Shojo Beat. At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International, Vertical announced that it had licensed the 1963 version for an English-language translation in North America. Vertical published it in two parts; the first on November 1, 2011, and the second on December 6, 2011. In the following year, Vertical licensed The Twin Knights, which was released on July 30, 2013. Both series were rereleased by Vertical in ebook format; first, The Twin Knights on July 22, 2015, and then both Princess Knight volumes on August 12, 2015. Anime adaptation The Princess Knight anime series was produced by Mushi Production and had Osamu Tezuka as executive director, and Chikao Katsui and Kanji Akabori as chief directors. The series of 52 episodes was originally broadcast in Japan on Fuji TV from April 2, 1967 to April 7, 1968. In addition to the anime series, there is also 28-minute pilot film that was produced in November 1966 but was not broadcast on television. It was released as an extra when the series was released on LaserDisc in Japan. All episodes were released on LaserDisc by Pioneer on March 28, 1997. The episodes were also distributed in DVD format; Nippon Columbia released two box sets on December 21, 2001 and June 1, 2002. A single box set was released by Columbia on July 23, 2008, and another was released by Takarashijima on October 29, 2010. A "Best Selection" DVD series was first released by Columbia on September 25, 2003, and rereleased on July 23, 2008. Mushi Production submitted the anime adaptation to NBC Enterprises that was declined because its executives felt the series theme could be interpreted as "sex switch." Animator Joe Oriolo, however, purchased the anime's distribution rights, and along with Burt Hecht dubbed its episodes into English. In 1972, after a limited release under the title Princess Knight, Oriolo and Hecht edited three episodes and made it into a film titled Choppy and the Princess that was licensed to independent television in the United States and was syndicated in the 1970s and 1980s. In October 2012, Nozomi Entertainment, a Right Stuf's publishing division, acquired its distribution's rights for North America. Featuring an English-language and a Spanish-language dub, it used the edited and cut version broadcast in the 1970s and 1980s. The first part was released on August 20, 2013 while the second one was published on October 22, 2013. The show also