News

The Ribbon Hero Anime Film's Trailer Reveals 5 Cast Members, Previews English Dub

Netflix began streaming on Thursday the final trailer for The Ribbon Hero, Twin Engine's new anime film based on Osamu Tezuka's Princess Knight (Ribbon no Kishi) manga, and it previews the English dub. Twin Engine also streamed the Japanese version of the trailer, which reveals five new cast members, who play Sapphire's coworkers at the mining site.

The newly announced cast includes:

• Yoshimasa Hosoya as Rock
• Mito Tsukino as Hecate
• Yuusuke Tezuka as Chorogy
• Lunlun as Chick
• Debidebi Debiru as Tack

Mito Tsukino, Lunlun, and Debidebi Debiru are VTubers affiliated with NIJISANJI, and these are their first roles in a feature-length anime.

The film stars:

• Saya (or Saaya) of comedy duo Lalande as Sapphire
• Seiran Kobayashi as Pine, Sapphire's friend
• Kōki Uchiyama as Velvet
• Mayumi Shintani as Zirco
• Haruhiko Jō as Pope

According to Netflix, this is Saya's first leading role in a feature‑length animated production.

This year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival featured the film as part of "Annecy Presents," one of the festival's non-competitive sections. The event ran in Annecy, France from June 21-27.

Netflix describes the story:

Sapphire is the princess of a kingdom that no longer exists. Having lost everything in her homeland of Silverland to the calamity known as “Nergal,” she wanders in despair until she finally arrives in Goldland.

Though burdened by her past, she begins to find a glimmer of hope as she encounters the kindness of the people there. But as if to sneer at her peaceful new life, the calamity Nergal appears once more. The very despair that once reduced her homeland to ashes now threatens to steal the light from this land as well.

“I won't lose anything ever again. And I won't let anyone else lose anything either.” Brushing away her tears of sorrow, the girl takes up her sword. This is the story of a lone hero who ties her ribbon and resolves to defy her fate.

Yuuki Igarashi (Star Wars: Visions "Lop & Ocho, Jujutsu Kaisen first ending sequence) is directing the anime film at his new anime studio OUTLINE as his feature-length directorial debut. Kei Mochizuki (LOOPERS visual novel, Twin Star Cyclone Runaway novel, Criminal Girls X game) is designing the characters, with character design cooperation from Mai Yoneyama (Kiznaiver, "COLORs" music video). Issei Arakaki (Vladlove, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Detonation, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance) is the animation character designer. Cédric Hérole (Wait for Me, Magikarp) is credited for artistic direction. Satoru Kōsaki (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya) and Ryūichi Takada (Shangri-La Frontier), both from MONACA, are composing the music.

The Japanese/Korean group Girls Archives. perform the theme song "Reborn."

The additional staff members include:

• Nergal Design: okama
• Art Director: Masanobu Nomura
• Color Key Artist: Natsumi Watabe
• CG Director: Akine Nagamine
• Compositing Director of Photography: Hikaru Fukuda
• Editor: Junichi Uematsu
• Sound Director: Keiichirō Miyoshi
• Sound Production: TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION

Kodansha USA Publishing most recently released Tezuka's Princess Knight manga as a one volume omnibus in August 2022.

Tezuka launched the manga in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine in January 1958. Vertical released the manga in two volumes in print in 2011 and digitally in 2015.

Source: Email correspondence