Shuna's Journey

"These things may have happened long ago; they may be still to come. No one really knows anymore. At the bottom of an ancient valley carved out by a glacier, there was a small kingdom which time had abandoned."

- Opening pages

Shuna's Journey (Japanese シュナの旅, Hepburn Shuna no Tabi, also known as The Journey of Shuna) is a one volume, six chapter Graphic Novel. The book was initially published in 1983, and an English translation by Alex Dudok de Wit became available--in the United States--in November 2022.

A plot summary goes here

Oh, and the graphic novel was written and illustrated by a little known man called Hayao Miyazaki. You might know him from his obscure Studio Ghibli and films like Spirited Away. What is Spirited Away, you ask? Just the first and only Anime, traditionally animated and foreign film to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture. No big deal, really.


 * Artsy Moon: The moon is flat, more like an alien spaceship than a moon. When it sets, it deposits human bodies into a living structure that makes Shuna nervous.
 * Because You Were Nice to Me: Because Shuna was nice to Thea and freed her from slavery, Thea later nursed him back to health.
 * The Call Knows Where You Live: The call to adventure is a man who journeys into Shuna's improvised village, with the promise of golden grain to feed everyone in the village far in the west. Thus, Shuna's Journey begins.
 * Character Title: In Shuna's Journey, Shuna goes on a journey.
 * Crapsack World: Every human character you meet is either improvised or a slave. The gods who live where the Moon sets cultivate vast fields of grain, but demand human sacrifices for them.
 * Fountain of Expies: Instead of a single character being exported over and over again, there are multiple characters exported to separate works at Studio Ghibli. The yakul species was exported straight into Yakul in Princess Mononoke. Shuna himself has traits from Princess Nausicaä, and his journey to the west resembles Ashitaka's story in Princess Mononoke. Thea resembles Therru from Tales From Earthsea, her hairstyle being a particular similarity. "[Thea] is cousin to Sophie in Howl's Moving Castle (2004), San in Princess Mononoke (1997), and of course Nausicaä."

- Alex Dudok de Wit


 * Year Inside, Hour Outside: In the land of the Gods, time passes differently, and the crops which need a year to grow are grown in a day. Plants quickly cover Shuna's gun, and he ages considerably once he leaves the place.