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Mononoke Vs Nausicaa - Which film do you like more?

posted 10 years ago by TwiZone
17 replies | jump to latest

These two films are often compared with each other because of their environmental themes and the plot of humans fighting off creatures for their own benefit. My question is, which film do you like more? Initially, I used to like Princess Mononoke more for quite some time and while I do still absolutely love Mononoke (it's one of my favourite films of all time), I am now siding with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind as the film I like SLIGHTLY more. While Mononoke does some elements slightly better than Nausicaa, I think Nausicaa appeals to me a little bit more for two reasons.

Firstly, I like the main character Nausicaa more than Ashitaka. The latter is still pretty cool, but I do find Nausicaa to be more interesting (but that's the way I feel about it). Secondly, the post apocalyptic, steampunk world of Nausicaa is more fascinating to me than the forest setting of Mononoke. The latter definitely is creative and it has moments of visual beauty, but there is something about the world that Miyazaki created with Nausicaa that is a little bit more fascinating to me.

Mononoke is my 13th favourite film of all time. Nausicaa is 11th.

What are your thoughts?

[–] elliest_5 9 years ago

It's Mononoke for me. Nausicaa is a beautiful film too, of course, but here's where Mononoke gets it better:

1. Characters: a more interesting bunch / dynamics
2. Relationship between humans-nature: similar messages in both films, but I prefer this take
3. Pacing: Nausicaa drags on a little bit, while Mononoke is perfectly paced.

I do agree with the OP's points, but the ones listed above have a greater impact for me.
~*~

[–] rocketXpert 8 years ago

They're both great- I'm not sure Miyazaki ever directed anything that was less than great. However, as a sci-fi aficionado, I find Nausicaa more appealing. Knowing how highly it's regarded, I wish I could say I liked Princess Mononoke more than I do, but it's actually not among my favorite Miyazaki movies. Objectively, Princess Mononoke may be a better movie than Nausicca. I find it hard to fault. It gets its environmental message across more clearly and the real-world setting perhaps makes the movie more relatable for audiences, but I just don't find it to be a lot of fun to watch.

[–] rnmboon (404) 7 years ago

I prefer Princess Mononoke but they are both classics. I can't say anything bad about either of the two and I don't want to try.

[–] rnmboon (404) 6 months ago

This is an almost impossible choice.

I used to prefer Mononoke over Nausicaa because I felt that the former was the more refined telling of a similar story. But in recent years I have changed my mind a bit on that: Nausicaa has some very definite qualities over Mononoke that makes it unique. Nowadays I wouldn't be able to state a preference.

Interesting tidbit is that the framed original posters of both films are hanging in my living room.