The Rose of Versailles Part 6 Episodes 26-30

When a mission to capture a charming thief: The Black Knight, leads to unexpected tragedy, Oscar and Andre’s friendship is changed forever.  Oscar quits the Royal Guard, looking to escape heartache and her longing for the man she cannot be with.  Meanwhile Andre’s fear of losing the woman he loves drives him too far to remind Oscar of who she truly is.  Between thieves and assassins, France is on the tipping point of conflict and if Oscar and Andre cant reconcile, nothing will be able to stop it.

We’re about to head into the home stretch of The Rose of Versailles.  So far the show has excelled beyond all expectations when it comes to depicting the turbulent and tragic events of this point in French History, with amazing character writing and nail biting drama.  This episode set takes a step back from the historical roller coaster for some quality time with two of our lead characters…to sadly mixed results.  I’m not going to lie, this was a rough set of episodes to sit through, not because it was hard to see a poor girl meet her untimely end because of her mothers machinations or because Jeanne was getting publicly branded.  No, it was hard to watch because Oscar and Andre were all over the place and suddenly going through mood swings that were meant to be important steps forward for their characters and their inevitable romance.  They just went about it all wrong and the end results cant be ignored.
 

The Rose of Versailles Part 5 Episodes 21-25

Four years ago, a desperate Jewler tried to sell Marie Antoinette a Diamon Necklace for an impossible price.  She declined.  Now this necklace has fallen into the hands of the duplicitous Jeanne and her schemes to become rich beyond all imagination.  But when she is caught in the act, Jeanne begins a snowballing social upheaval that threatens to ruin the once loving image of Marie Antoinette beyond repair.  As a desperate Oscar tries to contain the spread of lies and misinformation, the people of France take their first steps towards striking back against the Queen and the Nobility.

I’ll admit, I was a little worried when we began the second half of The Rose of Versailles as we circled back around a character we’ve seen do very little after her promising introduction. But as the set went on, those concerns were dashed and I learned quite a bit about French history through the fascinating and hyper intense Diamond Necklace Incident (even if it apparently ended not so historically accurate).  By comparison, there’s other stuff that happens here and it’s good but if The Rose of Versailles knows where to put the bulk of its storytelling powers for maximum impact and Jeanne, she was the focus of all the best efforts.
 

T5W#570-Top 5 Hottest Ladies in the Final Fantasy VII Remake Saga

The women of Final Fantasy are some of the greatest in gaming history.  Warriors.  Healers.  Thieves.  Rulers.  You name the role, someones probably taken the mantle.  They aid in battles or stand in your way if theyre an enemy and my God…are they all gorgeous.  This has only been reinforced during my ongoing summer journey of finally (no pun intended) getting to play Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth.  The level of beauty fighting side by side or assisting in minor roles is incredibly distracting and any of them can heat up a room or calm the heart in seconds.  And since we’re in the midst of major summer heatwaves, let’s just kick it up a notch on todays Top 5 Wednesday as we look at the Top 5 Hottest Ladies in the Final Fantasy VII Remake Saga.

The Rose of Versailles Part 4 Episodes 16-20

Vengeance comes to Versailles as Oscar takes in the beautiful Rosalie as her protegee, all to help her track down the woman in court who killed her mother.  Meanwhile Marie Antoinette continues to be poisoned against herself by the scheming Madame Polignac.  But nothing can prepare her or Oscar for the return of Hans Fersen, who brings new that will forever alter their bonds.  Knives are out.  Loves are confessed.  But who will ultimately pay the price for the sins of Versailles past?

Today’s review marks the mid point of The Rose of Versailles and holy crap, someone just put their foot on the pedal and didn’t let up for five straight episodes.  There was hardly time to breathe between all the confessions, revelations and basically all of Episode 19, which had one of the most nightmare inducing finales I have ever seen (oh we’ll talk about it but wow it was…wow).  I’m still kind of trying to recover myself from everything that happened so hopefully typing will help me simmer as I go over everything that went down in the mid series events of The Rose of Versailles.
 

The Rose of Versailles Part 3 Episodes 11-15

Lady Marie Antoinette is now the Queen of France.  What seems like the promise of a bright new future for the country begins to sour when Marie focuses on lavish expensive ventures, breaking the back of an already financially fragile nation.  While Oscar tries to keep her charge and friend in line, a trip to inspect those living on her families estate reveal harsh realities of the true state of the lower folk of France.  Can Oscar get Marie to see how desperately her people need her or is this the beginning of a darker future inching it’s way to Versailles front gates?

 
While there wasn’t anything that was as mind blowingly amazing as Monday’s’s Episode 9, that’s not a bad thing for The Rose of Versailles  in the slightest and that’s largely in credit to the shows writing and overall entertainment value.  The story did press forward on several fronts, mostly centered on three protagonists whose worlds are forever altered at one point or another, sort of for good in one regard but largely not great for two poor souls.
 

T5W#569-Top 5 Ghost in the Shell Movies

It’s been two long years since the announcement but the wait is over: The Ghost in the Shell has finally dropped.  While It has been a couple years long wait for most, for day one fans of the original Manga, it’s a dream come true to see Shirow Masamune’s true artistic vision brought to life.  It’ll definitely be a bit of a jarring change for viewers who have only experience the adventures of Motoko Kusinagi in her long library of Anime centric adventures dating back to 1995.  So to celebrate the return of Section 9 to the Anime scene, Top 5 Wednesday is looking back at the theatrical outings of the lovely Major and her crew of stalwart, trigger happy mercs with the Top 5 Ghost in the Shell Movies.  And yes, I will be looking at the first couple of episodes of The Ghost in the Shell when First Impression Fridays returns in August after Otakon.  Trust me, as a long time GitS fan I’m never missing the chance to cover my second favorite Anime franchise after Gundam.

 

The Rose of Versailles Part 2 Episodes 6-10

It’s been three years since Marie Antoinette came to Versailles and married Louis XVI.  Now is the time when their destines arrive faster than ever expected.  With the King on his deathbed, their ascension to the throne seems inevitable.  As the young couple brace for a role they’re unprepared for, Oscar deals with a long standing threat while witnessing the potential birth of a new one.  But no lady of court could do as much damage to the reputation of the beautiful Queen of France than Hans Axel von Fersen, a handsome aristocrat who has caught Marie’s eyes. 

I’m honestly gob smacked by how much I am enjoying The Rose of Versailles.  It’s been a long time since episodes of a series have left me instantly wanting to jump to the next one to see what happens next (until I get stopped by that pesky self imposed barrier where I need to review a set before I proceed…kind of like right now).  But between assassinations and conspiracies, gossip and tests of loyalty and just the sheer awesomness of seeing history unfold in a beautiful artistic way, yeah the Premiere as no fluke.  The Rose of Versailles is the real deal and if I wasn’t already sold after the first five episodes, you better believe I’m sold now, especially after Episode 9.
 

The Rose of Versailles Part 1 Episodes 1-5

Born a girl to a Father desperate for a son, Oscar François de Jarjayes is not like any of the ladies in court in France.  At age 14, she becomes Commander of the Royal Guard, charged with protecting a young heiress from Austria named Marie Antoinette.  In an era where power is everything and gossip is the ultimate fodder for downfalls, the meeting of Oscar and Marie begins a tragedy of lies, deceit, love and delusion as France begins its march to one of its darkest and bloodiest conflicts in history.

We’re back for our annual Extended Summer Series Review and this year we’re changing things up a little bit.  Instead of focusing on sci-fi, mecha and Gundams, we’re switching to a whole different genre (ngl it might end up being a nice change of pace after the disastrous experience I had with Macross 7 last year).  The Rose of Versailles comes highly recommended from several friends and a rare chance to purchase it last year got me thinking it could slot into an ESSR nicely.  While historical dramas aren’t my first choice of genre, I’ve got to admit, I think The Rose of Versailles may have my attention right away.  So much so I’m hoping I don’t short change this review just because I want to start the next set of episodes ASAP. 
 

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Season 2)

Ba Sing Sae, the heart of the Earth Kingdom.  Some say it’s the greatest city in the world and most don’t know a war is on it’s doorstep.  Seeking allies and assistance, Aang, Katara and Sokka find themselves drawn into a sprawling web of lies, deceit and conspiracy around every corner.  And while they have the blind but powerful Toph Beifong teaching Aang the ways of Earthbending, their most deadliest enemies, Zuko and Azula, are close behind with plans of their own for the Avatar and Ba Sing Sae.  As a stealth takeover begins, Team Avatar will have to remain more united than ever or risk losing it all when the war comes to Ba Sing Sae.

While it was pretty far from the perfection of its source material, Season One of Netflix’s Avatar adaptation showed much promise as it went along, enough for me to keep interested in what was to come.  Netflix certainly seems to have a lot of faith in the project as it greenlit the other two seasons pretty much right after Season One dropped.  And it looks like that faith has been rewarded as Avatar: The Last Airbender Season Two sits right there with One Piece: Into the Grand Line as a marked improvement over its first season.  It’s still not perfect but it’s proof that the showrunners have paid attention to notes and feedback, especially knowing all of the major new players and story beats the original Book 2: Earth contains.  Thank God that aside from a few iffy visual effects, they haven’t mucked it up.
 

T5W#568-Top 5 Macross Love Triangles

Ah the love triangle, a tale as old as time and one that can get pretty annoying in any medium when handled incorrectly.  One particular series that has a pretty decent track record with it? Macross.  Yes, the Love Triangle is just as much a quintessential element of any Macross project as the transforming Mecha, epic space battles and head bopping music.  Now I’m not saying it gets it right 100% of the time (COUGHCOUGHMACROSS 7COUGH), but you can hardly call it Macross without two people pining for the same guy or lady and someone has to make the toughest call imaginable between them (again most of the time, some choices are more obvious than others).  Since we’ve wrapped up Macross Delta this week and I’ve seen/reviewed mostly everything Macross related I can, today on Top 5 Wednesday, we can finally talk about love amongst the stars and who comes out the lucky winner.  These are my picks for the Top 5 Macross Love Triangles.