Book Review: Princess Mononoke: The First Story

This book features the first original story conceived by Hayao Miyazaki in 1980 for Princess Mononoke. And the original Japanese book titled just もののけ姫 (Princess Mononoke) was published in 1993.

The story in this book is totally different from the actual animated film that came out in 1997.

This is actually more like a children book with large drawings and a few lines of text on each page. The beautiful drawings are done in typical Miyazaki style in pencils and watercolours. The story is simple and straightforward.

The book includes an afterword by Miyazaki that explains the purpose of the drawings. They are actually for selling the project to a film company or TV station. So actually, the drawings are considered pretty rough although most parts are coloured in, some bits not. Overall, the book feels unfinished because of that.

The drawings work like storyboards and you may be able to learn something by looking at how Miyazaki stages the scenes.

I'm not sure if it's a worthwhile purchase, but if you're a Miyazaki fan, then you could consider it.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Princess Mononoke: The First Story is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP)

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