{"id":65760,"date":"2026-04-24T17:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=65760"},"modified":"2026-04-24T17:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T08:37:00","slug":"announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/","title":{"rendered":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Netflix recently announced its new original anime film The Ribbon Hero, a modern take on Osamu Tezuka\u2019s 1950s manga Princess Knight. Its first poster, which shows a female character (likely the protagonist Sapphire) designed by Fate\/Grand Order illustrator Kei Mochizuki in collaboration with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners animator Mai Yoneyama, was meant to generate hype, but some Japanese fans are concerned that the adaptation looks noticeably (<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/riohijiri\/status\/2047301804371972202?s=20\">some would say \u201ccompletely\u201d<\/a>) different from the source material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Inspired by Osamu Tezuka&#39;s legendary manga &quot;Princess Knight,&quot; witness a lone hero attempt to overcome their harsh destiny in THE RIBBON HERO.<br><br>Premiering worldwide this August, exclusively on Netflix. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Wa4W4kUDPg\">pic.twitter.com\/Wa4W4kUDPg<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Netflix Anime (@NetflixAnime) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NetflixAnime\/status\/2047284350840942844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 23, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While some put their trust in director Yuki Igarashi (whose animation work includes popular anime titles like Mob Psycho 100, Frieren: Beyond Journey\u2019s End, and Star Wars: Visions), as well as the rest of the crew, a good number of fans are skeptical about the art style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some fans theorize that the \u201cPrincess Knight\u201d tag was added to draw attention to the film, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/gc_7m\/status\/2047301045555245415?s=20\">suggesting that The Ribbon Hero would not be able to stand on its own<\/a> as an original project without relying on its source material. Others would much rather prefer if Outline and Twin Engine (the production companies behind the film) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RX78216\/status\/2047289781244346589?s=20\">made a unique IP instead of an adaptation<\/a> if the character designs look too unlike their original counterparts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"784\" height=\"560\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 784px) 100vw, 784px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-657600001.jpg\" alt=\"Tezuka's princess knight.\" class=\"wp-image-65763\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-657600001.jpg 784w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-657600001-380x271.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-657600001-768x549.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Though The Ribbon Hero character in the poster (who we\u2019re assuming is Sapphire) doesn\u2019t look bad by any stretch of the imagination, her sharper, more mature design looks nothing like Sapphire\u2019s softer, more rounded look typical of Tezuka\u2019s style in the manga and anime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ribbon Hero is meant to be a \u201cmodern treatment\u201d of Princess Knight, which is apparent in its art style and character designs. While this decision was probably made to draw in modern audiences, longtime Princess Knight fans are starting to feel put off by the changes, with some <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Naotaaaaaaaaaa\/status\/2047298713165729865?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">losing interest in the movie<\/a> and others <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/chibakoudai2024\/status\/2047300464409292865?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">likening the character design to \u201ctasteless gum\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ribbon Hero is set to premiere on Netflix in August 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shigeru-miyamotos-advice-about-what-makes-a-great-game-inspired-exit-8-film-directors-approach-to-the-live-action-adaptation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Shigeru Miyamoto\u2019s advice about \u201cwhat makes a great game\u201d inspired Exit 8 film director\u2019s approach to the live-action adaptation<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/animes-massive-success-in-us-theaters-has-more-to-do-with-the-power-of-fandoms-than-the-medium-itself-becoming-dominant-according-to-japanese-filmmaker-and-journalist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Anime\u2019s massive success in US theaters has more to do with the power of fandoms than the medium itself becoming dominant, according to Japanese filmmaker and journalist<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix&#8217;s upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka&#8217;s Princess Knight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":65762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-65760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix&#039;s upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka&#039;s Princess Knight.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix&#039;s upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka&#039;s Princess Knight.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T08:06:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-24T08:37:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"563\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"326\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences - AUTOMATON WEST","description":"Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix's upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka's Princess Knight.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences - AUTOMATON WEST","og_description":"Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix's upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka's Princess Knight.","og_url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/","og_site_name":"AUTOMATON WEST","article_published_time":"2026-04-24T08:06:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-24T08:37:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":563,"height":326,"url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_site":"@AUTOMATON_ENG","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/"},"author":{"name":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2812ca8facd5f161edfbc531cf81eb31"},"headline":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences","datePublished":"2026-04-24T08:06:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-24T08:37:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/"},"wordCount":394,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg","keywords":["News (Japan-related)"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/","name":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences - AUTOMATON WEST","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-24T08:06:14+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-24T08:37:00+00:00","description":"Japanese fans share their opinions of The Ribbon Hero, Netflix's upcoming modern adaptation of Tezuka's Princess Knight.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260424-65760-header.jpg","width":563,"height":326},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/announcement-of-netflix-adaptation-of-osamu-tezukas-princess-knight-met-with-mixed-reactions-in-japan-due-to-art-style-differences\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u30db\u30fc\u30e0","item":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Announcement of Netflix adaptation of Osamu Tezuka\u2019s Princess Knight met with mixed reactions in Japan due to art style differences"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","name":"AUTOMATON WEST","description":"AUTOMATON is a website that covers the Japanese gaming world. We bring you the news on video games from Osaka and Tokyo.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/activegamingmedia_logo.png","width":374,"height":190,"caption":"\u682a\u5f0f\u4f1a\u793e\u30a2\u30af\u30c6\u30a3\u30d6\u30b2\u30fc\u30df\u30f3\u30b0\u30e1\u30c7\u30a3\u30a2"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/AUTOMATON_ENG","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCabvYnvuUUbbGUrxkaFRgSA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/2812ca8facd5f161edfbc531cf81eb31","name":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/display-pic-100x100.jpg","caption":"Carlos \"Zoto\" Zotomayor"},"description":"Automaton West writer. Zoto has been playing video games for 30+ years now but has only recently come to grips with PC gaming. When he isn't playing video games, he watches romance anime and gets mad when his best girl never wins.","url":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/author\/carlos-zotomayor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65760"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65778,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65760\/revisions\/65778"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}