This was one of the items I bought on my recent shopping spree in Melbourne and it was very satisfying. Just a short one volume book, the translator, Alex Dudok De Wit, calls it more of an emonogatari, or illustrated story, than a manga. Shuna, a young prince from a poor village, rides an animal that’s a cross between an elk and a horse, on a journey to the west to find the Golden Grain that will save his people. Along the way he encounters astonishing things, plus a young girl called Thea and her little sister, who he rescues
from slavery. Fans of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke will recognise Shuna and his trusty steed, called a Yakul, as an early version of the characters from that film. But he published the story in 1983, and this is the first English translation. In the excellent Translators Notes at the end, De Wit detects the work of Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea stories as a possible influence on Miyazaki’s story. He had apparently wanted to adapt them, but was refused permission at the time. When permission was granted later, his son, Goro, directed A Tale of Earthsea, somewhat unsuccessfully. I loved this story, especially for its powerful symbolism and mythology, and the artwork was beautiful. I will read it many times.