Helen: The year is 1755 and three people who will forever shape world history are about to be born. Two of these names will be familiar to historians: Marie Antoinette, the future queen of France and one of the most notorious queens in all of world history, and Hans Axel von Fersen, Marie’s Swedish-born lover and one of her many follies. But the most important of these three will be unknown to scholars, the (fictional) Oscar de Jarjayes, born to the head of the French Royal Guard and who, despairing after six daughters and no sons, decides to raise her up as his heir and equal to any man in France. As the years march on these three will come into each other’s orbits and will eventually come to experience first-hand one of the greatest revolutions the world has ever known.
Like many English-speaking fans, I’ve never read Rose of Versailles before but I have seen the anime more than a few years back. I wasn’t a huge fan of the anime but liked it enough to snag the DVD sets when Nozomi Entertainment/Right Stuf announced they had lost the license. I was a bit ambivalent about the release of the manga since hey, I already had the story in one form at least. So I was quite caught off-guard with how much more I enjoyed this original manga and, even though I already know the story (both the fictional and real, historical parts of it) I’m already dying to get my hands on volume 2.
Since I saw the anime first it’s difficult for me to talk about this manga without making any comparisons whatsoever, especially since some of the differences are subtle but striking details. For the first thing, I was shocked that Oscar wasn’t the sole main character here! In the anime I got the impression that Oscar was the main character of Rose of Versailles, with other characters like Marie being very important as well but ultimately a part of the “side” cast instead (and I wouldn’t have considered Hans a main character at all since I remembered his role being rather limited, also frankly tedious the way that characters who appear to exist solely to be a romantic interest often are).
In this first volume however Marie and Oscar share almost equal billing with Marie taking center stage more often as the manga recounts some of her earlier mishaps as first princess then Queen of France (such as her legendary snubbing of Madame du Barry or her indiscretions in gambling). Ultimately I think that Riyoko Ikeda takes a very sympathetic approach to Marie, at least during her early years; Ikeda shows us a girl, and later young woman, who doesn’t have the natural inclination or talent to move through complex and precarious social situations and who is torn away from a support network that would have actually benefited and disciplined her at a young age. Marie is instead placed amongst a group of sycophants where it seems that the growth of her vices and naivete was an inevitability by that point, and Ikeda is certainly not trying to hide from the reader that this isn’t a story that will have a happy ending.
But the series isn’t so down and dour as that would imply, on the contrary there’s quite a bit of humor in it that I didn’t expect! One advantage that manga has over anime is how much easier it is to change the mood or tone of a scene on a dime. With only still images there’s no need to come up with transitions, a shift in color/lighting schemes, or to abruptly change the music — if Ikeda wants the characters to be making serious facial expressions in one panel and then silly ones in the next then she can with ease! It’s a bit of a shock to see the serious, stunning Oscar making immature faces but I also can’t deny that it usually fits the scene, and some characters appear almost entirely comedically (like Oscar’s childhood buddy Andre who has probably less than 3 “serious” panels in the entire volume but plenty when he’s making a bit of a funny expression). Udon has also included the chapter images from RoV‘s serialization in Weekly Margaret and I certainly cracked up at seeing the soap-opera like descriptions of a nearly 200-year-old tale (“Most Popular! The contention between Antoinette and du Barry is increasingly heated….”, “Already a huge sensation! An arranged marriage with the crown prince of France is proposed to Antoinette, the 11 year old princess of Austria….!!”).
Udon’s release is a nice one, as in addition to being a hardcover omnibus the paper is actually more similar to the semi-gloss paper that you see in full-color comics published in the US versus the cheaper, unfinished paper stock that manga normally uses. It does make it a little more difficult to take photographs of the art but this paper choice means that this is also one of the few volumes in my collection where I’m not worried about the paper foxing or acidifying over time which is rather nice. And after such long delays it sounds as if the second and third omnibuses are due out quite soon and I can’t wait to read both of them as well!
Helen’s Rating: 4 out of 5
Krystallina: After almost four-and-a-half years of waiting (not to mention all the hopes of it being picked up in the first place), The Rose of Versailles is here. It’s truly, finally here.
In the mid 1700s, the youngest Austrian princess is sent to France to marry the prince. The beautiful and precocious Marie quickly learns to like her status and France as a whole. Meanwhile, the general of the French army has raised his youngest daughter as his heir, even giving her a masculine name, Oscar. By the time Maria comes to France as the dauphine, Oscar has been promoted to a captain of the royal guard. As the years go by, Marie’s naivety and good nature are corrupted and manipulated even as the citizens’ lives become harder.
This first omnibus of The Rose of Versailles is nearly 500 pages, so it’s hard to talk about all that happens here. Over the last 50 years, Oscar and Marie have been the faces of the series, but, like a soap opera, there are a lot of separate stories that intertwine, sometimes merging into the forefront. There’s revenge, reunions, gender roles, lust, trickery, and so much more. The soap opera comparison is apt regarding some coincidences and drama, but the brisk pace and ensemble cast means that you never dwell on them for long.
The series has some clear villains, but everyone else is tied together in a complicated, changing web. Oscar doesn’t like to hear her nanny or her best friend tell/tease her about being more ladylike. At the same time, she’s flustered when others mistake her as a man, and the subject of gender roles is likely to be revisited throughout the manga. The soldier side of her sees herself like a classic Japanese samurai, meant to observe and protect the royal family from the sidelines. Yet while Oscar sees Marie grow into a person worthy of being queen, even this loyal knight has frustrations as Marie and other nobles begin thumbing their noses at the commoners.
Marie herself is an intriguing character; we don’t see her turn completely into a party girl and ice queen, as she cares about her friends. While that could change in the future as her untimely end approaches, for now, it shows how power can corrupt someone slowly and subtly. It makes for a stronger story and adds to Oscar’s relationship with her queen and her own desires.
For other characters, I can’t help but wanting to see how they change — for better or for worse. Will they be led to happiness or destruction? I couldn’t help but marathon this omnibus as quickly as I could to find out, and lovin’ every minute.
As for the release itself, it’s based upon the Japanese Perfect Edition (Kanzenban). The quality is crisp and clear. From the sample images I’ve seen on the Internet, it looks like maybe some of the bonus art might have been moved to subsequent volumes to match when they came out — or been removed. Still, there are plenty of colored images here, including color pages from Margaret. The style itself reflects the time period with goofy Tezuka-style comedy and eyes that look like they’re firing a sparkle beam at you.
The translation tries to be faithful to the script while being more of how royals talk in English (well, technically French), like replacing Marie-sama/Antoinette-sama with “Your Grace” and the like. French interjections are common (non, mon dieu). I was kind of mixed on those, since you already get plenty of reminders that this is set in France and the characters are speaking French.
But that’s just me. Otherwise, this is a beautiful work in terms of story, art, and presentation. It’s no wonder it helped propel the shoujo manga boom and influenced so many other works and artists. English fans have waited long enough for it to be translated, and they shouldn’t wait any longer before adding The Rose of Versailles to their collection.
Krystallina’s rating: 5 out of 5