Hayao Miyazaki has several masterpieces under his wing, two of which have won the Oscars. In fact, among the 13 Oscars received by Japanese movies, two belong to the legendary Studio Ghibli founder. But the director is only human and has moments of error.
However, even Miyazaki’s errors find their way into becoming right, and fans love the man’s zeal. In a watercolor illustration book for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Miyazaki has poured his heart out about everything that plagued his mind while creating the illustrations.
Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Failure’ Illustration for Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: Watercolor Impressions is a book in which all the illustrations that Hayao Miyazaki made for the movie have been compiled and published. In fact, each illustration also carried comments by the director, and what he felt while drawing them.
One specific illustration shows Nausicaa sitting on a giant creature in the midst of the Sea of Corruption without a mask. Also known as the Sea of Decay, it is a toxic forest filled with fungal life, and not wearing a mask inside usually means death. Thus, when Miyazaki first drew the picture, he considered it a failure.
When I first drew this picture, I called it a failure. There was no way anyone would ever be able to take off their mask in the Sea of Corruption, but you need to show the character’s face on the cover.
Due to the compulsion to show Nausicaa’s face, Miyazaki had no way other than to take off her mask. However, he might have realized too late that she is present in the Sea of Corruption.
Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Failure’ Becomes an Easter Egg
Despite initially becoming upset about the wrong portrayal of the world of Nausicaa in his illustration, Miyazaki’s disappointment was short-lived. This was mainly due to the fact that Nausicaa did have to take off her mask in the movie in a highly toxic area.
Later on in the story, Nausicaa actually did take off her mask in the Sea of Corruption. This is fascinating, I thought. Something I had accidentally drawn and believed to be a mistake turned out to actually be part of later events.
During the climax part of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Nausicaa had to convince the people on a plane to dump their cargo if they wanted to survive. The people refused at first since it would be a waste. Desperate to help them survive, Nausicaa repeated why they must lose the cargo and took off her mask to show her sincerity.
Nausicaa, being the princess of the valley, is treasured by everyone. Seeing her throw caution to the wind just for them moved the people. Nausicaa knew she would inhale toxic gas if she took the mask off, but she still took the risk for her people. Disarmed by her seriousness, everyone eventually listened to her.
Thus, Nausicaa taking off her mask in the Sea of Corruption became canon and Hayao Miyazaki’s illustration suddenly became a horoscope for future events.
You can watch Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on Crunchyroll.
