ベルサイユのばら / The Rose of Versailles / Lady Oscar

Beautiful art.

Making a review after Joker seemed like an impossible job for weeks. Obviously, that's not the main reason I was away from this blog. The social revolution that started in my home country, made me prioritize my duties, and yet I found the perfect excuse to return to our Animé reviews. 

The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら), also known as Lady Oscar, is a very popular Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue musicals, as well an anime television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and broadcast by the anime television network Nippon TV. The series remains incredibly popular in Italy and some countries of Latin America including Chile, my home country. 

Today's review will focus on the 40 episode Animé adaptation from 1979, which I for one, think is the most beautifully drawn series from the 70's. 

More astonishingly beautiful art.

The Blu-Ray box. Go get it!

Background 

The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier. 

It features elements of the yuri genre embodied in the relationship between Oscar and her protégée Rosalie Lamorlière, the secret daughter of the scheming Madame de Polignac. Rosalie refers to Oscar as her first love. Many of the court ladies also greatly adore Oscar, openly admiring her at parties and become very jealous when she brings female companions to them.

Rosalie.

Marie Antoinette.

In 1979, The Rose of Versailles was released in Japan as a 40-episode (and 1 recapitulation) animated television series, which ran from October 1979 to September 1980. Besides Japan, the series has also been broadcast in several other countries of Europe and Latin America under the title of Lady Oscar. The anime was directed by Tadao Nagahama (episodes 1-18) and Osamu Dezaki (episodes 19-40), who brought a cinematic approach to the series. Shingo Araki was the animation director and co-character designer along with Akio Sugino and Michi Himeno. Kōji Makaino was in charge of the soundtrack.
 
The production staff included the most recognized animation professionals then, who contributed in the making of the 40 episodes of the anime. In spite of the difficulties they had to go through, the staff could continue with their work and took advantage of the problems. The most important of said incidents was the change of direction at the middle of the project, which marked a notable difference between the first half of the anime (directed by Tadao Nagahama) and the second one (directed by Osamu Dezaki).
 
The anime was finally aired on October 10, 1979 in Japan on the channel Nippon TV. From this point on, the series would be aired every Wednesday until September 3, 1980, with the airing of the last episode. 

En garde!

Man up! loser!

Review

Do you need to be a history nerd to like The Rose of Versailles? The answer is both yes and no. Set during the french revolution, this Animé is more of a reflection of a certain type of society rather than a historical research. While it is based upon the French revolution, the main focus is on how the characters deal with what's going on from different social perspectives. Historical facts intertwine with fictional characters in such a natural manner, you'll find yourself believing Oscar was actually there when it all happened. 

The first thing  you  notice when you start watching Rose Of Versailles, are the marvelous character designs done by Shingo Araki. While his style may seem dated to modern Animé fans, I assure you, there's nothing dated with this man. As a matter of fact, I'd say his best work is right here in The Rose of Versailles. Later he'd go on to reprise his skills in Saint Seiya. In addition, the directing approach is top notch, and I'd say that some scenes are so well animated that they even defy the commodity of modern animation from these days. There's this dance scene early on, where every character on screen is doing independent moves!, Hard work at its best!. Unexpectly, Nagahama Tadao died early on in the making of the series and with him died some of the innovative aesthetics the series had in the first few episodes, because the acclaimed 70’s director Osamu Dezaki which came as substitute, didn’t follow that scheme but that's not saying the Animé lacked quality from there on. On the contrary, Dezaki fulfilled his duty with excellence and ended the decade in the highest note. I especially love how the shots of the camera are taken from various angles throughout the series. And a very special Dezaki watermark, the dramatic stills at the end of a scene. 

These are hard times.

Duty or truth?

History wise, there are some true events in a few episodes. Especially, the events that lead to the fall of the French monarchy & aristocracy. However, most of the action is seen from the perspective of the fictional characters. And, that's a good thing. The way reality meets fiction is hard to tell if you're not a history connoisseur.

Plot wise, we get to see a lot of what made humanity a miserable society. Poverty, exploitation, abuse, rapist priests, corruption, greed, arranged marriage, suicide, pedophile aristocrats, the rich getting richer and more powerful, etc. However, what makes The Rose of Versailles a unique Manga and Animé, is how it tells you the story though a varied set of characters that one way or another, end up having something to do with the french revolution, and how Oscar is the character that emotionally connects with each and every single issue taking place both inside and outside of the Versailles palace. How can Oscar serve her duties and at the same time, give a hand to those suffering in poverty? is that even possible? can she be Marie Antoinette's protector and a servant of the people? Those questions will obviously be answered by the time the Animé enters its final five episodes. 

Looks that kill.

Love is just around the bend.

The "bad guys" in the Animé are the aristocrats and monarchs. While the focus is more on the side of aristocrat wannabes manipulating their way into the palace of Versailles, they're still the bad guys, and I can think of a couple of key antagonists. First,  Madame Du Barry, who used to be a prostitute, and thanks to that she manages to enter into the court by becoming the lover of King Louis XV. When Marie Antoinette becomes princess of France, they become enemies.  Maria Theresa of Austria, queen of Austria and mother of Marie Antoinette, sends her advisor, Comte de Mercy, to France. Mercy advises the princess to stop fighting with Du Barry, but Marie Antoinette does not obey the warnings until King Louis XV shows his displeasure with her attitude towards the countess. Marie Antoinette finally speaks to Du Barry. Months later, King Louis XV gets smallpox. Before dying, the bishop, hearing Louis's confession, and orders the removal of the King's sin, that is to say, Madame Du Barry. King Louis XV dies and Du Barry is taken to a convent, where she remains until 1793, the year in which she is guillotined.

Second, Duchess of Polignac,  a singer of the Palace of Versailles, but she does not live there. Marie Antoinette listens to her and quickly makes her best friend. She impelled Marie Antoinette to bet in clandestine casinos, without the permission of Marie Antoinette's husband, King Louis XVI. She manipulated the queen for her own benefit and made the queen believe that lies would fix her difficult situations. Following her advice, Marie Antoinette lied and announced that the heir of France was on way. In order to remedy the situation, Polignac blamed the death of the heir on Lady Oscar. However, you can't say you despise Marie Antoinette, or Oscar's father, or some other minor characters working for the "bad guys". The producers not only did an excellent job in transferring the Manga to the screen, but also managed to go the extra mile and make you feel sorry for some of the antagonists, that at times look like innocent bystanders.

Who's the prettiest?

Rosalie, the innocent stereotype.

Interestingly enough, characters like Maximilien Robespierre, Louis Antoine de Saint-Just & Bernard Châtelet (fictional character, the Black Knight) are well represented as men of the people, carefully crafting the revolution, and opposite to Du Barry & Polignac greedy personal motivation, their struggle is for a better future, and that's quite clear whenever they show up in the final episodes, and there's no need for the viewer to do a full research on who these men were during the actual french revolution. The Animé producers wanted to make clear that all the antagonists in the series are the aristocrats & monarchs. Some of which try to sabotage their own kind in order to satisfy their greed.

On the other hand, the Animé does feature positive topics like love, friendship, loyalty and compassion. Oscar François de Jarjayes, André Grandier, Rosalie Lamorliére and every other good guy adds positive vibes in each episode. While Marie Antoinette starts as a naive princess, she ends up swallowed by her privileges and becomes the very thing the people hated with their guts.

Another interesting aspect (for a 1979 Animé) is how love is depicted as more a duty, than a choice. André Grandier has loved Oscar since day one but, since he's nothing but a servant, he can't marry her. On the other hand Oscar is secretly infatuated with Marie Antoinette's lover Hans Axel Von Fersen. Moreover, Oscar acts more like a man throughout the first half of the series, and only in the last episodes, she realizes she's loved André her whole life. In addition, but to a minor degree, Rosalie seems to be bisexual. The way she sees Oscar, clearly suggests she felt more than sister love for her. Obviously, nothing ecchi takes place on screen, since this is a classy work ladies &gentlemen!

The queen?, or the people?

Fearsome lady.

Overall, The Rose of Versailles is one classic Animé you don't want to miss. If you have any prejudices with Shoujo manga/animé watch this one and be cured!


Here's the opening:



Here's the (clean) ending:



The opening theme live with Yuki Nishio!



Another live version by Hiroko Moriguchi:



The live action film trailer: