Akira VS Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Anime Adaptations)

Somewhere deep in my parents basement is a Japanese Nausicca manga made from animation 'movie stills' in sequence. It was an odd little book I picked up in the mid-1980s in a comic shop. I think I have the translated serialized manga with an English by Viz Media too.

The story of Nausicca is certainly more uplifting then Akira. That was one of the first interesting and not sappy 'environmentalism' things I had ever experienced.

I saw Nausicaä way before Akira so I certainly have more nostalgia for it. Other than a few baffling upskirt shots its one of my favorite films, its style is unique and unlike anything I have seen although you can certainly see a lot of Miyazakis trademarks. All the enviorments are both haunting and beautiful and Nausicca herself is an amazing protagonist.

Akira I think is kind of a mess. I certainly respect the level of craftmanship on display and all the characters are wellrounded and memorable. But the plot is muddled and especially the ending just seems to want to do too many things at once. I don't know, it probably deserves another look one of these days.

Also other than the both of them being about the coming apocalypse and being based on a manga the comparisson seems a bit arbetrary. A more fair vote would probably be something like Princess Monoko v Akira or Ghost in the Shell v Akira. But maybe I'm mistaken of Nausicaä's popularity.

Akiras got style, but its story doesn't stand up to nausicaas.

Nausicaa!

They're not comparable at all, one is post-apocalyptic "steampunk via medieval fantasy" and the other is "post-nuclear war cyberpunk."

Ghost in the Shell vs Akira

or

Nausicaa vs Mononoke

Is fine. But Nausicaa vs Akira?

Narrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Akira had amazing animation visuals. To this day it looks better than most of the stuff currently made. Nausicaa was just a better told tale for the movie.

Akira is a fine adaptation, but it's just not as good.

i should read the mahn-jah someday. as far as the movies go nausicaa definitely, but i have a better appreciation for akira as of late.

Really liked Akira, but Nausicaa is even better. Also features some of Joe Hisaishi's finest music.

They're both okay. I like their manga better. But even the Akira manga wasn't that great to me. For me it goes...

Nausicaa manga > Akira manga > Nausicaa anime > Akira anime

Not much for me to say other than I love both those movies.

Akira is very... disturbing. Eerie.

Nausicaa is beautiful. Real ass magic.

@ezekiel: I haven't read the Nausicaa manga, though I definitely agree that

Akira manga > Nausicaa Anime > Akira Anime

Will try to get a hold of Nausicaa manga then ;)

After I saw this video, I would have to default to Nausicaa being a better adaptation until shown otherwise.

I know the original Princess Mononoke book is very different from the movie, so it could be Nausicaa is too.

They're both kind of... okay? I dunno. Not really that great, really. I probably like Akira better, if only because its better animated. Hayao Miyazaki has made some great films in his career, though.

I thought Nausicaä the movie was underwhelming. So I choose Akira.

Manga wise both are awesome.

Even though Nausicaa is a pretty basic and straitforward film (as far its plot and themes are concerned), Akira is total trash. Akira is a mess, a beautifully animated mess, but still a sloppy mess. The Akira manga is pretty good though.

Grave of the Fireflies.

Nah for real though, Nausicaa is just a lot more interesting and less of a convoluted mess than Akira.

Nausicaa is just a far better told story within the time given. Akira is like 20 phone book sized volumes on its own and just a convoluted (but pretty) mess as a movie.

To me, Nausicaa is a better anime. Though it should be noted they are both good.

I've never read the originals, but I much prefer Nausicaa. Honestly I found Akira to be kind of boring in parts, where as Nausicaa is captivating and beautiful throughout.

After reading the manga it's incredibly hard for me to ever return to the Akira film, even with it's great looks and amazing music. It's only a shadow of the source material and shows the typical symptoms of a film made before the source material has actually been completed.

Meanwhile, the manga of Nausicaä was made specifically to turn it into a film. The manga eventually became something much larger but as a film Nausicaä is a much more comprehensive, defined and logical whole.

@sergio: What original Princess Mononoke book? There is no book as far as I know.

Never heard of Nausicaa so Akira wins easily.

Basically, Akira needs a sequel? I need to read the complete manga, i've only read a couple volumes that i found at the library one time.

Akira > Nausicaa

Haven't read the manga for Nausicaa to be honest. I was just soooo bored when I watched the movie. I liked the whole concept and world of Nausicaa, but it was just not that great of a story in my opinion and the characters felt kind of wooden. To me, Akira has always been a big influence in my life and has always made me wonder about what the future may entail. Not to mention that the art style and animation in my opinion is still the best even by today's standards, unless you compare it to something like Redline... (mostly because every action anime now seems to be having a hard on for CGI) Akira is just so eerie, gross, and just plain weird at times and I love that shit. The manga was great to read because of what an epic journey it was from start to finish and because it at least gave some closure. I still think the movie though left me more in wonder than the manga and I kinda prefer that than just having answers explained. The characters were kind of hollow in Akira, that I will agree with, especially with Kaneda there's practically zero character progression going on with him and in a way, Tetsuo is the most diverse character in both the movie and manga.

Honestly on the scale of the best Studio Ghibli movies, Nausicaa is very low for me. Just not that entertaining to me, at least when you have their other movies like Princess Mononoke which in my opinion is far better and still has a just as interesting world as Nausicaa does.

I'll go with Akira. As an adaptation it's not great - the narrative is all over the place, and a lot of things go unexplained. They managed to leave a lot of important events from the manga out, while simultaneously loading up the movie with an over-abundance of information that leaves most people feeling confused by the end. When I first watched the movie, I felt fried and underwhelmed. It was only after reading the manga entirely that I could appreciate it for what it is. The soundtrack is unforgettable, the animation is absolutely unrivalled (it's 2015 and there's no animation that looks better than Akira in my opinion) and it's just plain exciting. It has one of the most enthralling and well put together openings in any movie I've ever seen - seriously, just watch the first 10 minutes. Above all, it has styyyyyle.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was fun to watch. I just never thought about it after I finished it. Grave of the Fireflies, Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away just left me blown away and obsessing over the details, Nausicaa was just kind of a pleasant experience. I tried reading the Nausicaa manga too, but I got bored not that long after I started it.

I like Akira better myself but I'm not sure what the question is. Which one is the better adaptation? Probably Nausicaa. Which one is the better film? I would go with Akira since it's more memorable to me and has a timeless style whereas Nausicaa very much looks to me like an 80s anime movie.

@oursin_360: The best way to bring Akira to the screen would be a series/OVA. It's much too big for a film or even multiple films.

God I love that movie's soundtrack so much

@hassun: It would have been more accurate to say the original story, since the book didn't get released until later. Princess Mononoke: The First Story.

I watched Akira a ton when I was a teenager, and although it was awesome and everything, it felt borderline nonsensical, like huge chunks of the story were missing. Nausicaa feels like a more complete adaptation. Having not read the manga of either I can't say if that's true or not, but it certainly feels that way.

Movie Akira is one of the most visually fluid animated films I've had the pleasure of watching, though its plot is confusing as all hell. Nausicaa used to be a contender for my favourite Miyazaki film, but after reading the manga, which is a truly epic work, the movie feels underwhelming now. Will say Akira for movie, Nausicaa for comic.

@davidmerrick: Did you read the Akira manga? I think you'd have the same opinion on that one as Nausicaä.
If only someone would release a high quality English translation of Akira in its original right to left format. Hell I'd take the existing Dark Horse translation as long as I could get it in its original format.

@sergio: Ah that makes more sense. I had no idea that was released.

I love Akira, but Nausicaa makes me want to be a better person.