Very impressed!
I've wanted to see this series for years and I'm so happy to finally see it make it to the US. It's such a huge impact on shoujo anime and US fans could see its influences everywhere, but never got to see the original. Even though I haven't purchased any anime for years, I pre-ordered this series as soon as I could. Rose of Versailles in the US is something that should not be passed up.
I was expecting the show to be interesting from a sort of academic sense, but dated and a little painful to watch. I was really surprised by how wrong I was and how truly excellent it is. This is a show that is 100% shoujo, with lots of fancy dresses and sparkles, but it has great writing, interesting characters, and gorgeous animation. This DVD release is very well done and the video quality is great.
This is subtitled only, no dub, which isn't a big deal for me as I don't watch dubbed anime anyway. I'm just glad to see this classic of anime finally see a US release...
The shoujo standard
Rose of Versailles was to female anime fans what Legend of the Galactic Heroes is to male anime fans - the title that they had despaired of ever reaching Region 1. The anime world was rocked last September with the news that heck had frozen over and Rose of Versailles had actually been licensed.
When General de Jarjeyes, desperate for a male heir, learns that his wife has once again given birth to a girl, he has a virtual meltdown and insists that the girl be raised as a man since God has not given him a son. His daughter Oscar matches all that could be expected of her to the point of even being appointed Commander of the Royal Guard. With the help of her devoted de jure servant and de facto best friend Andre and her second in command Gerodere - whose respect she earned by discreetly beating him out for the position - she begins the assignment of protecting the new Dauphine, Marie Antoinette of Austria.
Antoinette, initially rather prudish, is shocked - I say...
The shojo classic
When you think shojo anime like Revolutionary Girl Utena, you must thank The Rose of Versailles. The manga set the gold standard for shojo manga forever, and the anime adaptation by legendary director Osamu Dezaki (Space Adventure Cobra, Black Jack OVAs), lives up to that standard. Part 1 is a sparse but beautiful package; you only get subtitles and trailers, but for 20 great episodes of old school anime in a nicely tough box, it's definitely worth the purchase.
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