The Rose of Versailles
Encyclopedia
, also known as Lady Oscar or La Rose de Versailles, is one of the best-known titles in shōjo manga and a media franchise
created by Riyoko Ikeda
. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue
musicals, as well an anime
television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha
and broadcast by the anime television network Animax
and Nippon Television
. The show remains incredibly popular in Italy.
The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes
, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette
, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.
It features elements of the yuri genre embodied in the relationship between Oscar and her protégée Rosalie Lamorlière, the secret daughter of the scheming Madame de Polignac, whose admiration for Oscar may be interpreted as either idol worship or romantic love coming from her possible bisexuality
. Many of the court ladies also greatly adore Oscar, openly admiring her at parties and become very jealous when she brings female companions to them.
, before and during the French Revolution
. In the early part of the series, the main character is the young, flighty Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, however later the focus of the story shifts to a woman named Oscar François de Jarjayes
. Oscar's father, General Jarjayes, despaired over never getting a son (he had six daughters), and decided to raise his youngest daughter as a man. He trained her well in the arts of fencing, horsemanship, and medieval combat
. Oscar often practiced her skills with her best friend, companion and (technically) servant, André Grandier, whom she almost always defeated. André was the grandson of her nanny and thus they spent most of their time together in harmonic friendship; near the end of the story, this blossomed into mutual love.
Oscar is the commander of the Royal Guard and responsible for the safety of Marie Antoinette, as well as the rest of the royal family. The story revolves around Oscar's growing realization of how France is governed, and the plight of the poor. Another important storyline is the love story between Marie Antoinette and the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen. The affair between the two was the subject of rumours through all of France, endangering the Queen's reputation and driving Oscar to request the Count to leave the country.
After the Count decided to leave and sign up for the war of independence in America, Marie Antoinette became lovesick. She began spending money in excess —expensive jewellery and clothes, attending balls every other night— to distract herself from pining for the only man she loved. This, in turn, weighed even heavier on the taxpayers of France, and even greater poverty spread throughout France due to Marie Antoinette's squandering of money. Both the Affair of the Diamond Necklace
and the appearance of the infamous Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac are central plot events taken from history, as well as the French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille—all given interesting interpretations through the fictional character Oscar and her companions.
On July 14, 1789, the Taking of the Bastille
, the crowds rebelled but lacked strategy, giving the military the advantage and making themselves easy target for cannon fire. However, Oscar and the regiment B then arrived to help organize the insurgents. During the following fierce battle, Oscar is shot and killed, but the Bastille eventually falls, symbolically striking down the French monarchy. After the Bastille is taken, the revolutionaries burst into the Palace searching for Marie Antoinette and her family. Many guards are killed and the royal family taken prisoner. Big trials were started for Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, but finally, both were declared guilty and guillotined.
's biography of Marie Antoinette in high school, and the first chapters focus on the queen, casting her as a shoujo heroine, and du Barry as a rival. Oscar was created as a supporting character. Oscar eclipsed Marie Antoinette in popularity and due to reader feedback became the main character.
's Margaret Magazine
in 1973, and became an instant success. It was published on 24 May 1982 and contains 10 volumes.
n 1983, the first two volumes of The Rose of Versailles were translated in English
by Frederik L. Schodt
for the purpose of teaching English to Japanese
speakers and released in North America
by the North American branch of Sanyusha. "The Rose of Versailles" was the first commercially translated manga to be available in North America.
. These stories were published in two separate magazines in 1974 (first publication) after the serialization of the manga Berusaiyu no Bara, and 1984-1985 (second publication).
The Gaiden stories were adapted into musicals in 2008-2009.
) animated television series, which ran from October 1979 to September 1980. Besides Japan, the series has also been broadcast in several other countries of Europe
and Latin America
under the title of Lady Oscar. The anime was directed by Tadao Nagahama
(episodes 1-18) and Osamu Dezaki
(episodes 19-40), who brought a cinematic approach to the series. Shingo Araki
was the animation director
and co-character designer
along with Akio Sugino and Michi Himeno
. Koji Makaino was in charge of the soundtrack
.
The production staff
included the most recognized animation professionals then, who contributed in the making of the 40 episodes of the anime. In spite of the difficulties they had to go through, the staff could continue with their work and took advantage of this problems. The most important of said incidents was the change of direction at the middle of the project, which marked a notable difference between the first half of the anime (directed by Tadao Nagahama
) and the second one (directed by Osamu Dezaki
). Shingo Araki
was the animation director
and co-character designer
along with Akio Sugino and Michi Himeno
. Koji Makaino was in charge of the soundtrack
.
The anime was finally aired on October 10, 1979 in Japan
on the channel Nihon Terebi. From this point, the series would be aired every Wednesday until September 3, 1980, with the airing of the last episode. There is a less-known "sequel
". It is known as "Eikou no Napoleon
" or "The Glory of Napoleon." It has a few of the original characters and is mostly about the Empire of Napoleon I of France
.
Lady Oscar
Lady Oscar is a 1979 film, written and directed Jacques Demy
, with music composed by Michel Legrand
. Lady Oscar is a French
-Japan
ese co-production, and was shot in France. Frederik L. Schodt
translated the entire manga series into English as a reference for the producers of this film, but gave the only copy of the translation to them and it was lost.
/anime
The Rose of Versailles, produced by Toei Animation
. It was reported that the film would be delayed until 2009.
by Shinji Ueda. Rose of Versailles has been called Takarazuka's most popular show. The show's role in Takarazuka history is particularly notable as it established the "Top Star" system that remains in place to this day. Rose of Versailles also triggered a large surge in the revue's popularity, commonly referred to as the .
From 1974 to 1976, all four Takarazuka troupes staged The Rose of Versailles, drawing a total audience of 1.6 million. In 1989, it was restaged drawing an audience of 2.1 million.
The most recent shows were the gaiden
adaptations performed in mid-to-late 2008 by Snow troupe (led by Natsuki Mizu
), Flower Troupe (led by Sei Matobu) and Star Troupe (led by Kei Aran
). The scenarios for these new side-story adaptations were developed by Riyoko Ikeda specifically for the Revue.
Moto Hagio
believes the popularity of The Rose of Versailles influenced publishers to routinely collect serialized manga in paperback
format.
Susan J. Napier
has described the court of The Rose of Versailles as being "a particularly good example of idealized Western Otherness". Tierney says that the aesthetics of The Rose of Versailles cannot be described as purely Japanese or Western. Deborah Shamoon says that Rose of Versailles can be used to track the development of shōjo manga from being "a genre for children to being one for older readers". The bloody end of the main characters, while shocking, also whet the audience's appetite for more serious stories. Shamoon sees the Oscar-Andre relationship as very different from the Cinderella-Prince Charming stories which "dominated" shōjo manga in the 1960s, where the female protagonist would lose her identity to her boyfriend. Shamoon considers that the Oscar-Andre relationship follows the pattern of pre-war douseiai
shōjo novels, which featured same-sex love between girls. Kazuko Suzuki says that after RoV, "several works" were created with "nonsexual" female protagonists like Oscar, who realize their "womanness" upon falling in love.
Rose of Versailles is famous for having the first "bed scene" in manga, which has had a "profound impact" on female readers, including fan criticism of the adaptation of this scene to the anime. Yukari Fujimoto has said that "for us junior and senior high school girls at that time, our concept of sex was fixed by that manga."
Media franchise
A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...
created by Riyoko Ikeda
Riyoko Ikeda
is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles.- Biography :...
. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue
Takarazuka Revue
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
musicals, as well an anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Tokyo Movie Shinsha
, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...
and broadcast by the anime television network Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
and Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
. The show remains incredibly popular in Italy.
The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes
Oscar François de Jarjayes
is one of the main characters in the manga/anime series The Rose of Versailles, created by Riyoko Ikeda.-Character history:Born the last of five daughters to the Commander of the Royal Guards, General François Augustin Regnier de Jarjayes she is raised by her father as if she were a boy in order...
, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.
It features elements of the yuri genre embodied in the relationship between Oscar and her protégée Rosalie Lamorlière, the secret daughter of the scheming Madame de Polignac, whose admiration for Oscar may be interpreted as either idol worship or romantic love coming from her possible bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
. Many of the court ladies also greatly adore Oscar, openly admiring her at parties and become very jealous when she brings female companions to them.
Plot
The setting is in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, before and during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. In the early part of the series, the main character is the young, flighty Queen of France, Marie Antoinette, however later the focus of the story shifts to a woman named Oscar François de Jarjayes
Oscar François de Jarjayes
is one of the main characters in the manga/anime series The Rose of Versailles, created by Riyoko Ikeda.-Character history:Born the last of five daughters to the Commander of the Royal Guards, General François Augustin Regnier de Jarjayes she is raised by her father as if she were a boy in order...
. Oscar's father, General Jarjayes, despaired over never getting a son (he had six daughters), and decided to raise his youngest daughter as a man. He trained her well in the arts of fencing, horsemanship, and medieval combat
Historical European martial arts
Historical European martial arts is a neologism describing martial arts of European origin, used particularly to refer to arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms...
. Oscar often practiced her skills with her best friend, companion and (technically) servant, André Grandier, whom she almost always defeated. André was the grandson of her nanny and thus they spent most of their time together in harmonic friendship; near the end of the story, this blossomed into mutual love.
Oscar is the commander of the Royal Guard and responsible for the safety of Marie Antoinette, as well as the rest of the royal family. The story revolves around Oscar's growing realization of how France is governed, and the plight of the poor. Another important storyline is the love story between Marie Antoinette and the Swedish Count Axel von Fersen. The affair between the two was the subject of rumours through all of France, endangering the Queen's reputation and driving Oscar to request the Count to leave the country.
After the Count decided to leave and sign up for the war of independence in America, Marie Antoinette became lovesick. She began spending money in excess —expensive jewellery and clothes, attending balls every other night— to distract herself from pining for the only man she loved. This, in turn, weighed even heavier on the taxpayers of France, and even greater poverty spread throughout France due to Marie Antoinette's squandering of money. Both the Affair of the Diamond Necklace
Affair of the diamond necklace
The Affair of the Diamond Necklace was a mysterious incident in the 1780s at the court of Louis XVI of France involving his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. The reputation of the Queen, which was already tarnished by gossip, was ruined by the implication that she had participated in a crime to defraud...
and the appearance of the infamous Gabrielle de Polastron, comtesse de Polignac are central plot events taken from history, as well as the French Revolution and the fall of the Bastille—all given interesting interpretations through the fictional character Oscar and her companions.
On July 14, 1789, the Taking of the Bastille
Storming of the Bastille
The storming of the Bastille occurred in Paris on the morning of 14 July 1789. The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the centre of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint...
, the crowds rebelled but lacked strategy, giving the military the advantage and making themselves easy target for cannon fire. However, Oscar and the regiment B then arrived to help organize the insurgents. During the following fierce battle, Oscar is shot and killed, but the Bastille eventually falls, symbolically striking down the French monarchy. After the Bastille is taken, the revolutionaries burst into the Palace searching for Marie Antoinette and her family. Many guards are killed and the royal family taken prisoner. Big trials were started for Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, but finally, both were declared guilty and guillotined.
Development
Ikeda's editors were opposed to her idea of a biography of Marie Antoinette, and only its popularity among readers kept The Rose of Versailles in publication. Ikeda had read Stefan ZweigStefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
's biography of Marie Antoinette in high school, and the first chapters focus on the queen, casting her as a shoujo heroine, and du Barry as a rival. Oscar was created as a supporting character. Oscar eclipsed Marie Antoinette in popularity and due to reader feedback became the main character.
Manga
The Rose of Versailles is one of the most influential manga ever written. The manga was serialized in ShueishaShueisha
is a major publisher in Japan. The company was founded in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The following year, Shueisha became a separate, independent company. Magazines published by Shueisha include Weekly Shōnen Jump, Weekly Young Jump,...
's Margaret Magazine
Margaret (magazine)
is a biweekly Japanese shōjo manga magazine published by Shueisha, primarily for girls from 11 to 15 years old, although some stories are read by adult women. It was first released as a weekly magazine in 1963. In 2009, the circulation was 154,584...
in 1973, and became an instant success. It was published on 24 May 1982 and contains 10 volumes.
n 1983, the first two volumes of The Rose of Versailles were translated in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
for the purpose of teaching English to Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
speakers and released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by the North American branch of Sanyusha. "The Rose of Versailles" was the first commercially translated manga to be available in North America.
Gaiden
The Berusaiyu no Bara Gaiden series is a collections of short stories written by Riyoko IkedaRiyoko Ikeda
is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles.- Biography :...
. These stories were published in two separate magazines in 1974 (first publication) after the serialization of the manga Berusaiyu no Bara, and 1984-1985 (second publication).
The Gaiden stories were adapted into musicals in 2008-2009.
Anime
In 1979, The Rose of Versailles was released in Japan as a 40 episode (and 1 recapitulationRecapitulation
Recapitulation may refer to:* Recapitulation , a section of musical sonata form where the exposition is repeated in an altered form and the development is concluded...
) animated television series, which ran from October 1979 to September 1980. Besides Japan, the series has also been broadcast in several other countries of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
under the title of Lady Oscar. The anime was directed by Tadao Nagahama
Tadao Nagahama
Tadao Nagahama was a director of both puppet shows and animation.He is best known as the director of Toei's Romantic Trilogy, which added human drama to the Super Robot Genre....
(episodes 1-18) and Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
(episodes 19-40), who brought a cinematic approach to the series. Shingo Araki
Shingo Araki
was a Japanese animation artist and character designer. He developed an interest for drawing at age five. He graduated in Aichi Prefecture. In 1955, at age eighteen, he debuted as a cartoonist in the "Machi" magazine. He then joined Mushi Production as animator in 1965 and later founded Studio...
was the animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
and co-character designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
along with Akio Sugino and Michi Himeno
Michi Himeno
is a Japanese animation artist and character designer. Her most famous work is on the TV series Saint Seiya.- Career :In 1973 she began her collaboration with Shingo Araki working on Cutie Honey and went on to work at Toei Animation before forming Araki Productions with him in 1975. Together they...
. Koji Makaino was in charge of the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
.
The production staff
Employment
Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as:- Employee :...
included the most recognized animation professionals then, who contributed in the making of the 40 episodes of the anime. In spite of the difficulties they had to go through, the staff could continue with their work and took advantage of this problems. The most important of said incidents was the change of direction at the middle of the project, which marked a notable difference between the first half of the anime (directed by Tadao Nagahama
Tadao Nagahama
Tadao Nagahama was a director of both puppet shows and animation.He is best known as the director of Toei's Romantic Trilogy, which added human drama to the Super Robot Genre....
) and the second one (directed by Osamu Dezaki
Osamu Dezaki
, also known as , , or , was a Japanese director of anime born on November 18, 1943, in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. His older brother, Satoshi Dezaki, is also an anime director....
). Shingo Araki
Shingo Araki
was a Japanese animation artist and character designer. He developed an interest for drawing at age five. He graduated in Aichi Prefecture. In 1955, at age eighteen, he debuted as a cartoonist in the "Machi" magazine. He then joined Mushi Production as animator in 1965 and later founded Studio...
was the animation director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
and co-character designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
along with Akio Sugino and Michi Himeno
Michi Himeno
is a Japanese animation artist and character designer. Her most famous work is on the TV series Saint Seiya.- Career :In 1973 she began her collaboration with Shingo Araki working on Cutie Honey and went on to work at Toei Animation before forming Araki Productions with him in 1975. Together they...
. Koji Makaino was in charge of the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
.
The anime was finally aired on October 10, 1979 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on the channel Nihon Terebi. From this point, the series would be aired every Wednesday until September 3, 1980, with the airing of the last episode. There is a less-known "sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
". It is known as "Eikou no Napoleon
Eikou no Napoleon – Eroica
is a manga by Riyoko Ikeda that is a sequel to The Rose of Versailles.It tells the story of Napoleon's empire, including the Thermidorian Reaction, the Italian Campaign, the Egyptian Campaign, the Battle of the Nile, the coup of 18 Brumaire, and the French invasion of Russia.It also includes some...
" or "The Glory of Napoleon." It has a few of the original characters and is mostly about the Empire of Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
.
Films
Two films based on 'The Rose of Versailles' series have been with a third currently in pre-production.Lady OscarLady Oscar (film)Lady Oscar is a 1979 film, based on the manga The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda. The film was written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music composed by his regular collaborator Michel Legrand...
Lady Oscar is a 1979 film, written and directed Jacques DemyJacques Demy
Jacques Demy was one of the most approachable filmmakers to appear in the wake of the French New Wave. Uninterested in the formal experimentation of Alain Resnais, or the political agitation of Jean-Luc Godard, Demy instead created a self-contained fantasy world closer to that of François...
, with music composed by Michel Legrand
Michel Legrand
Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...
. Lady Oscar is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese co-production, and was shot in France. Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
translated the entire manga series into English as a reference for the producers of this film, but gave the only copy of the translation to them and it was lost.
Inochi arukagiri aishite
Inochi arukagiri aishite is a 1987 film that summarizes the whole anime.La Rose de Versailles
La Rose de Versailles was reported to be the next movie based on the mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
/anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
The Rose of Versailles, produced by Toei Animation
Toei Animation
Toei Animation Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio owned by Toei Co., Ltd. The studio was founded in 1948 as Japan Animated Films . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was reincorporated under its current name...
. It was reported that the film would be delayed until 2009.
Musicals
Rose of Versailles has also been dramatized for Takarazuka RevueTakarazuka Revue
The Takarazuka Revue is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name...
by Shinji Ueda. Rose of Versailles has been called Takarazuka's most popular show. The show's role in Takarazuka history is particularly notable as it established the "Top Star" system that remains in place to this day. Rose of Versailles also triggered a large surge in the revue's popularity, commonly referred to as the .
From 1974 to 1976, all four Takarazuka troupes staged The Rose of Versailles, drawing a total audience of 1.6 million. In 1989, it was restaged drawing an audience of 2.1 million.
The most recent shows were the gaiden
Gaiden
is a Japanese-language word meaning "side story" or "tale", used to refer to an anecdote or supplementary biography of a person. This use of gaiden is commonly used in popular Japanese fiction to refer to a spin-off of a previously published work that is neither officially considered a sequel nor...
adaptations performed in mid-to-late 2008 by Snow troupe (led by Natsuki Mizu
Natsuki Mizu
Natsuki Mizu is the former top star for Snow Troupe of Takarazuka Revue from 12/24/06 to 09/12/10. She joined the company in 1993 and became the top star in December 2006 upon the resignation of Hikaru Asami...
), Flower Troupe (led by Sei Matobu) and Star Troupe (led by Kei Aran
Kei Aran
, , is a Japanese actress and former top star otokoyaku of the Japanese Takarazuka Revue's Star Troupe. She joined the revue in 1991 and became the top star in 2007, five years after her fellow classmates Sumire Haruno and Hikaru Asami became top stars...
). The scenarios for these new side-story adaptations were developed by Riyoko Ikeda specifically for the Revue.
Other
To mark the 30th anniversary of the series' beginning, Sueisha released an in 2002, written by Ikeda.Reception
Rose of Versailles is currently 14th on the list of all-time best-selling shōjo manga, having sold a grand total of 15 million volumes worldwide and 12 million in Japan only, a "nation-wide best seller". In terms of circulation per volume, it is in fourth place with an average of 1,500,000 sales per volume. It is not well known in North America (except in Quebec) due to its age and lack of publicity, but remains a treasured classic in Japanese manga. The anime was ranked in the top 50 of a list of favourite anime series in 2005. So far, the manga and anime have been translated into Arabic, Turkish, Korean, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Indonesian and Chinese. The "immense popularity" of the 1974 Takarazuka musical gained widespread attention, including academic attention, for not only Rose of Versailles, but for the field of shōjo manga. The research that went into the setting of Rose of Versailles led some teachers to use it in their classrooms and purchase it for their school libraries, which was a "Japanese educational first". The popularity of the manga also created a boom in the study of the French language and made France, particularly Versailles a popular tourist destination for Japanese travellers.Moto Hagio
Moto Hagio
is a manga artist born on May 12, 1949 in Ōmuta, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, though she currently lives in Saitama Prefecture. She is considered a "founding mother" of modern shōjo manga, especially shōnen-ai. She is also a member of the Year 24 Group...
believes the popularity of The Rose of Versailles influenced publishers to routinely collect serialized manga in paperback
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
format.
Susan J. Napier
Susan J. Napier
Dr. Susan Jolliffe Napier is Professor of the Japanese Program at Tufts University. She was formerly Professor of the Japanese Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin, and a visiting professor at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University...
has described the court of The Rose of Versailles as being "a particularly good example of idealized Western Otherness". Tierney says that the aesthetics of The Rose of Versailles cannot be described as purely Japanese or Western. Deborah Shamoon says that Rose of Versailles can be used to track the development of shōjo manga from being "a genre for children to being one for older readers". The bloody end of the main characters, while shocking, also whet the audience's appetite for more serious stories. Shamoon sees the Oscar-Andre relationship as very different from the Cinderella-Prince Charming stories which "dominated" shōjo manga in the 1960s, where the female protagonist would lose her identity to her boyfriend. Shamoon considers that the Oscar-Andre relationship follows the pattern of pre-war douseiai
Class S (genre)
, or "S kankei", abbreviated either as S or , is an early twentieth century Japanese wasei-eigo term specifically used to refer to strong emotional bonds between schoolgirls, and a genre of which tells stories about the same, particularly a mutual crush between an upperclassman and an underclassman...
shōjo novels, which featured same-sex love between girls. Kazuko Suzuki says that after RoV, "several works" were created with "nonsexual" female protagonists like Oscar, who realize their "womanness" upon falling in love.
Rose of Versailles is famous for having the first "bed scene" in manga, which has had a "profound impact" on female readers, including fan criticism of the adaptation of this scene to the anime. Yukari Fujimoto has said that "for us junior and senior high school girls at that time, our concept of sex was fixed by that manga."
Further reading
- Buruma, IanIan BurumaBuruma is a nephew of the English film director John Schlesinger, a series of interviews with whom he published in book form.-Works:*The Japanese Tattoo with Donald Richie ISBN 978-0-8348-0228-5...
(1983) Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters, and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes - Schodt, Frederik L. (1983) Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese ComicsManga! Manga! The World of Japanese ComicsManga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics is a 1983 book by Frederik L. Schodt. Published by the Japanese publisher Kodansha, it was the first substantial English language work on Japanese comics, or manga, as an artistic, literary, commercial and sociological phenomenon . Part of Schodt's...
- Protoculture AddictsProtoculture AddictsProtoculture Addicts was a Canadian-based North American anime and manga magazine published by Protoculture Inc., an Anime News Network company...
issue 45, pages 17–27, May–June 1997. - Jason ThompsonJason Thompson (writer)Jason Thompson is a manga critic, journalist, writer and comics artist.-Life and career:...
Manga The Complete Guide