Rose of Versailles: Difference between revisions

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''Berusaiyu no Bara'' <ref>No, no, ''no'', not [[Bara Genre|THAT one!]]</ref> or ''The Rose of Versailles'' is a historical fantasy of the pre-French Revolution period. Its central character is Oscar François de Jarjayes, a Parisian noblewoman who has been [[Raised as the Opposite Gender|raised as a boy]] to provide her father with a "son" and heir. Oscar is made head of the Royal Guards of Versailles, and her first assignment is to protect and chaperon the new Crown Princess [[Marie Antoinette]].

If you were wondering about the scope of anime, this series places the bar well above your initial guess. Incorporating many French historical figures and the very real political nuances of the period, this series can be read either as a political (leftist ''and/or'' rightist) screed or as a heart-rending love story. Either way, it is more than worth your time.

 

 

The manga is notable for being highly influential for the [[Shoujo]] category. Elements of it can be seen in shows like ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' and ''[[Le Chevalier d'Eon]]''. In 2009 a live action series called ''[[Haken no Oscar]]'' aired in Japan, which constantly references ''Rose of Versailles''.

 

Not to be confused with the Japanese [[Power Metal]] band [[Versailles]].

{{tropelist}}

* [[Action Girl]]: Oscar.

* [[Adaptation Expansion]]: The anime has more filler in the early series to fill out Oscar's childhood adventures.

** Brawn: Alain de Soissons

** ... And Andre Grandier has all three!

* [[Bifauxnen]]: Oscar, of course, though she stays slightly more on the female side thanks to the shape of her face and eyes.

* [[Big Eater]]: Oscar says André is one of these.

* [[Come to Gawk]]

* [[Costume Porn]]: Which actually borders on [[Shown Their Work]]. Many of the outfits were that elaborate in [[Real Life]].

* [[Dan Browned]]: In-universe, Cardinal Rohan displaying a letter from 'Marie-Antoinette du France' to the King. By convention, royalty only use first names in signatures and Rohan belonged to a family that should've known this. This one actually happened, too.

** Real examples, however, exist. For example, Marie Antoinette is consistently referred to as Antoinette wherever she goes, even in her homeland of Austria. Problem is her Austrian name is Maria Antonia.

* [[Death by Sex]]: Subverted {{spoiler|Oscar and André have sex almost at the end of the manga and anime series, apparently losing their virginities to each other as well. ''Both'' die in the [[Grand Finale]]- though the subversion is that their deaths were not a result of sexual intercourse. In a mild subversion, though, André is the first one to bite the dust.}}

* [[Demoted to Extra]]: Poor Rosalie got this for being [[The Scrappy|unpopular]] [[Americans Hate Tingle|among Japanese readers]].

* [[Distant Finale]]

* [[Distracted by the Luxury]]: Justified, since the ring given to Marie is also meant to be a memento from her mother.

* [[Everything's Better with Sparkles]]: [[Bishie Sparkle]] being just one of many types this shows uses.

* [[Evil Matriarch]]: Madame de Polignac.

* [[Eyepatch of Power]]: {{spoiler|André}}.

* [[Faceless Masses]]: Grayed Colored Masses.

* [[Five-Man Band]]:

* [[Intrepid Reporter]]: Bernard, after his [[Character Development]].

* [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]]: Girodelle/Gerodere.

* [[King Incognito]]: How Marie met Fersen.

* [[Knight Templar]]: Robespierre, in the end. Then again, he's almost always portrayed like this in the media, so...

* [[Only Six Faces]]: The real reason Orlean's henchman was able to impersonate Antoinette. Also, Jeanne and DuBarry have ''exactly'' the same face, only Jeanne is a brunette and Du-Barry is blonde.

* [[The Ophelia]]: {{spoiler|Charlotte}}, after being broken. ''Maybe'', {{spoiler|Dianne before her suicide.}}

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: André is an orphan raised by his grandmother, who works as the Jarjayes caretaker. [[Marie Antoinette]] is distanced from her mother [[Maria Theresa]], who marries her off to young Louis as a pawn in her European politics; Louis Auguste himself is being raised by his grandfather the King and his aunts. Rosalie was abandoned as a baby by her 14-year-old mother and raised by a peasant along with another girl, Jeanne; said peasant, Nicole, dies at the beginning of the story {{spoiler|when run over by the carriage of Madame de Polignac... Rosalie's true mother}}. Bernard's mother dies when he is 5. Robespierre's mother dies when he is young. Averted- and how- by Oscar being outlived by ''both'' her parents. Subverted by Alain's mother being alive until he is in his mid 20s.

* [[Pastel-Chalked Freeze-Frame]]: Any time anything really dramatic happens, it's even odds that this happens.

* [[Peek-a-Bangs]]: {{spoiler|André loses the use of one eye roughly halfway through the series, and subsequently covers it up with his hair for the remainder of the series.}} Perhaps unusually, he does experience problems with his sight as a result of this, which becomes a plot point later on.

* [[Raised as the Opposite Gender]]: Oscar, of course. Oddly for this trope, she is completely open about being female and few make anything of it. But that could be due to the fact that by the time Oscar meets Andre at age 7, she already knows she is a girl.

* [[Really Dead Montage]]

* [[Requisite Royal Regalia]]: Only occasionally worn, save for state occasions and particularly dramatic moments, like when Marie flung off her ermine cape when forced to speak to Madame DuBarry, signifying Marie's torment at having to give in to a commoner. Of course she was actually giving in to the King, but that wasn't the point.

* [[Rule of Drama]]

* [[Shoujo Demographic]]

* [[Spoiled Brat]]: Little Charlotte, {{spoiler|until she goes mad}}

* [[Stab the Sky]]: Such as when Oscar is pleading for André's life after Marie's horse accident.

* [[Standard Female Grab Area]]: In a dark, personal scene, {{spoiler|Oscar and André are arguing, when André becomes very upset at her decision to live her entire life as a man. He has always seen her as a woman as well, and their fight takes them near Oscar's bed. As he becomes physical, Oscar (being the main character) keeps fighting him off until he grabs her and the shoulder of her shirt rips. Then she's just at his mercy, asking "what will you do?" very pitifully - but this of course frightens André, who stops and apologizes repeatedly.}}

* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]: Oscar is a noblewoman, André is a commoner (and so is Rosalie). Marie Antoinette is the Queen, Count Fersen is a diplomatic agent from Sweden.

* [[Staring Through the Sword]]: Done at least three times by Oscar.

* [[Sugar and Ice Personality]]: Oscar starts out as being seen as this.

* [[The Tragic Rose]]: It's even in the name.

* [[Tsundere]]: Version of the Type A Tsundere. Oscar is known for her stoicism and fierce [[Lady of War]] attributes, but she also has a severe crush on Fersen and later falls deeply in love with her childhood friend Andre.

* [[Victorious Childhood Friend]]: André, {{spoiler|though it's a very small victory seeing as he dies the day after he and Oscar consummate their relationship}}.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Lots of those, specially Robespierre, Saint Juste, and Bernard before his [[Character Development]].

* [[Wheel-O-Feet]]: In the manga.

* [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?]]

* [[Wig, Dress, Accent]]: In an anime only arc, the Duke of Orleans plots to ruin the marriage by having a boy show up in Marie's place. The boy, Jean, already looks a lot like Marie, so the addition of a wig really isn't much of a stretch.

[[Category:Manga]]

[[Category:Shoujo Demographic]]