Innocent Rouge Omnibus Volume 1

イノサンルージュ [Innocent Rouge] #1-3

by Shin'ichi Sakamoto, Michael Gombos (Translator)

At the dawn of the French Revolution, a family of executioners will set in motion the events that will change the future!

Charles-Henri Sanson reigns as the head of a family of executioners. His dreams of a world without execution have faded as the legacy of House Sanson takes precedence. His younger sister Marie-Joseph, stationed at the office of Versailles, lives free—unshackled by the precepts of society, jeopardizes the sanctity of that legacy. Following the death of her first love, Alain, she sets herself on a crimson-soaked path of vengeance and will stop at nothing to expose the murderer and overthrow the unjust system that cost him his life.

This omnibus edition collects volumes 1–3 of the original Japanese manga series!

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels

608 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2025

About the author

Sakamoto Shin'ichi (坂本眞一) is a Japanese mangaka.
He is mostly famous for his series Innocent and Innocent Rouge.
He is currently working on #DRCL midnight children based on the classic by Bram Stoker.

Reviews

[Susanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This omnibus brings together first three volumes of the original manga, over 600 pages. Set in Paris of 1770s, it follows the story of the Sanson family who have been the executioners of Paris for over a century. They’re feared and reviled, but the current family head, Charles-Henri, also has close connection to the future Louis XVI, and his sister, Marie-Joseph, is the executioner of Versailles. The family appears to be very wealthy.

The description sets Marie-Joseph at the center of the story. She’s a woman who’s completely embraced her place outside the society while being integral part of the court. She dresses as a man and shaves her hair, and does whatever she pleases, like drugging a man to confess his crime in front of the king so that she can execute him.

However, the first three volumes mostly concentrate on Charles-Henri. He’s a dutiful man who takes pride in his work and diligently teaches his young son the trade too, while dreaming of a world without executions. With his brother, Louis-Charles-Martin, they are also competent surgeons—thanks to the abundance of dead bodies to practice with—and philantropists to poor. The origin of the first Sanson to become an executioner and damn the family to be outcasts to society is told too.

The story blends real historical people of the court, like Marie-Antoinette, with the Sanson family saga, with sidenotes about the real events. The first volume ends before the French Revolution, leaving the reader to wonder if Charles-Henri would welcome the quillotine as liberating him or if he’ll be there to operate it.

This was an interesting story, at least to a historian like me, even if it’s not historically entirely accurate. The omnibus is a good introduction to the story, as it barely gets going in the first volume. The tone is melancholy and a bit macabre and veers to graphic towards the end of the third volume of the three in this omnibus. Art is gorgeous with rich details and full spread panels. It would be interesting to read more.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

At times, it can be hard to tell whether a graphic novel is artistically astounding or simply all style and no substance. While I appreciated the rather thin and incredibly loose historical aspects of the book, nothing felt realistic or grounded and it was hard to even find a good story here. It's just a lot of fancy panels pretending to tell a story.

The Sanson family are the executioners at 18th century Versailles, France. All are eccentric and driven by their own set of values and desires. But Marie Antoinette's court is a ruthless place - even for those at the top.

There are some very unusual characters throughout - certainly I didn't feel like I was reading an historical piece or something based off anything even remotely related to 1780s France. It is hard not to compare it to Rose of Versailles, 50 years separating the two titles notwithstanding. Certainly the narrative isn't straight forward here and emphasis is given to show and spectacle, leaving readers often scratching their head about what is going on. From graphic sex to anachronistic gender neutral characters, there certainly is a lot here for rereads.

After awhile, I got bored with the whole thing since I never felt like there was a character I could get a grasp of and want to follow. Everything was all pretty and interesting to look at but too often I felt like I was trying to put a story to arty powerpoint slides. In many ways, this reminded me of going to a fine art museum and looking at a gold painted $400k vacuum cleaner on a pedestal. In other words, I just don't get it. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Mee Too · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this some what educational and completely unbearable. I just wanted to finish and be done with it. It was just psychotic french aristocrats doing psychotic sh!t. If your interest lye in these types of stories seek therapy just to be safe.

2.5🌟