Editing Princess Knight (section)

{{Short description|Japanese manga series by Osamu Tezuka}}
{{About|the [[Osamu Tezuka]] manga|the [[Nickelodeon]] series|Nella the Princess Knight}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Princess Knight
| image           = Princess Knight-1.jpg
| caption         = The cover for the first volume of ''Princess Knight'' from the Osamu Tezuka Manga Complete Works edition
| ja_kanji        = リボンの騎士
| ja_romaji       = Ribon no Kishi
| genre           = [[Fantasy (fiction)|Fantasy]]<ref name=orig/><!-- Note: Use and cite reliable sources to identify genre/s, not personal interpretation. Please don't include more than three genres (per [[MOS:A&M]]). -->
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = [[Osamu Tezuka]]
| publisher       = [[Kodansha]]
| publisher_en    = 
| demographic     = ''[[Shōjo manga|Shōjo]]''
| magazine        = [[Shōjo Club]]
| first           = January 1953
| last            = January 1956
| volumes         = 3
| volume_list     =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| title           = The Twin Knights
| author          = Osamu Tezuka
| publisher       = Kodansha
| publisher_en    = {{English manga publisher|NA=[[Vertical (company)|Vertical]]}}
| demographic     = ''Shōjo''
| magazine        = [[Nakayoshi]]
| first           = January 1958
| last            = June 1958
| volumes         = 1
| volume_list     =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = Osamu Tezuka
| publisher       = Kodansha
| publisher_en    = {{English manga publisher|NA=Vertical|JP=Kodansha <small>(bilingual)</small>}}
| demographic     = ''Shōjo''
| magazine        = Nakayoshi
| first           = January 1963
| last            = October 1966
| volumes         = 5
| volume_list     =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| author          = Osamu Tezuka
| illustrator     = Kitano Hideaki
| publisher       = Kodansha
| publisher_en    =
| demographic     = ''Shōjo''
| magazine        = [[Shōjo Friend]]
| first           = April 1967
| last            = April 1968
| volumes         = 1
| volume_list     =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| director        = {{br separated entries|Osamu Tezuka|Chikao Katsui|Kanji Akabori}}
| producer        = {{br separated entries|Tadayoshi Watanabe|Kazuyuki Hirokawa}}
| writer          =
| music           = [[Isao Tomita]]
| studio          = [[Mushi Production]]
| licensee        = {{English anime licensee|NA=[[Crunchyroll]]{{efn|Through [[Right Stuf Inc.|Nozomi Entertainment]].}}|UK=Movie Makers<br />Tasley Leisures<br />Starlite Group|AUS=Hanabee Entertainment}}
| network         = [[Fuji TV]]
| network_en      = {{English anime network
| AU = [[Seven Network]]
| UK = [[The Children's Channel]], [[Sky One]]
| ZA = [[Bop TV]]
| IN = [[StarPlus]]
}}
| first           = April 2, 1967
| last            = April 7, 1968
| episodes        = 52
| episode_list    = List of Princess Knight episodes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = film
| director        = [[Masayoshi Nishida]]
| producer        = {{br separated entries|Minoru Kubota|Sumio Udagawa}}
| writer          = Mayumi Morita
| music           = [[Tomoki Hasegawa]]
| studio          = [[Media Vision]]
| licensee        =
| released        = 1999
| runtime         = 8 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
'''''Princess Knight''''', also known as '''''Ribon no Kishi''''',{{efn|''Ribon no Kishi'' is originally written リボンの騎士, which is translated by Schodt (1996) as "A Knight in Ribbons",{{sfn|Schodt|1996|p=253}} Gravett (2004) as "Knight in Ribbons",<ref name=gravett/> and by Power (2009) as "Knight with a ribbon".{{sfn|Power|2009|p=113}}}} is a Japanese [[manga]] series written and illustrated by [[Osamu Tezuka]]. This manga follows the adventures of Sapphire, a girl who was born accidentally with a blue heart of a boy and a pink heart of a girl. She pretends to be a prince to prevent the evil Duke Duralumin from taking over the kingdom through his son, Plastic. The gender-bending main character was inspired by the all-female musical theater group [[Takarazuka Revue]] in which women performed both female and male roles.

The story was ordered by an editor of [[Kodansha]]'s magazine ''[[Shōjo Club]]'' who wanted Tezuka to produce a manga aimed towards a female audience that could replicate the success of his former boy-aimed stories. The author then created ''Princess Knight'', originally serialized in that magazine from 1953 to 1956. The manga's popularity resulted into a [[radio drama]]tization in 1955, three other serializations between 1958 and 1968, and a 52-episode television [[anime]] series by [[Mushi Production]] that aired on [[Fuji TV]] from 1967 to 1968. It has also influenced several [[stage musical]]s since the 1980s and inspired remakes of the work by other authors.

The series' arrival in the English-speaking market was delayed by [[NBC Enterprises]] executives' perception that it could be interpreted as "sex switch". However, still in the 1970s, the television series got a dubbed version produced by [[Joe Oriolo]]. Renamed ''Choppy and the Princess'', it was released to American, Australian, and British television audiences, with [[home video]] releases to follow. The manga would only reach the anglophone public years later, in 2001 when [[Kodansha International]] published a bilingual edition of ''Princess Knight'', which was followed by a newer version by [[Vertical (company)|Vertical]] in 2011.

One of Tezuka's most famous works and widely regarded as a classic, ''Princess Knight'' has been very influential in the manga and anime industry. Its portrayal of [[gender roles]] is ambiguously interpreted by critics; some claim it has pro-[[feminist]] ideals and others think it expresses [[misogynist]] ideals of the 1950s–60s Japanese society. Nonetheless, it would start a tradition of androgynous-like heroines and establish several trends in the ''shōjo'' genre. In fact, it is considered to be one of the first works in this genre that was narrative-focused and that portrays a female superhero.