Having only been exposed to the campy, dubbed-for-American-audiences, anime series as a child, (e.g. DBZ, Sailor Moon) I never really knew that gems like Castle of Cagliostro and Naussica existed well before my time. Perhaps is it's a good thing that I was never exposed to such animes (Naussica in particular). I was surprised how Naussica had such a cornucopia of serious themes without ever compromising the flow of a fantastic story, something a younger me would not have appreciated. In particular I really liked how Miyazaki was able to portray a story with such a strong positive message (symbiosis with nature) without resorting to the cheesy and lighthearted tactics. There was a very clear message throughout the film about how humanity came to destroy the world through a never ending hatred towards each other that completely overshadowed any regard for nature. Now more than ever this message seems to be appropriate as our world is inexplicably constantly embroiled in war and humanity continues to ravage nature at an unchanging pace.
In addition to how close this film hit home, the way in which Miyazaki sculpted Naussica as the perfect heroine made the story all the more heart wrenching. One scene in particular that was shocking to me was the scene in which Naussica is trying to prevent the baby Ohmu from crawling into the Acid Lake. When Naussica's foot slips into the acid she let out a shriek and it became clear to me that this girl, who seemed almost undeterred by machine gun wounds was indeed human and felt pain; but her sense of duty to the earth and everything in it made her truly miraculous.
Note: having never watched this film before (or even heard of it for that matter), this first enty is largely my first reactions, the 2nd screening will focus more on the thematic and technical details of the film
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