Customer Reviews

Princess Knight, Part One

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Newcomers to the 'manga' style of comic art as well as longtime fans will find Osamu Tezuka's groundbreaking work engaging and fun. The tone and story style of Princess Knight is deceptively simple, so when the plot takes a more weighty turn, (as when certain characters die,) or the message becomes sublime (female empowerment yes, but also matters of unresolved gender identity,) it comes as a welcome surprise. Of Tezuka's legendary work (Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion, etc,) Princess Knight is one of the more under-recognized in English-speaking countries, and it's refreshing to see it made available again in this handsome squarebound paperback. Get one before the collector's market gobbles it up!

This is the father of Shojo Manga, He demonstrate it in this manga.
Is a story for adults with fantasy included. :) A must have for manga fans.

At long last, Tezuka Osamu's classic shoujo series, Ribon no Kishi (The Ribbon Knight) -- published as Princess Knight in America -- is published in English! This series is considered the first shoujo manga, as well as the first of the "magical girl" genre.

The book itself is in paperback format, and 384 pages long. There are no color pages, and additional content is kept to a minimum. The translation seems to be in top form; I found no glaring errors, and pronouns and such were consistent.

As for the story itself, it is a story well ahead of its time (it was first published in Japan in 1953), combating the sensitive issue of feminism. Quite a few characters are seen protesting the law that the heir to the throne must be male, and one particular scene involves a nurse calling the doctor out on his misogynistic behaviour.

The first part tackles the birth and upbringing of Princess Sapphire, born with both a boy heart and a girl heart, and raised as a boy because of a miscommunicated announcement; the identity struggles Sapphire has; her romance with the prince of the neighbouring country: Franz; and ultimately, the Duke's evil plot to have his son Plastic inherit the throne, which succeeds; and Sapphire's struggles to defeat the Duke and convince Franz that she is the girl of his dreams. The first part ends with Sapphire and a newly befriended pirate on their way to the Duke's hunting party so as to ambush him.

Overall, this is a wonderful manga; a timeless classic that should be read by all fans of the medium, and I am so very glad this was finally published in English, because everyone should read this milestone in manga history.

This is a historic manga which helped shape the whole genre of Shojo, so I decided to try it. The graphics are simple and clean. It sort of reminds me a bit of Walt Disney's style. It is surprisingly funny story with pitch perfect drama. I had wanted to read this slowly but I read it all in one evening. The pacing is just perfect. Tezuka is a master storyteller and that really shows all through this book. I really enjoyed Princess Knight. It is a great value for the price. I am looking forward to volume 2. If you are on the fence about this book, please buy it and give it a try.

If you're a person who loved watching Disney princess movies as a child, then you will love Osamu Tezuka's Princess Knight.

It all started with a mischievous angel named Tink, who placed a second heart (from a boy) into a soon-to-be-born girl. To make matters worse, this child with two hearts was born into the royal family of a kingdom in which a woman may not inherit the throne, so the child, named Sapphire, must lead a double life, both as a prince in the eyes of her kingdom and as a princess in the eyes of her family. Soon she meets the prince of a neighboring country, Franz Charming (yeah, he went there!).

However, treachery engulfs Sapphire, in the form of a conniving and jealous lord who wishes for nothing more than his lazy, good-for-nothing son Plastic to inherit the crown. Together with his vassal, Lord Nylon, he hatches a nefarious plot to reveal Sapphire's true gender to the kingdom and thus usurp the throne. An evil witch also appears with the desire to steal Sapphire's girl heart so her daughter can marry Prince Charming.

This tale is one of love, friendship, tragedy, betrayal, heroism, and so much more. With situations constantly changing, Tezuka succeeds once again in keeping the readers on the edges of their seats. This story set the stage for the entire shojo manga genre, and in true Tezuka fashion, it set the bar as high as it could go, right from the get go. Sadly, there are only two volumes. It leaves a couple of things open, but is overall very entertaining.

Reviewed by David Gromer

Not enough people give Tezuka the credit he deserves. On the surface Princess Knight looks like a girly comic that might not be too exciting, but the duality of Sapphire's character appeals to both girls and boys.

Right from the beginning Tezuka with draw you in with his interesting and almost risqué subjects and have you guessing and wondering all the way to the end with his unorthodox pacing and storytelling. This is a book I would suggest to anyone.