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Rose of Versailles
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Animation - 8.1 |
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Sound - 8.5 |
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Story - 9.2 |
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Character - 9.5 |
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Value - 9.3 |
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Enjoyment - 9.3 |
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Average - 9.0 |
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Redgarl |
(2008-08-29 19:14:09) 2008-08-28 21:26:51 |
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Rose of Versailles is simply a masterpiece that any anime fan should watch. If you loved Gankutsuou The Count of Monte Cristo, you will be moved by watching Rose of Versailles. I love French history. My favorite topic is about the French empire, so I was really interested by the description of historical facts. At first, I was a little reluctant about the way the history was going, but I understood that it was only a way to describe youth and innocence. Like anything that happens in history, a great deal of tragedy is present. Let’s only say that presenting Marie Antoinette as a good person cannot really end well. In fact, your heart will be shatter into pieces. It’s not emotionally intense, but it’s tragic.
Rose of Versailles is a fiction written inside real events of history. If you like any work by Alexandre Dumas, you will appreciate Rose of Versailles even more. So, what this anime is all about? In short, Love, Friendship, Politics, Inevitability, War, Democracy… and mental disorders. All the aspects are easy to witness, but the mental issues presented are stunning especially for 1973. Sexual identity is omnipresent from the beginning. It moved me to see another aspect of my personality so well rendered. Oscar shares my feelings about a lot of stuffs. It’s probably one of the reasons why I was so delighted with Rose of Versailles. Simply add the fact that I am really interested with the French revolution history and here I am telling you about this gem you should not miss.
Rose of Versailles is a huge historical reference. You will learn about many things like the history of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Jeanne Valois, Axel Von Fersen, Jacques Nicker, the tennis court oath, the storming of the Bastilles and, of course, the execution of the royal family and Maximillian Robespierre. The French revolution is way richer than the one of Russia. Not only it’s a good history class, but it’s also one of the best story ever told. The fictional history is fitting perfectly in the context of the story and is full of hypocrisy. The human nature is incredibly accurate. It’s hardly understandable that Rose of Versailles is actually a manga, the story is so rich that I was actually fooled and thought it was a work of Alexandre Dumas. The author is actually Ryoko Ikeda. I cannot thank her enough for this ground breaking story. She gave me the will to learn more about the pre-revolution and to read some other of Alexandre Dumas works.
Rose of Versailles helped me renew with my French roots. I cannot describe the feeling I was having while watching Rose of Versailles, but I watched the whole show in less than a week with a really charged schedule. This is the kind of greatness I praise about japanese animation that few peoples will really witness in their lives watching American medias. I am seeking for that kind of intelligent entertainment that makes you realize things about yourself and about humanity. It is not understandable that such a gem can only be found on fansubs. Let spread the news.
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1 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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wannatrick |
(2008-01-22 13:42:38) 2008-01-22 13:42:18 |
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| It's amazing how something that was released almost 30 years ago manages to provide a more enjoyable and impressive experience then 95% of the anime that appear these days.
It tells us the tale of Oscar Jarjeyes, daughter of a French General who raises her as a man. We start following her development since childhood , and see her role in the historical events of that era , culminating in the French Revolution
The show manages to combine these real events with some fictional elements and ends up delivering a fascinating combination of romance , drama , comedy and action.
The characters of this anime are nothing short of awesome. The main five- six have a very complex personality, with their internal conflicts, dreams, and belives.
Oscar becomes an Officer for the Royal Guard at Versailles; from there she has to deal with the intrigues at the palace and protect Marie Antoinette.
The music overall is good, altough there weren't any special songs that I particularly liked. The strong part was the voice acting. All the main cast possesses excellent voices.
It pains me to say it, but the animation by today's standards is awful and will probably turn away a lot of viewers. However beside these simple visuals there's an incredible jewel here, so I definately advise to try and tolerate them!
At first I was afraid that this anime would be too much shoujo for me and the historical setting would be boring. Well was I wrong! I think the emotions and the passion one sees in this show can be easily enjoyed by everybody, and the historical setting ended up providing an excellent , very interesting plot full of mystery and action, which on top of that is one of the most original I ever saw.
I really have to say that if you consider yourself an anime fan , you owe yourself to give this show a try. Without a doubt , a true masterpiece.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.3 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| The Rose of Versailles is a gem of anime that should be watched by anyone who likes old-school shows, historically based shows or a good drama.
Its stars Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a french aristocrat woman, that was raised as a boy because the lack of males in the family, and takes on military duty since early in her life; she is beutiful, yet she is the epitome of true manliness, fair, strong, compasionate, and she draws admitation of women and men alike; at the age of 14, she is given the role of Royal Guardian of the coming Crown Princess, the future queen of france, Marie Antoinette, who will just arrive from Austria to wed the young Prince; after their fatefull meeting we see the lives of them transpire for more than 20 years till the beginng of the revolution and the fall of monarchy.
The story is semi-fictitious in tone, as it takes place before during and a bit after the Revolutionary France, and most of the cast characters are based of real people, and the story follows more or less faithfully the flow of actual events; ironically one of the few fictitous characters if Lady Oscar herself; i'm really impressed that the show's story and flow is so good since it's quite old, but there's a lot of political themes, betrayals, backstabbing, romance, drama; it's really a complete package of storytelling, and no episode is less interesting that the past; it goes from being okay at the beginning to marvelous to the end.
The characters develop pretty nicely, as we see them grow during 20 years, especially Oscar, who realizes a "A Rose is always a Rose", Andre, Marie Antoinette, Rosalie and Fersen; though the story is quite tragic, I felt very happy with the ending.
The animation is obviously old, but it's way better than some contemporary shows i've seen like Yamato, and looks like a mix of "Candy Candy" and "Saint Seiya".
The music, sound effects and voice acting are great.
This is a great show with a great story and great romance element that is unlike anything you've seen before, and even almost 30 years since it's creation, it still impressed a guy far younger than itself; history and drama buffs, don't miss it! You'll fall in love with the dashing Lady Oscar!
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Summoner |
(2008-08-26 14:18:23) 2007-02-21 07:45:16 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| "A rose is a rose whether it blooms in red or white. A rose can never become a lilac."
Having an average start and intriguing middle part, this show has probably the best ending I have ever seen in an anime or any fiction alike. You could easily separate this anime into three different shows, with both different themes and audience. While in the beginning Rose of Versailles seems to be intended for 14 years old girls, the same as the main character's age at the time, soon it evolves into something more mature, at the same time the main character ages accordingly. Finally, in the latter half, where Oscar is in her late twenties this show brings out its true brilliance, turning into a tragical drama full of love and angst, which in fact makes this show more appropriate for considerably older audience, rather than what it seemed at the beginning.
It took me three days to finish first 6 episodes of the show, and it took me three more to finish the remaining 34. I was truely disappointed by the show's sloppy beginning, yet the more episodes I watched, the more my disappointment disappeared. Each episode is better than the last, nearly twice that is. From something what I thought was average, girly romance show this anime evolved into a literally jaw-dropping classic.
Recommending this is actually very easy. If you like the romance genre even the slightest bit, you simply must watch this, must, must, must. Even if you dislike romance, you should still give this show a chance, I myself am not fond of romance genre too much either, yet not only I liked this show, I loved it and it was partially due to tis magnificent love story. Actually, in terms of romantic feeling Rose of Versailles delivers the only show I could ever compare it to would be Seikai no Monshou series. A must-see classic.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| (Special Thanks to Charn for recommending this wonderful series ^_^)
Rose of Versailles touched my heart like no other series did. I’m ashamed to admit but it gave me sleepless nights and it even lowered my blood pressure to the point that I wanted to take antidepressants (the latter was quite an exaggeration lol) If anyone is not affected by the events in this series then there’s something wrong with them.
For me this series deserves the number one spot, why? It’s because the story is more heart wrenching than RK Reminiscence, much more tragic than RK Seisouhen, well crafted than FMA or Cowboy Bebop, and it’s drama can never be compared to those lame KgNE or EL, nothing in the top ten can beat this series, that’s what I believe…the only thing missing is the comedy, well actually there are some in the manga, but was not incorporated in the series. The storyline of RoV is one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever came across, not to mention the realistic characters ever, and those are the things that make this so GREAT.
This series greatly portrays the truth to the past world, particularly in Europe where almost all of the countries are run by a King or Queen. We’ll see here how life is so unfair, while the royal family and nobles are eating good food, wears extravagant dresses, spends the night going to balls and concerts etc…the common people are suffering, gets maltreated, and some die of hunger.
More of my review, please read ^_^
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Encu |
(2006-12-11 12:14:08) 2006-12-10 12:31:08 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| This is a really good dramatic anime set at the time of the French Revolution. There is much to like here, from the depthful romance to the stronger characters, to the general plotline, which fairly well portrays the life of some of the upper class in this time period.
There are some character faults to be had, some plot points that aren't exceptional, and so on, but I'd recommend this series as a good historic piece.
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petran79 |
(2006-05-24 22:40:56) 2006-04-10 14:18:39 |
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| Average |
8.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| (Live-Evil fansub, very good overall)
I mentioned it already in my reviews of Ulysses 31 and Mysterious Cities of Gold but I'll mention it again: the same staff that made those two (my favorite oldies) were behind Rose of Versailles too. It seems when French and Japanese cooperate true masterpieces are produced. And Rose of Versailles is certainly a masterpiece, in the same league with the former.
Though storywise I think they did much better with Mysterious Cities of Gold and actionwise with Ulysses 31, characterwise they excelled with Rose of Versailles. The characters of the animes of the 70s and 80s were much better compared to the later animes (both originals and dubs). Especially in shoujo animes such as this, they are much more lyrical.
I dont know if it has to do with the simpler animation or whether the voice actors were better or were given more freedom of expression. Or if it had to do with the fact that I was a child and was more easily impressed (now that I've seen Rose of Versailles I dismiss the last view). After RoV my opinion that characters were siimply better in the oldies becomes more firm.
Oscar as a character is perhaps unique.
Though there is a similar and much older anime and manga, where the heroine is a woman turned to man. Princess Safiri of ''Ribbon no Kishi''. It is aimed at younger audiences but that is the first picture I had in mind when I saw Oscar. Except for Oscar all the other characters were very good, both protagonist and secondary ones.
As it happens in shoujo animes and mangas, the female roles were superb while the male roles just good. Till episode 24 the episodes are mostly character-driven. In those episodes there is Countess Du Bary as the main plotter, then Madame Du Poglinac and her daughter Charlotte and finally Jeanne de Valois. Everyone is better than the previous. A small history note: in reality Jeanne fled to England where later she committed suicide and hadnt met the tragic ending as in the anime. I'd prefered that outcome in the anime too but involving another country would make the story more complex.
I also liked Rosalie and Charlotte and Marie Antoinette, but she is omitted in the second half to a considerable extent after the necklace affair.
As for the male leads I didnt mind except the fact they made Saint Juste a ninja type assasin, they made another one historical character the Black Knight (a french version of Robin Hood) and made also Oscar's father a Samurai who at some point in order to defend his honour was ready to kill his daughter and then commit suicide. I thought he was going to commit harakiri with a French saber the way he talked.
Also Axel von Fersen at one point is described to have been disgusted with the commoners because of Antoinette's execution and thus turn into a tyranical ruler in his home country Sweden, resulting in him being slaughtered by the mob. That desciption has nothing to do with reality and I'd suggest the viewers reading any encyclopedia afterwards to know more about the main characters.
As a sidenote, I wonder why in a scene in the first episodes a Duke shoots a child and isnt lynched immediately while just before the Revolution a soldier does the same and the crowds responds right away. People cant be so pathetic.
After episode 25 the story relating to the French Revolution finally kicks in and the characters relating to it are introduced. Now dont expect a story with political details about why the revolution occured. Just the main events are reeled with the Siege of Bastille being the epilogue of Oscars deeds. Indeed for an animated series they've done a good job explaining the situation more or less. Just dont fall for the propaganda that 97 % of Frances population loathed the remaining 3 % (the nobles). Just focues on the characters and the action scenes and ignore the historical details completely. Pay attention to the historical details only if you havent read anything about the Revolution.
Finally, this is a must watch. THough it makes a mess in the final episodes. I liked it till episode 24, only ignoring the boring Fersen-Antoinette idyll.
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|
| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| After watching this series, I really need to go back and do some rescaling on all of my previous series that I've already evaluated. I really underestimated this series for the mere fact that it was made in 1979. Moving right along...
I actually liked the style of a very shoujo-like realistic design of the whole series. It has more of a classical feel to it and the series even though it is fictional in some aspects, actually does go back and recaps all of the events that took place in France.
I love classical music, and I thought the opening and ending theme songs were absolutely lovely. However I found some pieces to be a bit redundant but then again, there were forty episodes. In any case, I really enjoyed those times where there were operas, and formal dances. I mean today we have them, but they are nowhere near as popular as they used to be.
I think this series has one of the best story lines ever. It deals with politics, social class, love, strength and dignity to one's own self, to their family, to their country... never giving up on hope, struggling inner and outer conflicts with personal opinion vs. popular opinion etc.
This series has a very interesting cast of characters. Oscar is probably one of my favorites of all time. She shows great pride and stands up for what she believes in and yet deep down she cares so much for others that she tends to forget about herself until the very end when everything makes sense. I could write all sorts of things for each character, but I'll leave that for the viewers to watch the series and see for themselves.
Rose is Versailles is at the top of the top of my value list however, I know that is quite tragic, and I have shed many tears watching this series, so I actually have to let some time pass before I have to watch it again.
I sincerely enjoyed this series very much. There are hardly any words to describe this series, a great series for anyone to watch, unless you don't exactly history very much, but I found to be quite educational. Long live Oscar!!!
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0 of 0 people found this review helpful.
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|
|
| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I have to say, Rose of Versailles is one of those underrated gems that many may feel deterred from strictly because of the animation quality, which borders on average, and/or the fact it was created in 1979, making it a rather older series and one that fails to garner much attention strictly for that reason. Well, RoV, in my eyes, proves that age isn't anything but a number...and sincerely, I mean that, because the quality of this anime in terms of characters and storyline is exceptional, particularly moreso than most modern anime series.
In sum, Rose of Versailles depicts the story of Oscar, a woman raised before and within the times before the tumultuous French Revolution. Historically acurate on most bases, while blending a bit of fictional drama and multi-deminsional perspectives, RoV is a series I would highly recommend to any audience that loves a good anime with a good story and characters.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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zitch |
(2005-11-25 15:59:06) 2005-10-16 21:43:24 |
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| Average |
8.5 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
0 |
| Character |
0 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| After watching this very old series that is widely considered one of the classics of shoujo anime, there is one image that has implanted itself into the back of my mind:
A beautiful woman, with golden wavy hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, wearing armor and a red cape and mounted on a white horse that is rearing up on its back legs. With her golden hair and red cape billowing out behind her, her right arm is straightened out to the side, and in her hand is a sword, held almost straight up. She looks like she is leading a charge in a battle. Strangely enough, her face almost looks serene. Her mouth is slightly open in a slight smile. Her head is turn to the right, towards the observer. But her blue eyes seem to hold a fire within; a burning passion that belies her calmness. Like some goddess of war, rallying the people against tyranny and oppression.
This was a painting that was done in the anime _Rose of Versailles_ of the main character, Oscar François Jarjayes, the youngest daughter of General Jarjayes. After watching all 40 episodes, I can truly see why many viewers uses Lady Oscar as the benchmark to compare strong female leads to.
I, personally, can't do that, mainly because of her upbringing gives her quite an unfair advantage. She was raised by a father, desparate for a son, as a man in the decades preceding the French Revolution in the country of cheese, wine, and bread.
Though she is a fictional character, many of the characters that she meets and the events that occur around her are real markers in history, such as Louis and Marie Antoinette, Madame du Barry, Comtesse de Polignac, Swedish Count Axel von Fersen, the Necklace Affair, the Tennis Court Oath, and the most famous Fall of Bastille. This is not even listing everything, as just a quick glance through references of this time of history even catches what are basically footnotes such as Rosalie Lamorlière, who become fairly major secondary characters in the anime. I find this quite amazing.
I do admit that I'm a bit smitten with the character Oscar. Yet, this series does cast an excellent set of characters. Despite the dated (yet incredibly detailed for its time) animation, rather dated music, heavy use of sparklies (You'll see if you watch it... :) ), and the occaisional glitch in the directing choices, _Rose of Versailles_ is an excellent story of a turbulent time and its effects on people. Of great romances and tragic devotions. And of discovering, almost too late, what is truly in one's hearts.
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Freddy C |
(2005-09-26 16:40:01) 2005-09-26 16:31:08 |
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| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| A historical anime detailing the events of the French Revolution, a piece of romance drama at heart.
What began as an anime that contained characters obsessed with etiquette and social status turned into something far more powerful. Rose of Versailles reminds me through and through of Berserk in terms of design, with the lead female Oscar looking like Griffith after blonde dye. The anime is half faithful to the actual history of course, Oscar is a fictional character but most other characters are real, although some of their personalities and deeds have been altered for interesting story-telling.
Many would say that the story is base on a real life event, so no credit there for a great story, this is false, firstly, the main character was fictitious, and therefore a lot of the story was likewise. Also, it takes talent to turn actual events into something enjoyable and to inject some drama into. The story picked up after 8 episodes or so, the episodes previous to this was for background and character building. After a few episodes, the pace started to wither again – too much side story and it really did leave me hanging for the main storyline far too long. Thankfully, the story picked up again for the forth quarter and that’s where the romance truly came in.
With very good animation for its time, the theme tune was equally impressive. This is not to say that the animation style is to everyone’s taste, with CG crawling into almost every anime now, some may find the retro animation hard to shallow. Having said that, animation did improve as the series went on.
What was marginally annoying was the fact that characters seemed to have a stitched mouth – words are extremely hard to be pronounced when it’s regarding important matter. Love, illness, advice, feelings are all fairly trapped and absent for most of this series. This gives the audience a feeling of deliberate prolonging and dragging on meaninglessly. This is especially apparent when the series’ excitement falls.
A great series, one to definitely take note of and any fans of berserk should definitely give this a try. Serious and bold, the story twists and turns and makes perfect use of the phrase: “Funny how things turn out”. Truly emotional as you follow the life of characters that fell victim of their time. An anime I regard with high caliber and it’s one to add on your watch-list for sure.
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Igo |
(2005-09-23 21:09:44) 2005-09-23 21:06:48 |
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| Average |
9.6 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| The episodes at the start are very boring. Don't give up. This show gets really cool after the Marie Antionette intro gets done with (after about the first 8 or 10 eps). The animation is a tad limited but every scene is composed masterfully. The music is amazing. And the characters-- oh the characters! Considering the show is based on real historical events, the characters are portrayed as they really were. I'm glad they didn't show Marie A. as the notorious "Give them cake!" (she did NOT say that, it's a misconception) woman.
Another extremely impressive quality of this anime, which Utena just went crazy over, is the use of subtle, beautifully composed, symbolic scenes. After humiliation Marie runs down a spiral staricase suspended over an abyss, winding. And of course, Oscar's rose (which Utena obsessed over to a criminal degree). The scenes are beatiful; the music haunting. The story is based largely on one of the most interesting historical events ever. The characters are deep, human, and well formed. Good, good show.
This show is hasn't been licensed as of 2005, so it's availible for legal download--what are you waiting for?!!
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|
| Average |
9.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| I assume just about everyone who knows a little bit about world history would know a titanic struggle between nobles and the third estate known as the French Revolution. This show exploits this historical background to create something that is undeniably rich. Easily in a league of its own, this 1979 anime is titanic anime in its scale and impact. Though the style have become outdated, the rich plot, great drama, and abundunce of enigmatic characters are enough to make this anime worthwhile even for the modern viewers.
I've never seen an anime cast of this size so incredibly well developed and interesting. Oscar is probably one of the oldest and the most interesting shojo character ever created. A woman millitary commander in the age of French revolution is certainly a interesting premise. Her servant Andre is easily the character that steals this show and, as we all know, the tragic Mary Antoinette is emotional characters that we all can feel greatly for.
The romance rectangle in this anime is probably the best romance story in all anime. Relationship between all the characters is authentic as it gets and it is superbly emotional in its content. The tragic tale of French Revoution is perfectly used to develop relationship between all the characters. The drama that comes out of its plot is probably the most emotional you will see in all anime (I've said that a lot already).
However the anime is not perfect. The beginning of the anime suffers from its slow pacing and rather annoying plot that drags on more than it should. however the pacing picks up greatly in the second half and will not let you go. If you feel frustrated in the beginning just keep on watching and you will be rewarded.
the animation has to be its biggest problem. The animation was first class in its days but now everything just looks funny. Though its stylish character designs are good looking at times, the quality of animation goes up and down throughout the anime.
I liked the music though it does get overused quite a bit. the OP and ED is used throughout the anime as background music as well. Some of the background music, though overplayed, sets the mood perfectly throughout.
Anyone who consider themselve an anime lover must watch this anime; it's a must. This titanic anime of the 1979 is something that cannot be missed by anyone. If you consider yourself an Otaku and haven't seen this title shame on you pick this up right away.
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|
| Average |
9.5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Rose of Versailles is easily one of the most engrossing historical anime series to date. Vintage anime fans have had this on their list for a while, but shoujo and really any serious anime fan would do well to check this out.
The French Revolution -which is the series' backdrop- really doesn't become important until the latter part of the series, but it adds depth and ultimately leads the story to a logical climax and end that would have had less impact in a vacuum. The historical aspect here is a mixed bag, with real historical figres acting out an embellished, semi-eaccurate versions of events, but it does lend it an air of authority and context.
What really makes ROV shine is Oscar, who is easily one of the strongest and best defined female characters in anime and the rest of the film world. The evolution of her character flows from a detached, somewhat cold officer crafted by her father, whose is thawed by the arrival of Marie Antoinette at Versailles. It's wonderful to note that Oscar's hardnosed adherence to rules and her righteousness falter where Antoinette is concerned, and helps paint a much more sympathetic picture of the tragic ruler than has been portrayed elsewhere. Oscar's encounter with Fersen, change of job, rejection and eventual acceptance of Andre all serve to flesh out her character.
For vintage anime fans, the big draws to ROV are certainly the classic character design, over-the-top shoujo acting and the galaxies of sparkles that float across the frame throughout the series. The series stands on its own very well as a serious work of historical fiction and especially as a superb charatcer study. In this respect it has aged beautifully and stands above much of what's being produced today. Highly recommended.
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|
isokana |
(2005-05-18 17:33:46) 2005-05-18 17:31:25 |
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Considering I thought Brother Dear Brother be pretty much painful even though it held some potential, I didn't have much expectations when I started watching Rose of Versailles. But patience pays off and I was able to get some good kicks from Oscar's adventures.
How the series began wasn't really great. Following how Antoinette gets used to French court and how the power struggle goes on was, simply put, boring. The melodrama is there too, emphasizing dramatic moments making the series something of a dull comedy. But after some time other elements start to surface. We see people suffering, discontent rising and some interesting new characters are introduced. Also when the focus shifts from Antoinette we get a better view on Oscar and people around her. Something of a turning point was the introductions of Rosalie and her sister. Revenge, treachery, showing what a strong will will do, now that was interesting compared to some fancy teen queen's doings.
Knowing what history is like it's impossible not to know where the unrest of the people was leading. The story works very well in this aspect. We see how things get slowly worse and how small things come together and before one notices the revolution is behind the corner. Anyhow all the time enough time is spent developing the characters. Seeing how tension rised and how Oscar and other reacted to this was great. Even Antoinette was suddenly someone worth following. As we had seen Oscar through the years, it was not hard to guess how she would act but again it was mighty interesting to see how it happened. Everything connects with flowing necessity, one thing leading to another.
RoV is pretty old but I was amazed to see how good animation looked like. Unfortunately the director seemed to have wanted to try out different kind of effects, cutting the screen in pieces and other annoying stuff. And there's a lot of sparkle in the air. I _really_ don't like that way of emphasizing how beautiful things are, especially on that scale. There's also a lot of melodrama going on but unlike in Dear Brother, this time I liked the characters enough to find it funny instead of annoying. Weird thing to say that I found it funny when overly dramatic things (mostly bad) were happening to characters I liked, but that's how I felt. I really don't know how to explain it, I'm pretty baffled myself. Music is nice and fitting for 18th century France.
RoV took me by surprise. I didn't expect anything of it and for first it did seem just stupid. But suddenly I noticed I waited for new episodes. Historic setting, appealing characters, exciting plot, this could be very good if it wasn't for the first dull 15-20 episodes and the overflowing shoujo elements. Still I can recommend this, it just might suprise you too.
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| Definitely one of the best anime I've seen so far. Although the ending is quite a letdown.
Here I will just go into long rant about it, however keep in mind that this review and my ratings may still change (most likely for better).
ROV tells You a story about Oscar de Jarjeyes, daughter of General Jarjeyes who was so dissapointed at having daughter that he decided to brought her up as a son. Due to that she is excellent fencer, skilled duelist and ... most people perceives her as a man. Set this up in the period just before French Revolution, and remind Yourself what was important in all the Dumas books and You will know what ROV is. I loved Dumas books, I still do - and I love ROV as well.
So if You ever enjoyed a book in such settings, You definitely will enjoy RoV, if You like a complete world, with quite a bit of a melodrama from movies (think 1980 or 1990 - costume movies) then Rose of Versailles is definitely worth Your time.
RoV is a great example were all the pieces together are greater than apart, and enjoyment is not equal to simple sum of animation, sound, story and character.
Read more... if You need. :-)
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nauXolo |
(2005-04-22 20:52:29) 2005-04-21 17:35:21 |
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
0 |
| Sound |
0 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| This style of story telling is very unique. It contains a highly charged atmosphere. Plenty of character interactions, lots of dramatic twists, and 'action' according to 1979 standards. However, this anime also is really straightforward. It tells a timeline of events that are based on history, and then they weave stories around this... if you have absolutely no interest in the extravagancy and excessivness of French life... i dont think you can appreciate this. If you are neutral, it doesn't matter.
The animation may not be the best, but I watched a very high quality make of it and it didn't bother me at all. A few of their styles bring back some memories and it doesn't hurt to watch.
However, I feel that despite the great story that this anime tells, that the majority of the characters aren't that engaging. Oscar is a very interesting character with a very interesting situtation, but it doesn't go to the point of where she's admirable. It is only towards the end when her character is in full bloom. But Oscar is definitely very awesome.
As for the other characters, they also are pretty plain. They are just stereotypical personas... the evil one who wants to take over the crown, the contemptuous and devious b****, the naive princess, and etc etc....
As for the story, I find it to be quite good. They bring forth a lot of topics that certainly would be apparent in a noble oriented society in Versailles. They also proceed in a appetizing manner. However, although its a matter of taste, I don't find that much interest it. It is well made though and if you are interested in the ups and downs of what happens in a noble society and a bunch of drama, then watch this. At times, however, I find this story horribly slow... horrible horribly slow. Especially around episode 12.... where it tries to be historically accurate with the whole baby thing, etc.
Value-wise, I don't think I would ever watch this again. A lot of the main points is drama, however, if you know what happens already, then this is just some empty shell. The characters aren't lovable so there's no point in watching it for this.
Overall.... I don't whether to recommend this or not. A lot of people would be turned off by the animation, and even more might be turned off by the "superficialness" and lack of depth in the beginning. I personally found this to be one of the few dramatic animes that I could go through without getting annoyed at the majority of the characters. However, there are only few 'memorable' parts and I found the end to be a drag
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Kaj |
(2005-10-19 22:01:39) 2005-03-23 18:58:07 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| Rose of Versaille is an old, old anime. It shows too, mainly in the painfully outdated animation and productions, the agonizing lack of subtlety, and the poor quality sound production. And yet, even in the beginning, I could sense potential underneath it all. And indeed I was not disappointed. By the end of the first 10 episodes, it was soon clear that it was going to be a highly emotional anime, and the tragedies already begun to unfold. By that I time I no longer laughed at the criminal overuse of the sparkling special affect or the other random over the top devices that was clearly stolen the manga in a (failed) attempt to dramatise the anime. Instead I started watching it in a silence, depressed state of mind. And it is a truly depressing anime despite its happy moments. Watching the suffering of the people and the ultimate but inevitable downfall of the characters will make your heart bleed. I forget the number of times my eyes have watered up in the duration of this anime.
Set in the period of the french revolutions, the blending of fact and ficture was very skillful. I couldn't distinguish exactly what was made up and what actually happened. After watching it, I spent hours on the web reading up on the French Revolution. Turns out an impressive number of events did actually happen. I felt a sense of awe as I read about the things that did happen that was unearthed in the anime. It was clearly a very well researched project.
Very little seemed black and white in the anime. Hardly any of the characters were that bad. Like Maria Antonette. Though she undoubtedly unfit to be a queen, the anime didn't really portray her as a bad person, but as a playful and innocent child, making it hard to condemn her. Madam du Barry is another classic example. Though she seems totally bad at first, you soon see the other side of her that makes her understandibly human. She is, after all, just someone else who tried to make the best of what she's got. This anime doesn't often take sides. Or, more accurately, this anime often takes SEVERAL sides, showing you the events from various people's eyes, so that it's kind of hard to place the full blame of the tragedy on anyone. Only thing you can do is helplessly shake your head at the inevitable events that ocurr. That brings me to another point - this was an old fashioned tale told in a rather old fashioned way, which, in some ways, is rather refreshing since it's so different from the way things are often done now. The narrator from time to time, pretty much tells you what to expect later on in the show. This results in an interesting way of viewing the show: because you're watching it with the ending in mind, you can see clearly the way everything works towards it, such as Robespierre's growing contempt for the nobles, and how Antonette is constantly, unknowingly fuelling the people anger towards her. As a result, there's a premonition of doom lurking in the background throughout the anime, and you're kind of, just waiting for the events to explode.
Throughout the series, the pacing felt very appropriate. Plenty of events packed into each episode so that I can't really complain about the show being too slow or anything like that. The ending was practically perfect. I can see why someone people would label the ending as slow. But as someone with a small historian streak within, I was most satisfied with the way everything was neatly wrapped up. Although the french revolution was far from over, the ending made it seem like the end of an era, with all the characters either dead or accounted for, and so the show draws to a close in a way that perfectly suited its narrative, almost documentry like feel, just as the viewer's interest in the event ends. I couldn't have really asked for much more.
In general. I don't like shoujos. But this no mean shoujo. Though the characteristic love triangles and sparkly effects are all there. This is a far more substantial anime than most of the shoujo that I've seen. For an anime with such crappy production to score this high... well, that fact speaks for itself really.
PS oh yea, I recently came across this piece of interesting info that relates to the french revolution. It's a popular belief that Marie Antonette, on the eve of the French Revolution, uttered the insensitive remark, "let them eat cake" upon hearing peasants' complaints that there wasn't enough bread to go around. This is, in fact, not true. It was actually said 100 years before her by Marie Therese, the wife of Louis XIV, and was unjustly attributed to Marie Antoinette in 1789 by radical agitators who were trying to turn the populace against her - yet another event that was well portrayed in the anime: it showed the angry people infuriated by the "cake" quote, but Marie Antonette was never actually shown to say it. I did wonder at the time whether it was an event that was "smudged over" in the anime to prevent the queen looking bad, but now I strongly suspect that it's was yet another subtle touch in a brilliant historic adaptation. In fact the anime's portrayal of the romantic, impulsive, ignorant, proud and courageous Marie Antonette appear to be fairly accurate, and not just a shoujo "paint over" with fairydust to make her look like a victim.
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|
| Average |
9.7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Story |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| A fantastic anime all around. Even though the animation and sound are a *little* dated (and only just a little), I think this is the best anime I've ever seen in terms of story and character development--it totally draws you in.
I disagree with many of reviewers here who think the ending was weak or bad. The ending was perfectly fitting with the realities of the time and stories written at that time. Anyone expecting a sappy happy ending in a story about the french revolution is delusional.
It's definitely a shoujo, and a damn good one at that, but with the occasional exception of Marie Antoinette and her sparkly moments, this is not an annoying shoujo. Many non-shoujo fans have and can easily enjoy this show.
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|
Shark |
2004-12-18 06:12:13 |
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| Average |
9.2 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Story |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| The animation deserve perfect 10 for 1970s standard. You can not compare this anime with 2000s but anime in her days can not compete with the standard of this anime. The music and dubbing did very very well. I did not hesitate to give perfect 10 for both section. Even compare to 2000s standard, I can give 8 to the standard of music and 7 for anime easily. Story, well I find the story is doing very well. As an historian myself, I find that this anime is a fiction that based on nearly 80% facts. Not bad for an anime, only Kenshin that I give more points considering from historical accounts. Also, this anime is based on French society. I can not blame the author to put some fiction to make this anime interesting. However, the author mixed people up by mistake, for example Rosalie. Historically, there were 2 Rosalie. The first one is a servant to Marie Antoinette, who serve her during the year of her crown princess. She is a noble. The second one is the lady who look after Marie Antoinette, while she was imprison. The second Rosalie came from peasant family. This anime mixed 2 Rosalie. Another person that I was very annoy was the confusion by the identification for the Duke of Orleans. I supposed that the author did not know that the rank such as Duke of Orleans can be passed from father to son. There are some confusion between the Duke of Orleans from Louise XV and Louise XVI. I would not go on about the historical part, coz it will ended up becoming a spoiler. The fiction supposed to make this anime fun and attractive. However, if you want to get historical information, then you better read some historical books or novel such as "The Queen Confession". Also, the noble who love justice and assist the people such as Oscar was limited to anime and fiction only. The real French nobles are only use the peasant to serve their interest. Also, Robespierre look too good in this anime. The real one should not be as handsome and as noble as the anime. If you are historian you should be familiar with the madness of Robespierre.
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