A Rosa de Versalhes

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.

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

François Augustin Regnier de Jarjayes would have never imagined that he would be famous over 200 years later in far away country of Japan which he may have never heard of in his life. Oscar Francois de Jarjayes is the sixth daughter of Francois Augustine. He desired to have a son after having five daughters but fate has it that his sixth child was also a daughter. In his desire to have an aire, he raises his child as a man. As the result Oscar becomes a brigadier general in the royal guard. Yet, she is a woman (and rather good looking one at that ) which attracted the hearts of millions of Japanese teenage girls which made this comic a sensation in the '70s Japan. Rose of Versailles became a sensational hit as a comic, and an anime series. Now a classic, it still enjoys popularity to some degree in 21st century Japan. Few Japanese girls comic enjoys a classic status but this one is one of them.

The series captured some sides of the French revolution in emotional way. Rather a long series (40 episodes) yet not boring. Lovely.

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'.