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リボンの騎士 [Ribbon no Kishi] #1
Princess Knight, Vol. 1
Set in a medieval fairy-tale backdrop, Princess Knight is the tale of a young princess named Sapphire who must pretend to be a male prince so she can inherit the throne. Women have long been prevented from taking the throne, but Sapphire is not discouraged and instead she fully accepts the role, becoming a dashing hero(ine) that the populous is proud of.
The playful cartooning style of Princess Knight is comparable to that of Disney, à la Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Considered by many as one of the first major shojo works, inspiring comics for girls such as Revoluntionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon for generations to follow. A rare shojo property from the godfather of manga, Princess Knight has been long considered one of Tezuka's most popular works worldwide.
The playful cartooning style of Princess Knight is comparable to that of Disney, à la Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Considered by many as one of the first major shojo works, inspiring comics for girls such as Revoluntionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon for generations to follow. A rare shojo property from the godfather of manga, Princess Knight has been long considered one of Tezuka's most popular works worldwide.
346 pages, Paperback
First published November 6, 1987
37 people are currently reading
1573 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Tezuka
2,150 books1,291 followersDr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
February 9, 2012
Perhaps the most important thing I can say about Princess Knight is that it was written in the 50s. This will explain pretty much everything about the story, from the tone to the art style to the casual sexism. The latter is impossible to escape: Sapphire has both a boy's heart and a girl's heart. It's the boy's heart that makes her good at fencing, not years of practice. Remove her boy's heart and she will instantly become weak and unable to fence. Naturally. But still probably fair for its day. The Disney influence is heavy throughout, in so many ways (character designs, names, even some of the panels are pure Disney). I can see where this would have been an influential book in its time, but I'm afraid it's just not for me.
July 24, 2017
The illustrations are pretty heavily influenced by Disney.
But despite the very traditional assumptions about gender, this is probably still too edgy to get made into a Disney movie. Pretty sad, when you think about it.
But despite the very traditional assumptions about gender, this is probably still too edgy to get made into a Disney movie. Pretty sad, when you think about it.
January 31, 2012
This review encompasses both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
I know, just like anyone else even passingly familiar with manga that Osamu Tezuka is considered to be the godfather of anime and I'm betting that a lot of reviews of this particular manga are coloured by that hallowed status. I also know that this is one of Tezuka's earlier works and that it probably never was intended for a strictly adult audiences.
Taking all that into account, I still can't find my way to giving these two volumes more than a mediocre review. I'll also admit that I've never read Astro Boy, only ever seen the cartoons in my childhood. However, I have to believe that even though Astro Boy began his adventures a few short years before Princess Knight saw publication, Tezuka's technique, skill and storytelling must have matured mightily at some point after Princess Knight.
First of all, the influence of Disney on Princess Knight is blazingly obvious. In fact to my eyes, many of the characters look like they could have been lifted outright from a Disney comic or sketchbook of the era. The only characters that don't look too obviously "Disney" are the mains- Prince/ss Sapphire, Franz Charming (really? "Franz Charming"? The name almost literally couldn't be any closer to Prince Charming, the prince in Snow White), Blood the Pirate and a few others. Many of the other character designs appear to my eye to be lifted from various sources, mostly Disney. Tink the angel springs to mind immediately, as well as others. What makes it so obvious is that Tezuka's main protagonists all have manga features and his supporting characters- those that are heavily influenced by other sources- don't. There's no consistency in character design between the "manga" characters and the "Disney" characters. You could get the same result simply by cutting out manga characters and pasting them into a Disney comic.
The story line itself is a mishmash of events, which is somewhat understandable given that Princess Knight was originally serialized, and it certainly shows. There's a lot of deus ex machina in these books, with not only some sort of Christian god being represented but also quirky versions of Satan, as well as witches, angels and Eros, the god of love. It certainly doesn't make for a coherent mythology, to say the least.
All the characters in Princess Knight are capricious to the extreme. No one seems to have any real motivation aside from love, hate, greed or selfishness.
The boy/girl heart plot at the center of the story not only feels pointless at the end, but merely a hook to start the action and doesn't seem to have any real point or impact.
Speaking of boys and girls, the "proto-feminist" impact of the books is probably minor, to say the least. While there are indeed some strong female characters and King Plastic does speak of misogyny and rewrites the rules so that either a man or a woman can become ruler of the kingdom, most of the time women are firmly entrenched in the stereotypes of the 50s. When Sapphire is without her boy heart she becomes physically weak and can no longer sword fight. Freibe, the female knight, while a dynamic fighter attempts to woo Sapphire by donning a dress and extolling her virtues in the kitchen. These stereotypes abound and I think too much credence is given to any pro-feminist stance of the books. I can't say for sure, but I doubt Tezuka was aiming at feminist values and was more likely just making interesting characters that happen to be women. Manga and anime have a long history of powerful, dynamic, crazy and weird female characters that still embody all the stereotypes of females in pop culture.
I guess I'll end here, because I feel slightly silly being so harsh on what is probably a lovely manga for young girls and boys (except for the inexplicable decision to have a character in a children's book use the word "bitch" near the end). For what it is, a somewhat charming fantasy tale about princes and princesses and witches and knights, it's probably great entertainment for children.
If you're an adult, I'd suggest giving this one a miss unless you are a big fan of children's entertainment or wish to read it to your own kids.
I know, just like anyone else even passingly familiar with manga that Osamu Tezuka is considered to be the godfather of anime and I'm betting that a lot of reviews of this particular manga are coloured by that hallowed status. I also know that this is one of Tezuka's earlier works and that it probably never was intended for a strictly adult audiences.
Taking all that into account, I still can't find my way to giving these two volumes more than a mediocre review. I'll also admit that I've never read Astro Boy, only ever seen the cartoons in my childhood. However, I have to believe that even though Astro Boy began his adventures a few short years before Princess Knight saw publication, Tezuka's technique, skill and storytelling must have matured mightily at some point after Princess Knight.
First of all, the influence of Disney on Princess Knight is blazingly obvious. In fact to my eyes, many of the characters look like they could have been lifted outright from a Disney comic or sketchbook of the era. The only characters that don't look too obviously "Disney" are the mains- Prince/ss Sapphire, Franz Charming (really? "Franz Charming"? The name almost literally couldn't be any closer to Prince Charming, the prince in Snow White), Blood the Pirate and a few others. Many of the other character designs appear to my eye to be lifted from various sources, mostly Disney. Tink the angel springs to mind immediately, as well as others. What makes it so obvious is that Tezuka's main protagonists all have manga features and his supporting characters- those that are heavily influenced by other sources- don't. There's no consistency in character design between the "manga" characters and the "Disney" characters. You could get the same result simply by cutting out manga characters and pasting them into a Disney comic.
The story line itself is a mishmash of events, which is somewhat understandable given that Princess Knight was originally serialized, and it certainly shows. There's a lot of deus ex machina in these books, with not only some sort of Christian god being represented but also quirky versions of Satan, as well as witches, angels and Eros, the god of love. It certainly doesn't make for a coherent mythology, to say the least.
All the characters in Princess Knight are capricious to the extreme. No one seems to have any real motivation aside from love, hate, greed or selfishness.
The boy/girl heart plot at the center of the story not only feels pointless at the end, but merely a hook to start the action and doesn't seem to have any real point or impact.
Speaking of boys and girls, the "proto-feminist" impact of the books is probably minor, to say the least. While there are indeed some strong female characters and King Plastic does speak of misogyny and rewrites the rules so that either a man or a woman can become ruler of the kingdom, most of the time women are firmly entrenched in the stereotypes of the 50s. When Sapphire is without her boy heart she becomes physically weak and can no longer sword fight. Freibe, the female knight, while a dynamic fighter attempts to woo Sapphire by donning a dress and extolling her virtues in the kitchen. These stereotypes abound and I think too much credence is given to any pro-feminist stance of the books. I can't say for sure, but I doubt Tezuka was aiming at feminist values and was more likely just making interesting characters that happen to be women. Manga and anime have a long history of powerful, dynamic, crazy and weird female characters that still embody all the stereotypes of females in pop culture.
I guess I'll end here, because I feel slightly silly being so harsh on what is probably a lovely manga for young girls and boys (except for the inexplicable decision to have a character in a children's book use the word "bitch" near the end). For what it is, a somewhat charming fantasy tale about princes and princesses and witches and knights, it's probably great entertainment for children.
If you're an adult, I'd suggest giving this one a miss unless you are a big fan of children's entertainment or wish to read it to your own kids.
March 6, 2012
Like others have said, this book is particularly amazing in how it portrayed women. Depictions of women in the 1950s were predominantly "women are weaker than men, they should stay at home and care for the children" and Japan was no exception to this. For a manga to dare to say that a woman not only could do actions typically associated with men, but that she SHOULD do them... well, it's pretty daring and that's part of the reason I love Tezuka so much- he's not afraid to take chances when it comes to political and social messages. After all, BlackJack is full of them.
The artwork is one of my most favorite parts of the book, being gorgeously retro and still setting artwork standards, showing that you can have a great plot line AND great artwork at the same time. Even if you're not drawn in by the story, it's still worth it to flip through the volume. On an interesting side note, I've heard that Betty Boop had a sizable influence on Tezuka, which you can definitely see in the artwork for Sapphire. Story-wise, it's fantastic. I will admit that the jumps between chapters can be pretty abrupt, which pushes me out of the story a little, but otherwise it's very good. I couldn't help but read this all the way through, sacrificing valuable sleep hours.
If you're a parent worried about violence or sexuality, no worries. The book is fairly clean. There are people getting hurt and the book does feature some deaths, but it's far from being gratuitous or gory. By today's standards it's squeaky clean.
Overall this is well worth buying for any Tezuka fan or for anyone who just likes a good story.
The artwork is one of my most favorite parts of the book, being gorgeously retro and still setting artwork standards, showing that you can have a great plot line AND great artwork at the same time. Even if you're not drawn in by the story, it's still worth it to flip through the volume. On an interesting side note, I've heard that Betty Boop had a sizable influence on Tezuka, which you can definitely see in the artwork for Sapphire. Story-wise, it's fantastic. I will admit that the jumps between chapters can be pretty abrupt, which pushes me out of the story a little, but otherwise it's very good. I couldn't help but read this all the way through, sacrificing valuable sleep hours.
If you're a parent worried about violence or sexuality, no worries. The book is fairly clean. There are people getting hurt and the book does feature some deaths, but it's far from being gratuitous or gory. By today's standards it's squeaky clean.
Overall this is well worth buying for any Tezuka fan or for anyone who just likes a good story.
May 23, 2022
دائما رغم الليل نور يسطع مثل الفتى ياقوت
لا يرهب الأشرار و لا يهاب الموت
فأشجع الفتيان في سالف الزمان
ذاك الذي يهوى حرية الإنسان
مثل الفتى ياقوت لا يرهب الأشرار
As a kid I used to watch this with mom, I remember liking that a girl can be this strong... though I always wondered why she must masquerade as a boy to do so, so happy I found these manga volumes!
لا يرهب الأشرار و لا يهاب الموت
فأشجع الفتيان في سالف الزمان
ذاك الذي يهوى حرية الإنسان
مثل الفتى ياقوت لا يرهب الأشرار
As a kid I used to watch this with mom, I remember liking that a girl can be this strong... though I always wondered why she must masquerade as a boy to do so, so happy I found these manga volumes!
February 2, 2012
If there is one criticism that can be directed toward Tezuka's work in general it is that even the best of them are sexist. Women are usually either villains or love interests. For the most part, however, one can ignore this because women rarely play a large role in his works. As a result the sexism isn't prominent. This, unfortunatly and ironically leads to the odd case of Princess Knight. It sets out to combat sexism but ends up being one of the author's most sexist works. This is mainly because of basic changes in gender philosophy and politics over the last fifty years.
From this work it appears that one of Tezuka's old-fashioned beliefs was that masculinaty and feminity were intrinsic to biological gender. And that some skills were naturally more suited to men than women and vice versa.
The protagonist of this work is the biologically female Princess Saphire who has in addition to a female heart a male one as well, which is, in this story world, the ONLY reason she has strength and can do masculine activities such as fencing. This leads to a few jarring sections where she loses her male heart and somehow also loses her years of fencing training and strength (which one would think does not come from her male heart as all excerise and training would have to have been done in her female body). While these moments are few and almost far between they can be incredibly off-putting to modern audiences.
Apart from these issues, however, Princess Knight is an above average read. It has a sense of child-like fun to it. Although, at one or two occasions in the work the story moves beyond childish fun and into ridiculousness which momentarily lessens the charm of the work.
This work shouldn't be an introduction to Tezuka. One could give it to a child they are more aware of the issue of sexism than previous generations children have been. This book should either be bought by someone who has read a few other Tezuka works or just wants to read a bit of manga history.
From this work it appears that one of Tezuka's old-fashioned beliefs was that masculinaty and feminity were intrinsic to biological gender. And that some skills were naturally more suited to men than women and vice versa.
The protagonist of this work is the biologically female Princess Saphire who has in addition to a female heart a male one as well, which is, in this story world, the ONLY reason she has strength and can do masculine activities such as fencing. This leads to a few jarring sections where she loses her male heart and somehow also loses her years of fencing training and strength (which one would think does not come from her male heart as all excerise and training would have to have been done in her female body). While these moments are few and almost far between they can be incredibly off-putting to modern audiences.
Apart from these issues, however, Princess Knight is an above average read. It has a sense of child-like fun to it. Although, at one or two occasions in the work the story moves beyond childish fun and into ridiculousness which momentarily lessens the charm of the work.
This work shouldn't be an introduction to Tezuka. One could give it to a child they are more aware of the issue of sexism than previous generations children have been. This book should either be bought by someone who has read a few other Tezuka works or just wants to read a bit of manga history.
Read
May 29, 2012This book reads like a Disney Princess movie written by the people at Mad Magazine.
May 15, 2015
I wanted to read a manga by Osamu Tezuka. Maybe I should not have picked this one.
It's from the fifties and the cartoon style is similar to thirties and forties cartoons. The story is long and drawn out about a prince who is really a princess. She gets caught and spends a lot of time running around and escaping evil villains and tower jail cells. She's also an excellent swordsman.
It was a bit violent, just like American cartoons of the day. I've never been one for fairy tales and this is definitely a fairy tale story.
I had read quite a bit about Osamu Tezuka being the father of manga and that he is looked on in Japan as Walt Disney is here. To be fair, if I had never seen a Walt Disney cartoon and then I saw one today, I would probably be saying - 2 stars. It's not for me.
So my review does not do justice for someone doing ground-breaking work in this field, but it's hard to give more stars to something that I really didn't care for. It would have been best to have reviewed this at a younger age but even then that might not have prompted more stars.
It's from the fifties and the cartoon style is similar to thirties and forties cartoons. The story is long and drawn out about a prince who is really a princess. She gets caught and spends a lot of time running around and escaping evil villains and tower jail cells. She's also an excellent swordsman.
It was a bit violent, just like American cartoons of the day. I've never been one for fairy tales and this is definitely a fairy tale story.
I had read quite a bit about Osamu Tezuka being the father of manga and that he is looked on in Japan as Walt Disney is here. To be fair, if I had never seen a Walt Disney cartoon and then I saw one today, I would probably be saying - 2 stars. It's not for me.
So my review does not do justice for someone doing ground-breaking work in this field, but it's hard to give more stars to something that I really didn't care for. It would have been best to have reviewed this at a younger age but even then that might not have prompted more stars.
February 1, 2014
I found this a little disappointing. Maybe it just got over-billed.
I read an article saying that this is one of the first shoujo manga ever created. It was rather entertaining to see many of the tropes we still use today when they were "fresh" and "new."
The characters are likable for the most part (I especially liked Captain Blood), and the story, when you get right down to it, is good. The problem is that it moves at WAY to fast a pace to be enjoyed fully. It borrows from a lot of old stories (some swan lake, some Shakespeare, etc.), and while it might work at a slower pace, the way the story moves right now seems like a crazy mish-mash. It can be a little hard to follow.
There's really only one thing I found irritating with this. The main character, Sapphire, is a girl who was born with "two hearts," the "heart of a boy" and "the heart of a girl." So while she's physically female, she's supposedly a mix of both mentally and emotionally. So she's graceful, pretty, brave, strong, etc. This, I thought, made her an awesome character, especially when combined with her gender identity issues (she was raised as a boy but she wants to live as a girl). My complaint isn't about this. My complaint is a certain scene...
She's rocking a sword fight, kicking butt and taking names. Then the angel takes her "boy's heart" away from her, and she suddenly sucks. This flat out says, "You can't be bad ass unless you're a boy. She was only bad ass because she had a boy's heart." But I have to wonder... After all that training in fencing, and not physically changing (it's not like she lost muscle mass or anything) when the heart was taken, why would she all of a sudden suck so hard?
I read an article saying that this is one of the first shoujo manga ever created. It was rather entertaining to see many of the tropes we still use today when they were "fresh" and "new."
The characters are likable for the most part (I especially liked Captain Blood), and the story, when you get right down to it, is good. The problem is that it moves at WAY to fast a pace to be enjoyed fully. It borrows from a lot of old stories (some swan lake, some Shakespeare, etc.), and while it might work at a slower pace, the way the story moves right now seems like a crazy mish-mash. It can be a little hard to follow.
There's really only one thing I found irritating with this. The main character, Sapphire, is a girl who was born with "two hearts," the "heart of a boy" and "the heart of a girl." So while she's physically female, she's supposedly a mix of both mentally and emotionally. So she's graceful, pretty, brave, strong, etc. This, I thought, made her an awesome character, especially when combined with her gender identity issues (she was raised as a boy but she wants to live as a girl). My complaint isn't about this. My complaint is a certain scene...
She's rocking a sword fight, kicking butt and taking names. Then the angel takes her "boy's heart" away from her, and she suddenly sucks. This flat out says, "You can't be bad ass unless you're a boy. She was only bad ass because she had a boy's heart." But I have to wonder... After all that training in fencing, and not physically changing (it's not like she lost muscle mass or anything) when the heart was taken, why would she all of a sudden suck so hard?
February 3, 2018
Super sexist. The main character has two hearts, on male, one female. When her male heart is removed she becomes weak and scared. Total bullshit. There's also so weird Christianity thrown into the mix. Not my kind of read at all.
December 18, 2017
Princess Knight is a delightful, cute, and hilarious manga adventure, swashbuckler, and fairy tale. A mischievous little angel named Tink gets out of his lane and feeds a cherubic child a blue heart to make it a boy. Without knowing what Tink has done an elderly angel who has the official duty of feeding hearts to the cherubic children before they're sent down to earth to be born, gives the child a red heart to make it a girl. Because of his willfulness Tink is kicked out of heaven and made homeless on earth. He knows he did wrong, so he develops a good attitude, learns to adjust and tries to make the best of things. Later Princess Sapphire is born who ingested the two hearts. She is a girl born to the king and queen, but only male heirs can rule. She is the royal couple's only child. The adventure starts.
I definitely plan to read part two. The illustrations will remind many of Disney characters. They're so cute, sentimental, and fun. Princess or is she Prince Sapphire's hairstyle brings to mind Betty Boop from the 1930s, but Sapphire is far cuter and daintier, but she's also a tough girl.
I love this graphic novel and found myself laughing out loud at times. This was a refreshing read, and the first humorous graphic novel I've ever read.
I definitely plan to read part two. The illustrations will remind many of Disney characters. They're so cute, sentimental, and fun. Princess or is she Prince Sapphire's hairstyle brings to mind Betty Boop from the 1930s, but Sapphire is far cuter and daintier, but she's also a tough girl.
I love this graphic novel and found myself laughing out loud at times. This was a refreshing read, and the first humorous graphic novel I've ever read.
October 29, 2018
While I appreciate Tezuka Osamu’s spectacular career, it simply must be said that almost all of his series feature characters and plot-lines that are heavily based on racial and gender stereotypes, and this is especially true in Princess Knight. True, Tezuka was working during a time when such stereotypes were mainstream and considered acceptable and perhaps even believable, and in the case of Princess Knight, the clear references to Disney suggest that these obtuse notions of masculinity and femininity are not limited to Tezuka or even necessarily to Japanese culture at the time. But taken in comparison to works of literature and sequential art that were being produced by Tezuka’s contemporaries, I find this difficult to accept as the *only* reason for such simplistic and socially harmful stereotyping. Nor does citing a mid-century worldview explain the shocking racial stereotypes at work in his much later Buddha series. Simply put, the “old racist uncle” excuse wears thinner for me with each Tezuka series I pick up. This doesn’t mean that I’ll stop including him in my course syllabi, but neither will I make any attempt to forgive or otherwise explain away his repeated failure to develop a diverse character with any kind of believable complexity.
November 17, 2011
I'm glad that Osamu Tezuka's manga has been put back-into-print...this is one of his many, many series I've always been meaning to read because I know that many modern manga and anime series (including the cult-classic "Revolutionary Girl Utena") have been influenced by this manga. This is classic manga at its best...modern anime/manga fans would probably throw the book aside for its simplicity (art and plot), but it has a hidden depth that older fans like me can appreciate. I also loved seeing all the nods to classic fairy tails, just in this first volume. I am truly glad someone has brought it back into the American print runs. (Now if only "Phoenix" would be redone, too...)
March 30, 2025
I borrowed this on a whim: what a surprise! Originally run from 1953 to 1956, this is considered the godfather of the shoujo genre and inspiration for such classics like Sailor Moon. The art style screams old school Disney crossed with inspiration like Cinderella, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Betty Boop, and Snow White. It’s cute, it’s silly, it’s exciting, it’s low stakes while feeling high stakes, it breaks the fourth wall from time to time, and it is both a product of its time while ahead of its time. I’m really glad I picked it up and am looking forward to Part 2! A generous 4/5 stars.
Read
July 31, 2024Tezuka's Disney influence is strongest here and it's kind of my favorite for that??
February 17, 2019
I loved this book sooo much I read this 4 or 5 years ago in a day. and Today I found it again. I really want to read vol. 2 soon. So I’m gonna look for it. I totally recommend this book if you like fantasy!
February 18, 2022
I wish I could find the second volume of this!
June 9, 2023
Thoughts on Volume two
June 19, 2021
[3/5 stars]
11/12 year old me sure loved this comic but I think I’ll stick to just admiring the art.
11/12 year old me sure loved this comic but I think I’ll stick to just admiring the art.
May 31, 2023
finished w my version :) aka the edition that im reading that isn't on here and i can't add it as a non-paying acc. i think... boo. it's the omnibus edition if anyone wants to add it haha
super special to me i feel <3 kind of made myself finish it towards the end b/c i had taken a break and am sleep-deprived but this book really does gender for me and is so straightforward that i love it and i think it's beautiful too. really beautiful moments fr
super special to me i feel <3 kind of made myself finish it towards the end b/c i had taken a break and am sleep-deprived but this book really does gender for me and is so straightforward that i love it and i think it's beautiful too. really beautiful moments fr
September 13, 2021
This is a review for the entire series (two volumes).
"Princes Knight" is often described as a proto-feminist work, and the starting point for shojo manga (Japanese graphic novels targeting young girls). It is one of the earliest works of renowned Osamu Tezuka, so I approached it with high hopes. However, it was written in the 50's, with all the biases of that age, and it has not aged well. The premise is somewhat promising: a baby, with a female body, is accidentally given a boy and girl heart in heaven, prior to birth. This baby, Sapphire, is born as the sole heir of a kingdom and is raised as a prince, hiding her true gender from everyone since the law dictates that only men can reign (and yes, several characters point out that law is misogynistic). So far, so good, except...
* The fictional God in this world feels that a person having both a boy and girl heart is something that needs to be fixed, and sends a cherub to retrieve the boy heart.
* Sapphire is very skilled with a sword, but when her boy heart is removed in the middle of a battle, she loses all her strength and is not able to fight at her skill level.
* A witch seeks Sapphire's girl heart for her daughter in order to make her more domestic and subdued
* Much later on, another character points out that the king could have changed the law at ANY time, and not have forced his daughter to have to go through that charade
* Near the end of the work, women go on a strike and later on, battle. Men are dismissive of their ability to fight, and only relent because they want their laundry done.
* When female characters want to get the attention of a prince, they highlight their demure behaviour and domestic skills.
* When the boy heart is given to a mindless fool, he suddenly becomes stronger, intelligent and articulate.
Ughhh. I could overlook most things due to the mindset of the time, but the core belief that boy heart = strength and intelligence, and girl heart = weakness and nurturing is something I cannot stomach.
This is a fairy tale, with heavy influence from Walt Disney, both in the artwork and some plot elements. Some of the panels depicting forest creatures could have come straight out of an old school Disney movie. This is not a surprise, as Osamu Tezuka acknowledged the huge influence Disney had on him. And while the depiction of gender roles in Princess Knight is quite revolutionary compared to Snow White (Sapphire rarely needs rescuing, she can handle herself, thank you very much... except when she does end up as a damsel in distress), it is still too constrained by its time and its author's biases.
The other thing that weakens this work is that the plot is all over the place. There is a prince, a princess, a witch with a daughter named Hecate, cherubs, the goddess Venus, Satan, pirates, executioners, scheming courtiers, mischievous nobility... in just two volumes! I also was not fond of the overly incompetent villains. Ah, if only the story had focused on Hecate, as she did not seem to need a boy heart to be strong and interesting.
"Princes Knight" is often described as a proto-feminist work, and the starting point for shojo manga (Japanese graphic novels targeting young girls). It is one of the earliest works of renowned Osamu Tezuka, so I approached it with high hopes. However, it was written in the 50's, with all the biases of that age, and it has not aged well. The premise is somewhat promising: a baby, with a female body, is accidentally given a boy and girl heart in heaven, prior to birth. This baby, Sapphire, is born as the sole heir of a kingdom and is raised as a prince, hiding her true gender from everyone since the law dictates that only men can reign (and yes, several characters point out that law is misogynistic). So far, so good, except...
* The fictional God in this world feels that a person having both a boy and girl heart is something that needs to be fixed, and sends a cherub to retrieve the boy heart.
* Sapphire is very skilled with a sword, but when her boy heart is removed in the middle of a battle, she loses all her strength and is not able to fight at her skill level.
* A witch seeks Sapphire's girl heart for her daughter in order to make her more domestic and subdued
* Much later on, another character points out that the king could have changed the law at ANY time, and not have forced his daughter to have to go through that charade
* Near the end of the work, women go on a strike and later on, battle. Men are dismissive of their ability to fight, and only relent because they want their laundry done.
* When female characters want to get the attention of a prince, they highlight their demure behaviour and domestic skills.
* When the boy heart is given to a mindless fool, he suddenly becomes stronger, intelligent and articulate.
Ughhh. I could overlook most things due to the mindset of the time, but the core belief that boy heart = strength and intelligence, and girl heart = weakness and nurturing is something I cannot stomach.
This is a fairy tale, with heavy influence from Walt Disney, both in the artwork and some plot elements. Some of the panels depicting forest creatures could have come straight out of an old school Disney movie. This is not a surprise, as Osamu Tezuka acknowledged the huge influence Disney had on him. And while the depiction of gender roles in Princess Knight is quite revolutionary compared to Snow White (Sapphire rarely needs rescuing, she can handle herself, thank you very much... except when she does end up as a damsel in distress), it is still too constrained by its time and its author's biases.
The other thing that weakens this work is that the plot is all over the place. There is a prince, a princess, a witch with a daughter named Hecate, cherubs, the goddess Venus, Satan, pirates, executioners, scheming courtiers, mischievous nobility... in just two volumes! I also was not fond of the overly incompetent villains. Ah, if only the story had focused on Hecate, as she did not seem to need a boy heart to be strong and interesting.
August 24, 2024
2 (i <3 captain blood)
August 3, 2012
I bought this at Otakon 2012 for $5 a volume so I quickly picked up both volumes. How can you pass that deal up?
Osamu Tezuka is literally the godfather of anime if not the outright creator of it and, even though I love anime to death, I had never fully read or watched any of his works. So Princess Knight was really new territory for me and I took a leap of faith by buying it. And I really don't take leap of faiths with anime and manga very often. But I guess the primary reason why I picked it up was because Princess Knight is one of the first shoujo ("girl") manga and, without Princess Knight, my favorite anime probably wouldn't have existed (Shoujo Kakumei Utena/Revolutionary Girl Utena, btw).
When I started it on the train, I had no clue how hooked I would become. There's an odd balance of fantasy, fairy tales, mythology (Christian!God is the father of Aphrodite, lol what), drama, tragedy, light hearted farce, romance, deus ex machina...I don't know how to describe it except that it reminded me a lot of life in a small, small way. That's a snobby way to say it but it's true. It will take a while to get used to that mood whiplash but it's worth it. Read the manga and you'll see what I mean. I loved the characters, especially Sapphire and Hecate. I loved the small commentaries on feminism, stereotypes...I'm glad that I got this manga.
I definitely think Part One is better than Part Two. But I think that's because the first volume ends when Sapphire has met a group of pirates and there's so many places where the story can go....and then you get there and it feels really rushed and you have to remind yourself that this was serialized (Oliver Twist has the same problems...no, really.). If there was something that I wanted out of this first part, it was more emphasis on Sapphire's upbringing.
Osamu Tezuka is literally the godfather of anime if not the outright creator of it and, even though I love anime to death, I had never fully read or watched any of his works. So Princess Knight was really new territory for me and I took a leap of faith by buying it. And I really don't take leap of faiths with anime and manga very often. But I guess the primary reason why I picked it up was because Princess Knight is one of the first shoujo ("girl") manga and, without Princess Knight, my favorite anime probably wouldn't have existed (Shoujo Kakumei Utena/Revolutionary Girl Utena, btw).
When I started it on the train, I had no clue how hooked I would become. There's an odd balance of fantasy, fairy tales, mythology (Christian!God is the father of Aphrodite, lol what), drama, tragedy, light hearted farce, romance, deus ex machina...I don't know how to describe it except that it reminded me a lot of life in a small, small way. That's a snobby way to say it but it's true. It will take a while to get used to that mood whiplash but it's worth it. Read the manga and you'll see what I mean. I loved the characters, especially Sapphire and Hecate. I loved the small commentaries on feminism, stereotypes...I'm glad that I got this manga.
I definitely think Part One is better than Part Two. But I think that's because the first volume ends when Sapphire has met a group of pirates and there's so many places where the story can go....and then you get there and it feels really rushed and you have to remind yourself that this was serialized (Oliver Twist has the same problems...no, really.). If there was something that I wanted out of this first part, it was more emphasis on Sapphire's upbringing.
April 1, 2020
The Princess Knight was a very big part of my childhood. As a child I watched the anime in Arabic. I remember being enamored with Sapphire's courage and wit and as most children I ran around the house with a stick in hand and a sheet around my neck pretending to be Amira Yaqoot which is what she was translated into in Kuwait. She was one of my many caped influences as a little girl growing up in a predominately male society. Most of my heroes were men and she was one of the first female ones. That being said, the graphic novel was a bit of a disappointment. I don't know what it was but I believe my expectations were highly different to the origin of the story of this Princess/Prince.
When I purchased the graphic novel I got out for it's nostalgic value but I was also looking for more gender based issues being discussed and incorporated into the story and less magic and fantasy. Although the whole predicament she is in is due to the fact that she has 2 hearts, that of a boy and that of a girl and that is all I will say about that. I do not want to spoil it for anyone but you can imagine the kind of problems she/he gets up to due to her condition. There were moments when I thought she might have been transgender and has the freedom of choice but then there are instances when she needs to be more manly and other where she needs to focus on femininity. Overall this part of the story just proves that women need to act like men in order to survive and Sapphire is surviving, we will see what part 2 holds for Princess Knight Sapphire.
When I purchased the graphic novel I got out for it's nostalgic value but I was also looking for more gender based issues being discussed and incorporated into the story and less magic and fantasy. Although the whole predicament she is in is due to the fact that she has 2 hearts, that of a boy and that of a girl and that is all I will say about that. I do not want to spoil it for anyone but you can imagine the kind of problems she/he gets up to due to her condition. There were moments when I thought she might have been transgender and has the freedom of choice but then there are instances when she needs to be more manly and other where she needs to focus on femininity. Overall this part of the story just proves that women need to act like men in order to survive and Sapphire is surviving, we will see what part 2 holds for Princess Knight Sapphire.
December 4, 2012
I always wanted to the read the seminal "shoujo" manga, being a great fan of bothTezuka and strong heroines. I was not disappointed by this book. The story follows the life and times of Princess Sapphire, the only daughter of the kings of Silverland. By chance and fate she is born with two hearts, inside of her: that of sweet girl and that of brave prince. Since the country bans female heirs, she is raised as both as a boy and girl by her parents (much to their chagrin of her mom) for keeping the throne from some nasty relatives. Sapphire accepts her fate but questions the misogyny of her kingdom and dreams of living freely as a girl. None the less, she kicks serious ass. The story is simple, but engaging, and very well paced. The characters are memorable, likeable and fun, and their development satisfying. The art is retro but clean and gorgeous, and every panel exudes charm and style. I loved the book in general and am amazed by the progressiveness of this 50+ year old book.
February 23, 2015
As with any vintage manga, the art is a little dated and the plot goes to some very strange places. That said, this is Osamu Tezuka's work, where he is essentially creating the road map for literally all of the future works created in the shoujo genre. Stylistically, it can be compared to a lot of early Disney films, right down the summoning and control over various forest creatures and the dragon that Tezuka took straight from 'Sleeping Beauty!' That said, there's also a whole lot of Christian themes, more so than the usual manga. It's a little jarring to see God literally punch a dragon in midair. The whole commentary on gender roles here is also a little confusing, but notable as Tezuka's willing to stir that pot a whole lot more than the usual shoujo manga does. Gonna wait until the ending to get the whole story straight, but for now, it's worth reading if you're a fan of Tezuka, vintage manga or if you're just curious how manga looked waaaaay back when!
May 15, 2014
This isn't my favorite of Tezuka's manga, but that really doesn't mean much. The story, about a princess with the heart of both a boy and a girl that disguises herself as a prince, is interesting and pretty unpredictable, and it's cool to see where so many of today's shoujo archetypes come from. The art is sharp and distinctive, too, meaning that even when a page does get dragged down by the fact that the love interest in this book is so stupid that I'd feel bad comparing his intelligence to a bag of hammers, for the hammers' sake, it at least still looks excellent.
June 14, 2024
Look, I get that this was groundbreaking at the time. And it paved the way for works like Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena.
It's just really, really boring. The art isn't interesting to look at, and the storytelling is very basic. The comedy is rarely funny. The gender roles and stereotypes are grating on me. Like I said, for its time, it was revolutionary. Doesn't really hold up by today's standards.
It's just really, really boring. The art isn't interesting to look at, and the storytelling is very basic. The comedy is rarely funny. The gender roles and stereotypes are grating on me. Like I said, for its time, it was revolutionary. Doesn't really hold up by today's standards.
December 3, 2012
When I picked this up at the library I didn't realize it was really old school manga, so the sexism surprised me. It's pretty much sexist throughout, most often with Sapphire becoming weak and cowardly if she loses the strength of her "boy heart." Since this is a romance/action/adventure soap opera, there are endless plot digressions that keeps dragging the story out. I lost patience.
June 8, 2025
When I was maybe 10 years old, my dad bought me a copy of this for Valentines day and I read it over and over and over. Somewhere in the 11 years and 5 moves since then, I misplaced it and then forgot about it. I found it again by coincidence in a comic book store while Christmas shopping.
I'm glad I did. 5 stars for nostalgia and silly stories, always. (Love you, Dad).
I'm glad I did. 5 stars for nostalgia and silly stories, always. (Love you, Dad).
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