January 9, 2012   716 notes   

womenfighters:

Have you folks ever read Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind? Oh man, it is sooooo good. The movie’s pretty solid, but it really only reflects a tiny part of his sprawling, six-volume post-modern eco-apocalyptic epic, which I’m not embarrassed to say rivaled Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings in blowing my mind.

Pictured here is Kushana, princess of the Torumekian Empire, who like many of Miyazaki’s characters has a complex and pragmatic morality that is neither clearly good or evil. But she is undeniably fierce, noble, and powerful as she works to retain her country’s place in a dying civilization.

Even if you’re not a fan of manga (I’m not), seriously, look up this series, it easily holds its place as compelling, genre-defying literature.

So. Princess Kushana. She’s up there with Leona and Deunan as my favorite women in manga. She’s much more sensitive than Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke), but has equal support from her followers (if not moreso). True, Lady Eboshi is better feminist idol (employing women to do the important work of the town as a political act against social roles of feudal Japan, taking care of the disadvantaged), but I like Kushana better as a character. To me, she’s more believable as a conflicted person and her savvy in dealing with the Dorok Emperor is one of my favorite parts of the manga.

My Review of Nausicaa on AP

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  8. bloodyfangirl reblogged this from fuckyeahfeminists and added:
    Well, that’s the next item on my ‘to read’ list
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    fffffuck yeah Kushana is an awesome HBIC
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    It was a book originally? I can’t believe I didn’t know this. It sounds incredible.
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    I read this a long time ago. Methinks it’s time to brush up on my manga.
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