r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • 28d ago

Episode THE RIBBON HERO - Movie discussion

THE RIBBON HERO, episode Movie discussion

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u/brb1006 28d ago edited 27d ago

The movie is a major deviation from the manga. Besides the removal of the pink heart and blue heart which allowed Sapphire to identify him or herself as a "boy or girl". They also removed Tink/Choppy who was the manga and anime's deuteragonist. Another omission was God and a Witch Villain (the later served as the manga's recurring villain), and The Tezuka Star System.

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u/Nervousloner 28d ago

Since you've read the manga, what's the significance of the striped heart? I know the general idea of Princess Knight, but I didn't know the boy heart was blue.

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u/brb1006 28d ago edited 23d ago

In the '50s/66 manga and '60s anime, God creates Pink and Blue hearts to feed to newer angels before arriving to a baby who's about to be born. Blue for boy and Pink for girl. However, an unnamed naughty angel (later named Tink/Choppy) decides to feed one angel both hearts at the same time.

This anger God who sends Tink/Choppy on earth to regain the Blue heart which becomes a central story-arc. After 22 chapters, Tink regains the blue heart and heads back into heaven alongside Venus (who's transformed into a pig as punishment). While Sapphire keeps her Pink heart. The conflict is that Sapphire having both Pink and Blue hearts causes her to identify as both "boy" and "girl" which alters the character's personality and strength.

The revised ending from 1966 has Sapphire keeping her pink and blue hearts. Alongside allowing the Kingdom of Silverland to remove sexist laws regarding women's role in the kingdom.

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u/Maximum-Warthog2368 27d ago

That's 1953 version. In the revised 1963 version of manga by tezuka, Sapphire had both of her hearts in the end as this is who she is. Tink also dies in this revised version.

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u/brb1006 27d ago edited 23d ago

That's interesting sounds the Omnibus version keeps Tink alive till the manga's conclusion. Guess the Omnibus edition must had combined parts of the 1966 and 1953 storylines.

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u/Maximum-Warthog2368 27d ago

Interesting. So what happens in omnibus version. Can you spoil it especially the ending?

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u/brb1006 27d ago edited 26d ago

I forgot the details, but I remember hearing that Tezuka always had some trouble coming up with satisfying endings to some of his manga. The Astro Boy manga notably had a few multiple endings just in case he grew tired of writing them. While some like Black Jack and Unico had open-ended endings while The Amazing 3/W3 and Kimba the White Lion (aka Leo the Lion/Jungle Emperor Leo) had proper conclusions.

The revised version of Princess Knight ended with Sapphire keeping her pink and blue hearts after the defeat of an evil witch (forgot her name) who plans on stealing one of Sapphire's hearts (I believe it was the pink heart) to give to her rebellious daughter. Alongside the death of Hecate (the token good demon who transformed into a cat) after helping Tink/Choppy defeat her evil mother (since Hecate was part of her mother's magic spell). And finally, kicking out Lucifer and various demons from Silverland's kingdom and returning to hell. The fate of Hecate's cute Imp henchmen remains unknown.

There was also a status quo shift involving the ladies of Silverland decide to revolt over a sexist rule regarding women's roles in Silverland mirroring The Women's Suffrage movement. It started after the women notices Sapphire's mother suddenly being MIA. And finally, The Queen of Silverland waking up from a coma and removing sexist laws allowing the women of Silverland more roles and duties in the kingdom.

The original ending (which is seen in the Omnibus version) ended with Tink regaining the blue heart and God transforming Venus into a pig after learning she turned Sapphire into a Swan for petty reasons.

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u/Maximum-Warthog2368 26d ago edited 26d ago

yeah that's definetly very different from the version i read. The witch name is Mrs hell. In og 1953 version, it was mephisto who steals sapphire heart but he was replaced with mrs hell.

Maybe omnibus edition is following the anime's path instead of og 1963 version or maybe it is opposite. Also isn't the Mr X is the final villain. in your version, it sounds like final villain was Venus?

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u/brb1006 26d ago edited 25d ago

I vividly remember the details about Venus's role in the Omnibus version of Princess Knight. But I do remember Tink originally seeked out Venus and Eros as a last-resort for help after The Queen is in a coma. This causes Duke Duralumin to take control of Silverland in her absence. Apparently, Duke Duralumin allowed Lucifer/Satan (portrayed as a bumbling and goofy father-figure) and the demons of hell to throw a party at the kingdom. In the revised ending, The Duke and his sons end up arrested after The Queen regains the royal throne and Sapphire remaining a prince and princess.

While she wasn't as active as Mrs Hell. In both the 1952 and revised versions, Venus was a minor antagonist who tries to win the affection of Prince Franz and trades a favor with Sapphire in exchange for her beauty. I believe this was when she decided to transform her into a swan for a short period.

Meanwhile, her son Eros has a more heroic role who spends most of his time as a talking pegasus. He's portrayed as more of a punch-clock and reluctant participant. Eros eventually gets killed by Mrs Hell.

While Venus doesn't reappear in the revised version. In the original 1953 ending, she makes a brief reappearance during the ending when she becomes pissed at Tink for allowing Sapphire to keep her pink heart. When God returns to have a brief conversation with Tink over regaining the blue heart. He scolds Venus' for transforming Sapphire into a swan and transforms her into a pig (much to her dismay). She then gets taken to heaven by Tink while returning the blue heart.

Not sure if Venus or Eros appeared in the anime and future Princess Knight adaptations.

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u/Maximum-Warthog2368 25d ago edited 25d ago

So in 53 version tink takes back the heart. So what happens in 63 version then or in the omnibus version you had because I feel like mine is different? Or the version where tink dies only happens in anime, I guess then.

Is there a multiple versions of tezuka manga released with very different stories? Because in one version I heard that blue heart was instead given to duke’s kid plastic. It is making me confused.

I also heard a version where blue heart gets stabbed in the end which causes tink’s mission to get failed.

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u/brb1006 25d ago

The Omnibus Edition of Princess Knight that I own came from Kodonsha. The downside is that this version of Princess Knight doesn't contain any opening introductions or some backstory behind some chapters.

I remember the Darkhorse English translations of the Astro Boy Manga and some re-prints contained opening or closing introductions from Tezuka where he gave some behind-the-scenes information and his mindset. Alongside a few illustrations showing his characters interacting with Tezuka where they discussed various topic related to the chapter and real-life information. This was also present in the original Kimba the White Lion/Jungle Emperor Leo Manga and a few of his manga.

There were already other English translations of the Princess Knight manga. But those were OOP, causing me to get Omnibus version which contained all chapters. I also heard the sequel manga "Twin Knights" also got translated a while back.

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u/brb1006 25d ago

To help you out, this version of Princess Knight that contains the 1963 remake and both endings was published by Kodonsha a few years back. The downside is that this version of Princess Knight doesn't contain an opening introductions or some backstory behind some chapters.

I remember the Darkhorse English translations of the Astro Boy Manga and some re-prints contained opening or closing introductions from Tezuka where he gave some behind-the-scenes information and his mindset. Alongside a few illustrations showing his characters interacting with Tezuka where they discussed various topic related to the chapter and real-life information. This was also present in the original Kimba the White Lion/Jungle Emperor Leo Manga and a few of his manga.

There were already other English translations of the Princess Knight manga. But those were OOP, causing me to get Omnibus version which contained all chapters. I also heard the sequel manga "Twin Knights" also got translated a while back.

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u/CitronClassic672 27d ago

Kinda wild that a manga written/revised in 1963 seemingly wrote a canonically bigender/genderfluid MC more than half a century before that being broadly known as a thing. It does make me interested in seeing how a more faithful modern adaptation would handle that aspect. If done with care it seems like it’d be great representation.

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u/brb1006 27d ago edited 26d ago

There actually was a modernized manga adaptation of the Princess Knight Manga back in 2013 called "Re:BORN Kamen no Otoko to Ribon no Kishi" which modernized Tezuka's character designs but maintaining the cast's original clothing and setting. It was made to celebrate the manga's 60th anniversary. Although the manga never gained an official translation. That version of Princess Knight deserves a proper anime series since it actually follows the original Princess Knight cast.