Hayao Miyazaki To Release Graphic Novel

A graphic novel by Oscar-winning filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is being released for the first time in the United States, nearly forty years after it was first published in Japan.

Miyazaki’s “Shuna’s Journey,” a 1983 release which contains elements later built upon in his films “Princess Mononoke” and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind,” will be published Nov 1 by the Macmillan imprint First Second.

Alex Dudok de Wit is translating the book into English.

“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,” said Mark Siegel, editorial and creative director of First Second.

The story follows Prince Shuna, who leaves his village in search of golden seeds to save his people from starvation. He encounters two enslaved girls and god-men in his journey.

Miyazaki launched the manga in Tokuma Shoten‘s Animage magazine in June 1983.

Miyazaki, 81, is regarded as one of the world’s greatest animators. His other films include “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and the 2001 release “Spirited Away,” which won the Academy Award for best animated feature. The film also captured the top prize at the 2002 Berlin International Film Festival, won best Asian film at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and was named best animated feature at the 2003 Academy Awards. He was nominated for a best animated feature Oscar for his 2013 film “The Wind Rises.”

First Second Books is an American publisher of graphic novels. An imprint of Roaring Brook Press, part of Holtzbrinck Publishers, First Second publishes fiction, biographies, personal memoirs, history, visual essays, and comics journalism.

Source: Associated Press (AP)

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