And I watched Nausicaa!
I'm glad I did because I really liked the medieval era meets post-apocalyptic sci-fi world created by Miyazaki for the film (apparently it was based on his manga of the same name). I usually am not a big fan of post-apocalyptic stories so the imaginative world of Nausicaa was something refreshing. I also really dug the Giant Warrior idea and how it was an analogy for WMDs. A little precursor to Grave of the Fireflies, I suppose.
Having said that, I can see why some consider it to be a rough version of the Miyazaki epic to come 13 years later, Princess Mononoke. Unlike Mononoke, the central theme of man vs. nature in Nausicaa is fairly simplistic. Princess Kushana seems like a less developed version of Lady Eboshi (favorite Ghibli character ever!). Even Hisaishi's score is similiar to the score in Mononoke. I could actually imagine the notes in the Nausicaa main theme progressing into The Legend of Ashitaka theme. Speaking of the score, damn that outdated 80s' synth music would always take me out of the movie whenever it would start playing abruptly over the background.
All in all, a solid B film. Not quite the masterpiece as Ghibli's finest, and the problem with Nausicaa is that there is a directly comparable masterpiece in Princess Mononoke, which reflects Miyazaki's more matured and nuanced outlook on the theme of nature versus the evolution of human civilization. But Nausicaa is better than Ghibli's weakest and definitely warrants a watch for Miyazaki lovers.