Miyazaki’s Shuna’s Journey is coming out in English for the first time

Hayao Miyazaki isn’t just the director behind some of the most beloved and greatest animated films of all time – My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away – he’s also a manga-ka. And now one of his never-translated works, Shuna’s Journey, is going to be published in English for the first time.

Shuna’s Journey was originally published in 1983 and features many themes similar to Princess Mononoke and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (which was also a manga originally.) The graphic novel is coming from First Second on November 1, with a translation by Alex Dudok de Wit. 

The story involves Prince Shuna’s quest for golden seeds to save his village and his encounters with gods and slaves alike.

“Fans of ‘Princess Mononoke’ and ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ — there are millions of us — will delight in finding early hints of these masterworks in gorgeous watercolor pages by Miyazaki’s own hand,” First Second creative director Mark Siegel, said in a statement.

Translator de Wit tweeted more about the book, along with some gorgeous interior visuals.

🥁Some personal news🥁 I’m translating SHUNA’S JOURNEY, a 1983 graphic novel by Hayao Miyazaki, into English. The good folks at @01FirstSecond will publish it on November 1. (1/4) https://t.co/Wqyzbf7rgC pic.twitter.com/LWTtes4CYQ

— Alex Dudok de Wit (@dudeydok) February 22, 2022

“The book isn’t so much a manga as an emonogatari (illustrated story), with all-watercolour images and text mostly presented as captions,” he continued. “It is based on a Tibetan folk tale, and the fantastical pseudo-Central Asian setting has a lot in common with the world of NAUSICAÄ. SHUNA also prefigures other Studio Ghibli films, including PRINCESS MONONOKE (which borrows visual and narrative ideas from it) and Goro Miyazaki’s TALES FROM EARTHSEA (which is explicitly based in part on the book). 

Wow. Cannot wait for this, how about you?

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