1705798250
“It is not clear which era we are talking about. Maybe from a distant past, maybe from a very distant future. In the depths of an ancient valley created by the erosion of a glacier, we find a small kingdom abandoned by time. What caused people to settle in these lands? (…) After the arduous work of plowing and planting, the dry fields barely produce a few hiwabie grains (…) Despite everything, the people live gratefully for the modest harvests. “They work to exhaustion and die.”
With this not exactly encouraging scenario begins the story of a journey, the dangerous journey of Shuna, the young ruling heir of this forgotten corner of the world, who is tired of seeing his people faint over nothing more than a bite of food.
One very strange day, on the outskirts of town, Shuna meets an elderly traveler who has collapsed on the road and is on the verge of death from hunger and fatigue. Immediately the young man mounted him on his yakul (an imaginary animal similar to an antelope) and took him to his house. But there will be no cure that can help you. Knowing his destination, the traveler tells Shuna that he is the crown prince of a nation suffering from famine like his own.
He explains that when he was so young, he met a traveler who gave him a bag like the one he shows him now. A few seeds fall from it that Shuna hadn’t seen before. “This is what this traveler gave me (…) They say that in the remotest parts of the West there are countries where large tracts of golden grain reach as far as the eye can see, and the stalks of the plantations, loaded and bountiful “They sway like waves.” The old man dies shortly after giving Shuna the seeds.
The unexpected visit has changed the young heir’s mind, and one night under the new moon he decides to head west in search of the land of golden plenty, convinced, despite the inhospitable, barren, lifeless terrain, that it keeps expanding. traveling for days. So Shuna begins a disturbing, magical and unexpected journey in which the determination to change the judgment of his people will be the reason for not turning back.
Miyazaki mythology
This is the beginning of the graphic novel Shuna’s Journey, written by a living legend, the illustrator, animator, director and film producer and of course mangaka (a term used in Japan for the creator of a manga or comic). Hayao Miyazaki (Tokyo, 1941), demiurge of several of the East’s most memorable animated films. You may recognize titles such as Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Spirited Away (2001) or Ponyo (2008), all conceived in the imagination of this genius , which can condense stories. Tragic, magical, disturbing and moving.
Well, the Spanish translation of Shuna’s Journey, full of Miyazaki’s beautiful watercolors, is an act of justice for this hemisphere. The story was originally published in 1983, when the Japanese genius was around 42 years old and was already an established mangaka but still in his first steps as a film director.
Today, as already mentioned, the founder of Studio Ghibli is a legend of cinema and graphics, a multiple award winner in his country and in the West, where he has so far received two Oscars, the first for “The Spirited”. Away for Best Animated Film in 2002 and the second honorary award in 2014.
This year, Miyazaki-san is on the verge of winning his third Oscar since his most recent film, The Boy and the Heron (Kimitachi wa Dō Ikiru ka), won at the last Golden Globes. ahead of the favorite, “Spider-Man: Across.” The Spider-Verse, and has already received numerous awards from various critics associations in the United States.
This Thursday, Miyazaki’s new masterpiece, which incidentally received unanimous approval with 100% positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes portal, received the corresponding nomination for the Bafta and is expected to be placed as the favorite among the Oscar nominees. which will be announced next Wednesday, January 24th.
Adaptation of a legend
Shuna’s journey is based on the Tibetan legend “The Prince Who Turned Into a Dog” – spoiler alert! – which tells the story of an heir who tries to alleviate the misery in which his people find themselves, and after an endless hostility on his journey, he succeeds in finding the least suitable person who casts a devastating spell on him, to steal a few grains of barley.
In the original 1983 edition, Miyazaki wrote: “Ever since I read the legend more than a decade ago, I have always dreamed of adapting it into an animated format, but given the current situation in Japan, it is impossible to get permission for it. “Such a small project. colorful.
Now, 40 years after this graphic novel was published, it would be difficult for any project that passes through this genius’s hands not to be attractive.
Shuna’s journey
- Author: Hayao Miyazaki
- Edited by: Salamandra Graphic
- Year: 2023
- Pages: 160
- Printed: 399 pesos
The Tategaki system
“Shuna’s Journey” has one of its great charms, somewhat strange but easy to process, is the fact that it is read using the Tategaki system, i.e. in the usual way of writing and reading in Japan, i.e. from right to left The front page is usually the back page.
#Miyazakis #masterpiece #public #time #Spanish