"Nausicaa" Manga Vol 7

[bigsleepj]

Slight Spoilers

Finally I have finished reading Vol 7 of Hayao Miyazaki's manga on which his more famous movie is based...or at least inspired the movie. Viz has released the seven mangas recently in a larger format instead of the smaller book versions that combined volumes several volumes. Finally....

Er...

I am very sorry but I find the entire series very unsatisfying. Volumes One to Four were some of the best stuff I've read, but from volume five I can't help but feel the entire series went rather pear-shaped. I can't decide (I'd have to read it again) if the ending is spiritual or nihilistic or just philosophically confused. It is filled with some breathtakingly fantastic imagery (especially the black vaults at Shuwa) and the parts there especially reminds me of "That Hideous Strength" by CS Lewis (especially thematically). And yet the ideas behind this seems so muddled as if Miyazaki (of whom I'm a big fan) had a sudden change of mind about the whole course of the manga and went for something different altogether. I can't really put my finger on what's wrong with it but, for the life of me, it just does not live up to what I've felt the manga build up to.

What are your thoughts on this?