An anime based on Osamu Tezuka's masterpiece "Princess Knight," titled "THE RIBBON HERO," has been produced and will be exclusively streamed worldwide as a Netflix movie in August. "Princess Knight " was also a popular TV anime that aired from April 1967 to April 1968. This will be the first anime adaptation in approximately 27 years, since the original short anime " Princess Knight - Original Anime -" which was screened at Osamu Tezuka World (which closed in January 2011) in December 1999. While details of the story have not been revealed, it is said to depict the story of a hero who decides to defy a harsh fate, with a delicate worldview and sophisticated action.
This will be the first feature-length directorial work by Yuki Igarashi, who worked on the ending sequence for the first season of " Jujutsu Kaisen" and "Star Wars: Visions 'Nora Usa Lop and Hizaura Ochou'." Kei Mochizuki, who has designed popular characters for "Fate/Grand Order" and "Touken Ranbu ONLINE," will be in charge of the original character designs, and Mai Yoneyama, who directed the ending sequences for "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" and "LAZARUS," will participate as a character design collaborator. Kazunari Aragaki will be in charge of animation character design, and Cedric Errol will be the art director. OUTLINE, led by director Igarashi, will be producing the animation.
A new teaser visual drawn by Mochizuki has been released. It depicts the main character, a young girl, and features a large red ribbon reminiscent of the original "Princess Knight," giving her a strong presence. The tagline reads, "I don't want to be the person someone else wants me to be."
"Princess Knight" was serialized in several magazines from 1953 to 1967. It follows Sapphire, a beautiful woman disguised as a man, as the brave "Princess Knight" who fights against evil plaguing the kingdom. A television anime adaptation aired from April 1967 to April 1968. An original short anime, "Princess Knight - Original Anime -," was screened in December 1999.
◇Comments from Director Yuki Igarashi
This work pays homage to Osamu Tezuka , creator of " Princess Knight ," and Ichizo Kobayashi of the Takarazuka Revue, its roots, for the exquisite, quintessential entertainment they created. They too overcame difficulties such as infectious diseases and war to create their works, which have become the foundation of our culture. We invite everyone living in this era to enjoy this exhilarating, quintessential entertainment.
◇Comment from Kei Mochizuki, the original character designer
I've always had two things in mind: to show my utmost respect for Osamu Tezuka, and to give shape to what's needed as a contemporary illustrator to design this new work. I aimed for a design that wasn't too biased towards either, but still felt true to myself. I'm truly honored to have been involved in this delicate yet powerful and wonderful work as my first animation project. I hope you'll enjoy it!
◇Comment from Mai Yoneyama, who collaborated on the character design
Since it's based on the original "Princess Knight," I feel incredibly honored to be involved in a work I watched as a child. "THE RIBBON HERO" will be reborn with a new form of expression that only creators of this era can create, so please check it out!
◇Comment from animation character designer Kazunari Aragaki
I love Igarashi-san's work, so when the project first started, I was just messing around, helping out a little and doodling, but then I saw that Mochizuki-san's original artwork was amazing, and Cedric-san's artwork was amazing too, so I thought, "I want to see this project just a little bit more..." and completely missed my chance to quit, and somehow I ended up in charge of character design. Things like that happen, I guess. But I'm glad I was involved in this project. I truly feel that way.
◇Comment from art director Cedric Errol
I was surprised when I was introduced to the project. I didn't expect the characters to be cooler than the originals. I tried to create a unique world that suited the characters. It was fun to come up with various images! I hope that when people watch the movie, they will be left with a variety of surprised feelings, such as "It's warm but kind of scary," "Is that okay?", or "I feel like I've traveled!"
