution: Toho.
Hayao Miyazaki., 2008. Ponyo. Production: Studio Ghibli, Distribution: Toho.
Mami Sunada., 2013. The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. Production: Dwango, Distribution: Toho.
Ian Calvert & Richard Matthews., 1984. The Living Planet (Episodes: 3, 4, 6, 7, & 9). Production: BBC Natural History Unit, Time-Life, Original Distribution: BBC1.
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Environmentalism doesn't have to mean Bambi-ism. The reality of nature, as sometimes inhospitable to Man, can be acknowledged, and so can its resilience, while still also recognizing the necessity of nature - and that even if Nature doesn't need our protection to survive, if we respect and protect Nature, that will be better for our survival.
Nature is both charming and fearsome, not one or the other. It is not benign, it can be dangerous...but is also completely necessary.
I remember when one of my friend's had a young daughter. The daughter went through a phase where she idealized princesses, but my friend was concerned about the influence of some of our culture's iconic princesses. So I gave the little girl a copy of the Nausicaa movie, telling her that if she wants to be a princess she should learn about the best princess. A couple years later she read the manga, and today she is an artist, and breeds rare isopods, her tiny pet Ohmus.
parenting 100%
we must spread the idea that insects are POP and CUTE!
I mean, great and all, but shove off and let people like what they want. My parents crammed girl power down my throat and tried to make me into a girl boss type by forcing me into science (and when that failed, business). I ended up resenting them because they refused to let me have my own interests. So no, I don’t think you’re amazing for making someone like something else, even if it turned out good for them.
@@BlackSheepNara I don't think in this case anyone is being forced to like insects, just that they can be a source of inspiration. I am sorry you had to go through being forced down the road of particular interests. I have been forced down a particular career path/role by my parents too (and they don't accept any of my personal interests), so outwardly I don't express any of my interests to anyone and have no willpower of my own- sucks being a puppet person. :(
@@BlackSheepNarathose are two completely different scenarios. Anger won't heal your wounds
Nausicaa hates violence, but is also extremely capable of it. She absolutely wastes those soldiers at the beginning of the film. She hits one of them so hard his steel helmet shatters. You'd have to ask an engineer for the math on that but she is much stronger than an average human. I also noticed that the few people who are left after the spread of the toxic jungle are incredibly long lived. Something about the toxins in the jungle make people stronger and extends their life span while also killing them. It's an interesting juxtaposition.
The helmets, armors and weapons are made of porcelains, in the manga they explained it more. Only few metal still exist in this world, that is the reason her family air plaine give they nobility royal statement
Armour being useless is a super common trope in fiction.
@@cuoyotoconti Not only this, but the manga is far, far deeper than the movie and honestly most of his animated films. It's really a story about finding meaning in a world full of cruelty and nihilism. The monsters and human monsters as given more emotional depth, save for one who is a complete nihilist and deemed a waste of existence by the protagonist. The fire weapon's death left me tearing up, because it had the mind of a child and only wanted to be loved. Oh, and the artwork is fantastic. Easily in my top ten for graphic novels.
It's funny how Miyazaki is championed in popular perception as an artificial symbol of "purity" when his masterwork is entirely about challenging the very notion of pureness and idealism.
Yeah from memory in the final scene Nausicaa encounters phantoms of the Old World who promise her that they cleanse and bring back the world before the war. Nausicaa rejects them claiming they are illusions and gets Ohma to crush the heart thingy of the Grave of Shuwa, ultimately destroying any chance of returning to a purified world. Nausicaa is convinced even though she and the other humans are irreversibly bioengineered and tainted by pollution they can continue to live as strong moral people. In a sense Miyazaki does reject these ideals of purity. I’m sure it has a lot to do with Japanese imperialism WWII and the atom bomb, all things which inevitably changed Japanese people for better or for worse. I think Nausicaa’s ending is a bit too optimistic for me lol but it does have themes that reach beyond environmentalism.
Nausicaa is so much more of a complex character in the manga, capable of violence, killing and even evil to uphold her ideals. It’s very different from the inherently ‘good’ character in the movie. Also Kushana is so much cooler in the manga, you can see how she inspired Asuka in Evangelion.
Especially his latest film How Do You Live? (I refuse to call it The Boy and the Heron because the English title is awful.)
Also Miyazaki is so misunderstood by the masses. He never symbolizes purity or promotes it. He shows things how they are from his own perspective and hopes that the younger generations learn from the mistakes of the past. This theme is present in ever Miyazaki film. Even My Neighbor Totoro has a line by the dad about how people were once close friends with trees/nature. Miyazaki lived through unspeakable tragedies that current generations would view as nightmare fuel. Miyazaki wants a happy ending for mankind but he himself has his doubts. His movies are his advice to humanity even as he himself doesn’t have all the answers. It’s why his final film stung so badly when I seen it last month. He wants a future where it’s better for all. I desperately want to help grant his wish but similar to Mahito from How Do You Live? I’m not fit to pick up either. But that desire to make the world a better place never truly leaves and it’s sad that Miyazaki won’t get to see the kind of world he envisions.
Miyazaki champions purity? Wtf?!? Is this actually a popular perception?
Like... that's practically the opposite of Miyazaki's core themes, and probably the biggest thing that sets Ghibli as the opposite of Disney.
Mononoke is, in my mind, the magnum opus. It also perfectly illustrates the rejection of "purity" through its 3 main characters and its depiction of nature (and the complex relationship between nature and humans).
Thank you for making this video. Ever since I read the manga about 12 years ago I've often been frustrated by the simplistic analysis of Nausicaa and how little attention is paid to the true moral complexity and character evolution that happens in the books as compared to the movie. Having read Starting Point and Turning Point also gives a much broader and in-depth understanding of the story, and I think anyone who really wants to talk about Nausicaa needs to incorporate these books into their critique, so I'm very happy to see you quoting from them extensively.
People who have only watched the movie sometimes claim that Nausicaa is a mary sue and just a simplistic heroine that has an overly idealistic view of nature vs. humans, not realizing that Miyazaki is entirely in agreement with them and has taken great pains to criticize conventional environmentalist narratives in his work, particularly the anti-human misanthropy so often exhibited by ecologists and climate change activists.
Nausicaa's decision to destroy the crypt with all its higher technology at the end floored me the first time I read it, and angered me some too. It seemed so reckless and selfish for her to do, but as I've gotten older and broadened my perspective I have come to see the wisdom in it, allowing humans to naturally re-adapt and acclimatize to the world by its own schedule rather than trying to reintroduce all the higher tech of the old world at once. Its an argument against dependency on technology that comes with its own mental tolls, expressed in the corruption of the Dorok emperors and priesthood.
Nausicaa is taking a gamble that humanity will overcome and adapt to the new purified world over time incrementally, rather than condemning them to annihilation by the pure caste of humans that emerge from the crypt when the world is ready for them again. Its a hard call to make, and the will to make that decision and live with the consequences really marks out Nausicaa as a matured, complex heroine well beyond anything that Miyazaki has done before or since. The manga is truly his magnum opus, and I think over time fans will come to recognize that.
Wait so, the movie is based on a book? Do the books have more plot? The movie felt haphazard to me.
@@Velereonics If I recall correctly Miyazaki was requested to write a book so they could make a movie out of it. He didn't really oblige with that however, because he personally believed, a manga can only become good with the intent of becoming a manga, not a movie. When there was enough material out for a movie to be produced they went through and made it with their own more early ending. Miyazaki continued the story in the manga though, so there's a lot more to be said in Nausicaä's story outside of the movies scope.
Note: I'm speaking out of my ass here from things I've heard, I might be completely wrong and I haven't read the manga yet either, although I'd be glad to do that sometime soon :D
Edit: Ok, the initial comment was made before I started watching the video. I just wanted to point out that the video mostly explains everything that's important to your question in the beginning Nausicaä Section between 0:35 - 4:50
I read the manga before ever seeing the anime outside of the awful Warriors of the Wind. I didn’t even realize that it was the same thing. And to this day I have only ever read the manga and seen the first dub. I’m aware Disney made a dub around the same time as Howl’s Moving Castle but I’m content with the manga since the movie isn’t the full story.
wow I can’t believe how comprehensive this is!! like 10 extremely high quality videos rolled into one, amazing that I can encounter this level of analysis and insight for free, very inspirational
I study the archaeology of hunter-gatherers. Among my fellow archaeologists I so often find the anthropologist's starry-eyed romanticization of Eden, and the classicist's worship of civilization and progress. I think this video helped me realize why I find Miyazaki's work so fascinating. The moral ambiguity, as well as the deep-time detachment juxtaposed with a personal sort of vitalism is really close to my own worldview. Thanks for making this.
Wow, this was SO GOOD. I didn't expect to come out of this video with such a deepened appreciation for Miyazaki and his works, but I sure have. This nuance for the problem of man vs nature is so rarely seen, but incredibly valuable. The way he lays it out in Princess Mononoke really is excellent, because people so easily tend to forget that technology is vital to the survival of so many. We can't all be San, healthy and able-bodied enough to survive outside of human civilization. But that also doesn't mean that destroying the harsh, natural world around us without consideration for the consequences is any better.
Princess Mononoke is so complex. It is the first Ghibli movie I watched knowing it was Ghibli. Technically my first Ghibli film was the Fox dub of Totoro and also Kiki’s Delivery Service. Princess Mononoke is special to me and I watched it prior to Spirited Away’s release. I watched it back in 2001.
i love when i can just sit back and watch over an hour of someone talking about miyazaki...a rare treat!
😁😁😁 I'm glad you think so !
One thing I like in ghibli films is the way the designs of the vehicles match their purposes. Vehicles used by the protagonists are usually depicted as whimsical, while the vehicles used by antagonists are typically ugly and monstrous
now THAT was a good analysis - both of the author and how their many works have developed through their own emotional change! after all, "to live is to change".
This is easily the most under appreciated video essay I’ve ever seen. Your research and effort here is incredible, and you lay out my issues with the anime and summarize the themes of the manga beautifully.
The choice of analog film footage is really good.
I have read the manga and love this story more than I can describe in words. I even named my daughter Nausicaa. Until now I have not found a video that has described the manga as in depth as it deserves with the appropriate emphasis on all the parts of this amazing story. THANK YOU so much for putting this together and sharing the story of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind!
its cool to love a show but im telling you honestly , this is one of the dumbest things ive ever seen on the internet. like you couldnt even name your child something with value , youre like "im so selfish i want my child to have the name of a movie i like since im such a big mega fan" congrats, your child has no real sense of self because youre cringey weabo ass thought the same as the losers who named their babies "Edward Jacob and Bella". this is like if i named my child naruto. its going to be hilarious when your child grows up and goes by a nickname one of her friends gave her because "why couldnt i have my own name ?" modern parents are painfully stupid
Fantastic video! I was almost expecting a credit roll at the end because halfway through I forgot that I found this on a channel with 12 subscribers and a single video, it felt more like a well crafted documentary. Bravo!
The algorithm has blessed me with this most interesting analysis
I watched this movie 🎥 as a Kid in the 1980’s. Straight up OG Anime babyyyy
Saw this movie at 23, couldn't believe how much shaken I got from watching it. It was a revelation to me, and the manga was even more earth-shattering a reading. I couldn't believe my perception could change so much on life and living itself. I believe it was this realization - that I had so much more to learn - that made me do some drastic life decisions not long after, like breaking up with my long time girlfriend - one of the hardest yet best decisions of my life
Absolutely deserving of more attention, having had classes dedicated to academic writing, and putting it into video form, one hour of this is absolutely incredible, well done!
Amazing essay! Finally some good discussion of the manga, which is essential to read if you want to understand Miyazaki. If i had one complaint, is that you seem to really focus on intuition bit, and postulate that it is superior to understanding. While both manga and interviews do not discount understanding, they just show that there are a lot of things that are beyond solid knowledge (the whole world is therefore incomprehensible, since you don't know nearly enough about laws that govern it). For example, in the end Nausicaa doesn't know and can't know if humanity will survive the coming years, so she has to rely on intuition here, but when she can work out more solid knowledge, she does. She made test lab in her basement, not just meditation chamber. Intuition is good where knowledge is lacking or misleading (f.e. that case with Mao Zedong which you saw in interviews), it's not total substitute for learning and curiosity
Hi Konstantin, thanks very much for the comment and taking the time to watch and think about the video. I'm going to have a think about your point and get back to you. The line between Nausicaa the scientist and Nausicaa the emotional hero is a very interesting one and you make an interesting point.
@@theemotionalecologist And, adding to that, i think the dichotomy between Yupa and Nausicaa you postulate is really not there. Yupa wasn't a literal fool - it's just his way of accepting Nausicaa's success with humility. His wanderings gave him (and Nausicaa, by extension) a lot of knowledge about the world, in manga he was the first to reach the crystal forest and learn of the purifying role of the jungle. He also essentially deduces the existance of pure land in the heart of jungle during his short conversation with Selm, as well as the unnatural character of the jungle.
In fact i love Nausicaa-Yupa dynamic exactly because it shows mentor of the protagonist as a very capable on their own, and for whole 6 volumes Yupa and Nausicaa essentially work as a team without any communication, with just their shared goals and values to guide them. I don't think Yupa was portrayed as wrong for looking outwards and not inwards. Nausicaa (despite what some claim) is not some perfect taoist who learns the truth of the world purely by self-reflection either. Even in volume 7 she is very eager to learn, like when she questions Master of the Garden.
@@konstantinriumin2657 And towards the end of the manga when Nausicaa and Yupa finally reunite, Nausicaa confirms what Yupa has heard and learned from his journey on his own, thus with his confidence in Nausicaa comes his sacrifice to stop the confrontation between the doroks and the villagers.
sorry about replying to an ancient comment, but i want to thank you for this because this is also what i felt was lacking from this video. intuition and emotion are good things, but they are no replacement for knowledge and curiosity. rather, they should work in tandem with each other to create a more complete whole from which deeper understanding can emerge.
Our lives are like the wind…
Or like sounds.
We come into being, resonate with eachother…
Then fade away.
-Nausicaa
Man I returned to this absolute masterpiece. I’ve got to get my hands on this manga..
Literally spit out my coffee when I saw you reference my brother’s work. Very cool video that is currently making the rounds with my family haha.
1:24:07 Nausicaä tells the viewer to like the video, as you wish my queen.
The part where the new humans cannot live in the purified world, I think it is not a threat as you say, because there is a line where the Master of the Crypt says they can bioengineer the new humans to be able to breathe pure air (and I don't think it is lying) so it is not an issue.
I think the real reason Nausicaä rejects the Master is because she does not see any point in the purification, and in fact it is a downgrade. The Master sees the new, polluted world as something bad and something that needs to be corrected, and the mold and insects are just temporary, disposable tools for the cleanup, but Nausicaä thinks the artificial mold and insects are just as beautiful as old world flora and fauna. She also says "suffering and tragedy and folly will not disappear in a purified world". The current world has the bonus where they see the mistakes of the past, like the God Warrior skeletons, but in the purified world the mistakes are forgotten and repeated all over again.
You really nailed the point on the fact that the people of the current world will learn from the mistakes of the old humans. It is suffering that makes them truly human.
The question is, with the main crypt gone, can any of the secondary facilities engineer humanity to survive the purification, and can they be convinced/forced to do so as a Plan B now that the supply of Old World elites they were originally programmed to serve are dead? These Old World elites seem spiteful enough to want the rest of humanity to die if they're killed.
@@carsonhastie4771
The entire point of learning from other people's mistakes is that you DON'T suffer.
Oh my God I am the 5th subscriber?! This essay must go viral!
This was an Awesome video. One of the things that strikes me the most about Princess Mononoke is that character San basically plays the role of and eco-f4acsist: she constantly rejects her human nature and is constantly afirming things like "humans are the problem", while even her mother recognizes the role of humanity in the world. The whole movie has very good representations of many ideologies the compose society and how they get in conflict. Her refusal to join civilization by the end, but in her character develepman has reached a better balance and undersanding.
See through the eyes unclouded by hate is now burned in my brain.
Not saying you're wrong but I don't think eco fascist means what you think, Google it.
This was a wonderful video to sit through and expound on the ideas the Miyazaki intends to show the viewer/reader. Watching this made me appreciate the manga and show how Miyazaki changed his view of environmentalism through working on Nausicaa.. Thank you.
THANK YOU for sourcing and crediting. Very much appreciated.
Wow man... And you have just 30 subscribers ? 🤯 You honestly challenged my point of view and, probably helped me grow in some way
I've only watched the film, but I had the takeaway that it's not about nature needing protecting.
Rather, nature will wipe out humanity if humanity cannot learn to live with it.
The aggression you point to in your opening seems represented by the Ohmu.
The jungle purification isn't showing that nature needs to be left alone but the opposite. Nature will find a way regardless of what humans do, and if humans ever think they can truly conquer nature it will conquer them.
However, I still view the work as environmentalist. It's the idea that we shouldn't recklessly attack nature for short sighted benefit because ultimately it will be worse for us if we do.
This is environmentalism just with a realistic lense and not some puritanical altruist bs lense.
I think you are missing some point. Environmentalism as you described is built upon humans/nature dichotomy. However, that kind of dichotomy is the very thing that thrown away. The dialogue between Nausicaa and the master of the crypt indicate that she (or Miyazaki) sees humans as (no more and no less) one of many other kinds of creatures, has a desire to survive and has their own way to pursuit it. This notion changes the starting point a bit. Nature is no longer viewed as the object/subject of conquer.
Although it still might be some kind of environmentalism, but I think it's not the one dominated at that time nor the one you viewed as.
(Forgive me that I can't explain any better or further due to lack of my English ability.)
@@CltwEntpO You are describing what I said.
My point is that Nature isn't the subject of conquer in naussica. That Naussica isn't a film about trying to preserve nature or how we need to be kind to nature.
It's showing us that Nature is going to survive regardless and if it needs to get rid of us (humans) to do so, then it will. Environmentalism out of self interest rather than altruism is the take away I get from the film.
@@asherbroadbent9959no you've still not understood. That sort of environmentalism is still incompatible with all of the themes put across, eg shintoism and probably most religions which involve animism don't treat nature as a separate being attacking or needing saving by us. Because a nature without us doesn't exist in all the time humans have existed. Quantifying how good or bad something's effect on nature is based on how unnatural or far from an impossible to imagine pre human interaction state it is is a mistake. Humans are a part of nature, we constantly change things in ways that can harm, help or both at once other life. We don't need to protect it, because it can't avoid being changed by us because it isn't separate, we don't need to be afraid of it, because what we are afraid of is inseparable from humanity, so it's not environmentalism in any way. It's each other we are hurting, and humanity which will punish us for not respecting each other, just as much as this amorphous concept of nature without humans. Pinning the blame on "nature" is kind of what your argument does, it still makes the same mistakes.
I've not studied any religions, but I often went straight to fantasy manga which is full of shinto deities, myths, spirits etc and I'd definitely say it supports this. There are lots of entities created by humans as a collective as much as say animal spirits, and they're not in opposition necessarily so much as any of them could be out of human control. Like how war is a threat to humans as much as a hurricane or something, all these man-made constructs are just as existential and "natural" a threat to us as global warming.
Wow, im only a third of the way in on your video essay. Im blown away on how in depth it is and gow good it is. GOOD JOB.
Edit. How good, not gow
Your conclusion is amazing! I find it really interesting that, Miyazaki’s core philosophy is essentially the nature of any artist. I don’t know if you make art, but with such a cool video, I would definitely consider you a fellow artist.
However, sometimes that emotional core can be a bit disorienting. Miyazaki probably had this problem when he made Mononoke and maybe the ending of both Nausicaa stories . Because, I remember him commenting in a documentary where they had finished making the film, and didn’t know what they had made. And he ended up regretting some poor choices, because he was hard on his staff.
When making emotional pieces of art you can quite literally give and take a piece of yourself away. And I feel, with how long he had worked on Nausicaa, he had lost something when the story ended in the manga. Not something bad, but kind of a hollow feeling. Sometimes, I feel bad for Miyazaki, I hope he is doing ok. Because sometimes he seems to go through highs and mild lows.
i finished reading nausicaa recently (i shed a lot of tears) but i remember reading from an interview that miyazaki and his staff were disappointed in the work they had put in the movie. Before reading the manga i couldn't understand why. But after reading it and rewatching the movie it makes more sense, they had to change so many things from the story to adapt it, and they were so short on time they probably couldn't animate every scene the way they envisaged it... it must have been heartbreaking, when you create a piece that you hold close but you don't feel like you've done it justice.
Nausicaa is a masterpiece, i hope Miyazaki is doing ok too.
After watching How Do You Live? I’m not so sure he is okay. That movie goes hard if I’m honest. Mahito seems like a boy version of Miyazaki himself. And the film’s ending has been etched into my mind since last month. I plan on seeing it again December 8th when it releases under the (awful) title The Boy and the Heron.
Just starting into this, but I felt the urge to comment on the discussion of the stone forest and the "purified" soil and water. I have to admit that when I watched this movie I was pretty confused on that point, as the soil struck me as not being suitable at all for human use, because from what I could tell, it looked like a fine sand. I am not a farmer myself, but I am familiar with agriculture, and it seems to me that the best soil for human use would be a very dark soil that is rich with organic material, so basically the opposite of what the anime was suggesting there with that shot of the tree starting to grow there.
in the manga, it's explained the grains of the sandy material "is a complex alloy of metals" - and while plants do need potassium (metal), magnesium (metal) and trace amounts of iron, zinc, copper and molybdenum (all metals), I'm not sure where the plants would get the rest of their nutrients from... sure, nitrogen could exist in the atmosphere, but without enough phosphorus, most plants will barely grow, wither and die. yet again, phosphorus is abundant in humans, and Nausicaa takes place in a world overbrimming with death...
very interesting stuff!
I feel the ending’s choice of color and contrast is used to evoke the sense of new beginnings and wonder, visually speaking; am a graphic designer by trade and we as a group do tend to distort things in service to getting the vibes.
@hooweefeelthatwind, so amazing that you know all the trace minerals that plants need as I e only come to know about this, during the lockdown (started gardening at home). You must be a well-read and practicing gardener.
Whatever the reasons are the most important things is to have a good conversation of how things works in both realms (be it in anime or the real world) without going too much into who got what right and enjoy the show and the friends who’d watch them with you. Friendship powers the world.
FINALLY some real content on this masterpiece! I feel like so so much of our understanding of the major anime and manga works has been tainted by the paternalistic lens through which early western fandom during the golden age of anime (say 80s-mid00s) engaged with it & how their framing and analyses are all we who came on board in the 00s and later are presented with now. Evangelion is among the victims to have suffered from this the worst. But really it's true this attitude goes back to antiquity, look how Mishima is painted a vacuous narcissist instead of a man with a great capacity for appreciating beauty grappling with the existential effects of the trauma of his life and times, and probably true it doesn't just run east-west given the treatment of European settings in Japan. A lack of true understanding has simplified these artistic works and twisted them into framings that fit our pre-conceived narratives rather than respecting the integrity of the artists' vision. This is only another opinion but I believe it hones in on the truth behind my favourite of Miyazaki's works (well, maybe tied with Porco Rosso) moreso than any other written or narrated review of its contents I've seen to date and better than I've ever been able to articulate the feeling you describe here perfectly. It's a story that deserves to be preserved for people to be enjoying centuries from now like Homer and Shakespeare.
😆 *YES!* Finally, a real look at Nausicaa.
I get so tired of all those surface level YT videos.
Great stuff. I've long considered Nausicaa to be one of my favorite stories and have tried to interpret a number of different ways. Having Miyazaki's writing as a lens to view it through is really clarifying.
He generally still believes in environmentalism (i.e. Princess Mononoke). So I don't think he totally abandoned that ideology.
That's correct, the premise in the video essay here seems to present a contention between Environmentalism as ideology (ie overly-intellectual and fallacious) and some sort of Emotional Growth concept of Humanity? I don't think that premise even exists at the beginning thus there's no dialectic but it's pushed and thus the entire construction of the video revolves around resolving this...
It's fairly simple: The biosphere is highly productive for life on Earth and must be developed and maintained. Humans have evolved into a second speed evolution via our cultural knowledge fed from our intelligent systems of thought each generation and thus are split from the biosphere and thus capable as destroyers, maintainers or creators of it.... which is the question for humanity to answer in the coming decades and centuries.
Kind of an interesting thing that Miyazaki probably didn't know is that fungus and mushrooms actually do collect and clean the environment from toxins, including hydrocarbons. Maybe it wasn't known when he came up with the story.
Fascinating video. I'm also writing on Nausicaa atm, and I'm seeing a lot of academics' ideas in here, especially Susan Napier's interpretation. The production quality of this video is incredible though, I hope you continue making videos. :)
You put a lot of effort into this for not much reward. I appreciate your effort; your analysis has made me *analyze some of my *own thoughts on nature.
1:15:20 - I think that the tsunami in Ponyo is a commentary on the destruction of nature, but then again the townspeople are strangely chill about it.
😲😳 *HOLYSHIT!* just finished watching... this was soooooooo *GOOD!* 😃👍
Thank you for making this. It reached me at exactly the right time in my life. This is is an incredible work- and I am sorry I don't have the words to write a better more coherent comment- though I will deeply thank you for giving me yours.
Excellent analysis. Thank you for this in depth discussion. I appreciate being introduced to the Manga. Much food for thought
I stupidly assumed that the manga entirely predated the movie leading me to think that the story and Miyazaki's views degenerated over time. I still have serious gripes with some of the ideas in the manga (denying the "purity fanatics" a chance at life for one), but this gives me newfound respect for the old leftie.
A correction: In the story The Poison Forest did not expand because of humanities war and machines. It expanded because the Dorok Empire was losing the war to the Torumekian Empire and sought to use creatures of the forest as bioweapons.
In the story the Poison Forest is more or less a symbiotic hive mind creature, every creature having a role with Ohmu as its apex guardians.
almost the only comment that didnt get hearted... why do you think that is?
This kind of scholarship would make most other video “essays” wet themselves.
A thoughtful, comprehensive and enriching analysis. Incredible effort. Thank you.
This was incredibly insightful and gave me a lot to think about and look back on in my own life. Thank you for making this video.
18:23 yes! That’s for example what
James Cameron's Avatar does. That’s nothing but a form of self hate!
Much much much appreciated analysis! ❤
Looking forward to your next work, if you have any intention to grace this platform again.
glad i found this video, good job making it
thank you for putting into words (or at least making them available to me) the idea of the environmentalist who becomes "anti-human in their love of nature, seeing humanity as nothing more than a blight on the Earth". I've had this thought pattern in my head for years, and I thought that I was right. many times, I would have preferred that humans peacefully go extinct than inflict further injury upon the planet. I won't say I've had a total change of heart, but I'm at least feeling curious, and open to being wrong.
I felt afraid to watch this video, but, having started it, I'm glad that I'm here for it.
I really like the section about Nausicaa and her darkness. That was a theme I didn't pick up on before and it's really resonant.
As modern man we live in our safe concrete jungles or even our well maintained homesteads and we romanticize nature. We praise it, find it beautiful and seek to protect it. Protecting it is right, naturally. Without nature there is no us. But if you look back in history, many civilizations with less curated backyards and more exposure to the deadly aspects of nature, they often reviled nature. The Greeks saw nature as quite an ugly, horrible thing. The sea was terrifying and only to be braved when absolutely necessary. The forest was dark and filled with trickster spirits who were hellbent on seeing you dead or maimed. I can quite confidently say the average classical Greek philosopher would probably be DELIGHTED to see the degree to which we have 'beat back' nature and our sprawling metropolitan cities.
I think we need to come to a point where we want to protect nature and find it beautiful, but we need to have more respect for how dangerous it really is outside of our 'safe zones' we have made for ourselves. Essentially, too many of us have this idealized picture of nature in our minds. A disney-fied view of it, you might say, where it is innocent and loving to all beings. We can want to respect and protect nature while also not demonizing modern living. There is a happy medium here and MOST of humanity, both historically and in the present, have failed to realize that happy medium between adoring nature and fearing/respecting it.
edit: I should conclude, 'protecting nature' is about protecting US. There is NOTHING we can do to fully destroy nature, but we can harm it enough to make it unliveable for us globally with too much damage. After that point it will continue on, scarred but living and it ultimately will recover.
Thanks a bunch. This was really well done. I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for the video it was very interesting, if you do upload more in the future can I suggest boosting the audio as it is very quiet and I had to strain to hear at times even with my phone/car speakers maxed out
Great work, it was a pleasure to learn so much!
Videos a bit quiet.
Id love to hear someone speaking about the resembles between Nausicaa and Dune. This video made me realize how similar they seem in a first glance. Very interesting video, wish the voice was louder. Cheers!
Great!!!!!!
Commenting for the algorithm. Great video!
Since I was so young when I first watched it I don't think I really "got" this movie then. Just wow girl power... I saw it as kind of just girl + Samurai Jack. This video and learning about the manga have really helped me see more layers to this movie.
Tell you what it’s too late to finish this at one am but from what I’ve seen so far great video but I’m too tired to form any opinions but still definitely earned a subscription
This resonates for me. I loved Nausicaa, but the idea that the purifying nature of the forest sprang up to fix the world, and the bugs to protect the forest felt childlike and unsatisfactory... If it had been framed as product of evolution where the fungus fed upon the pollution to spur growth, then died when it ran out of food, just happening to leave purified land behind, that would have showcased the beauty and resilience of nature but not as some intentionally benevolent supernatural good force
bro you took the idea of a "video essay" so far lol.
excellent analysis - although in terms of practical application ... Miyazaki's philosophy of emotional growth should be moderated with appropriate level of intellectual growth as well - at least individuals need to be armed with basic reading, writing, and logical reasoning skills.
Stick fast to Lady Wisdom, I suppose.
This is ridiculous narcassistic prattle, and insinuates that if your language does have the "inspiring works" translated and available, you can't become a good person. Reading is for nerds, even 'good' nerds, but not good people. Miyazaki is correct. You must be emotionally whole before you can interpret the universe correctly. Its like riding a bike. You can know EXACTLY in a scholastic way how a bike functions, and how to ride it, but that doesn't matter. You won't be able to ride it without actually having the physical experience. It is the folly of the "smart' to think they can understand everything from their positions in an ivory tower.
Armed? Like to go to war?
@@shoopoop21Logic is the BEGINNING of wisdom... Not the end.
But... Facts and logic are more practically transferred to a person than a supposed "experience".
Also... All experiences are subjective. Giving primacy to subjective experiences and thus interpretation blurs rather than edifies.
I'm sorry... You're the one coming off like a narcissist prattler by having this large "subjective" shaped blind spot.
@@shoopoop21
All of what you just said is completely wrong and our ability to learn from the experience of others is to a large part what gives us an advantage over other animals.
You have your shitty opinion only because you could read or hear and understand the shitty opinion of others.
An engaging and enjoyable watch. Great work! I have started the manga, but I'm afraid that it's too difficult for me to visually process and appreciate on a screen. I'll have to get my hands on some physical copies to finish reading it. Just based on your analysis, I'm a bit confused as to what the manga's message is regarding how to face today's environmental issues (maybe it doesn't have one?). Is it saying that we should leave big polluters to do whatever they want, and that we should accept the changes they make to the world instead of trying to reverse them - that we should adapt to the new world? Or is it more like the weaponised mould, where the catastrophic effect of pollution (and destruction of ecosystems) on human communities is something that ought to be prevented? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
I don't think it's about that. Instead of being against stopping polluters now, it's more like we don't need to mourn an untouched pristine nature which never existed. At the same time, even viewing nature as polluted by fossil fuel and other companies is also against its message: Miyazaki's opposition to Marxism as described would suggest that he doesn't agree with framing the issue as solely caused by wealthy capitalists, while also not wanting to treat the effects of production under capitalism as an external thing damaging nature.
I kind of agree with this and kind of don't. It's true that we often go between arguments that everyone is significantly complicit in climate change and that only the top few capitalists are, and the idea of focusing on workers' ability to cause destruction would fit with viewing climate change as something driven by a system, maybe profiting capitalists the most but outside of their control as a whole and making every worker complicit as a part of it.
I particularly agree with this when it comes to vegan arguments, as I strongly disagree with characterising meat production as uniquely wasteful and so environmentally harmful compared with other industries under capitalism. I think capitalist waste is far bigger a driver of climate change than any particular industry which can run using renewable energy.
But combining these arguments with the idea that nature is not separate to or somehow harmed by humans is maybe too much. I doubt the critique of Marxism is as big a focus as this. Maybe my comment was useful? I have a lot of similar feelings about environmentalism and on the other hand, entirely different critiques of Marxism (I disagree with any idea of a continuous progress in humanity, history or politics wise). I can't engage with most arguments on the climate because I'm deeply opposed to catastrophising via arguments about how close we are to total human extinction, believe it's our obligation to pay attention to the parts of the world most struggling to adapt to/survive global warming, while not acting out of saviourism where we treat some parts of the world as inevitable victims needing rescue, even if their oppression is the argument to say that. We shouldn't act like Europe will remain mostly unaffected by global warming because this is a scientific and political problem, and I don't think it's useful to treat privilege as a reason not to feel urgently about the changes to our own environment, while arguing about how much harder hit Africa, poorer island nations or wherever else will be can also lead to apathy from a person living comfortably elsewhere so it's not a constructive statement to me no matter how true.
At the same time, as an anarchist who believes capitalist focus on profit is the biggest problem affecting every industry which needs solving, I believe arguing for the hopelessness of adapting to a hotter climate or halting climate change after given dates is based on models of the industry effects on climate which are extremely unimaginative in how human societies may adapt if we no longer follow a capitalist state centred system of organisation. I have little proof that it's possible for humans to survive things the models say we can't, but I've occasionally read climate modelling or carbon footprint focused papers and found them incredibly limited in how they sum up industry effects. For example, when I think of why armies and weapons sectors need to be eradicated at least in my country, the US and many others, I include the extreme cost of rebuilding infrastructure, and including refugees in neighbouring regions, as well as the direct effect of bombs, vehicles etc used in armies, but when I looked for papers on the effect of weapons sectors etc on the environment they include none of this. It's absolutely insane to exclude indirect consequences of those industries in my opinion yet this is the norm, to avoid mention of indirect effects in climate modelling of industries. Because it's hard to collect any hard data on, and because academics are working people often from a limited perspective on the world, not the passionate scientists we idealise them as.
(Also academia as an industry/institution is a NIGHTMARE, I dropped out of a PhD due to many reasons but just how incompetent my supervisor as a head of electronic engineering was in his research in retrospect is insane.)
Thanks for this video! Nausicaä is my favorite Miyazaki film, and now I want to read the manga. I would recommend looking into FromSoftware's Dark Souls as a parallel.
I recommend reading the manga from the Hard cover box set. Best thing i have bought.
It's also amazing how much Nietzschean philosophy runs through Nausicaä
Anti rewilding is seen as pro environmentalism in many circles. So am confused bout which “environmentalism” is being referred to.
I think the video author is also confused about which environmentalism he is refferinc to.
Fantastic video & analysis! But my perspective is exactly opposite to his. Ah, well…
Thank the God of the Wind this has finally been unblocked.
The audio is very quiet
There's still a flaw in the enlightenment thinking of the seperation of man from nature, seeing a wilderness in the Americas in that period for unmanaged landscape, when in fact it is maintained constantly to keep it productive and abundant. There isn't a square foot of the walkable Earth that has gone untouched by human footprints or hands. Not after 3 million years of nomadic occupation of this world.
great vid
Great video essay
Cranked up the volume, but it was rather quiet. Difficult to hear, I'm afraid.
Hey man, i dont know if it would be possible from your end, but i would love to share around this analysis of yours with more family and friends, tho sadly they dont speak English but Spanish, a while ago TH-cam took away automated cc translations and now they need to be enabled from the backend through settings by the uploader. Do you think it possible for you to change said autotranslation cc settings?
I appreciate the ungodly amount of work that it took you to produce this piece, thank you!🤘
Hello Kantuva, I will try and find it in my settings. Thanks for the tip.
I'm afraid I can't add auto-subs in Spanish. They only come up in English. Am I missing something ? At some point I will run the original transcript through Google translate and then upload that to the sub-synch function. The translation will probably be a bit funky but it'll be something at least.
That was amazing. I don't know what else to say. You did it. lol
My opinion on environmentalism is close to the message in nausica. It is toxicity not carbon that we need to worry about. Also if we lower our production of toxins nature will eventually correct it.
Found what I disagree with, time… the understanding of environmentalism and both the academic and societal approach to it has changed drastically since the art was made alongside the comments. -still haven’t finished it but that’s the vibe I’m getting as there also appears to be little to no reference to environmentalism as a concept nor in academic / practical setting from the time the art was made and what it is now.
Environmentalism is never a mistake.
depends on what environmentalism is defined as
@@we-must-liveOne point off for Pedantry.
One point off for Sophistry.
Three points off for an exhibition of Internet Iconoclast Syndrome.
ah shit, 5 points down, i'm really gonna have to make this back up in the next harry potter film @@miguelvelez7221
Thank you for taking the effort to move the dialogue into the territory of the manga. Analysis without it is simply lazy or disingenuous.
Being as your name is the Emo Eco I will suggest another relevant series: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō. While less intense than Nausicaä it also has a unique view on ecology and technology that you would find interesting.
Cheers for the hard work.
I saw the anime adaptation and loved it. Thank you for the recommendation. I will check out the manga. Certainly seems like the kind of material relevant to the channel.
@@theemotionalecologist Also recommend playing Pikmin 1. Its game play and setting mirror Miyazaki's sentiments towards nature. Playing it will perhaps give you emotional insights.
Nature in most depiction : sérénity, gentleness, nuture, balance
Nature in Miyazaki : " i made o ass and i will unmake it !"
Intellectual idealist to emotional realist
How odd, I was literally thinking of this sentence when you gave it a like👌
I cannot deny that in spite of the enormous length of this video I find that i miss an in depth analysis of war as depicted in Nausicaä
what do you think Nausicaa has to say about war?
@36:00 that was funny, "overly conscious mind..." --- I'd say the exact opposite. The highly over-engineered and over-mechanized is always a sign of automated thinking. The poorly named _unthinking_ (or "unlearning") associated with higher consciousness means "unthinking the easily received or the blindness of orthodoxy, and thinking anew," it is the opposite of unconsciousness. It is more conscious than before.
wow
hayao to me is inspirational in thought towards his movies, he is very kind,i truly believe hayao was just not well during the time he might or might not have been nice towards fans, the truth is he cares about nature and hes a good person but it seems like he doesnt care about new anime , but i sympathize with the fact that some ones he doesnt like are disrespectfu brainless sexism however he said that he doesnt watch new ones which means hes a classic head, but still, hes just older but where blaming him for not what he wants to be, which is simply philosophical, he wants his work remembered, not basterdized, and even though he probably doesnt like much shonen, i hope he doesnt hate me for being black, because i am healthyer because of his movies, but to be honest, yeah hes passive, i respect that, hes just a good person, i just wish he loved shonen anime but he works 24/7...and surpriseingly enough....he to harshly works 24/7...i worry about his health for that reason, but hes quite a thinker,
Lets not forget that previous efforts to instill an idealism in the zeitgeist towards the environment have inadvertently lead to the commodification of it. This can be handled quite badly. Is it even a worthwhile venture to put a price tag on nature?
All my local parks have too many visitors and not enough staff and funding to keep them clean.
Even the good ones. Prices increasing and not enough capacity. I'm looking at you (Park made by Miles Standish)
Isnt that a flaw of capitalism, not environmentalism? The fact that anything good is only achieved through profit. And most things truly good are made not profitable.
Kurotawa arc is the main Protagonist arc all along but like many of Miyazaki's works, he for many reasons tames it down.
ps. Perhaps because it will take the audience out of the suspend believe of the fantasy.
Miralupa does seem to at lleast try to get a little bit of his old self back, and even he IIRC got SOME sort of positive growth from Nausicaa inspiring him, it's just too little too late.
Fantastic video. Your reading of the film, especially your discussion on the forest and human nature, is well thought through and expertly presented. I wonder if a psychoanalytic frame might also be helpful in analyzing the film, as Nausicaa's father seems to symbolize the law-giving superego.
My foremost criticism of your video is that while you do a good job of summarizing Miyazaki's criticism of environmentalism, you do not provide a definition or assessment of environmental ideology. As such, we have no way of gauging whether Miyazaki's criticisms hit their mark. Personally, I would argue that his criticisms are moreso of 'deep ecology,' which is fairly antihumanist and more overtly romanticizes or idealizes nature. In fact, I think the realist humanist environmentalism presented in Nausicaa is quite orthodox.
I might be a simpleton myself here, but I don't personally see how environmentalism and personal growth are at odds with each other. I understand not warping environmentalism to the degree where you dislike humanity itself, though surely there's a middle ground here? I also think that while humans are naturally destructive to the environment, the rate of which we are has grown tenfold in the past 100 years or so. It's something I think we have control over. For that reason, I'm more partial to the idealized Anime messaging, despite the Manga's being more complex and representing Miyazaki's true feelings.
Nice video. Audio volume is too low and the music sometimes plays over your voice to the extent it's even harder to hear.
I am fascinated by the fact, that humanity keeps rediscovering same old thing over and over again, starting with agent myths, followed by religion and now modern media. We are part of the nature, that is cursed by self awareness🤷♀️ All we can do is embrace that and see what happens. Oh and of course! Great video👍
rejecting violence is as immature and as ignorant and as rejection of human nature as it is being obsessed with violence.
Violence also isn't inherently bad or good, it really depends on context, rejecting it outright would be rejecting the reality that not everything can be solved painlessly.
It merely like anything that makes us uncomfortable. Like racism, nationalist, tribalism, and etc. We're territorial against uncertainty which isn't inherently bad unless we get the context. Honestly i feel its easier to embrace the reality of human nature but try to adapt to improve our future.@hyperion3145
Kushana or Nausicaa? Ah, Krotowa, how we understand you...
Nausica single handedly snuffout mankind future by destroying the AI! This is some Warhammer 40k level betrayal!
You did notice she was called a corrupted protagonist.
What About “Pom Poko”?