So this is one of the last pieces in Miyazaki's oeuvre that I've seen, and I must say, it's not my favorite. Not even in the top half.

Maybe it has to do with some sort of evolution of the tropes and techniques Miyazaki used over his career, but I find that

Nausicaa is a rough draft of Laputa, or Castle in the Sky

So many similar veins, even the machines from 1000+ years ago look the same. But by the end of the film, it felt like everything was being randomly thrown into a mixing pot to make an "ending." It felt too scattered.

One of my favorite scenes was with Nausicaa leaving the valley and promising the little girls she would return. I felt how noble the idea of loyalty to a monarch could have possibly been (under ideal circumstances). It must've been cool a few hundred years ago to have sworn yourself to monarch who, instead of being crazy or evil due to inbreeding, inevitably, was actually someone you could really stand behind -- like Nausicaa, who immediately and spontaneously risks her life for the good of her people. I'm now thinking about fealty, how interesting it must be. How many people have lived and died loyal to another person.

As for next round, Blindsight seems interesting. I read a few reviews and would like to give it a whorl. Very hard looking science fiction.