Hayao Miyazaki is one of the most celebrated anime directors in Japanese history, known for taking his films to a global audience. He is also the first anime director to win the Academy Awards, and his films remain iconic even decades after their release. As the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the director contributed the most to the studio’s legacy. Established in 1985 by Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki, and Isao Takahata, Studio Ghibli has created some of the most beloved animated movies of all time. The acclaimed studio is known for its gorgeous animation, rich storytelling, and deep emotional impact. Ghibli’s trademark is hand-drawn animation with incredible attention to detail, including lush landscapes, fluid movement, and expressive characters featuring breathtaking scenes.
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While Miyazaki is mostly famous for his anime films, the director has also written and illustrated several manga over the span of his career. In 1982, he wrote and illustrated the manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which was adapted into a film by him in 1984. Since Ghibli wasn’t officially formed then, the studio was produced under Topcraft and remains one of Miyazaki’s best works to this day. The manga concluded in 1994, and 44 years after its debut, the two-volume deluxe edition has been returned to the store.
Studio Ghibli Brings Back The Two-Volume Deluxe Edition of the Manga
The deluxe set, which collected the 59 chapters of the manga, featuring hardcover volumes, was originally released in 1996 in Japan. In 2012, Viz Media officially licensed and published it, and it remains one of the best Ghibli manga to this day. The official Ghibli store brings the set back in stock as they are being sold individually. The volume includes colored illustrations from the original manga, making it a beautiful and permanent collector’s edition of a historically significant masterpiece. Donguri Sora confirms details on the volumes and revised prices for the Japanese version.
The re-release is limited to Japanese fans as the store does not ship the products outside of the country. While the film has the same title as the manga, it’s not a one-on-one adaptation, and the story is significantly different. The story takes place over a thousand years after a catastrophic nuclear war, which destroyed almost all life on Earth. Even though so much time has passed, humanity still lives in a constant struggle as the jungle has evolved into something extremely dangerous as a aftermath of the brutal war.
Nausicaä, the Valley’s young princess, learns about a threat heading towards her kingdom. To protect her home, she embarks on a journey across the toxic jungle in order to stop the invaders from reviving a dangerous weapon from the ancient war. The film is available to stream or rent on several platforms such as Prime Video, Hulu, Fandango at Home, and HBO Max.
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