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.
There’s actually so much to go over I’m not sure where to
start.
I’ll start with any criticisms I
might have and honestly, theyre nitpicks.
They all revolve around another major player coming into play, Hans Axel
von Fersen.
This is the man who (spoiler
alert) is supposed to be a major part of Marie Antoinnete’s downfall.
Not from anything menacing (that I’m aware
of), but rather she falls for him and thus begins their infamous affair.
We’re far from that right now but the seeds
have been planted from their first meeting alone.
Marie, feeling lonely and neglected by Louis,
heads to a masquerade with Oscar as her chaperone and makes instant eye contact
with Hans.
It’s a nice first encounter
but considering how the show has been quietly building him up even in the
premiere set, I still feel like he needs to do more to impress.
Oh sure he backs Oscars play to save Andre
from execution (more on that later), but he needs to do a bit more to wow me I
suppose.
Then again, just having him
around right now in a smaller capacity might make sense if we’re staying as
historically accurate and he isnt bound to make bigger waves til later.
Screw it.
Let’s
just jump to Episode 9, which saw a number of plotlines come to a head,
conclude and get reset for a whole new run.
Episode 9 sees the demise of Louis XV, the exile of Madame Du Barry and
Louis and Marie being announced as the next King and Queen all within 26
minutes of screentime.
The pacing, the
animation, the writing, the ever growing sense of dread from what was about to
happen had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
The episode also had great commentary on the
mentality of those in power and looking to curry favor with whoever holds the
most influence.
Seeing the court decide
who to hedge their bets with made me as mad as Oscar as it showed how spineless
and disloyal they could all become at the drop of a hat.
Seeing the people rush to Louis and Marie
mere moments after the death of Louis XV, smiles on their faces was truly
disheartening.
Neither of these two are
ready for the role thrust upon them (poor Louis admits as much to Marie).
Many see this as a joyous moment of celebration
when really, it’s the largest in a growing series of signs of things worse to
come.
Episode 9 also saw the resolution to the Madame Du Barry
plotline and for a woman who has done everything to be despicable and all
around terrible, I’m surprised I felt any kind of sympathy for her.
Granted most of that came late in the episode
after she was banished.
Exile would have
been fine enough but seeing her whipped was a step to far for me, and Oscar
agreed.
I loved the final scene where du
Barry laid out her entire mindset to a silent Oscar as they rode away from
Versailles.
I don’t think it makes her a
better person but it was interesting to get into her deeper mindset of her role
and why she coveted it so much, even if she began to crave things she’d dreamed
of like they were the food or water she initially wanted above all else.
As the narraration explains, du Barry has a
greater punishment coming and I wonder if we’re gonna see it when the time comes.
If this is the end for her, it’s a brilliant
ending for a formindable baddie and it’s only cause Oscar is such an honorable
person that she’s able to see eye to eye with her just once before they
probably never see each other again.
However, as Master Yoda once said, “There is
another”.
Du Barry might be out of the
picture but someone else is being positioned to take her place and could even
put her machinations to shame.
Early on
in the set we got introduced to Jeanne and Rosaline, two poor sisters who are
descendants of a royal house.
At first I
wasn’t sure where this was going other than to provide a window into the
struggling lives of the people in Paris.
But during Episode 10, oh man.
Jeanne in several stone cold rutheless steps, killed her way to an
inheritance, had her sister beaten to keep her away, and now stands set to
travel to Versailles and pick up where Du Barry left off.
Will she try and seduce Louis to get all the
jewels and dresses she wants and live a lavish life?
Good luck with that given how Louis is with
Marie.
Then you had Oscars brief
encounter with Rosalie.
It provided a
small amount of humor with Oscar having to reject Rosalie’s offer of a night in
bed cause she’s a girl but to remind us this show is serious and Oscar is an
honorable human being, she gives Rosalie a gold coin and tells her never to
sink to that kind of low again.
In a
show that’s bound to have a number of sad endings, I really hope Rosalie finds
some kind of happiness in all of this, especially now that Jeanne has cast her
and her mother out of their lives without a second thought.
Speaking of Oscar, gonna close out this review talking
about the leading lady herself.
As I’ve
said a number of times already (and has been pointed out by several
characters), Oscar may be a woman but she is more an honorable man than most
men in the Court of Versailles.
She has
grown very fond of Marie and her willingness to listen to her heart but fears
where that might lead her to down the line.
She also has some good scenes with Louis, allowing her to understand the
romantic plights of two genuinely good people who don’t know how to be in love
with one another.
But Oscars crowning
achievement of the show so far: her standing up for Andre when her best friend
is accused of treason for allowing Marie to get into a bad horse riding
accident.
While many witnesses fear to
speak up for him because of any possible punishment, Oscar steps right up and
says “if you’re gonna punish him, punish me too.”
She may be a bit harsh towards him but Andre
means an awful lot to Oscar, maybe even more than that.
And if Andre wasn’t in love with Oscar
already, he better damn well be now after such a powerful display of loyalty
and defiance that sways to court to come to his aid (starting with Hans).
Anyway, tl;dr-Oscar is awesome and one of the
best leading ladies I’ve seen in an Anime (also frak me that shot of her after
she wakes up from her injury, she shine on her face makes her look divine).
It’s two back to back big wins for The Rose of Versailles
as it’s sophomore outing continues to improve on and surpass the foundation
laid out in Monday’s premiere.
The
beginnings of tragic downfalls have quietly begun while those who strong hearts
fight to protect what they love in a time of uncertainty and upheavals.
And dammit, I can’t stop watching.
NGL, it’s still way too early to say anything
but at the rate it’s going, this show could be on its way to a very rare 10.
Hopefully I didn’t jinx it but time to jump
back into the watching cause I’m ready for more.
And we’ll have more of The Rose of Versailles
This Friday right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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