1755. When General
François Augustin Regnier de Jarjayes learns that his new born baby is another
girl, he declares she will become the son he never had, naming her Oscar. Fourteen Years Later, Oscar accepts the role
of Commander of the Royal Guard at the Palace of Versailles. Her primary mission: to safeguard the
wellbeing of Marie Antoinette. Little
does Oscar know, the history of France is about to take a dark and violent turn
and she is about to take a central role in its ever changing political
landscape.
When the new Rose of Versailles Anime movie popped up a
few months back, I’ll admit I’d totally forgotten about this title but I
remember it seeing a bit of a resurgence in the mid 2000s(?).
And since I’m steadily finding out friends
are big fans, I decided to check out the first episode of this beautiful 70
period piece and if the premiere is anything to go by, this could be one
history lesson done by Anime worth paying attention to.
I’ll admit, I was wondering how the main premise
surrounding Oscar was going to play out and…well I’m glad the only person who
is a total idiot is her father.
The dude
has a psychological break and wont even acknowledge Oscar as his daughter.
Thankfully everyone else in this period of
France has more than two brain cells, so I’m glad the Anime doesn’t treat them
otherwise.
As for Oscar herself: she’s a
freaking bad ass.
Her sword duels with
Andre and the would be Captain are an excellent showcase of her skill with a
blade and animated in a way that’s a little reminiscent of Revolutionary Girl
Utena (which I’m sure took a lot of inspiration from Rose of Versailles).
As to how Oscar takes the role of Head Guard
to Marie Antoinette, that remains to be seen.
Why she’s suddenly up for taking the job she didn’t want, who knows but
I like that Oscar’s doing it for her own reasons and not because of her fathers
increasingly hysterical denial.
The Premiere of Rose of Versailles may also be one of the
most beautiful looking pieces of Anime I’ve ever seen and a crown jewel of 70s
artistry.
The backgrounds especially,
the hand painted craftsmanship cannot be denied or understated, some of them
belong in a freaking museum.
I also love
the cuts to still pictures.
They look
like they were adapted right from the original Anime and transition back and
forth seamlessly unlike other shows that might use this as a crutch to fill
some runtime.
Heck considering this came
out the same year as Mobile Suit Gundam, is it wrong to say Rose of Versailles
may look a little bit better than the Mecha Anime Classic? (Against the
Compilation Trilogy though it might lose that duel).
As I said, The Rose of Versailles comes highly
recommended by several friends and I’ll give them this, the first episode does
have my attention.
What’s Oscars
reasoning for accepting her new role?
Just how bad are things going to get for everyone with the French
Revolution on the horizon?
Could this
show potentially be an Extended Summer Series Review candidate?
The answer to that last question is “sure”
plus I could throw in the 2025 Anime Movie as well.
But we’ll see.
The Rose looks beautiful now, I can only
imagine how it’ll bloom further into the series.
No comments:
Post a Comment