Series Blurb
Raised from birth as a man, the Lady Oscar commands the palace guards at Versailles in the years before the French Revolution. Her beauty and noble spirit make her a shining figure in the eyes of both men and women but she is torn between her chosen life of service and duty to class and country and her own heart and desires. She lives as a noble amidst the opulence of Versailles but her keen senses and compassion are not blinded to the poverty of the French people.
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Finished
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(5/5)April 9, 2025
March 6, 2023
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Language: In terms of language, the main challenges are in the military and political vocab, as well as the often rough and fast enunciation. Even if you've watched/read Medieval Europe-inspired fantasy series, this is definitely a higher tier of difficulty than your typical modern anime or light novel. I'd definitely recommend watching with subtitles and/or pre-studying with the jpdb deck, if you're not already very familiar with the era and/or story.
Story: Incredible mix of history & fiction, by the same mangaka as おにいさまへ. Despite being from the 70s, it doesn't feel all that dated once you get into it. While there's a good amount of personal drama, the story is of course very much guided by the historical events, and much of the drama and melodrama corresponds to that - but the personal is interwoven very incredibly. (To be clear: if you're looking for strong historical accuracy, this show is probably not it)
It was interesting watching a show about the group of people who were arguably/essentially the "bad guys", and the story does a decent job of portraying them positively and sympathetically, but not shying away from the disastrous consequences of their lifestyle, status, and behavior, despite how noble-minded/virtuous some of them might be. It's certainly interesting watching the lawful good protagonist struggle with the tension between their extreme loyalism, and truly seeing the plight of the people.
In terms of gender, I was kind of expecting more from this - but I wasn't disappointed with what I got either. In some ways, works like リボンの騎士 or おにいさまへ go much further in that regard, but on the other hand this is substantially less essentialist than リボンの騎士 (despite the main character living in a very essentialist society), and the conclusion it reaches wrt gender identity is vastly more satisfying than リボンの騎士 - and for that, I'm very grateful. Truthfully I think my expectations were biased by having seen & read おにいさまへ prior - but I intend to read the manga, and hope it does reflect more of Oscar's inner-emotions regarding self-perception vs perception-by-others.
As an aside, the OP, ED, and OST are all really incredible, and put to great use. Overall an incredible show, and I look forward to rewatching it again one day.