Princess Knight Part 1

From Dragon Ball and Inu Yasha to Bleach and Bakuman, manga has been popular in the United States for decades.  Manga has always had a very distinctive style, starting with where it all started in the eary 1950s.  One of the earliest manga artists was Osamu Tezuka.  Nicknamed "The Godfather of Manga," Tezuka was heavily influenced by the work of Walt Disney and is credited with the first ever shojo manga, Princess Knight.

Princess Knight is the story of Princess Sapphire, whose parents needed a male heir to inherit the throne or an evil duke's son becomes king.  When Sapphire was born her parents decided to claim that she is a boy and raise her as a Prince.  Only a handful of people know that the "Prince" is really a girl.  Years later a teenage Sapphire meets a foreign prince and falls in love, but revealing her identity to the prince would mean forfeiting the kingdom to the duke.  Full of witches, pirates, and sword fighting, Princess Knight was one of the first manga with a strong female main character who could outfight any man.  The art style of the manga is very different from what we know today.  It is easy to see the Disney influence but many of the current manga traits are visible, such as large eyes and sweat drops and sparkles when characters feel strong emotions.   For readers who are interested in the history of manga this is a classic and a must read.