Shuna no Tabi

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Synonyms: The Journey of Shuna

Japanese: シュナの旅

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 1

Chapters: 6

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 1983

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy

Serialization: None

Authors: Miyazaki, Hayao (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.60¹ (scored by 1,817 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2212²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #4687

Members: 4,021

Favorites: 43

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7.60

Ranked #2212Popularity #4687Members 4,021

MangaMiyazaki, Hayao (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /1

Chapters: /6

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Synopsis

Prince Shuna leaves his tiny village in search of the golden seeds that might bring better food to his people. He travels far, encountering slaving and saving two girls from it before reaching the land of the god-men and the terrible secret of the grain *and* the slave-trade.

(Source: ANN)

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Characters

Thea

Main

Shuna

Main

Yakkul

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 15, 2015

vssvitor

Recommended

Well, to begin with, the main motive I decided to make this review is because I personally think the other reviews provided exaggerated scores, it’s a very good manga but it’s not a masterpiece and not much remarkable either, however I know that be a masterpiece was not the objective, it was only made to be a beautiful and uncomplicated story and that I can say it was a accomplished objective. Also I am not a experienced manga reader but I’ve seen most of Miyazaki works so I think I am in condition to do this review, explained that let’s get to it. ...

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Nov 28, 2022

WdaCdaShdaDid

Recommended

Hayao Miyazaki fans, especially from watching "Princess Mononoke" and/or watching/reading "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind", should check this out. It's a very short and good manga by Miyazaki featuring a lot of familiar designs and storylines that fans will recognize from those stories, if not simply enjoy on their own. This also predates most of his work people are most familiar with, and he wrote it while writing the "Nausicaa" manga in the 80s.

The main plot is similar to "Princess Mononoke" in that the primary protagonist, Prince Shuna, leaves his homeland in search of something - a special kind of wheat that grows ... in a starving world - and does not return to that homeland within the story. This felt a little off-putting, since this is based on a Tibetan folktale where the prince's redemption by returning to his homeland is important. But the story was enjoyable and helped alleviate that weirdness. You might read this with a vague understanding of what's going on most of the time (where the slaves go/what happens to them is never explained and is actually a lot darker than usual, even for Miyazaki) but it's a fast read anyway.

The art is typical Studio Ghibli, but a lot of the characters and objects used here were used later for "Princess Mononoke" and "Tales From Earthsea". Shuna looks a lot like Ashitaka and even owns an elk named Yakkul and Thea looks a lot like Nausicaa. Shuna rescues a prince who looks a lot like one of the old men in Nausicaa (which makes sense, as Miyazaki was writing this at the time he was writing the Nausicaa manga). The slave cart Shuna rescues Thea from looks exactly like the one Ged rescues Eren from in "Earthsea". The references for "Earthsea" are there because this book was what Miyazaki wanted to use as a template for that film, and Goro followed through with that when the time came to make the film. The point is that the art is gorgeous, as usual for Studio Ghibli.

There are a lot of neat characters in this story. Shuna is much like Ashitaka and it's enjoyable to read his story. His adventure is a long, difficult road. Thea is also a very neat character who shines when Shuna's story wanes for a time. She's a hard worker and a decent person and it was nice that she got to hold protagonist status for a bit. Otherwise this story is pretty much a sausage fest. There's an old woman who bosses Thea around (and even attempts to force her into marriage so that she'll have another worker to boss around) and Thea has a sister and there's a wise woman who councils Shuna near the beginning, but all the royalty is male, the slavers and soldiers are male, most of the townsfolk we see are male and the elders from Shuna's village are male. We get so many great heroines from Miyazaki films that people forget that he tends to fill his casts with men and it's typically they who do the fighting and the politics. He switches things up sometimes - "Porco Rosso", "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke" are prime examples - but this is his early stuff.

I liked this graphic novel a lot. At the time I wrote this, there was no non-Japanese print version, but an official English translation by First Second (translated by Alex Dudok De Wit) was released in 2022 and it's gorgeous! It's also very enjoyable if you've watched his other films and go back to this and see where a lot of stuff came from, design-wise. At least half of "Tales From Earthsea" in here, along with a good third of "Princess Mononoke" and half of "Nausicaa". Hope you enjoy it too!

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Apr 15, 2011

xMiki-chan

Recommended

I never knew that Miyazaki did any mangas--before I read this, his name was synonymous with anime movies such as Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. I was interested to read this, because I read that it was done before many of his other works. I began to read Shuna no Tabi with the hopes that it would be as wonderful as Miyazaki's later works.

I was not disappointed! The art is done in the beautiful, typical Miyazaki style--even fully colored! The art was stunning. I can't imagine how much time he must have put into each panel. The character ...

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Poll: Shuna no Tabi Chapter 6 Discussion _-_Sally_-_ - Feb 24, 2020	1 replies	by DioBrando_69420 »» Sep 24, 9:28 PM
Poll: Shuna no Tabi Chapter 5 Discussion _-_Sally_-_ - Feb 24, 2020	0 replies	by _-_Sally_-_ »» Feb 24, 2020 7:41 PM
Poll: Shuna no Tabi Chapter 4 Discussion _-_Sally_-_ - Feb 24, 2020	0 replies	by _-_Sally_-_ »» Feb 24, 2020 6:51 PM
Poll: Shuna no Tabi Chapter 3 Discussion _-_Sally_-_ - Feb 24, 2020	0 replies	by _-_Sally_-_ »» Feb 24, 2020 6:25 PM
Poll: Shuna no Tabi Chapter 2 Discussion _-_Sally_-_ - Feb 24, 2020	0 replies	by _-_Sally_-_ »» Feb 24, 2020 6:13 PM

Shuna no Tabi
Shuna's Journey
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