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THE RIBBON HERO Anime Film Sets August 8 Netflix Release, Casts Comedian Saya as Sapphire

The casting of a comedian with no feature-length voice acting experience as the lead in a major Netflix anime based on a Tezuka classic signals a deliberate break from the industry's usual reliance on professional voice actors.

Reporting from 11 sources: Crunchyroll News, Eiga Natalie, Denfaminicogamer, KAI-YOU, and 7 more.

THE RIBBON HERO Anime Film Sets August 8 Netflix Release, Casts Comedian Saya as Sapphire

Netflix has announced an August 8 worldwide streaming date for the anime film THE RIBBON HERO, based on Osamu Tezuka's classic manga Princess Knight. The lead role of Sapphire will be voiced by Saya, a comedian from the duo Lalande, in her first feature-length voice acting role. The announcement came alongside the release of a teaser trailer and a key visual. The film is directed by Yuki Igarashi, known for his work on Star Wars: Visions and Jujutsu Kaisen season 1 ending animation, in his feature directorial debut. Animation production is handled by studio OUTLINE, with production by Twin Engine. The story follows Princess Sapphire, who loses her homeland Silverland to a calamity called Nergal and later gains the power to transform into the Ribbon Knight to protect her new home, Goldland. Saya said in a statement that the director told her Sapphire's background overlapped with her own, which helped her decide to take the role. She acknowledged that she expects criticism for being a non-professional voice actor but said she focused on conveying Sapphire's inner voice. The film also features script cooperation by Junko Komura, known for writing several Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series.

The film marks the first new anime project based on Tezuka's Princess Knight in 27 years, following a short film in 1999 and the 1967-1968 TV series. The teaser visual released last month ranked first on Yahoo! Trends and third on domestic X trends in Japan, according to Anime Anime. The film has also been selected for the Annecy Presents section of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2026.

The trailer shows Sapphire's transformation sequence rendered with fluid animation, dynamic action scenes, and the closing line "Ribbon Knight, appearing." The key visual, described as resembling a single painting, places transformed Sapphire with a sword at center alongside her pre-transformation form and three unnamed characters, with the tagline "These feelings become a sword."

Additional staff credits include music by Satoru Kosaki and Ryuichi Takada of MONACA, Nergal design by okama, background art direction by Masanobu Nomura, color design by Natsumi Watabe, CG direction by Akine Nagamine, compositing direction by Hikaru Fukuda, editing by Junichi Uematsu, sound direction by Keiichiro Miyoshi, and sound production by TOHOKUSHINSHA FILM CORPORATION. Script cooperation is by Junko Komura, known for main writing on Super Sentai and Kamen Rider series including "Zyuohger," "Lupinranger VS Patranger," "Zenkaiger," "Kamen Rider Wizard," and "Kamen Rider Gavv."

Saya said in her full comment that the original Princess Knight was "the first shoujo manga to feature a 'fighting woman' as its protagonist." She added, "At over 30 years old, there has been no job where I struggled and enjoyed the challenge this much."

Synthesized by Yomimono from the 11 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.

THE RIBBON HERO Anime Film Sets August 8 Netflix Release, Casts Comedian Saya as Sapphire

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