Ribon no Kishi

Also known in Italy as "La Principessa Zaffiro", this is really a masterpiece!

It is true that I prefer old manga, rather than new ones, but this is an historical pillar! In fact, it is considered the first shojo-manga ever written and his author (Osamu Tezuka) is well known for other really "important" works, like Astroboy and Metropolis.
What I liked the most when reading this manga was the drawings. They are quite nice, even though they are not as advanced as maybe drawings of other authors, but they are really expressive.
The story in itself is not the most original ever written, but it has some interesting point that, I believe for when it was written, was quite interesting and creative.
Zaffiro, the main character of the story, has both a male and a female heart and the whole plot works around this ambivalence and the fact that in her kingdom, the throne could be passed just to a boy and not a girl.
Love story, evilness, bad luck and envyness are the elements that make the story goes, but there are quite some interesting surprises!

I was surely not disappointed and I still remember the cartoon that I watched when I was small. I wish I had the time to watch it again!