Ohmu
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For the town in Hokkaidō, see Oumu, Hokkaido
An Ohmu (王蟲 Ōmu?) is a fictional terrestrial crustacean from the film and manga Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki. It closely resembles the common woodlouse, but has some notable differences:
- While woodlice are typically around a centimeter long, Ohmu weigh several tons and are strong enough to destroy cities.
- An Ohmu has fourteen large eyes, the color of which depends on the mood of the Ohmu. (Light grey for sleep, deep blue for sad, light blue for calm, fiery red for enraged).
- Whereas woodlice molt in two stages [1], an Ohmu is capable of shedding its entire skin at once. It leaves through an opening at the rear of the shell. The resulting shell can be used by humans to manufacture various products, from windows (using the protective lens from the eye) to swords, and is extremely valuable. Ohmu shells are stronger than any of the surviving manufactured ceramics (considered to be almost as strong as Ohmu shell).
- Using special feelers, an Ohmu has the ability to heal lethal human injury.
In the manga, it is indicated that the Ohmu possess a hive mind with which certain sensitive humans may communicate. The movie does not mention this specifically, but still features the massive Ohmu stampede in which they appear to act as a single entity.
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[edit] Relationship with humans
While Ohmu are not aggressive unless provoked, humans generally do not approach Ohmu for fear of enraging them. However, a small number of humans (including Princess Nausicaä) are able to safely approach and even communicate with the creatures. In addition to their enormous physical power, a traveling Ohmu will unintentionally scatter spores from the forest wherever it goes. Land in which these spores germinate becomes unsuitable for human use, so every effort is made to prevent Ohmu from nearing human settlements. Ohmu themselves are not inclined to leave the Sea of Corruption unless enraged and chasing an aggressor or intetionally traveling. While living Ohmu are feared by humans, their cast-off exoskeletons are extremely valuable as a material for weapons, tools and building supplies.
It also seems that the Ohmu have psionic capabilities, mainly in the areas of empathy and healing; their feelers/tentacles act as a medium by touch through which they channel their powers. Regarding empathy, the Ohmu (and their fellow insects) respond to the general emotions projected against them by the humans, as demonstrated in several parts of the movie: hate and aggression makes them aggressive as well, whereas peaceful gestures are likewise reprociated. In the manga, Ohmu are capable of generating a gelatinous substance known only as "serum". This mysterious gel can provide oxygen to the blood of a human even if the human is not breathing, and will protect a human from the harmful effects of the forest's toxic spores. Ohmu serum is held in high regard by wormhandlers, who seem to believe it has magical properties. The blood of an Ohmu is deep blue in color. Other insects will not attack a human whose body or clothing has been coated in Ohmu blood.
[edit] Life cycle
The film suggests that infant Ohmu look like smaller versions of adults. Notably, it is mentioned that as a child, Nausicaä once encountered a young Ohmu the size of a small dog. Like many arthropods, they grow larger each time they molt, and form a new exoskeleton to match their new size. Immediately prior to molting, an Ohmu gorges itself, presumably to stretch its exoskeleton as it forms, to accommodate growth.
[edit] Alternate spellings
"Ohmu" was the romanization of the Japanese name for these creatures that was used in the English translation of the Nausicaä manga, and subsequently in most English writing about the manga and the film, including fansub scripts. "Ohm" is used on the subtitle tracks on official Studio Ghibli film prints, seen at screenings around the world. When the film was finally released with an official dubbed English audio track by Disney in the year 2005, the script sent from Studio Ghibli to Disney romanized the name as "Ohm", so the name is read that way by the English-speaking actors, though the subtitles read "ohmu". This is because native Japanese speakers often drop any final "u" off an attempted English spelling of Japanese words. Japanese syllables can't end in any consonants other than "n" or "m", and then only "m" before a "p" or "b" starting the next syllable. Thus, when Japanese speakers try to pronounce most English words, including words than end with an "m", like "ohm" (the 'h' there is used to indicate that the o is a long vowel), they must add another syllable, creating "o.mu". When attempting to transliterate what they would natively render as "おうむ" into something that looks like English orthography, then, it is not surprising that they would make the mistake of rendering "ohmu" as "ohm".
Although the word is written with the kanji for "King" and "Insect", the pronunciation of these characters as ohmu or ohm is Miyazaki's own invention. He has claimed that the sound is a combination of "Oh Mushi" (king insect), "Ohkii Mushi" (large insect), "Sando Uomu" (Japanese pronunciation of "Sand Worm" from "Dune"), "Aum" in Buddhist belief and others. There is a strong, though so far not confirmed possibility, especially considering the "ohm" spelling, that one of these 'other' sources is the film Fantastic Planet (based on the short story Oms en Série) in which humans are referred to as "oms" (a word in turn descended from the French word "homme", meaning "man", and the romanian word "om", meaning "human").
[edit] The band
Ohmu is also a band based in Montreal, Canada.
