Poster as a Site of Memory: Rereading Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Four Decades Later
It is undeniable that Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind occupies a singular position in the history of animation. Released more than forty years ago, prior even to the formal establishment of Studio Ghibli, the film already encapsulated the creative DNA of Hayao Miyazaki that would later become historically significant: ecological sensitivity, moral complexity, and a belief in coexistence rather than domination. Through the figures of the Ohmu and the Sea of Corruption, nature is portrayed not as a passive background but as a living entity that reacts to human greed and imbalance. Unsurprisingly, Nausicaä continues to feel deeply relevant today, particularly across Asia, where environmental issues persistently shape everyday life.
As is well understood within the creative industry, relevance alone does not automatically translate into commercial success, especially for a film made long before the digital-native generation was born. When Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind finally received its first commercial theatrical release in Taiwan earlier this year, the distributor faced a fundamental question: how do you draw contemporary audiences back into a story that is already four decades old? The answer, unexpectedly, did not emerge from digital marketing strategies or nostalgia-driven campaigns, but from poster design–and this is precisely what made the re-release resonate so strongly.
To accompany the release, the distributor invited Taiwanese designer Joe Fang (方序中 / Fang Hsu-Chung) and artist Shih Hang Tung (董十行) to create a Taiwan-exclusive Ohmu poster. The poster was distributed free of charge with movie tickets. A total of 60,000 copies were printed and claimed in a short span of time. The impact, however, far exceeded initial expectations: audiences began framing the posters, sharing them across social media, and discussing the visual work with an intensity equal to, at times even surpassing, conversations about the film itself. No longer functioning merely as promotional material, the poster transformed into a site of memory.
Its reverberations soon extended beyond Taiwan. Studio Ghibli fans across different countries began to take notice, culminating in the project receiving the Golden Pin Design Award 2025 for Best Design, one of Asia’s most prestigious design accolades. More than an institutional achievement, the project demonstrated how a carefully conceived visual artifact can activate interest, spark discourse, and renew cultural relevance, even for a legendary work that has long existed in the public consciousness.
In this poster, the Ohmu is rendered through a classical illustrative lens that re-stitches the world of Nausicaä. Rather than reproducing iconic film scenes, as is common in nostalgic poster design, Fang and Tung opted for a reinterpretative approach. After closely studying Miyazaki’s original manga, they directed the visual language toward the aesthetics of classical entomological illustration, a style commonly found in early scientific records. This choice serves as a form of homage to the Ohmu, a character with little dialogue yet immense narrative weight.
Tung describes his drawing process as a form of field research. He imagined himself as a scientist studying the Sea of Corruption, even borrowing an Ohmu model to observe its form, posture, and surface texture from multiple angles. Using black-and-white dip-ink techniques, he constructed volume through layered, repetitive strokes–an ode to Miyazaki’s line work, sharp yet organic. The result is a visual that remains faithful to the original archive while still feeling unmistakably contemporary.
The Ohmu’s eyes function as the emotional anchor of the design. In the film, their color shifts to signal calm, anger, or distress. Translating the translucent, glass-like blue, symbolizing tranquility and reconciliation, posed a significant challenge, both in illustration and in print production. The design team worked intensively with printers through numerous tests to achieve the desired result. Ultimately, the eyes emerge as both the visual and emotional center of the poster, drawing viewers into the world of Nausicaä from any angle—a quietly magical design decision.
In the lower right corner, Nausicaä is depicted flying freely alongside Teto, her fox-squirrel companion. This small yet crucial detail counterbalances the monumental presence of the Ohmu, while also reflecting humanity’s fragile attempt to restore harmony with nature. Fang recalls how, as a child, he felt both fear and fascination toward the Ohmu’s endlessly writhing tentacles. It was only upon revisiting the film as an adult that he fully grasped Miyazaki’s deeper reflections on ecology, civilization, and humanity’s place within them.
In the Taiwanese re-release of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the poster design does more than guide audiences toward the film. It becomes a new site of encounter; a space of memory and a medium for ecological discourse, forty years after the story was first told.
Source: Golden Pin Awards Taiwan
