Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles

Osamu Dezaki was one of the most prominent Japanese animationist, recognized for a visual style that aims to give the viewers a sense of 'static movement'.

Considered to be one of his best works, "The Rose of Versailles" features a young heroine, Oscar, seeking to find her role in a world that falls apart around her in the most violent way possible - the French Revolution. She commands a battery of soldiers, protecting the King of France and his wife, with the help of her faithful attache.

This series doesn't focus on her alone, as backstabbing politics that occur inside the confines of the Versailles give the viewers compelling reasons to watch. Without wanting to give away anything, I advise anyone wishing to see this series that Osamu Dezaki represented a phase in the history of Japanese animation in which his works reflected the social psyche of a tumultuous Japan before its meteoric rise in the 80's.

Even with a female lead, it's best that kids under the age of 12 understand first what the French Revolution was like.

If you liked this series, perhaps you may find other works of Osamu Dezaki also appealing, such as the boxing series 'Hurricane Joe' and 'Treasure Island'.

In France in 1755 a daughter was born to the famous royal guard family Jarjayes, named Oscar Francois de Jarjayes. Since her father desperately wanted a boy to continue his work as a royal guard to the queen, Oscar was raised as a boy and learned how to fight and fence. Oscar and her friend Andre were soon assigned to Versailles to protect Marie Antoinette. There they discovered a lot of affairs from madam du Barry, Jeanne de Motte and others. But Andre fell in love with Oscar and in 1789 the French revolution started, forcing them to choose if they want to be loyal to the queen or to the people...

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"Lady Oscar" is a real treat for all nostalgic anime fans and history lovers. Namely, despite the fact that Oscar is a fictional character, almost 90 % of it's story is actually ( loosely ) accurate. For example, I thought that the whole double crossing affair by Jeanne de Valois de la Motte, who dressed a prostitute as Marie Antoinette to trick cardinal Rohan into thinking that the queen likes him and bought an expensive necklace ( worth 200 million $ by todays standards ) on Antoinette's account, and who was later led to a court where she said that Antoinette was a lesbian, was just a gross exaggeration by the anime makers. But I was surprised to find out that not only did Jeanne really exist, but that this actually did happen!

Still, the real hero(ine) is Oscar, a fascinating woman always dressed as a man, and her tragic romance with Andre, which creates subtle gay themes. The director Osamu Dezaki directs this anime on the limit of fantasy, not caring so much about the structure or the sometimes dry events, as much as creating opulent, excellent characters. Oscar is the highlight of course, a woman trying to find her place in the world and history, choosing if she should be loyal to the rich queen or to the poor people.

Grade: 8/10

This classic anime series, inspired in the comic books by Ryoko Ikeda, follows the story of Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. The entire plot takes place in France, in the years before and during the French Revolution. The series combines historical characters with other that are merely fictional; however, the development of the story manages to be both convincing and realistic. All the characters are wonderfully portrayed: Their psychology and feelings are heavily explored during the series. Also, the character designs, despite being somewhat dated, are still stylish and beautiful to look at. The music is great too, and fits very well with the tone of the series.

"The Rose of Versailles" is one of the best animated series ever made, and it is still one of my favorites, I wish there were more anime like this.

Since the first time I laid eyes on the IMDB cover of The Rose of Versailles, I thought I would primarily dislike it for its animation style. I do not like unrealistically big eyes and glossy colors, but the premise of the story really got me intrigued. To my pleasant surprise, the animation ended up being far better than I expected, and the story got me more and more interested the longer I kept on watching.

Truth be told, the first part of the anime is not as memorable to me as the second. I would, however, call it far from boring; as much as the quarrels of the ladies of the court weren't really my thing, I never found myself wanting to quit. The tension around the Revolution built up nicely on the backs of the secondary characters in the first part so that we could focus solely on Oscar in the second.

And that Oscar, man... Some lady she is. My 21st century brain assumed upon seeing the premise that the protagonist would be the bearer of modern day feminist rhetoric. In other words: weak and incompetent men and an almighty female protagonist whose story doesn't really have stakes. I am so happy to have been proven wrong and presented with a female character my inner kid could say: "I want to be like that when I grow up!"

Oscar is a true heroine. Charisma-wise, she reminds me a lot of Lelouch from Code Geass; they also both have a strong sense of justice that guides their actions in the world. She is quite strong and proud (maybe even sometimes too much), but it doesn't come off as rude since it is nicely balanced by the caring and humble side of her. And the courage... One can be nothing but inspired upon witnessing how quick she is to sacrifice herself for the benefit of the many.

I personally found her struggle with womanhood the best part of her character development. She can bloom in whichever color she wants, as Andre would put it, but she will still, unmistakably, be a rose. Whether she succeeds in conquering the problems within as well as she does without, I leave for you to see; I believe you won't be at all disappointed.

This anime is definitely worth watching; if not solely for Oscar, then for all the history of the French Revolution which is described quite poetically. It is also one of the rare anime whose sub I wouldn't trade for dub; the voice acting is simply phenomenal. Do definitely give it a try, for this forty-episode story is as good as historical anime can get.

This is for all of those (and you are many) who didn't see this epic anime, too old for your minds even to look for.

This anime is about 37 years old to the date, and still it hungers us the drama genre fans into oblivion by each episode the more.

This anime is about an extremely appealing fictional character named Oscar Francois de Jarjayes and her equal fictional friend named Andre that together are drawn into the big picture of reality, of the human history called: La Revolution Francaise de 1789-1799 from which the sparkles of democracy have transgressed throughout all of Europe, so in other words its a story within our European history, within our European heritage.

And what of a story this is!!!!!!!! My God...

Oscar is a name you would give to a boy and no coincidence her father thought of the same thing since he has the "misfortune" of having his wife given birth to a girl instead of a boy to carry his legacy and his honor as a nobleman further. The female protagonist of this story, caring not just the name of a man but also the responsibilities and the pressures only the best of men can deal with, is soon caught in one of the most turbulent and pivotal time of Frances and Europes history. It's a time just after some bloody and costly wars between France and Austria not just in lives but in this two country's peoples welfare, just ended. Austrias queen, to reassure the newly and unsteady peace between the two giant countries, gives her most beautiful daughter Marie Antoinette in marriage to the France prince Louis the XVIth (fact of history). In debut of the story, Oscar must safeguard the royal family, especially the new princess of France Marie Antoinette as she is targeted for being a foreign element that can not be trusted by the parisian nobles of Versailles. As the story unfolds Oscar is soon forced to partake not just her job of the royal guards high commander, but also to mend and caretake the ever more abrupt discrepancy between the luxuriant world of exaggerated pleasures and the major surplus of monetary spending from taxpayers money that the nobles enjoy, with the world of commoners taxpayed into the ground by the nobility, forced to work from down to dusk just to barely be able to feed their family some potatos with salt in the evening, if even that. With a relentless principledness, courage and some fencing abilities that would make even the toughest and bravest of men applaud in delight, she manages to soften terrible wounds both of this corrupt nobles vs. the growingly angered-persecuted commoners conflict, as well as in her ever troubled heart witness to some unbearable, unreal nobility cruelty.

This anime throughout its 40(or 41) episodes describes not just the massive adversity our hero(ine) Oscar has to amount, caught between a world of perversity and ignorance that the nobles obnoxiously embrace and a world of sweat, tears and anger that the commoners are trapped in; but also the tormenting questions of her forever growing personal dilemma: to lead a life of staggering manlike integrity that forces that renown icy look in her eyes (meaning she is compelled not to show any emotions in public) opposed to her own woman heart scolding her for being exactly the reverse of how a woman should feel and be!

I've finished watching this show no more than a day ago that compelled me to write this, and I still can't manage to shake this kind of choking searingly feeling in my chest from this story of dedication, perseverance and sacrifice, in this awesome, old and painfully delightful anime Versailles no Bara aka La Rose de Versailles aka Lady Oscar.

Throughout all of it, you have the feeling more and more rupturing in the end, that this world does not deserve some of the people that make almost all the sacrifices imaginable for it, and Lady Oscar is without a doubt one of the best of those!

Grade 10/10. I'm a drama junkie, but this has left even me wanting no more.