First Second Books will publish a previously untranslated graphic novel by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki: Shuna’s Journey, first published in 1983 and never before translated into English. Shuna is the prince of an impoverished country who goes on a journey in search of a golden grain that he hopes will bring prosperity to his subjects. First Second will publish the book on November 1 as a 160-page hardcover with an MSRP of $27.99.
Translator Alex Dudok DeWitt Tweeted some additional information about the book, explaining that it is actually emonogatari, an illustrated book, in which the text is mostly captions accompanying the watercolor illustrations. The story is based on a Tibetan folk tale and is reminiscent of other Miyazaki works such as Princess Mononoke. The First Second edition will include Miyazaki’s original afterword as well as a new introduction by DeWitt.
This is the first Japanese graphic novel for First Second, although it did publish the Korean Color of Earth trilogy starting in 2009 (see “Interview with Mark Siegel, Part Three”).
Source: ICV2
