I did watch the entire first episode of The Rose of Versailles anime series, but after that, I mostly randomly skipped around. I could go back and figure out all the ones I watched (and in some cases, bits of ones) but I mostly just wanted to get the highlights and do some spot comparisons against Riyoko Ikeda’s manga.
Oscar (voiced by Reiko Tajima) seems more reluctant in her position overall but mostly, the major plot points seem to be intact here (although it is common and accepted for the anime series to differ from manga series). Marie Antoinette (voiced by Miyuki Ueda) has the right amount of girlish obliviousness. The series balances the scenes and situations at Versailles with the budding French Revolution very well.
The animation is lovely in that late 1970s way. The character designs are similar to the manga but are maybe rounder than softer. It’s an incredibly colorful series and I appreciated that about it. The clothes are lovely and it has all the shoujo anime tropes one would expect. This is a well-loved shoujo anime for those reasons.
For me, personally, though, I wasn’t really feeling this series overall. I have tried to watch it a few times and just never quite got into it. I still didn’t this time, and I think having read the manga made me less interested in it. Everything is competently done here and I don’t even think it’s the issue of it feeling a bit dated (it does, but I don’t mind that!). I think the pacing is all over the place. Things develop slowly over the first few episodes but the last few rush through the ending so quickly.
Should you watch it? It’s good for what it is, definitely, and I think you know if you’re into this sort of thing. But if you’re going to pick watching this or reading the manga, read the manga.
