Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Talking about Miyazaki's "shojo" has been particularly of interest to me especially after considering "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind". The idea of a strong female heroine on the verge of finding herself as well as becoming a woman helps construct Nausicaa's role as the leader in her village. Her character is multidimensional and includes such layers as her pacifist vision for the Earth, her instinctive connection with Nature, and her stubbornness in facing political obstacles. She is part of the specific category that Miyazaki has created under the "shojo" umbrella. As Susan Napier has pointed in various of Miyazaki's works, the main character is usually a young girl completely defying standards set in Japanese patriarchal society. Nonetheless, we are reminded constantly of her fragile emotional state in relation to her family , Nature, and the village. She is prone to throwing herself on a whim to the rescue of animals or to stop violence, often risking her life.

While this aspect of Miyazaki's work is unique and calls attention to the statement that he aims to make about society, what I found puzzling was the occasional perverse highlighting of Nausicaa's body. An honest question that popped into my mind as I watched the introductory scene was "Where is her underwear?" It was a blatant call for attention to her implicit sexuality. Perhaps it follows the trend in anime to hypersexualize the female characters as through sexual noises during running or battle. Though this aspect of Nausicaa's character raises questions about her identity as a young girl in contrast to her hyper-competence, as Napier phrases it, it is still one that I found almost unnecessarily emphasized at times. Miyazaki creates a multitude of shots that include Nausicaa's legs or bare bottom while she is exploring the jungle or riding on her glider.

I'll definitely ponder more on this, but I think it's important not only within his works but also in the context of Japanese culture, to more clearly define the trends in his "shojo" narratives as dually strong and competent as well as feminine and delicate.