Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
Kaze No Tani No Naushika
1984; Screenplay, storyboards, direction: Miyazaki; 116 min.
Based on the manga of the same name.
"NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND is probably Miyazaki's most popular film - a sort of post-apocalypse mystic eco-fantasy, more notable for plot, character, music and designs than the smoothness of animation. Excellent Jo Hisaishi soundtrack, too. Based on the comic (manga) of the same title. A classic."
The time is distant future. A thousand years ago, the war called "Seven Days of Fire" wiped out most of the populous human civilization. Now, remnants of the human race struggle to survive in a world dominated by the eerie and deadly forest of fungi called the Wasteland. Only Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind seeks to understand rather than destroy the Wasteland....
Nausicaä Valley of the Wind is a film that speaks a great deal about our world. The story takes place sometime in the near future where technology and pollution has virtually destroyed our Earth. Poisonous forests named Fukai (poisonous seas) now cover many parts of the Earth and its domination spread further and further each day.
The Valley of the Wind is one of the few places left where peace and nature still exists. The Valley is sheltered from the wars and poison outside because the village is protected by the wind from the sea which prevents the poison from coming in. The people live happily and our Nausicaä is the beloved Princess of this the Valley of the Wind.
Nausicaä dedicates her life to her people and strive to research a cure to help those who suffer from Fukai poison. However, one day, the lives of all those in the Valley are thrown into chaos. The people are in danger of losing all that they have cherished so dearly, and it is up to Nausicaä to save her people and the future of all mankind.
Nausicaä is a truly remarkable story. Miyazaki combines a panoramic fantasy story with his painstakingly crafted realism to create a moving experience. His trademark attention to detail, such as Nausicaä's encounter with the Ohmu and her interaction with animals, creates three-dimensional and memorable characters. His refusal to caricature or demonify any character--the only antagonist in Nausicaä is human ignorance--also adds to the realism of the movie. Finally, though there are moments of gentle humor, one can see that Miyazaki is completely serious about Nausicaa. It is his parable to humanity, a story of human folly, ignorance, fear, and ambition, and of one person who rises above all these qualities to save the world that she loves.
The Story
An old man trudges into a deserted village with his two ostrich companions. The village has been deserted for a long time, and all is covered by poisonous fungus and gas. With a gas mask around his face to protect himself, the man explores a house in hopes of finding something...anything. The house itself is covered with unrecognizable poisonous plants. The only sign that people used to live here is a little doll lying on the ground, but as the old man picks it up, it crumbles in his hand. Another village is dead. As he exits the house, he sees that there are large flying insects in the sky. "This place, too, will soon sink into the Fukai", he says sadly. With that, he departs.
[Opening Credits]
In the opening, the audience gets a glimpse of what has happened in our future. Technology has ruined mankind, as people had developed large destructive fire demons, which stomped over the world leaving behind them an Earth destroyed and nearly dead. Harmful chemicals and technology infested our Earth and strange creatures had started to grow. Poisonous plants and creatures made up large regions called Fukai (poisonous sea), and these places began to take over many parts of the world. The story of our future seems to end just when things look the bleakest, but then an angel appears and is greeted by the people of the Earth. Soon, that image of the flying angel who rescues the world slowly fades, and we see our heroine Princess Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, flying on her jet-powered glider like the angel...gliding through the clouds over the destructive land below her.
Nausicaä guides her glider to land right on the edge of a Fukai, and taking her gun, steps into its darkness. With the protective gas mask around her face, Nausicaä explores the Fukai. She calmly passes by giant insects while collecting samples of the plants, when suddenly, she sees it. A huge and beautiful shell of the Ohmu, lord of the insects. With its hard shell and multiple eyes, this creature is usually fearsome and threatening to all mankind. However, one could not help but appreciate the beauty of its shell as it stands in solitude in the Fukai, with the afternoon sun reflecting off its multiple eyes. Nausicaä gasps in amazement. This is the first time that she has ever seen a complete shell. She draws her sword and lightly strikes against the shell, producing a beautiful pitch. She attempts to crack it open by hitting it with full source, but not even a dent is produced. "What an excellent material it will provide for the villagers", she exclaims. While continuing to marvel at the shell, she decides to take one of its eye coverings back to her village. Placing gun powder around one of the coverings, she is able to separate it from its shell. Suddenly, gentle white flakes starts falling like snow. It is a plant spreading its afternoon spores. It is very beautiful, but as Nausicaä remarks, if she is not wearing the mask, she will be dead within five minutes.
Nausicaä lies peacefully among the spores when suddenly she hears a sound. Then the sound of a gun shot. Quickly rushing to the nearest opening, Nausicaä attempts to see what is the cause of all the commotion. It is an Ohmu, and its eyes are fiery mad indicating its anger. You can never tell what will happen when an Ohmu is angry. Realizing the person who cried for help is escaping the wrong way, Nausicaä fires a signal flare to redirect that person and then she receives the response she wants. Now knowing where the person is headed, Nausicaä jumps onto her glider and quickly flies into the sky. From her aerial view, she sees the old man and his two ostriches running for their lives as they are chased by the red-eyed Ohmu. Signaling the old man and telling him to keep running, Nausicaä talks to the Ohmu, but obviously to no avail. Once the old man is out of the way, Nausicaä ejects several flare bombs from her glider, and the brilliant flash of light instantly puts the Ohmu to sleep. Then, with a little wooden bug whistle, Nausicaä awakes the Ohmu, but this time its eyes are a soft calm blue. As if forgetting it was on a killing path just seconds earlier, the Ohmu follows Nausicaä's whistle and goes back into the Fukai.
Sometime later, the old man is waiting for Nausicaä by several windmills. As her glider approaches, she jumps off in a rush, and in joy, she cries "Uncle Yupa!" It is a joyous reunion as the mentor and pupil reunite after a year and a half without seeing one another. During their embrace, Nausicaä feels something moving in Uncle Yupa's pouch, and surprisingly finds it is a fox-squirrel. The fox-squirrel was captured by a flying creature. Believing it was a baby, Yupa used his gun to save it. This angered the Ohmu, and that is why he was being chased. The fox-squirrel is terrified as Nausicaä reaches out to him, and even bites her. Nausicaä winces in pain, but allows it to keep on biting her. When Nausicaä does not move, the fox-squirrel realizes it is not in danger and slowly takes its teeth out of Nausicaä's finger and licks it amicably.
As Yupa enters the Valley of the Wind, he is greeted with open arms by the villagers. Each person respects and loves him dearly and they all crowd around joyously upon his return to their home.
That evening, Yupa dines with Nausicaä as well as her father King Jiru and the old wise Grandmother. Yupa recounts his adventures outside of the Valley, and sadly reports that no matter where he goes, he will always find wars and many in starvation. It would seem as if the Valley is one of the few places left where peace and nature still exist, and this is only because it is protected by the wind of the sea, which prevents the poison from the Fukai to enter.
Perhaps salvation is not too far away. The Grandmother tells Nausicaä the ancient legend that has existed in their Valley. There is a mural on the wall of the Royal chamber and it tells of a saviour, dressed in a blue coat on a golden pasture, who will come to replenish all that has been lost and bring all mankind to a peaceful green field.
Later that evening, one of the castlemen awakes Nausicaä and tells her that it has been sensed through the wind that something is afoul. Rushing quickly to the castle towers, Nausicaä joins a group of her Father's old advisors as they scour the skies for anything out of place. Suddenly, a flash in the sky catches Nausicaä's attention. It is giant Tolumekia battle airship and it seems to be flying uncontrollably. Jumping quickly on her glider, Nausicaä takes off to take a closer look. On her approach, she is shocked to see that its cockpit is being attacked by a swarm of Fukai creatures. The airship is on a crash course to hit the mountain, but the swarm of creatures completely block the cockpit windows. Nausicaä tries desperately to warn them of the danger, but it is too late. As the airship speeds by her heading straight for the mountain, the last glimpse Nausicaä catches is that of a young girl, chained, on the doomed airship.
The aircraft crashes into the mountain. Nausicaä lands her glider, and tries to find survivors in the fiery wreckage. She finds the young girl, but there is nothing she can do to save her. The young girl takes her last few breaths from the smoke around her, and tells Nausicaä she is Princess Lastelle of Pejite and they must destroy all cargo from the aircraft. "You must destroy it", she desperately tells Nausicaä. When Nausicaä tells her that the crash has destroyed everything, the girl smiles and dies.
There is a creature left from the crash, and the villagers who were awakened by the crash do not know what to do. They could shoot it, but shooting it might risk angering the Fukai creatures, leading to an attack on the Valley. Nausicaä chooses the safer way, and using her wooden bug whistle, she is able to calm down the creature and have it follow her as she flies towards the Fukai. At the edge of the boundaries, she lets it go on its own. But not far away on the other side of the boundaries, a silent Ohmu stands there, staring........
Because the aircraft came in contact with Fukai creatures, it carried some of the poison to the Valley, and the villagers spent the next day destroying any fungi they encounter. It would appear that poison was not the only thing that the aircraft was carrying. Contrary to what Nausicaä had believed, there is a piece of cargo that was not destroyed by the fire. The villagers are puzzled as to what this giant ball of pulsating bloody veins could be. However, Yupa knew. He believes the fire demons who rampaged the world were not completely destroyed. Legend has it that one remained buried underneath the city of Pejite. Could this be? Could this giant ball of bloody veins be that fire demon?
Nausicaä is digging the graves for those who died in the crash when she suddenly hears a noise from afar. Staring intensely and expectantly into the peaceful mountains which protected the Valley, an army of battleships suddenly appears and attacks the valley. They descend onto the green pastures, knocking over windmills, and chasing the villagers. Nausicaä recognize the ships as part of the military forces from the kingdom of Tolumekia. While running around telling the villagers to head to the village center, tanks and soldiers are released from those battle ships and they head for the village. Suddenly, a fear washes over Nausicaä as she remember her Father in the Valley's castle. As she runs back home, soldiers have already entered the King's bedroom. A shot is fired and when Nausicaä finally reaches her father, it is too late, they had killed him. Heartbroken, Nausicaä jumps at the crowd of soldier in rage. But as she is about to strike one of them, Yupa blocks her and tells her that the killing must stop.
The villagers surrender to the tanks and hundreds of soldiers who point their weapons at them, and Nausicaä passes out from shock.
Later, everyone from the village is gathered to the center of the village with their weapons all stacked in a pile. Kushana, the Fourth Imperial Princess of Tolumekia steps forward with her General Kurotawa at her side and tells the villagers that they must unite in order to destroy the Fukai or else the Fukai would destroy them. That is why she has taken over the city, for she needs everyone to help destroy the Fukai. The Grandmother steps forward and tells her that her plans are merely dreams and that the Fukai can never be destroyed. People in the past have tried to destroy the poisonous forests, and all that resulted was an attack from the Ohmu. Then, after they destroy the million of lives, the Ohmu's bodies would be left behind and start growing even more Fukais. Kurotawa tells her to go away or she will be in danger. The Old Woman laughs in defiance and says "Kill me! I'm old, it is very simple. Just kill me just as you killed King Jiru!" The villagers didn't know that the Tolumekians had killed King Jiru and this news brought shock, anger and tears. Although they had no weapons, the villagers prepare to fight with stones against the Tolumekians when Nausicaä calls them to stop and tells them that the killing must stop. With that, all the villagers break down in tears.
The first task that the soldiers of Tolumekia give to the villagers is to have them drag the large bulge of red bloody veins back to the castle. Nothing is told to the villagers. The Princess Kushana wants to make a quick trip back to her own country, and demands that Nausicaä comes along.
That evening before departure, Yupa knocks on Nausicaä's bedroom door and is surprised that she doesn't answer. Entering her room to see what may be wrong, he sees the flying squirrel scratching on a wall. Pushing that portion of the wall, he discovers that it is in fact a secret door that leads to a tunnel beneath the castle. At the end of the tunnel is a secret room and as Yupa gazes in, he is greeted by a room filled with Fukai plants. How can this be? These plants should be poisonous but the air in this room seems even more fresh than outside. Nausicaä explains that these plants grow on the fresh water that is drawn 500 meters below ground. Even the soil that they grow on is drawn from deep beneath the city. Nausicaä has discovered some time ago that even poisonous plants, when grown on clean water and soil, can prevent the Fukai plants from becoming poisonous. The plants are not the things that creates poison. It is the soil that is poisonous and it was humans who had done this deed. Nausicaä cries softly as she explains she was researching these plants in hopes of saving her Father and all those who are dying of Fukai poison.....but now...............her research is to be no more because the Tolumekia are going to terminate her water source and soon all the plants will become poisonous as they were before. Her dream is gone.
The next day, Nausicaä bravely boards the Tolumekia battleship. She boards the flag ship along with her father's old friend Mito, while another group of old men from the Valley board their own plane but are towed along by another Tolumekia battleship. Saying their last good-byes to the villagers, the group takes off and leaves the valley. While flying high in the sky, the battle ships are attacked by a little craft that they recognized is from Pejite. The battle ships are quickly damaged and destroyed (they may be big, but they are not very strong). The little plane that carried the old men is separated and glides downwards through the sky. Nausicaä is on one of the last planes to remain in the sky, and Nausicaä climbs out on the ship and dramatically stands on the frame as if to shield the ship and pleads to the pilot to stop attacking their ships. As the pilot prepares to take aim at her anyway, he suddenly has a vision and stops. However, as soon as he stops, he is attacked by one of the battleships and his plane spirals downward through the sky. The battleship that Nausicaä is on has been damaged and reacting quickly, Nausicaä and Mito quickly climb aboard the escape plane. As she prepares to take off, Nausicaä sees the Princess Kushana, the person who was responsible for her father's death and for holding her villagers captive, trying to escape. Even though she has done so many bad deeds, Nausicaä helps her enemy jump into the escape plane with her.
They are able to escape and they descend down and very close to the Fukai in hopes of finding the other villagers whose plane had fallen. When she finds them, the old men tell her to save herself, but Nausicaä resists. She takes off her gas mask (They are surrounded by deadly poison released form the Fukai) and will only put it back on if the old men agree to save themselves as well. Needless to say, they all agree.
The two planes land on a lake within the Fukai. As the Valley villagers all happily greet one another, Princess Kushana suddenly gets up and points her gun at all of them. She laughs at them and ridicules them for saving her. Did they actually expect a thank-you? Nausicaä tells her that a gun can't give her control in the Fukai. The Fukai is a place of the creatures not the humans and a gun can do her no good. As the villagers turn their backs on Kushana in order to come up with a plan to escape, Kushana fires her gun to get her attention and says they must all listen to her orders. Suddenly, the water beneath them starts to move and a swarm of blue-eyed Ohmu rises out of the water to surround their planes. Kushana stands fearfully and points her gun at them, but Nausicaä stops her and quickly stands on the bow of the plane, opening her arms. trying to communicate with these large creatures. Golden tentacles arise from the Ohmu, and embrace Nausicaä while her villagers watch in wonder. While in those golden tentacles, Nausicaä suddenly feels as if she is in a dream. She is on a golden pasture, staring into the bluest sky. Suddenly, the dream fades away as the Ohmu's tentacles retract and swim away. As the Ohmu swim away, their eyes turn into an angry shade of red.
Instructing the villagers to head to the Valley first, Nausicaä jump aboard her white aircraft glider and takes off towards where the swarm of Fukai creatures was headed. The Princess Kushana is still in shock, and does not resist when Mito slowly takes the gun out of her hands.
Deep in the Fukai, the boy who was shooting down the battleships is being attacked by an army of bugs. He tries to shoot at them with his machine gun, but it is no use. At last, he reaches his end at the edge of a cliff. It is a choice of either to die falling off a cliff or be eaten by bugs. He jumps off the cliffs, only to find himself near the mouth of a huge and very long flying creature. As the mouth closes around him, Nausicaä suddenly zips downward and pulls him to safety. However, it is too soon to celebrate as the creature quickly chases them and knocks down them to the ground. The pair falls on a patch of quicksand and slowly descends downwards..............
Nausicaä has a flashback of when she was a little girl. She is picking flowers in a pasture, when her father suddenly tells her they must leave. Everyone is sadly walking and Nausicaä says she doesn't want to go there. Suddenly, she is somewhere else and Nausicaä is running away from all her Father's soldiers while telling them to go away. With her back to a tree, she sees dozens of hands reaching at her while she tells them to go away. Then we see what Nausicaä is hiding and what the hands are reaching for. It is a baby Ohmu and Nausicaä wraps her arms around it trying to save it. But the hands reaches out and takes it away from her. Her last vision of the baby Ohmu was seeing the soldiers carry it away, while she herself cries sadly, begging them not to harm it.
Nausicaä awakes lying on the flat surface of an ancient tree stub. She is greeted by the boy, Prince Asbel of the Pejite. He tells her that they fell through the quicksand and are now in an area deep down below the Fukai. Nausicaä realizes they are not wearing their protective gas masks, and Asbel tells her it is a miracle because the air below the poisonous Fukai is fresh and clean. Nausicaä is in amazement and walks off to explore this mysterious place. The area is huge and is covered by fossilized ancient trees. But when she leans against one of them, she can tell that they still possess water within them. She picks up a grain of sand on the ground and realizes they are just as those found in the clean wells of her Valley. Asbel catches up with Nausicaä and sees her lying on the ground and thought she was crying in sadness, but she replies that they are tears of happiness.
Back at the Valley, General Kurotawa hears the news that Princess Kushana is missing and shares his joy with the growing fire demon who then opens its eyes....
Yupa is informed that his friends have returned without Nausicaä. He greets them in an abandoned submarine from the pre-Fukai ages on the outskirts of the Valley, and goes to see Princess Kushana whom they are holding captive. Even though she is a prisoner, she is not afraid and orders them to let her free because they need her. Her countrymen have angered the Pejites and they will seek revenge by attacking the Valley of the Wind. That is why they must release her now or else they will have no chance. She defends that it is imperative that the fire demon be brought alive because the Fukai must be destroyed. She then snaps her arm open to reveal that it is only a shell because her real arms and legs were destroyed when she was attacked by an Ohmu as a child. She has been waiting for her whole life to take her revenge by destroying all the Ohmus in existence. Suddenly, a little boy comes running into the room and reports that poison and Fukai fungi have been found all around the Valley.
The trees in the Valley forest are covered by fungus. After much argument, the villagers are finally able to re-obtain their weapons from the Tolumekia soldiers and quickly go off to try and destroy the fungus. But it is too late. The poison has spread too far and the only way to save the rest of the Valley is to burn the whole forest.
Meanwhile, Yupa and Mito fly off to find Nausicaä while the rest of the men return to their friends at the Valley. Kushana, alone in her room, reveals a hidden knife and quickly uses it to set herself free.
Nausicaä and Asbel spend the night underneath the Fukai. During this time, Asbel reveals that he attacked the Tolumekia airships because they had taken prisoner her twin-sister Lastelle (The chained girl who died near the beginning when her airship crash-landed near the Valley of the Wind). The next morning, they fly together on Nausicaä's glider towards Asbel's kingdom Pejite. Their flight is uneasy as both sense there is something afoul in the air. As they get closer to Pejite, they see a huge cloud of smoke over the city, and a bed of dead bugs lying before the city entrance. The city of Pejite has been destroyed. Traces of the Tolumekia are apparent, but as Asbel heads toward the city's town hall, he is devastated to see that it has been destroyed by a giant Ohmu. They see that the entire city is in ruins with dead bugs everywhere. Believing that all his people are dead, Asbel breaks down when suddenly they catch sight of a Pejite airship.
As the airship lands, Asbel rushes ahead to greet his people. His men tells him not to fear because they knew their land was to be consumed by the Fukai one day soon anyway. Besides, they already have a plan to retaliate against the Tolumekia for they have found out that they are currently at the Valley of The Wind. Nausicaä catches up with Asbel just in time to hear the mention of her village and as she steps closer, she is horrified when the Pejite men declare the plan to destroy the Valley and Tolumekian armies have already begun. Nausicaä demands to know what the plan is, and all the Pejitians are lost for words while Asbel gravely announces she is from the Valley and that he owes her his life. No one wants to answer Nausicaä's question, and finally, Asbel tells her they are going to lure Ohmus to attack the Valley. Nausicaä begs them to stop the plan, but it is too late they say......everything has begun and nothing can stop it now. Nausicaä realizes she cannot persuade the Pejitians to help her, and runs to her glider in hopes of reaching her people in time to warn them. But all the Pejite men jump on her, not allowing her to go, because they didn't want her to warn the Tolumekia as well. Nausicaä struggles to get free, but the Pejite men say they are doing this to save the Earth and the people in the Valley of the Wind are sacrificing their lives for a greater good. Nausicaä angrily tells them they are just like the Tolumekians. They all believe they can destroy the Fukai when in reality the Fukais are saving the world. Nausicaä tells them that the Fukais are cleaning the Earth and providing fresh water, and destroying them would only mean destroying Earth's last hope. Nausicaä pleads with Asbel, who was standing silently aside, but Asbel finally reacts and points a gun at the men and orders them to set Nausicaä free. Another man quickly rushes behind Asbel and knocks him unconscious. Then, the people take Nausicaä aboard their airship and sail away.
Back at the Valley of the Wind, the villagers have revolted against the soldiers. Using their fire weapons and sticks, they retaliate against the soldiers who are too shocked to do anything. Some of King Jiru's old advisors steal a tank and proceed to shield the other villagers as they escape from the Tolumekia forces by going to the outer regions of the village. As General Kurotawa tries to think of a plan, Princess Kushana returns and Kurotawa sighs knowing that his brief moment as leader is now over.
Aboard the Pejite airship, Nausicaä is locked in the potato room when a Pejite woman and a young girl arrive and tell the guard outside they have brought food for the prisoner. However, as soon the door closes behind them, the young girl quickly removes her clothing and offers to exchange roles with Nausicaä so that Nausicaä can go save her people. The older woman kindly offers her apologizes for what her people has done, and explains that she is Lastelle's and Asbel's Mother. Nausicaä hugs her in gratitude and is then able to escape with the other girl taking her place.
Nausicaä is taken to the habitation area where all the Pejite women offer their apologizes for what their people has done. Thanking them all, Nausicaä follows Asbel into a crawl space and reaches her jet-powered glider. Just as she is about to take off, a Tolumekia battle ship appears and starts shooting at the Pejite airship.
The Pejite airship is boarded and even though Nausicaä refuses to leave Asbel fighting alone, Asbel pushes her off and Nausicaä heads for the Valley.
The Tolumekia battle ship sees Nausicaä and with its troops already aboard the Pejite, it proceeds to follow and shoot down Nausicaä. Just as it appears that Nausicaä is doomed, Yupa and Mito appear and they quickly shoot down the big but weak Tolumekia battle ship. Yupa jumps aboard the Pejite airship and with a quick flick of his knives, he instantly takes control of the situation and saves the Pejite people.
Nausicaä gets aboard the plane with Mito and pushes the engine to maximum power as she attempts to rush home to save her people.
At the same time, all the Valley villagers have gathered inside the abandoned submarine on the outskirts of the Valley. The Tolumekian armies surround them, and Kushana orders them to attack in an hour. The Valley villagers are in a panic, not because they are about to be attacked, but because the wind that has protected their beloved Valley has suddenly stopped.
Nausicaä, racing to get home, feels the situation is getting bleaker and bleaker as the plane is almost down to its last drop of fuel. Suddenly, she catches sight of a horror worse than anything she could have imagined. Hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions of angry red-eyed Ohmus, were rushing straight towards the Valley of the Wind. What could have provoked them to be so angry? Then Nausicaä got her answer. Not far ahead, a small Pejite aircraft leads the army of Ohmu by dangling a badly hurt young Ohmu. Bullets and thick metal pipes are inserted in the young Ohmu's body and its blood pours from the many holes on his body. The Pejite aircraft starts shooting at Nausicaä and Mito, but Nausicaä orders Mito not to return fire for fear that the young Ohmu would be further endangered. Nausicaä, climbing aboard her glider that hung on the back of the plane, orders Mito to return to the Valley and warn the people while she tries to save the young Ohmu.
At the Valley, the villagers and the Tolumekians see flares shooting from afar. The Tolumekians prepare to attack the villagers when suddenly Mito appears. Although the Tolumekians start shooting at the plane, Kushana orders them to stop, and quickly rushes to the plane. She, along with the other villagers who came to Mito, is concerned about Nausicaä. But Mito quickly tells them to save themselves for the Ohmu's are coming and Nausicaä is staying behind to try and stop them. Mito tells them they cannot fight amongst themselves anymore, and the villagers quickly rush back to the submarine and take their families to a higher location to safety. Kushana is shocked, but tells her armies they should not fear for they have the fire demon on the side. Kurotawa argues that the fire demon is only half finished but Kushana tells him there is no better time than now to put it to good use.
Nausicaä is flying in circles around the Pejite aircraft trying to talk to them. Instead they refuse to listen but rather continuously try to shoot at her. Finally, as they prepare to get rid of her for good, Nausicaä sails toward the aircraft, standing on her glider with her arms spread apart, signaling for peace. The man who is controlling the gun sees Nausicaä and can not shoot her, because he sees her as his Princess Lastelle. However, the other man in the aircraft is not as compassionate and pushes his companion aside, then opens fire at Nausicaä. Bullets puncture her shoulder and ankles and blood escapes from her wounds. The injured Nausicaä jump into their aircraft, and the sudden shift crashes the little aircraft. Both the craft and the Ohmu land on a little patch of land in the middle of the acid sea.
Nausicaä, although badly hurt, gets up and quickly goes to the young Ohmu to see if it is all right. The Ohmu wants to run away, but it does not know it is going into the acid sea. Nausicaä places herself in between the acid and the Ohmu to try and stop it from hurting itself. The young Ohmu's blue blood spills from its wounds, and covers Nausicaä's own clothes. The Ohmu persists in moving forward. By doing so, Nausicaä herself falls into the acid, and it burns her wounded ankles. Nevertheless, she refuses to move until the young Ohmu itself moves backwards. Nausicaä falls onto the ground and grasps her ankle in pain. The young Ohmu, as if sensing it can trust Nausicaä, extends its golden tentacles in a friendly gesture as if to comfort her.
The thousands of giant Ohmus are heading towards the young Ohmu and Nausicaä smiles knowing that her people are saved. Suddenly however, the Ohmus shift course and head back towards the Valley of the Wind because the Tolumekians had opened fire on them.
The two Pejite men breathe a sigh of relief that their mission has been completed when they are suddenly faced with Nausicaä, who points a machine gun at them, and orders them to bring her and the young Ohmu to the Valley. The younger man tells her she will die, but Nausicaä tells him to take her.
The people of the Valley crowd around near the top of the submarine, and see the millions of red eyes glowing not very far away. The Tolumekian tanks continue to fire at the Ohmu even though it would appear no damage is being done. The rest of the soldiers, fearing for their lives, start retreating and running away. Suddenly, Kushana appears with the gigantic fire demon. The fire demon, although scary in appearance, is very weak and its body starts to melt and break in half even before it reaches its destination. Regardless of the demon's faults, Kushana orders the remaining half of the fire demon to open fire at the Ohmus. With his body quickly melting away, the fire demon opens his mouth to shoot a wide beam of laser at the Fukai creatures. Many are destroyed, but it does not stop the rest from continuing to rush at the Valley. The fire demon open fires again. More Ohmus are destroyed, but even more continue to rush at the Valley. Kushana orders the fire demon to attack again, but the fire demon has completely melted away, and collapses, only leaving behind its skeleton.
The Tolumekian soldiers, who were cheering while their Princess seemed to have control over the situation, now run around screaming for their lives. The people of the Valley watch the demise of the fire demon and await the approach of their deaths.
Out of no where, the Pejite aircraft appears and lowers Nausicaä and the Ohmu in the direct path of the giant Ohmus. The villagers cry out to their Princess to move away and save herself, but Nausicaä stares bravely at the gigantic Ohmus. The Ohmus rush ahead, while Nausicaä continues to stand bravely. She is trampled by the Ohmus, and her body is flung high into the air. The people of the Valley gasp and cry for their brave Princess as thousands of Ohmu continue on their path to the Valley.
The sun is rising and high above the air, as the Pejite craft carrying Yupa, Asbel, and all the other Pejite people approach the valley. They see the thousands of Ohmus and sadly shake their head. Suddenly, Yupa sees that the Ohmu's eyes are changing to a calm blue. All the Ohmus have suddenly stopped in their paths, just before the first one was to reach inside the Valley. The people of the Valley, sensing the silence, open their eyes to see what could have stopped the Ohmus. Then, not far away, they see that the Ohmus have gathered in a circle around the young Ohmu, and their Princess Nausicaä, who lies silently on the ground.
The villagers break out in tears and weep for their Princess who sacrificed her life to save her people. The Ohmus have stopped because Nausicaä returned the young Ohmu, and now the Valley of the Wind and its people are saved.
The Ohmus stand silently in a circle around Nausicaä. The young Ohmu extends its little golden tentacles to Nausicaä, and then a giant Ohmu extends its golden tentacles and gently lifts Nausicaä high into the air. Slowly, other Ohmus extend their golden tentacles to hold up Nausicaä and soon there are hundreds and thousands of golden tentacles reaching beneath Nausicaä and holding her high up in the air. As everyone watches in amazement, small golden flakes fall gently to the ground and the Ohmus' golden tentacles tend to Nausicaä's wounds, and surrounds her with a golden glow. Then, Nausicaä awakes. She rises up from the Ohmu's soft golden tentacles and smiles happily to see that the young Ohmu is safe. She stands joyfully on the millions of golden tentacles and thanks the Ohmus for saving her. The Pejites, the Tolumekians, and the people of the Valley alike watch in amazement and happiness that Nausicaä is safe. The Grandmother, overcome with happiness and tears, ask the children to describe how Nausicaä is. The children happily marvel that their Princess is wearing a royal blue dress with the traditional emblem and seems to be walking on a golden pasture. The Grandmother's eyes open with realization that the old legend has come true. A saviour, dressed in a traditional blue coat on a golden pasture, will come to replenish all that has been lost and bring all mankind to a peaceful green field. The legend has been realized. Nausicaä was the legendary hero.
The villagers then look into the sky and see Nausicaä's glider sailing merrily in the sky. The wind has returned!
After Nausicaä descends from the golden pasture, she is happily embraced by all the villagers as they celebrate her safety and thank her for her sacrifice. The Pejite airship has landed and its people too are overcome by joy that the people of the Valley are safe. Asbel joyfully greets Nausicaä and celebrates by lifting her high into the air.
The Ohmus depart the human world and return to their own home. With the fire demons destroyed, the Tolumekians leave the Valley to return to their own kingdom. The people of Pejite, having their kingdom destroyed, are invited to live with the villagers in the Valley of the Wind. The two groups work together, build new windmills and replants trees, and live happily together.
In the closing credits, Nausicaä, Asbel and Yupa return to the Fukai which suddenly now no longer seem as fearful and dangerous as it once did. The plants grow beautifully, the flowers are blossoming, while the Fukai creatures lay lazily around. The last scene is a symbol of peace, as we see Nausicaä's goggles lying peacefully at the very bottom of the Fukai beside a growing seedling, perhaps signifying peace has begun and a brighter future is starting to grow.
The End.