Princess Knight, Part One by Osamu TezukaMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Osamu Tezuka is often referred to as the Grandfather of Manga, and it's kind of because of that title that I've been wanting to read some more of his work, other than what I know of Astro-Boy. Princess Knight has been a title that has intrigued me for a while, but unfortunately all the paperback copies are out of print, and the secondary market for them is well out of my pocket in terms of what I can afford to spend. It was a delight then to find that both volumes of the manga were available on Amazon Kindle, and I happily paid the price for them. The experience has been quite good, actually, and I wouldn't mind getting more manga for the Kindle.
One of the things that you will first notice about any of Tezuka-san's work is that is it is heavily influenced by the early house style of Walt Disney cartoons - all rounded lines and exaggerated features. This actually makes for really lovely character designs, and softer rounded lines seem to add a gentleness to the story that works well with it. I would love to have some prints of this art work, actually.
As for the story? Taking into consideration the time period in which it was written and acknowledge that the views it expresses would not fit well in today's time? It's quite a delightful little romp. It plays a lot with the Prince and Princess tropes of fairy-tales and other such stories and shows the very different extremes expected from the types of characters. Prince Sapphire is a very endearing lead, kind hearted and bold and you want to know more about her struggles and hope that it all comes for the best for her in the end. The villains of the work are also very fun, and I really enjoy all the interactions.
Honestly? It's just a really fun little manga, and the first volume had me grinning with delight. Hopefully I'll finish the second volume soon!
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