Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

After a global war, the seaside kingdom known as the Valley of the Wind remains one of the last strongholds on Earth untouched by a poisonous jungle and the powerful insects that guard it. Led by the courageous Princess Nausicaä, the people of the Valley engage in an epic struggle to restore the bond between humanity and Earth.

Widely regarded as a landmark in anime history, Nausicaä earns its reputation through a dense, incident-packed script and a richly imagined world rather than spectacle alone — critics consistently single out Miyazaki's direction, Joe Hisaishi's score, and the film's allegorical weight as its defining strengths. Its success is seen as the catalyst for Studio Ghibli's founding, cementing its place as a foundational text for the medium. Critical response has been near-unanimous in praise, with the few reservations from family-media reviewers centering on violence and dramatic intensity rather than artistic quality.