40 years took us to get this beautiful book in English, and no one should miss the opportunity to add it to their library.
It's watercolors are inspiring, the text is short, but the story is really enjoyable, but there is more, in it you get a glimpse of the the art of Hayao Miyazaki and if you love his movies, you'll get to see some characters and plot lines.
This book is a must, already reserved it on am***n!

Also made a spanish review here:

https://pananime.com/LeAn/Entries/2022/7/resea-shunas-journey.html

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free graphic novel.*

"Shuna's Journey" was written by Hayao Miyazaki before he even co-founded Studio Ghibli, yet his trademark works such as "Princess Mononoke" or "Nausicaa" can be found as templates in this graphic novel or illustrated novel. The watercolour illustrations are beautiful and is the retelling of a Tibetian story that Miyazaki changed so that it could take place in Asia, perhaps China. In this version, prince Shuna (who looks a lot like Ashitaka but is also a model for Nausicaa) sets out on his yakul (the animal that Ashitaka rides in "Mononoke") to find magical grain to aid his people. On his way, he encounters slavers and frees two sisters who later aid him as well.

While I found the overall story enjoyable and it was fascinating to see so many templates for later Ghibli movies (such as the robots in "Castle in the Sky"), the ending was frustrating as was the prince-in-shining-armour-saves-woman-who-then-saves-him business. But it was an enjoyable read and I am very happy that after almost 30 years, a translation will be made available to the wider public.

4 stars

I enjoyed reading the story.
The illustrations are good. Just one thing, I hope when the book published, the publisher or the illustrator could make the color a little brighter. Right now, the color looks a little faded.

illustrated entirely in watercolor, shuna's journey is inspired by a tibetan folktale and there are traces of inspiration here for nausicaä of the valley of the wind and princess mononoke. this story is as gorgeously illustrated and wonderfully told as the works we've come to know and love from miyazaki, and it's beautiful to see some of his earlier work after seeing how far he's come since. highly recommend for any fans of studio ghibli or anyone looking for an enchanting graphic novel!

A beautiful story crafted from one of the worlds master story tellers.
Hayao Miyazaki has a specially recognisable approach to his stories and the echoes of his later animated works are apparent within this story.

A beautiful and at times brutal story, this one is filled with hope and love.

I think the art of this watercolor illustrated story was gorgeous, and I think it was very representative of the beautiful and otherworldly stories Miyazaki creates, it just didn’t click for me.

Princess Monanoke is one of my favorite movies and I loved this story. The illustrations were beautiful.

This was a very quick read, but I enjoyed it! Miyazaki tells a lovely story, as always, and the art is beautiful to look at.
The part I enjoyed the most was when Shuna was on the godfolk island, the visuals from that part were amazing, if a little unsettling.
Overall, 4/5 stars, as it did feel a little rushed at times. That said, I would definitely read more if the story was continued!
Thanks for the ARC

It is hard to imagine giving anything by Miyazaki less than five stars, and it isn't happening this time. Shuna is an endearing character whose journey is epic, even if at times it feels misguided. That makes him and his trials all the more fascinating. Even if the story doesn't sound appealing, the art alone is worth enjoying. Looking forward to part 2.

For the first time, Hayao Miyazaki's 1987 graphic novel Shuna's Journey is available in English. This volume from First Second Books is printed in the original right-to-left orientation and in full colour. Thank you to First Second Books for providing a digital arc of the release in exchange for an honest review.

The volume opens in a small kingdom at the bottom of a glacier. As they are situated in a hidden valley untouched by the sun, the kingdom's inhabitants can barely farm nor feed their livestock well and work themselves to the bone trying to survive. One day, our protagonist, Shuna, chances upon a rare outside to the valley who reveals he is a prince at his deathbed who had set forth in search of a golden grain that would rescue his people from poverty and starvation. Shuna soon leaves to find this golden grain himself and what follows is a volume that traces his journey.

This is a gorgeous release that'll be welcomed by fans of Miyazaki's films. In his afterword, Miyazaki directly references the Tibetan folktake, The Prince who Turned Into a Dog, as an inspiration. There are also some clear similarities between this work and his later manga and films, Nausicaa & Princess Mononoke. The graphic novel itself also calls to mind a film storyboard more so than the framing and layouts of other comics and manga (a translator's note from Alex Dudok de Wit describes it as an emonogatari). Rather than panels, each page is for the most part a full-page illustration often accompanied by narrative text more so than dialogue balloons, and these illustrations are gorgeous. The worldbuilding in this is similarly top tier with Shuna's journey taking him across several lands with their own unique settings. I also enjoyed the appendices included in this release. I look forward to both ordering in and buying this title once it's in print come November!

If you're a fan of Miyazaki (or even have a passing appreciation for the art of Studio Ghibli) I recommend this book. More than just the story, Shuna's Journey was one of Miyazaki's last projects before finding success and starting Studio Ghibli. Reading this feels like witnessing the genesis of Miyazaki's style of storytelling, and art. Also THE ART!!! I would frame of these panels and adorn my walls with them. This is the blueprint for the characters for Nausicaä and inspiration Prince Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke.

Disclaimer: I work for a bookstore, all thoughts and opinions are my own and not affiliated with the store or company.
Thank you to Netgalley and First Second Books for providing me with a digital version of this book.

Another disclaimer, I am a long-time fan of Hayao Miyazaki’s work and have a love for his work. My opinion may be (probably is) biased due to this fact. I squealed with joy when I saw that I got approved.

As always, this story maintained the beautiful art style that Miyazaki captures in so many of his works. Many of the watercolor paintings stand out as stunning pieces of art. As mentioned later on, you can truly see the depictions of his earlier work within this; showing how his art has evolved within the last 39 years.

This story was more on the melancholy side with more depictions of violence than usual and slave trading. As usual, the main element revolves around nature, in this case, the growth of crops.
The second half of the plot switches focus to another main character and her journey. She is what brought me to love this book. I would love an entire novel surrounding her after the events of Shuna’s Journey.
The story did leave many questions in the air about what happened or how it happened, but I can assume that Miyazaki is hoping for the reader to interpret the missing pieces.

One of the elements I thought was most interesting was the authors and the translator's notes at the end. Both shared insight into the creation of this story and gave context as to how this story came to be and what some of the elements were inspired by. It is revealed that the story is inspired by the Tibetan folktale The Prince Who Turned Into a Dog. The translator (Alex) makes a note of how many of Miyazaki's works can also be seen within Shuna’s journey and the timeline of where Nausicaa comes into play in the art style and character design.
This story was first published in 1983 in Japan. The afternotes have prompted me to look into what was happening around that time to see which elements of history and/or politics have been reflected in this work.

I saw the artwork on the cover thought, oh, that looks like Hayao Miyazaki – well it was! Shuna leaves his village when he becomes of age to search out the crop of golden wheat to feed his people. On the way he encounters the slave traders, using humans as a source of energy for the gods. Saving a pair of sisters from that fate.

Overall, I really enjoyed this graphic book. It’s like Nausicaa meets Princess Mononoke. The art is fantastic and whimsical. The story is engaging. The dialog is simple, as the pictures tell the majority of the story - in my opinion. The art of studio Ghibli may have sophisticated over the years, but the original work by Hayao Miyazaki is still a joy!

Thank you Netgalley and First Second for this ARC. This was a treasure. I hope other books in this series are published (if there are others), so we can continue to follow Shuna and Thea’s story.

This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book. I can't wait to add it to our school library! You truly can see Miyazaki's artistry at work here.

Like much of Miyazaki's animation work, this book is *pure vibes*. Shuna's Journey is an early work by a master, done in gorgeous watercolor and reinventing a well-known fable. Great for fans of Nausicaa and other Ghibli adventures.

This illustrated novel/manga is a bit of an outlier for Miyazaki, who wrote it in the early 80s before the many successes of Studio Ghibli. If you have read the Nausicaa manga or watched the movie, you will certainly recognize many of the characters, situations and landscapes. In this early work you can see what will develop into some of his most memorable works - the aforementioned Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke, just to name the most obvious. The story was inspired by a Tibetan myth, but Miyazaki's touch renders it uniquely his own. This work is short and poetic, and would be a good place to start before diving into Nausicaa, a more fully formed and satisfying read.

Shuna's Journey is surely beautiful and melancholic. It's easy to see Miyazaki's later work in it and it took this much time to finally get this in English. The manga is an adult fairytale with environmental issues at its core. Shuna is a prince of a poor land where hardly anything grows. He wants this to change and wants to find seeds to grow crops, since all the seeds are basically dead. On his journey to the Land of the God-Folk he meets these two slave sisters, whom he lets free and promises to meet when he's succeeded. The gods make grain from people, the slaves, and Shuna loses himself when stealing the grain. It takes him time to heal and with the girls, he plants the seeds and begins his long journey home. The story is based on a folktale from Tibet and there's so much in the story that we can place anywhere. It's wonderful and so sad at the same time. The story is simple and full of meaning and there's so much to see and learn in it.

The art is beautiful and round with soft colors. The heavy atmosphere is softened with the art and makes this easier to approach. Miyazaki's style works amazingly and he's so good at telling stories like this. Like little things make for everything. It's easy to hear Shuna's Journey inside your head when you read this. It makes you want to preserve the nature and save the world. And that's amazing. Perhaps I would've liked that the font would look a little different though as the text doesn't fully fit with the imagery. Otherwise this is great!

This is a gorgeous new English translation of one of Miyazaki's earliest print works. It's beyond beautiful, and the story itself is deep and haunting despite its comparatively sparse language and plot-level detail. It's easy to see the parallels between many of Miyazaki's later works like Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky (and contemporaneous ones, in the case of Nausicaa), which makes it an awesome read form an archival/historical perspective as well. (I will say that the eARC isn't ideal, since after the publicity front-matter, it's scanned in backwards...they didn't adjust the scanning order to account for the fact that this is a manga, like VIZ and other publishers do...)

I loved this book! I would love to see it turned into a movie. Shuna goes on a journey to find golden grains to help his struggling village. He finds more than he thought.

This book is as wondrous and charming as any Miyazaki story. It reads like a dark fairy tale. My main complaint is something I suspect is a translation issue. The omniscient narrator is a bit too present for my liking. Many events are narrated that would have been more effectively told through illustrations. So many moments could have been shown rather than told. Still, the art is quite beautiful and the story is extremely moving. It feels like a dark fairytale.