The Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar)

[Astro Forever]

Am I the only fan here? I imported IDP's version, which has both the French and Japanese audio, and I've loved it! I've yet to watch the Japanese audio though - nostalgia is what made me bought the series in the first place. It's a 1979 anime based from a very popular manga in Japan. It's a little more mature than Astroboy - I'd say it must have been aimed at teenagers.

For those who have never heard of it, it's the story of Oscar, a young lady raised like a boy by her father because he didn't have any son. The story takes places before and during the French revolution of 1789. Oscar becomes the commandant of the queen's guard (the queen here being, of course, Marie-Antoinette), and is the witness of the events leading up to the revolution, in which she eventually plays a part.

The main character is fictional, as are some other characters, but the action takes place among the important actors of the time (king, queen, nobility...). It tries at the same time to show the perspective of the general people.

I have to say that I found it a lot more moving than I did at the time I watched it, which was a nice surprise. I also loved the historical setting. It's funny because the booklet says they switched directors in the middle of the series. I didn't notice at first, but it does become more serious and darker after the second guy came in, however since it matches the historical events, as things became more and more frustrating and difficult for the people, it's not desruptive in any way, at least in my eyes.

While I've always been interested in history, there's nothing like a good anime or an Alexandre Dumas novel to help one remember easily specific historical events.

I'm about to watch it in Japanese. It will probably be a bit strange to hear this part of France history in another language for a French speaker!

[jeffbert]

Am I the only fan here? I imported IDP's version, which has both the French and Japanese audio, and I've loved it! I've yet to watch the Japanese audio though - nostalgia is what made me bought the series in the first place. It's a 1979 anime based from a very popular manga in Japan. It's a little more mature than Astroboy - I'd say it must have been aimed at teenagers.

For those who have never heard of it, it's the story of Oscar, a young lady raised like a boy by her father because he didn't have any son. The story takes places before and during the French revolution of 1789. Oscar becomes the commandant of the queen's guard (the queen here being, of course, Marie-Antoinette), and is the witness of the events leading up to the revolution, in which she eventually plays a part.

The main character is fictional, as are some other characters, but the action takes place among the important actors of the time (king, queen, nobility...). It tries at the same time to show the perspective of the general people.

I have to say that I found it a lot more moving than I did at the time I watched it, which was a nice surprise. I also loved the historical setting. It's funny because the booklet says they switched directors in the middle of the series. I didn't notice at first, but it does become more serious and darker after the second guy came in, however since it matches the historical events, as things became more and more frustrating and difficult for the people, it's not desruptive in any way, at least in my eyes.

While I've always been interested in history, there's nothing like a good anime or an Alexandre Dumas novel to help one remember easily specific historical events.

I'm about to watch it in Japanese. It will probably be a bit strange to hear this part of France history in another language for a French speaker!

Speaking of Alexandre Dumas, I loved the 3 Musketeers, the two sequels & the candy bar. I have a CD w/ tons of classical literature on it; sadly, it gets very little attention since I put a DVD drive on my PC .

As for The Rose of Versailles, I could not find this on either Amazon or B&N.com, except in books.

[Astro Forever]

Speaking of Alexandre Dumas, I loved the 3 Musketeers, the two sequels & the candy bar. I have a CD w/ tons of classical literature on it; sadly, it gets very little attention since I put a DVD drive on my PC .

I really fell into the Three Musketeers a year or two ago. I then went on to read "The Count of Monte Cristo"; I didn't like it that much for the first 1/3 of the book, but after that I had such a blast! I couldn't put it down, I think I went almost sleepless a few nights.

(Interestingly, I once read part of the book in English on the Net and there were little parts missing! That's too bad!)

I then went on to read another Dumas novel, but I'm about halfway and I don't like it as much. The characters are pretty lonely so far, and I have this (bad) feeling that it won't end well. However I believe this one was Dumas' first historical novel, so maybe that's why it doesn't seem as entertaining (at least to me).

As for The Rose of Versailles, I could not find this on either Amazon or B&N.com, except in books.

Ah... maybe it wasn't that popular in English. I've seen websites about it in English though, so I had assumed it must have been known. Obviously if this isn't the case I won't get many replies here!

After all of this though, there's not way one can mix Louis XIII with Louis XIV or Louis XVI!

[Ataru Moroboshi]

I'm a fan of this series... But I tend to dislike the anime version while loving the manga (published in my country on 2002). That's because the anime version lacks the wicked sense of humour that the manga shows, with a lot of senseless "tezukian" jokes and a lot of funny, silly faces. My mom actually loved the anime.

Marie-Antoniette sucks! ; Oscar François de Jarjayes rules!

[Astro Forever]

I'm a fan of this series... But I tend to dislike the anime version while loving the manga (published in my country on 2002). That's because the anime version lacks the wicked sense of humour that the manga shows, with a lot of senseless "tezukian" jokes and a lot of funny, silly faces. My mom actually loved the anime.

It's interesting. I definitely didn't see any tezukian joke in the anime, that's for sure. I find the story so deep and dark at times that I even have a hard time trying to imagine it.

I wish I could just rent the manga at the local library just to see if I'd like to read it. It scares me a bit to spend money to import something I don't know if I'll like (and that's assuming I could find a version in a language I can read anyway, but that would probably has to be in Europe).

Marie-Antoniette sucks! ; Oscar François de Jarjayes rules!

When I watched the series as a (young) teenager, I was just in love with her hair and dresses! That's even what drew me into it at first!

And yes, Oscar rules!

[BBally]

I love this anime, Oscar is my favorite animated female character.

[Astro Forever]

I love this anime, Oscar is my favorite animated female character.

She'd give you a dirty look if you said this in front of her!

I'm still watching an episode or two of the Japanese version every day. I had already forgotten how good it was since I had watched it the first time. I especially like the music.

For a 1979 anime, the animation and the drawings are spectacular. It even reminds me a little bit of the 2003 Astro Boy series, if you can imagine...

[BBally]

For a 1979 anime, the animation and the drawings are spectacular.

Don't forget the beautiful classical music score and of course the opening and ending theme (I always have this emotional feeling when I hear Andre scream at the end of the ending theme).

[Astro Forever]

Don't forget the beautiful classical music score and of course the opening and ending theme (I always have this emotional feeling when I hear Andre scream at the end of the ending theme).

I did mention the music in my previous post and yes, I agree, it's so beautiful. I looooooove IDP's version. I don't know about the other boxes but just listening to the music on the menus make it unforgettable! It really makes me feel in the 1700s!

As for the opening and ending theme... I have to admit I always choose the option to skip the opening and ending credits. I don't remember the images that well, and I don't remember André's scream at all. I won't skip them next time!

Back then, we had a different song for the opening - and it was a very ugly one. I think I tend to skip the credits because I tend not to care since it wasn't the version I originally saw (not that I care about that one either, it's not on the DVD, presumably because of copyrights issues, and I don't care one bit, I think I'd even rather forget I ever heard it! ).

Oh yes, I think I had said something about it on this forum, but there are little sounds here and there that were also in the 1980 Astroboy series! It always amuses me. I'm surprised that different producers somehow ended up using the exact same sounds.

I had no clue that the series had made its way to Egypt. That's nice!

[BBally]

I had no clue that the series had made its way to Egypt. That's nice!

There was an Arabic dub that aired on a number of the Gulf satalite channels, it's rarely shown . However, I've mostly seen the French version on the MANGA network on the dish before they blocked the channel :d oh: and I've also seen the Turkish version.