Valley of the Wind and Other Manga Readings - Essay Example

MANGA 3 (B and C) In Takahashis Opening the Closed World of Shojo Manga, the focuses on the element of gender biases that existed at the verybeginning when the phenomenon of Manga began gaining popularity among men. As has always been the case against all forms of gender disparity, the writer notes of how attempts were made to integrate girls into this whole saga of Manga and thus the opening of the closed world of Shoio Managa. Explaining and analyzing this point put forward by Takahashis, it would be said that the quest to end gender inequality and lordship of men over women should not be ended with the success that was achieved in the case of the Manga but that every act that constitutes an infringement against the welfare and freedom of girls to operate in a manner that makes them feel good and part of the larger society must be allowed.

With reference to the story of Odyssey, one element that can be figured out is that of how powerful and useful girls can be once they are empowered. This feature is shown in the story from the fact that once the daughter of Alcinous was empowered by Athena, she gained the boldness, courage and power to undertake certain acts that would normally not have been expected from a person of her caliber. Explaining and analyzing this element of female empowerment, it can be established that the writer used a phenomenon that may not be wholly realistic in a real world sense – where a spirit would empower someone for the person to gain mastery over the physical world, it can still be said that there is a lot of meaning from this way of argument.

All there is the writer is putting across is that women of today only need a certain level of catalytic reinforcement to cause them to function in society in the manner we expect of them. The final story is Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind by Miyazaki. This story also has a peculiar element or theme of female resistance against destruction through leadership. Without the need for any careful research, one may argue outright that the percentage of female leadership in the world as far as heads of states, monarch queens and presidents are concerned will not form more than twenty percent (20%) of the total number of leadership.

However in writing Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind , the writer brings out the enormous talent associated with women. It presents women as very visionary, committed towards positive change and potential. The lesson here is that the time has come for women of today to give themselves this call up to stand up to be counted as far as leadership and change are concerned. (E) Going though all three readings, it could be said that there is an overall theme on female poptential and capability. These are however presented in different manners.

For instance education is seen as one means by which women can be empowered. In another instance, it is seen that all that women need is for them to be given the chance. There is another context whereby women are admonished to take up the challenge by force. (4 B, C, D and F) In 2B, the point is made of Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind that women can take up the challenge to influence the world by force. This is indeed well represented in the illustrations used in the manga. Typically, Nausicaa has been pictured to be constantly struggling with not just any kind of men but those who are seen through the illustration as powerful and tough.

This is a very prudent way of presenting the illustrations as it depicts the intensity of strength that Nausicaa had to apply to see the kind of change she wished for. On the theme of saving the world from destruction, the artist succeeds in depicting this clearly in how the drawing of the environment was done especially when it came to scenes of war. The presentations were so well illustrated that one did not need any deep thinking to appreciate the kind of harm that was being done to the environment.

A typical example of this is when fire was used in areas surrounding the actors. From these arguments, there is no way the connection can be said to be weak. There was a strong connection between the illustration and the theme of the story. 5 Reply to prompt 1 The argument that even though the character of Nausicaa appeared in a number of readings, it was Homer’s Nausicaa, and not Miyazaki’s , who fits the traditional shojo ideals. This is because Homer’s Nausicaa presents a typical situation that is seen in everyday life of females, who function as expected of them only after they are induced or reinforced.

In Odyssey, we read that “Only Alcinous’ daughter held last, for Athna planted courage within her heart.” This is a true reflection of the traditional role of girls as compared to the role they were made to assume in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which was more physical and woeful. Reply to prompt 2 It is tempting to say that the story Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is not appealing because of the fact that there seems to be a contradiction of charactersation where Nausicaa was along the line portrayed to be highly emotional and weak in her emotions – a situation that is trumpeted and confirmed by Mizuki Takahaski in his essay, Opening the Closed World of Shojo Manga.

However, the technique used by the writer should not be mistaken for contracdiction. The fact is that the technique was used rather to depict that even though Nausicaa was a girl and had every biological make up like a female, she went all out from this naturalness to put up extra ordinary personality. In fact, if Nausicaa was portrayed as tough and bossy through out the essay, other girls who have their natural instincts as girls would not have taken inspiration from it because they would have Nausicaa as a supernatural being and not as someone who was one of them.

  Works Cited   Homer. The Odyssey. Trans: Robert Fagles. Middlesex: Penguin Books. 1996. Print.  Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicca Of The Valley Of The Wind. San Francisco: VIZ Media, LLC. 2004. Print.  Takahashi, Mizuki. "Opening the Closed World of Shojo Manga." Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime. Ed. Mark W. MacWilliams. Armonk: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 2008. Print. Homer, Robert Fagles, and Bernard Knox. "The Princess and the Stranger." The Odyssey. New York: Viking, 1996. 168-78. Print.

 Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. San Francisco, CA: VIZ, LLC., 2004. Print.  Takahashi, Mizuki. "Opening the Closed World of Shojo Manga." Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of Manga and Anime. By Mark Wheeler Macwilliams. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 2008. 114-36. Print.