#71 – Ribbon no Kishi

For television animation from 1967, that is awesome stuff. Hell it puts a lot of modern shows openings to shame. It's certainly the best example of Disney's influence on Tezuka that I've laid my eyes on.

Also known as Princess Knight and released in english during the 70s as “Choppy and The Princess”, it is the tale of Sapphire, a princess who must pretend to be male to stop an evil relative getting their hands on the throne. There is an angel, Tink (or “Choppy”) who is sent to retrieve one of the two hearts Sapphire was accidentally given (she has a male heart and female heart). However Sapphire won't give up either, and so he is stuck on Earth as her sidekick.

ALSO! Sapphire has a duel (triple?) identity as the masked Phantom Knight who fights crime at night.

The series is currently getting an overpriced DVD release in the UK through Quantum Leap. So I'm sure that it will be a quality release. Hmm, do italics work well as sarcasm?