Creative Staff
Story: Osamu Tezuka
Art: Osamu Tezuka
Translation/Adaptation: Maya Rosewood
What They Say
Princess Knight is a fast-paced tale of a heroic princess who can best any man at fencing, yet is delicate and graceful enough to catch the eye of Prince Charming. Filled with narrow escapes, treacherous courtiers, dashing pirates, meddlesome witches, magical transformations and cinema-worth displays of derring-do, you’ll be swept right along as Sapphire tackles one challenge after another. Princess Knigh mixes themes of gender identity and politics with classic shojo-style illustration to create a charming proto-feminist masterpiece by the “Godfather of Manga” that has captured the hearts of generations of reader.
In this first of two volumes, a mischief-making angel’s prank goes too far when the new-born princess of Silverland ends up with two hearts – one male and one female. Since the laws of Silverland only allow a male heir to ascend the throne, Princess Sapphire is raised as a prince. But will the avaricious Duke Duralumin discover Sapphire’s true nature and snatch the crown for his own son?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Originally written between 1953 and 1956, Princess Knight is Osamu Tezuka at the heights of his popularity as a manga creator for children. The style, content, and composition is a stark contrast from Vertical’s other releases of Tezuka work, even the child friendly Dororo, and fits in much better with Astro Boy in terms of style and content. But that isn’t to say that Princess Knight is superfluous if you’ve read Astro Boy or any of his other works from this era. In fact, Princess Knight may be his best work (that I’ve read at least) from this time period.
The plot of Princess Knight starts off simply enough. A mischievous angel named Tink performs a prank that makes a soon-to-be born child have both a boy heart and a girl heart. God is none to pleased with this and sends Tink to earth to remove the heart opposite the gender the child is ultimately born as. It turns out that the child is the sole heir to the kingdom of Silverland and is ‘unfortunately’ born a girl. Due to mishaps and circumstances, Tink fails to remove the boy heart and the princess is raised as a prince so that she can one day govern the land. Duke Duralumin is extremely upset that the child was born a ‘prince’ and vows to find a way to discredit the child as a female so that his son can take the throne. After a classic plot to poison the princess in a tournament duel goes awry, the king is killed and Sapphire ascends the throne. However, the Duke, with the help of Sir Nylon, gives the Queen a truth potion and Sapphire’s truth becomes known thus discrediting them both and exiling them from the kingdom. What follows is a series of adventures as Sapphire attempts to recliam her and her mother’s honor and discredit the Duke.
Tezuka’s love of Walt Disney is no mystery to anyone who has read Tezuka’s work or done the tiniest bit of research on him. In my experiences, Disney’s influence is mostly seen in character designs and the general air of whimsy that accompanies most of Tezuka’s work. However, the stories always seemed completely Tezuka’s; from the plot and settings to the individual characters themselves. Princess Knight is completely different in that it feels like a Disney work. The plot and execution fits perfectly alongside Disney classics from the 40s and 50s. The thing is, I think this is better than a Disney cartoon from that era! At least at first. The first half of this book is spent on setting up the characters and the initial plot I talked about above. In this there is an extremely magical feeling that invokes Disney’s best but is spun in a manner that is less fairy tale for small children and more a straight up story for all children. Not only is the plot and structure a strong imitation of Disney but Tezuka pulls so many elements from the old Disney films, I’m surprised there isn’t/wasn’t a lawsuit involved. Sapphire’s love interest, and ultimate enemy, is Prince Franz Charming. Yes, you read that right, the princess’ love interest is Prince Charming. In one chapter Sapphire disguises herself and goes by the name Briar Rose (that’s Sleeping Beauty for those not up on their Disney trivia). Tezuka pulls all these elements and has so much fun with the story any complaint is pushed to the side and simply taken as an homage; and what an homage.
One of my favorite arcs in this book doesn’t pull from an old Disney movie but instead another fairy tale. The Swan Princess is used so strongly in this arc that I had to pause and try to remember if there was a Disney film at this time about this story. It’s fantastic! However, right around this part in the story is where the story starts getting muddied. During the second half of this book Sapphire begins going on so many adventures with their own individual plots that is seems like Tezuka got plot ADD. Devils and witches appear, cursed islands, imprisonment, and most fantastically…pirates! Newer manga stories go through this ADD as well but they are stretched out of long periods of time. One Piece is the first to mind, but each arc last hundreds of chapters over the course of years. In Princess Knight, each arc is only a few chapters and while the story never feels rushed it does seem very sporadic.
That’s the ONLY downside to this manga though, and it is a small one that really doesn’t matter especially once the second volume is released and the story is completed. This manga is sometimes sited as one of, if not THE, first shojo manga made and it has its merits there and can be recommended as a starting point for shojo. A lot of people recommend older Tezuka because of its historical importance and to see how it influenced modern manga/anime. I’ve read the old Tezuka manga published by Dark Horse and quite a bit of Astro Boy; this is the first manga by Tezuka from this time period that I can wholeheartedly recommend just because it is a good read. Astro boy is great but the stories are compact and not far-reaching in scope; Princess Knight is a long form serial with a continuing story that is a pleasure to look at, fun to read, and a piece of entertainment that excels at entertaining more than anything. The art work is extremely clean and the character designs are a pure joy. Every time Nylon is ‘on screen’ I just smile because of the artwork and how much fun Tezuka was having while drawing it. For those out there who finds Tezuka’s comedic flourishes undesirable, Princess Knight is another breath of fresh air. There is still traditional Tezuka comedy but because of the light-hearted tone and Disney whimsy involved, the comedy is never off-putting, out of left field or anything that might pull away from the story. This is Tezuka in top form both creatively and artistically for the time and despite the plot ADD, an enthralling journey that thankfully only has to wait a month to be finished.
Vertical’s presentation is also top of the line with a slightly larger paper size and the most eye catching, simplistic cover work I’ve seen in a while. No frills, just a purple color with Sapphire and some rose embroideries. It isn’t flashy, but perfect in its minimalism. A sublime, fantastic, and most importantly, fun read that can make for Tezuka converts or simply be a story to read and share for years to come.
In Summary
I strongly prefer Tezuka’s later work, his more gekiga influenced and adult aimed work. I love Dororo but that story never got to be fleshed out in the direction it needed. Astro Boy is great but just for short reads, the limitations inherent in the structure make it difficult for me to fully enjoy as entertainment for every day use. Tezuka’s super early work that has been released in America is extremely rough to get through because he was still working on his craft and honing his particular style. All of these works are important culturally and historically though and that opens my eyes to the bigger picture and I enjoy all his work on some level. Princess Knight however is everything people tell you about old-school Tezuka. Every promise you may have felt was broken by all the hype and praise when reading his early work is a non-issue here. This is so wonderful that I forgot I was reading Tezuka. Everything that made old Disney movies so magical, fun, and irresistible is present in Princess Knight but with a magical twist that only Tezuka could provide. A ride from start to finish, this story is perfect for kids of all ages and both genders with a strong role-model in Sapphire that is never demeaning or boring.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Age Rating: All
Released By: Vertical Inc.
Release Date: November 1st, 2011
MSRP: $13.95
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