Miyazaki’s First ‘Mononoke’ Was A Decidedly Different Tale

Did you know that Hayao Miyazaki wrote an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT version of Princess Mononoke back in 1980? S’true!

Seventeen years before Princess Mononoke hit theaters, Miyazaki created a fully-illustrated version of an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT Princess Mononoke while trying to find the idea for the film that we know and love today.

Here’s the plot: After a long, exhausting war, a samurai lost in a forest encounters a giant wildcat – a mononoke. The beast saves his life, but at the price of his daughter’s hand in marriage…

Kinda sounds like Beauty and the Beast, doesn’t it? What’s more, look at the design of that ‘mononoke.’ It looks like a cross between Totoro and the Catbus!

Viz Comics has reprinted this whimsical tale in an oversized book that features all of Miyazaki’s original watercolor art — along with a story that is VERY different from what ended up in the film! To order the book from Amazon, click here.