Princess Mononoke
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Princess Mononoke Film Comic Translation, Volume 4
"Princess Mononoke" is the adventures of Ashitaka, a young warrior in ancient Japan, who is on a quest to remove a curse put on him by a monster he fought.
This will put him into a strange relationship with San, the Princess Mononoke (the Spirit Princess), who was raised in the forest by a giant wolf.
This page is my translation of a Japanese film comic for the movie. The text of the comic is almost identical to the script of the movie. This page has the translation of the fourth and final volume of the film comic.
You may prefer the version with Japanese.
Princess Mononoke Film Comic, Volume 4
Contents
- Character Gallery for Volume 4
- Section 1: Moro 2
- Section 2: Toki 2
- Section 3: Priest Jiko 4
- Section 4: San and Ashitaka
- Section 1: Moro 2
Character Gallery for Volume 4
Ashitaka
This young man, who was living peacefully in the far north country, is related to the royal family of Emishi. On a journey because he received a death curse when he defeated a Tatarigami which suddenly came to attack his village.
San
This young woman was abandoned by people and raised by mountain wolves. She hates those who threaten the forest and she makes attacking raids against Tatara and Eboshi's people.
Lady Eboshi
This cool, self-possessed woman hunts down the animals and leads the city of Tataraba, which she established. She has the gift of accepting people from all sorts of circumstances, and she is well loved.
Moro, the she-wolf
A wolf-god that lives in the forest; she raised San. Hating humans, she always seeks opportunities to kill Eboshi.
Priest Jiko
By the command of the mysterious organization called the "Master Party," he seeks the head of Shishigami. He would do anything to accomplish this goal, even exploiting Eboshi and Ashitaka.
The Didarabocchi
The night form of Shishigami, it is a giant that stands about ten meters tall. They also say that it can steal away the life of people who see it in this form.
It is near nightfall, and Ashitaka runs to Shishigami's lake and looks for San. He spots Moro lying half in the water on one of the islands.
Ashitaka: Moro, are you dead?...
Ashitaka: (calling) San, where are you!? Saan!
San, caught in the coils of the new Tatarigami, calls out to him.
San: Ashitaka!!
Ashitaka sees the Overlord/Tatarigami coming, but he can't see San. With the Overlord are several of the priests and hunters disguised in boar skins.
Ashitaka: Overlord...
The priests threaten him with blowpipes stuck from the eye holes of the boar skins.
Priest 1: Begone, little brat!!
Ashitaka: If we fight here, Shishigami will not come.
Ashitaka: Overlord, calm down! Please restore the Wolf Princess to me. Where is San?
Ashitaka: (calling) San! Can you hear me? It's me! Ashitaka!
The Overlord/Tatarigami opens his mouth in a horrible squeal. Suddenly Ashitaka sees San's leg among the worms!
Ashitaka: San!!
He grunts with pain as one of the tentacles strikes him. Worms spew out everywhere. Some of the hunters are injured by them.
Priest 2: Stop that thing!
The priest shoots blowpipe darts at the monster and Ashitaka. Ashitaka ducks under them and rushes in close to the priests. He fights them, but he is nearly overwhelmed by their numbers.
Priest 3: Kill him! Shoot him and kill him!!
Then the two young wolves rush in to bite the priests. Ashitaka fights clear and plunges into the worms of the Tatarigami. He struggles and tears through the tentacles with his strong arm until he reaches her.
Ashitaka: San! San!!
San: Ashitaka!
As Ashitaka tries to pull San free, the cursed boar bucks and leaps. Ashitaka is thrown clear. He lands on Moro, then sinks into the water, unconscious. The worms close back over San.
Moro: Too bad, now I'll have to use the last of my strength I was saving for that woman...
Priest 1: Line up!
The priests throw a lit gunpowder bomb at the wolves. Then they run off when the Overlord/Tatarigami gets closer.
Moro drags herself up and her cubs come beside her.
Moro: (to cubs) Neither of you touch it. You don't want to get a curse like that.
The Overlord squeals, and more worms spray out.
Moro: Have you already lost the power of speech?...
In the trees, the priests and hunters come back to Lady Eboshi, Gonza, and Priest Jiko.
Priest Jiko: You've done well. Good enough.
Take care of the wounded men.
Priest Jiko: Dear me, such a horrible sight.
Jiko seems more pleased than horrified. Suddenly he sees Shishigami appear on a nearby island.
Priest Jiko: He's come out...
Moro plunges her face into the Tatarigami-snakes to get San.
Moro: Give me back my daughter!!
As Shishigami approaches, the worms on the Overlord and Moro begin to melt into slime. Moro realizes the end is near and calls to Ashitaka by telepathy.
Moro: Ashitaka, can you save San!?
Ashitaka awakens and swims to the surface.
Ashitaka: Shishigami...
Eboshi fires at Shishigami from the trees but the bullets pass harmlessly through it.
Ashitaka: Eboshi!! Don't shoot!
Priest Jiko: The stone-fire-arrow didn't work.
Eboshi: I have to try for the head...
Ashitaka: Eboshi! Your real enemies are elsewhere!!
Shishigami comes right up to the Overlord and Moro. Ashitaka sees San's slime-covered body in Moro's mouth.
Ashitaka: San!!
He pulls San free and jumps with her into the water to wash off the slime.
Ashitaka: Don't diie!
Shishigami touches each of the two old animals and they both collapse.
Priest Jiko: What's this? Shishigami is sucking up their lives?... Can this be?!
Night falls, and Shishigami begins to turn transparent and transform into the Didarabocchi.
Eboshi: Oh no, it's turning into the Didarabocchi!
Eboshi: Watch closely, everyone, and you will see what it is to kill a god. Shishigami is also a god of death! Don't delay out of fear.
Ashitaka and San rise to the surface and gasp for air. The dead Tatarigami-snakes have been washed away. Eboshi runs toward Shishigami with her gun, and Shishigami stretches its neck higher and higher.
Ashitaka: Stooop!
He flings his sword. It pierces the wooden stock of the gun, but Eboshi holds on and continues to aim at Shishigami.
Ashitaka: Eboshi!
Shishigami looks down, and the wooden part of the gun sprouts leaves and vines.
Eboshi: Sh--! You monster!
She fires. A glowing hole appears on Shishigami's neck near its head. In a moment, the hole spreads and the head blows free.
Ashitaka: Aah!!
Priest Jiko: She did it.
Priest Jiko: (To his bearers) The head box, quickly!
From the neck of Shishigami, a large blob of slimy ichor flows out, then explodes in all directions. It kills everything it touches. The Kodama fall lifeless from the trees.
Priest Jiko: Waah!
Bearers: (caught in the ichor) Uugh! Uh!
Eboshi picks up Shishigami's head.
Eboshi: Priest Jiko -- bring the head box!
Priest Jiko: The bearers have been killed!
Gonza and the priests bring the box on poles.
Priest Jiko: Hurry, hurry.
Eboshi: Don't touch Shishigami's body! Your life will be sucked out!!
Eboshi throws the head to Jiko.
Eboshi: Take it! This is the head I promised.
The slime takes off Moro's head. Suddenly, the head flies by itself at Eboshi and bites off her right arm! Then it sinks back into the slime.
Gonza: Lady Eboshi!!
Eboshi: That cursed Moro! She could move even though she was only a head...
Priest Jiko puts the head into the box and seals it.
Priest Jiko: We're in danger! Quick!
Priest: Priest Jiko, sir!
Priest Jiko: Run!!
The priests run with the head box on their carrier. Gonza is holding the wounded Eboshi. Ashitaka swims underwater and surfaces near them.
Ashitaka: Escape to the island!
Gonza: I can't swim!
Ashitaka: You can wade on the river bottom.
They dive under the slime which has formed into a headless Didarabocchi.
San and the two wolves are waiting on the island. She tears the jeweled dagger from around her neck, ready to use it as a weapon.
San: Give her to me! I'll cut her to pieces.
Ashitaka: Moro took her revenge on her. She's already been punished.
Gonza: Lady Eboshi.
Ashitaka: Give me a hand.
Gonza: Help us.
Eboshi: I don't need your pity...
Ashitaka tears cloth from his shirt to bind her wound.
Ashitaka: I promised Toki and the others to get you home.
He sees the headless Didarabocchi crashing away through the woods.
Ashitaka: He's looking for his head... there's danger here, too. San, please help.
San: No! Even you are on the human's side!! Take that woman quickly and get out of my sight!! Don't come near! Oh how I hate humans!!
Ashitaka: I am a human. You also... are human.
San: Shut up! I'm a wolf!!
Ashitaka: San.
San: Don't come near me!!
She stabs him once, then stops and looks into his eyes. He holds her.
Ashitaka: I'm sorry. I tried my best to stop it, but...
San: It's all over now. The forest is dead...
Ashitaka: It's not over yet because we're still alive. Help me, please.
The Didarabocchi spreads out over the forest, dripping down columns of slime as Jiko and his men try to get away.
Priest: Wait... help!
Priest Jiko: You are all a complete bunch of...
They see a gigantic hand coming down on them through the trees.
Priest Jiko: Oh no, oh no!!
They stumble and fall into a rocky gully.
Priest Jiko: The head is moving... it's calling to him!
Back at Tataraba, they have held off the invading samurai overnight. It is nearly dawn, and the defenders are sleeping at the top of the inner wall. Toki is talking to one of the bandaged gun experts, who is repairing her gun.
Leper: It's done, Toki.
Toki: Thanks.
Leper: It's awfully quiet, isn't it?
Toki: The plan is to wait until dawn.
Leper: I wonder if that young man got word to Lady Eboshi?
Toki: Lord Ashitaka will surely do it. He might already be there by now.
She is startled by Kouroku's snoring.
Toki: Hey, Kouroku. Oh, what a sloppy look you have on your face!
Leper: Let him sleep for now while he still can.
Toki: What could that be? I have a bad feeling about this.
There's a horrible loud roaring sound. Suddenly, over the horizon comes the headless Didarabocchi! The enemy army camped on the shore runs in terror.
Samurai: It's the Didarabocchi! Waah!
Samurai 2: Hey -- don't panic! Get them! Get the horses!
In the city, there is confusion too.
Woman 1: We mustn't desert our posts.
Woman 2: What'll we do? It's coming over here!
Leper: This is bad. Let's run.
Woman 3: We should stay to guard Tataraba because we promised Lady Eboshi...
Suddenly, they see two people riding wolves.
Woman: It's that man.
Toki: It's Lord Ashitaka!
Ashitaka yells to them from below. A huge wave of ichor is flowing down the slope toward the city.
Ashitaka: Everybody run! Shishigami has come to get back his head. If you touch that glop you'll die! Get out into the water. The glop will slow down. The men and Eboshi are headed this way from the other side of the river. San and I are going to get the head back and give it to Shishigami.
San: Ashitaka!
Ashitaka: Hurry!
Toki: (to the others) Quiet!
Woman: Toki, let's get out of here.
Toki: Yes! Get everybody to the lake! Keep calm and help the wounded and sick.
They flee just as the ichor flows into Tataraba.
Toki: Don't go that way! (turning from a big flow of slime)
They get out into the lake. The slime flows all over the city and the furnace building catches fire.
Kouroku: Aah... the main roof is...
Kouroku: It's too late!! If Tataraba burns up it's all over for us.
Toki: Hurry! If we survive this we'll get by somehow. Get to deeper water!
San and Ashitaka ride the wolves and come to where Jiko and his men are carrying the head-box.
Priest Jiko: There they are. Over there!!
San and Ashitaka ride close and then dismount.
San: Go!! (to the wolves)
Ashitaka: Hold it with that head!!
Priest Jiko: You got out alive too, sir? Well done.
Ashitaka: We're going to return the head to Shishigami. Please put it down and get out of here quickly.
Priest Jiko: Don't be ridiculous. It's too late now. Once the sun comes up it will be all over. Look... that stupid death-god has sucked in lives and overfilled itself. When the sun comes up it will be completely destroyed.
The Didarabocchi and the slime on the ground get nearer.
Bearer: Priest Jiko, sir, we'll get caught. Hurry...
Priest Jiko: It's the fate of man to want all things between heaven and earth... right?
Ashitaka: I don't want to have to kill you!
Priest Jiko: Wow, I give up. Such a serious expression... cut it out!
Jiko attacks, launching a series of kicks at Ashitaka, who dodges. Another priest attacks San with a knife.
Priest Jiko: Run!
The remaining bearer and priest run with the head-box up the hill. San fells her attacker with a kick and runs after them. At the top the hill, a giant blob of ichor descends towards them.
Priest: Waah! Yiii!
Bearer: It's no goood!
They drop the head-box and it rolls back down the hill. San runs after it.
Priest Jiko: Ooh!
Jiko tries to catch and stop the head box, but it just carries him with it down the slope. He ends up on a rock. Ashitaka, San, and the remaining priest join him there as a rising tide of ichor flows around the rock, cutting them off from safety.
Priest Jiko: Aaah, oh no. I'm surrounded... Come onnn, sunrise!
Ashitaka: Open the bucket.
Priest Jiko: You don't understand. It's already too late.
San: Ashitaka, it's useless to talk to humans!
Ashitaka: I want to return it with human hands.
Jiko gives in and opens it.
Priest Jiko: I haven't the slightest idea what will happen. Waah!
Ichor flows out from all around the head. Knowing it might kill them, Ashitaka and San reach in and take the head out, lifting it up. As the liquid drips on them, the curse-marks of Tatarigami rapidly spread all over their bodies.
Ashitaka: Shishigami! We respectfully return your head. We pray that you be calmed.
Priest Jiko: Ooh-hhh. It's coming, it's coming, it's coming!
The headless Didarabocchi bends down and extends a long liquid neck. It takes back the head and there is an explosion of bright yellow light. The Didarabocchi is restored to normal. The people who went out into the lake watch this.
Person: It's stopped moving...
A raft with Gonza, Lady Eboshi, and the village men comes and picks up the Tataraba survivors.
Toki: It's the men! Lady Eboshi --
Man: Heey! Calm down, you'll disturb her wounds!
The Didarabocchi is struck by the morning sunlight, staggers, and falls.
Person: Aah... It's falling, it's falling.
When the Didarabocchi hits the burning furnace of Tataraba there is a huge explosion. Waves nearly swamp the raft.
Person 2: Hold on! Don't let go.
The explosion scatters pieces of Tataraba everywhere. But then green grass and plants begin to grow rapidly over the ruined city and the surrounding hills.
Kouroku: Wow... Shishigami was Granpa Hanasaka...
(Note: Granpa Hanasaka was a legendary old man who made plants grow by scattering ashes.)
The rock where the head-box stopped is now surrounded by meadow. San and Ashitaka are in the grass, unconscious. Yakkle comes up and nuzzles Ashitaka.
Ashitaka: San... San... Please wake up and look.
She opens her eyes. The marks of the curse are gone from both of them.
San: Even though there's new life, this isn't Shishigami's forest any more! Lord Shishigami is dead.
Ashitaka: Shishigami never dies, because he is life itself... He is the one that has both life and death... He has commanded that I live.
San: I love you, Ashitaka. But I can't forgive the humans.
Ashitaka: That's all right. You live in the forest and I will live in Tataraba. We can be together. I'll come to see you, riding Yakkle.
Eboshi meets with her people by the plant-covered wall of the ruined furnace.
Eboshi: How embarrassing. I was carried on wolf-back and my life was saved. Thank you. Someone please go out and meet Ashitaka. Everyone, we will repair this from scratch. Let's make this a great village.
Jiko and his last remaining priest watch from a hill.
Priest Jiko: Yaah -- I give up, I give up. There's no winning against fools.
A rattle comes from the forest. One little Kodama appears.
The End.
