Anime Vice Anime/Manga News

Tezuka Productions has announced two new projects based on the works of legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka. Anime films based on two of Tezuka's classic works, Buddha and Princess Knight, are in the works.
It's interesting that these are the series chosen by Tezuka Productions-- they both revolve heavily around a single character's life and growth. Buddha, of course, revolves around Buddhism founder Siddhartha, who is said to have achieved supreme enlightenment, spurring one of the world's great religions. Vertical has already released all eight volumes of the manga, so if you haven't read it and want a sneak peek, you've got a perfect option all handy.

And then there's Princess Knight, which I'm personally a bit more excited for. One of the first-ever “shoujo” manga, Princess Knight revolves around a princess named Sapphire who has pretended that she was a boy for her entire life in order to safeguard her throne. She has a third identity, too: the Ribbon Knight, who defeats dastardly black hats and keep her subjects happy and safe. Unfortunately, while disguised as the Ribbon Knight she falls in love with a prince, who eventually comes to be familiar with all three of her identities...separately.

The Princess Knight manga is much harder to get your hands on in English so far, as Paploo mentions on the license wishlist thread. Kodansha published six volumes as “bilingual” editions, but a full English-language release has never been made available, although VIZ published a lone story in Shojo Beat back in '07. The anime is an even sadder story: it was dubbed in its entirety back in the 1970s, but then disputes arose and it wasn't broadcast. A few copies leaked out and even ran on TV later, but I've never seen any myself...

So, I'm looking forward to both of these films. How about you?