What do you think?
ベルサイユのばら [Versailles no Bara] #1
The Rose of Versailles, Omnibus 1
Two-in-One English release of The Rose of Versailles.
The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.
The Rose of Versailles focuses on Oscar François de Jarjayes, a girl raised as a man to become her father's successor as leader of the Palace Guards. A brilliant combatant with a strong sense of justice, Oscar is proud of the life she leads, but becomes torn between class loyalty and her desire to help the impoverished as revolution brews among the oppressed lower class. Also important to the story are her conflicting desires to live life as both a militant and a regular woman as well as her relationships with Marie Antoinette, Count Axel von Fersen, and servant and best friend André Grandier.
496 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1994
About the author
Riyoko Ikeda
396 books292 followersRiyoko Ikeda (池田理代子) is a Japanese manga author and soprano singer.
As one of the 24-gumi, she has written and illustrated many shōjo manga, many of which are based on European historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
Her most famous manga is Versailles no bara (ベルサイユのばら, The rose of Versailles).
Other famous works include Oniisama e... (おにいさまへ…, Dear Brother) and Orpheus no mado (オルフェウスの窓, The Window of Orpheus) that won an Excellence award at Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1980.
As one of the 24-gumi, she has written and illustrated many shōjo manga, many of which are based on European historical events, such as the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution.
Her most famous manga is Versailles no bara (ベルサイユのばら, The rose of Versailles).
Other famous works include Oniisama e... (おにいさまへ…, Dear Brother) and Orpheus no mado (オルフェウスの窓, The Window of Orpheus) that won an Excellence award at Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1980.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 248 reviews
January 16, 2016
This review is for the complete main series and doesn't take the gaiden stories into consideration.
Reread 2026
Many thanks to Bunny for joining me for this buddy read!
This was a fascinating reread and buddy read! It's been a decade since I last read it but I still enjoyed it and it was particularly nice to have Bunny share some historical insights into what did and didn't match the real historical events.
_______________
Oscar de Jarjayes, also known as Lady Oscar, is raised as a man after her mother gave birth to three girls in succession. After years of training, Oscar becomes the captain of the Palace Guard and is tasked with guarding none other than Marie Antoinette, the Rose of Versailles. While loyalty and friendship grow between the two, Oscar worries for the ever-suffering lower classes of Paris.
The Rose of Versailles is simply beautiful. Being a major manga classic, it is easy to see how it has influenced later works both in art and storytelling. One of the most beautiful aspects of this work is most certainly the art. While some might call it dated, it is gorgeous to look at, the eyes are very prominent with the emphasis on the sparkle in them. The female characters are particularly beautifully drawn.
It does have a bit of a slow start, it took me about a volume to get into it. I think possibly one of the reasons is because the main character, Oscar, is kept in the background. The first chapters focus on the young Marie Antoinette who is arguably not the most likeable character. However, one of the wonderful things about this series is that it follows its characters from a young age until they are middle-aged. I find that to be very unusual for a manga and it is exactly what makes it so easy to become attached to the characters. Even Marie Antoinette, regardless of her real-life character and motives, as far as fictional characterisation goes, as a fictional character, one can relate to her. While she makes grave mistakes and can come across as utterly selfish, the flow of the story makes it easy to understand how being thrown into such a luxurious world can influence and ruin a young person’s character. By the end of the story, she too has gone through many hardships and I found myself feeling very sorry for her.
Nevertheless, I find the characters around Marie Antoinette to be much more fascinating. Considering that the story spans several decades, it is remarkable how the author managed to let her characters age, they definitely look older by the final volume and that's not something one can say for every manga. Apart from the in-depth view of the characters' lives and the wonderful art style, The Rose of Versailles has a great balance between humour, romance, action and drama. Of course, knowing that this story is set before and during the French Revolution, one can expect lots of tragedy, in other words, getting attached to these characters can end up being quite painful! I can also see how some people might find this series a little too dramatic, it can be melodramatic at times, but I believe that to be part of its charm.
July 21, 2020
A new and pretty, special English edition of a classic and influential manga from the seventies that's reputedly feminist and is an inspiration for one of my favourite anime of all time, 'Revolutionary Girl Utena'? Yeah I wanted to check it out!
'The Rose of Versailles' - the first omnibus, anyway - is surprisingly accessible, timeless, engaging and entertaining. In my opinion it still holds up marvellously, and was a product ahead of its time. A Japanese manga revolving around the French Revolution (Austria, Sweden and other European countries are touched on too)? Who knew that it would work this well? This translation into English is brilliantly done.
Even for someone like me who gets bored to death easily by historical fiction and costume dramas (oh woe are the troubles of the 1%), this manga held my attention - sucked me into its world utterly - and wouldn't let me go until I'd finished its 500 pages. 'The Rose of Versailles' is an intrigue plot, like a mixture of real historical events about Marie Antoinette, 'War and Peace', and a non-fantasy 'Game of Thrones'. Add in a crossdressing female Royal Guard commander, LBGTQ overtones, class struggles, poverty struggles, and commentary on how capitalism is bullshit and rich people are literally the scum of the earth, and you have the recipe for a unique classic! Other themes include how monarchies should be selfless and responsible for the care and welfare of the poor and working class, and the evils of nepotism and favouritism.
Plus it's so pretty! The art is fantastic- shoujo at its best, brightest, funniest and most expressive.
'The Rose of Versailles' is a gorgeous and insightful manga that will take your breath away and leave you seriously thinking about world class systems and their issues. The story is intricate and complex, the worldbuilding stunning and believable - the mangaka, Riyoko Ikeda, really did her research thoroughly and carefully - and there is a giant chessboard's worth of characters. But somehow it all flows together so well and so airily, in a good way, that it never feels crowded, stuffy, confusing or boring.
Another thing I have to comment on in this classic historical fiction shoujo manga, is the strong, predominant female presence all throughout. There is a mass of female characters, each with her own individual personality, worldview and set of skills, and in varying degrees on the moral high ground scale. Good, evil, greedy, selfish, power hungry, scheming, manipulative, sensitive, motherly, caring, calm, fussy, naïve, intelligent, promiscuous, determined, cowardly, lordly, competent, incompetent - women and girls can be all of these things and more, and 'Rose of the Versailles' showcases this phenomenally.
I barely need mention the two female leads: the young, naïve, spoiled, brownnosing, superficial, easily bored, caring but thoughtless and inexperienced Marie Antoinette, whom we follow from childhood to her becoming the Queen of France (really, nothing is her fault, it's her age and poor upbringing not preparing her, and other people manipulating her - give her a break); and her guard and friend Oscar François de Jarjayes, who was raised like a boy when her father desperately wanted a male heir after having six daughters. She exists to challenge fixed gender roles and conventions; she even still openly identifies as a girl, and no one is really bothered by this. How progressive for 18th century France in a story from 1970s' Japan. By today's woke reflections Oscar could easily identify on the LBGTQ spectrum. She could be trans.
Sadly I've heard ahead of time who Oscar will eventually fall in love with, and I am disappointed. I mean, who knows how many people back then, even and especially in the French aristocracy, were queer! I know it's still a seventies manga, but it was doing great and the queerness fits and makes more sense than heteronormality! I am dissuaded from picking up the sequels now.
But for what the first omnibus's chapters are worth, the femme and yuri presence shines through. So much so that there are plenty of male characters, aside from Axel von Fersen and Oscar's servant and best friend André Grandier, who are minor, and are relatively useless and under the thumbs of the female characters. The men get browbeaten quite easily. What a magnificent display of role reversal for its time!
For its time.
'The Rose of the Versailles' is subversive - for its time - and has aged remarkably well. It is a beautiful shoujo masterpiece - a credit to the genre, and a testament to how successful and far-reaching it can be. It's intelligent, enlightening, funny, sweet and shocking. How gratifying that a popular, influential, radical and liberal manga and anime of this calibre has finally been renewed and made readily available to English speaking audiences.
A priceless, lovely jewel.
Final Score: 5/5
'The Rose of Versailles' - the first omnibus, anyway - is surprisingly accessible, timeless, engaging and entertaining. In my opinion it still holds up marvellously, and was a product ahead of its time. A Japanese manga revolving around the French Revolution (Austria, Sweden and other European countries are touched on too)? Who knew that it would work this well? This translation into English is brilliantly done.
Even for someone like me who gets bored to death easily by historical fiction and costume dramas (oh woe are the troubles of the 1%), this manga held my attention - sucked me into its world utterly - and wouldn't let me go until I'd finished its 500 pages. 'The Rose of Versailles' is an intrigue plot, like a mixture of real historical events about Marie Antoinette, 'War and Peace', and a non-fantasy 'Game of Thrones'. Add in a crossdressing female Royal Guard commander, LBGTQ overtones, class struggles, poverty struggles, and commentary on how capitalism is bullshit and rich people are literally the scum of the earth, and you have the recipe for a unique classic! Other themes include how monarchies should be selfless and responsible for the care and welfare of the poor and working class, and the evils of nepotism and favouritism.
Plus it's so pretty! The art is fantastic- shoujo at its best, brightest, funniest and most expressive.
'The Rose of Versailles' is a gorgeous and insightful manga that will take your breath away and leave you seriously thinking about world class systems and their issues. The story is intricate and complex, the worldbuilding stunning and believable - the mangaka, Riyoko Ikeda, really did her research thoroughly and carefully - and there is a giant chessboard's worth of characters. But somehow it all flows together so well and so airily, in a good way, that it never feels crowded, stuffy, confusing or boring.
Another thing I have to comment on in this classic historical fiction shoujo manga, is the strong, predominant female presence all throughout. There is a mass of female characters, each with her own individual personality, worldview and set of skills, and in varying degrees on the moral high ground scale. Good, evil, greedy, selfish, power hungry, scheming, manipulative, sensitive, motherly, caring, calm, fussy, naïve, intelligent, promiscuous, determined, cowardly, lordly, competent, incompetent - women and girls can be all of these things and more, and 'Rose of the Versailles' showcases this phenomenally.
I barely need mention the two female leads: the young, naïve, spoiled, brownnosing, superficial, easily bored, caring but thoughtless and inexperienced Marie Antoinette, whom we follow from childhood to her becoming the Queen of France (really, nothing is her fault, it's her age and poor upbringing not preparing her, and other people manipulating her - give her a break); and her guard and friend Oscar François de Jarjayes, who was raised like a boy when her father desperately wanted a male heir after having six daughters. She exists to challenge fixed gender roles and conventions; she even still openly identifies as a girl, and no one is really bothered by this. How progressive for 18th century France in a story from 1970s' Japan. By today's woke reflections Oscar could easily identify on the LBGTQ spectrum. She could be trans.
Sadly I've heard ahead of time who Oscar will eventually fall in love with, and I am disappointed. I mean, who knows how many people back then, even and especially in the French aristocracy, were queer! I know it's still a seventies manga, but it was doing great and the queerness fits and makes more sense than heteronormality! I am dissuaded from picking up the sequels now.
But for what the first omnibus's chapters are worth, the femme and yuri presence shines through. So much so that there are plenty of male characters, aside from Axel von Fersen and Oscar's servant and best friend André Grandier, who are minor, and are relatively useless and under the thumbs of the female characters. The men get browbeaten quite easily. What a magnificent display of role reversal for its time!
For its time.
'The Rose of the Versailles' is subversive - for its time - and has aged remarkably well. It is a beautiful shoujo masterpiece - a credit to the genre, and a testament to how successful and far-reaching it can be. It's intelligent, enlightening, funny, sweet and shocking. How gratifying that a popular, influential, radical and liberal manga and anime of this calibre has finally been renewed and made readily available to English speaking audiences.
A priceless, lovely jewel.
Final Score: 5/5
December 26, 2023
Lady Oscar is so hawt‼️‼️ I'm so invested (it ended with a cliffhanger☹️)
Read
July 2, 2024New Anime from MAPPA studio coming 2025
As a massive fan of 1970s classic shojo manga, it's time for me to FEAST!
As a massive fan of 1970s classic shojo manga, it's time for me to FEAST!
September 28, 2026
I may not 100% have had a life-changing and/or mind-blowing experience with this manga, but I feel I must give it an extra nudge in its rating. For its undeniable influence on Japanese media and theater, and not just those for young girls. And for this absolutely gorgeous edition, which was produced with loving care at every level, with lovely color pages here and there, sturdy, glossy paper throughout, and a sewn binding. The frontispieces are at a visibly lower resolution than the rest of the book, which could very likely be attributed to 50-year-old issues of Margaret magazine* being the only source for the art.
* it was a weekly in those days. amazing! this was decades before computers became common in manga art composition.
I'm sure most people are at least vaguely familiar with this story, so I won't go into much detail there. Oscar's a fun authorial insert into the intrigue and violence surrounding Louis XV's, and then Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's courts. There must be a handful of others besides Oscar, her family, and Andre, but I don't know who they are. They're integrated into the story well, with the notable exception of Oscar herself. It isn't believable for a woman to attain the status of colonel in the royal guard, with literally everyone being aware of her gender. But that's all part of the fun and drama of it all.
Oscar is a near-silent presence at the beginning of the story, during Louis XV's reign. Once Marie Antoinette becomes queen, Oscar becomes a kind of angel on her shoulder, trying to steer her away from increasingly-unwise decisions. This draws the wrath of Lady de Polignac, Antoinette's hanger-on who's driving many of these decisions, and pleading poor to siphon money from the royal coffers. Antoinette and de Poignac's relationship is described in the manga as follows:
Over the course of the story, Oscar's role in part pivots to her becoming a female idol to not one, but three young girls and women: Marie Antoinette (also harboring unfulfilled illicit feelings for the Swede Count von Fersen), de Poignac's daughter Charlotte, and Rosalie, who has been taken in by Oscar's household. This definitely has the potential to get silly, but we'll see.
Rosalie is the sister of Jeanne, who I think is actually descended from the previous royal dynasty Valois, but whose family after being deposed, has been dispersed and parts of it are living in poverty. She becomes a kind of con artist, first inveigling herself into a noble household*, then having her patron's will forged (with the help of her lover and future husband), and killing her via arson. From there she's trying to move into the royal court itself, but Rosalie's presence close to Oscar could make things much more difficult.
* Anna Delvey was by no means the first person to do this, or something close to it.
RoV is full of melodrama along with the more serious goings-on. There are the wacky "comedic" expressions (never a favorite, but they're not as common as in many other manga, and are therefore somewhat more tolerable here), and sword fights, and duels, literal backstabbing, the aforementioned arson, the constant presence of twittering gossips. The villainess seductresses Madame du Barry and Jeanne both have long, pointed fingernails, whereas more innocent characters seem not to have much in the way of fingernails at all.
I appreciate how much respect Ikeda and her editors have for the intelligence--and patience, admittedly, at times--of her audience. Topics like the horrors of smallpox symptoms, and sleeping and/or killing one's way to the top, are handled straightforwardly, though there is nothing sexually explicit. The cast is large, and their relationships change frequently. Things felt slow towards the end, when the situation with Rosalie was playing out, and Oscar's fan club came rather suddenly into being. I'd also read close to 500 pages of rather dense manga by that point. I'll give myself some breathing room for a while, then get back into it!
September 2026 Alphabet Manga Challenge: V, for Versailles. I didn't have any titles starting with V, except for Vampire Knight which I've already read all the way through.
* it was a weekly in those days. amazing! this was decades before computers became common in manga art composition.
I'm sure most people are at least vaguely familiar with this story, so I won't go into much detail there. Oscar's a fun authorial insert into the intrigue and violence surrounding Louis XV's, and then Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's courts. There must be a handful of others besides Oscar, her family, and Andre, but I don't know who they are. They're integrated into the story well, with the notable exception of Oscar herself. It isn't believable for a woman to attain the status of colonel in the royal guard, with literally everyone being aware of her gender. But that's all part of the fun and drama of it all.
Oscar is a near-silent presence at the beginning of the story, during Louis XV's reign. Once Marie Antoinette becomes queen, Oscar becomes a kind of angel on her shoulder, trying to steer her away from increasingly-unwise decisions. This draws the wrath of Lady de Polignac, Antoinette's hanger-on who's driving many of these decisions, and pleading poor to siphon money from the royal coffers. Antoinette and de Poignac's relationship is described in the manga as follows:
At the time, in high society it was en vogue as a chic pastime among noble ladies to have a favorite female companion, though never in a sexual sense. There were no few of such who wore male attire and oozed a dubious magnetism.Well, I suspect the reality was more nuanced than that. This was a time of arranged marriages between nobility, and I have no doubt that in some cases, these women nursed and indulged relationships outside their possibly loveless marriages that went beyond mere friendship.
Over the course of the story, Oscar's role in part pivots to her becoming a female idol to not one, but three young girls and women: Marie Antoinette (also harboring unfulfilled illicit feelings for the Swede Count von Fersen), de Poignac's daughter Charlotte, and Rosalie, who has been taken in by Oscar's household. This definitely has the potential to get silly, but we'll see.
Rosalie is the sister of Jeanne, who I think is actually descended from the previous royal dynasty Valois, but whose family after being deposed, has been dispersed and parts of it are living in poverty. She becomes a kind of con artist, first inveigling herself into a noble household*, then having her patron's will forged (with the help of her lover and future husband), and killing her via arson. From there she's trying to move into the royal court itself, but Rosalie's presence close to Oscar could make things much more difficult.
* Anna Delvey was by no means the first person to do this, or something close to it.
RoV is full of melodrama along with the more serious goings-on. There are the wacky "comedic" expressions (never a favorite, but they're not as common as in many other manga, and are therefore somewhat more tolerable here), and sword fights, and duels, literal backstabbing, the aforementioned arson, the constant presence of twittering gossips. The villainess seductresses Madame du Barry and Jeanne both have long, pointed fingernails, whereas more innocent characters seem not to have much in the way of fingernails at all.
I appreciate how much respect Ikeda and her editors have for the intelligence--and patience, admittedly, at times--of her audience. Topics like the horrors of smallpox symptoms, and sleeping and/or killing one's way to the top, are handled straightforwardly, though there is nothing sexually explicit. The cast is large, and their relationships change frequently. Things felt slow towards the end, when the situation with Rosalie was playing out, and Oscar's fan club came rather suddenly into being. I'd also read close to 500 pages of rather dense manga by that point. I'll give myself some breathing room for a while, then get back into it!
September 2026 Alphabet Manga Challenge: V, for Versailles. I didn't have any titles starting with V, except for Vampire Knight which I've already read all the way through.
July 7, 2023
I'm so serious when I say this is the best series I have ever read. Granted I've just read the first book so far.
To preface, I am a slow reader. Especially when it comes to 70's comics, I have a hard time reading due to how incredibly different the style and tone they tend to be. Granted, a lot of it can be chocked up to people literally developing said tropes we all know and love now, but I cannot tell you how easy it is to read Rose of Versailles in comparison to other series coming out at the time (Captain Harlock, Devilman, certain Tezuka stories). The only reason it only takes me so long to read each chapter because I cannot stop staring at the drawings.
When I was a little kid, I would stare at the pages of Tokyo Mew Mew, Ultra Maniac, Shugo Chara!, Angelic Layer etc. etc. etc. because I wanted the art to permanently fuse into my eyes. I hoped that if I could stare at each line long enough, I could replicate the styles of artists that couldn't pronounce the names of, but so deeply affected my childhood and will to draw. Despite being in my mid 20s now, with a penchant for goth fashion and the macabre, there is something so deeply innate in me to respond to the most beautiful, sparkly drawing that evokes the same childhood wonder. This is every single panel of this book for me.
If you have any love for shoujo manga from the last 40 years this is REQUIRED reading. Ryoko Ikeda, this fucking master, created every trope and icon you have ever admired down to the screen-tone detail. The visual language you see in all modern manga now is because of people like Ikeda and her shoujo manga contemporaries like Moto Haigo (search: Year 24 Group). While people like Go Nagai and Osamu Tezuka are forefathers in science fiction, robot series, and tell dark stories about the nature of man, shoujo artists are the ones that told equally lofty, emotional stories with incredible style and grace. Manga is the genre that it is now due partly to these women creators creating the visual layouts and readability of panels.
Yes, is this a absolutely bizarre fanfiction level retelling of Marie Antoinette's life and the lead up to the French Revolution. Yes it is filled with all the melodrama and political intrigue that you would expect (except also kind of not since Robespierre shows up twice to bad mouth the queen and everyone got mad). But also.... did you know that Ryoko Ikeda was part of the student lead Japanese Communist party and this is just as much about the foolishness of greed and the ultimate downfall of the royal family by their own makings? That poor Marie Antoinette is much a victim of circumstance as much as she kind of an idiot who perpetuated these problems? And all of this is told through the eyes of the baddest bitch around: a trans-masc lesbian.
No matter how you put it, Lady Oscar turns every person in the story gay. Everyone who sets their eyes on them cannot help but think about how beautiful Oscar is. At least in the English translation by Udon Entertainment, characters often switch pronouns and even title when referring to Oscar (their legal name) depending on their cultural views and knowledge about her. While gender non-conformity goes back since the beginning of manga (like Tezuka's Princess Knight) there is no way you look at anything made since the creation of Lady Oscar over 40 years ago that wasn't inspired by her. Fuck, they may be one of the first modern bishonen for all I can tell. (This is a very long winded way of saying that I'm both obsessed with and get supreme gender euphoria from Oscar.)
Anyway, read this manga right now and then message me your glowing praise for it. I'll be waiting...
To preface, I am a slow reader. Especially when it comes to 70's comics, I have a hard time reading due to how incredibly different the style and tone they tend to be. Granted, a lot of it can be chocked up to people literally developing said tropes we all know and love now, but I cannot tell you how easy it is to read Rose of Versailles in comparison to other series coming out at the time (Captain Harlock, Devilman, certain Tezuka stories). The only reason it only takes me so long to read each chapter because I cannot stop staring at the drawings.
When I was a little kid, I would stare at the pages of Tokyo Mew Mew, Ultra Maniac, Shugo Chara!, Angelic Layer etc. etc. etc. because I wanted the art to permanently fuse into my eyes. I hoped that if I could stare at each line long enough, I could replicate the styles of artists that couldn't pronounce the names of, but so deeply affected my childhood and will to draw. Despite being in my mid 20s now, with a penchant for goth fashion and the macabre, there is something so deeply innate in me to respond to the most beautiful, sparkly drawing that evokes the same childhood wonder. This is every single panel of this book for me.
If you have any love for shoujo manga from the last 40 years this is REQUIRED reading. Ryoko Ikeda, this fucking master, created every trope and icon you have ever admired down to the screen-tone detail. The visual language you see in all modern manga now is because of people like Ikeda and her shoujo manga contemporaries like Moto Haigo (search: Year 24 Group). While people like Go Nagai and Osamu Tezuka are forefathers in science fiction, robot series, and tell dark stories about the nature of man, shoujo artists are the ones that told equally lofty, emotional stories with incredible style and grace. Manga is the genre that it is now due partly to these women creators creating the visual layouts and readability of panels.
Yes, is this a absolutely bizarre fanfiction level retelling of Marie Antoinette's life and the lead up to the French Revolution. Yes it is filled with all the melodrama and political intrigue that you would expect (except also kind of not since Robespierre shows up twice to bad mouth the queen and everyone got mad). But also.... did you know that Ryoko Ikeda was part of the student lead Japanese Communist party and this is just as much about the foolishness of greed and the ultimate downfall of the royal family by their own makings? That poor Marie Antoinette is much a victim of circumstance as much as she kind of an idiot who perpetuated these problems? And all of this is told through the eyes of the baddest bitch around: a trans-masc lesbian.
No matter how you put it, Lady Oscar turns every person in the story gay. Everyone who sets their eyes on them cannot help but think about how beautiful Oscar is. At least in the English translation by Udon Entertainment, characters often switch pronouns and even title when referring to Oscar (their legal name) depending on their cultural views and knowledge about her. While gender non-conformity goes back since the beginning of manga (like Tezuka's Princess Knight) there is no way you look at anything made since the creation of Lady Oscar over 40 years ago that wasn't inspired by her. Fuck, they may be one of the first modern bishonen for all I can tell. (This is a very long winded way of saying that I'm both obsessed with and get supreme gender euphoria from Oscar.)
Anyway, read this manga right now and then message me your glowing praise for it. I'll be waiting...
April 12, 2020
Here's another exception to my "no manga" rule because it's a huge volume and is a book of great quality so I'd feel guilty not to mention it. 🤔
I've had friends praising it over and over again, so I've been curious to read this for a while, but never got to it because of other priorities and also I don't like the French edition of this manga. Then came out this beautiful edition released by Udon and I figured it was time to get to it.
So hmm...
It's good...
But as far as first volume goes (which I think in this format equals to two volumes of the original version), it's nothing spectacular as some people make it to be.
At least to me.
I mean, I liked this take on French history... Although me not being very good in terms of history mania -even that of my own country (but hey, there's a ton in that history so you can't really blame me for not knowing every single detail of it 🤷🏻), I'm not familiar with this, except for the end... and so I'm not sure how much of this is factual. It reminded me a bit of when I was very fond of the TV series Reign (which is about Mary Stuart) -of which I never actually watched the end now that I think about it.
Sorry, I'm going off topic there.
So yeah, the story is enjoyable and intriguing (as court often was according to history), and somehow the characters happen to be very endearing.
And, of course, Lady/Lord Oscar is everything. ❤️
But what bothered me a bit was the art (though beautiful after I got used to the vintage shoujo style) or more specifically the fact that almost all ladies have the same face. Except for the villainess-es, because obviously you'd have to know from their face that they will only bring trouble. Sometimes, I'd have a double take at a page because it looks like the queen when it's only one of the other ladies, or vice-versa. It's mostly just context that gives out who's who most of the time.
There's also the thing, which I don't know if it comes from original or translation, but the overuse of French words ("merde", "mon dieu", or worse, the constant "moi, I" of Rosalie which makes sense in full French at the beginning of sentences but not everywhere it was used here) was truly annoying.
But all that being said, again, as far as first volume goes, I didn't find it to be more than that. It's cool, but there's lots of other mangas that have my heart and soul much faster.
Still, I know that I'm gonna get the next volumes as soon as they're released.
Last but not least, I want to point out one more time that this Udon hardback edition is so worth the price. Because hardback first. Paper quality then. Colour illustrations also. And the gold foil and embossed design of the cover.
I've had friends praising it over and over again, so I've been curious to read this for a while, but never got to it because of other priorities and also I don't like the French edition of this manga. Then came out this beautiful edition released by Udon and I figured it was time to get to it.
So hmm...
It's good...
But as far as first volume goes (which I think in this format equals to two volumes of the original version), it's nothing spectacular as some people make it to be.
At least to me.
I mean, I liked this take on French history... Although me not being very good in terms of history mania -even that of my own country (but hey, there's a ton in that history so you can't really blame me for not knowing every single detail of it 🤷🏻), I'm not familiar with this, except for the end... and so I'm not sure how much of this is factual. It reminded me a bit of when I was very fond of the TV series Reign (which is about Mary Stuart) -of which I never actually watched the end now that I think about it.
Sorry, I'm going off topic there.
So yeah, the story is enjoyable and intriguing (as court often was according to history), and somehow the characters happen to be very endearing.
And, of course, Lady/Lord Oscar is everything. ❤️
But what bothered me a bit was the art (though beautiful after I got used to the vintage shoujo style) or more specifically the fact that almost all ladies have the same face. Except for the villainess-es, because obviously you'd have to know from their face that they will only bring trouble. Sometimes, I'd have a double take at a page because it looks like the queen when it's only one of the other ladies, or vice-versa. It's mostly just context that gives out who's who most of the time.
There's also the thing, which I don't know if it comes from original or translation, but the overuse of French words ("merde", "mon dieu", or worse, the constant "moi, I" of Rosalie which makes sense in full French at the beginning of sentences but not everywhere it was used here) was truly annoying.
But all that being said, again, as far as first volume goes, I didn't find it to be more than that. It's cool, but there's lots of other mangas that have my heart and soul much faster.
Still, I know that I'm gonna get the next volumes as soon as they're released.
Last but not least, I want to point out one more time that this Udon hardback edition is so worth the price. Because hardback first. Paper quality then. Colour illustrations also. And the gold foil and embossed design of the cover.
May 6, 2025
Reread the whole manga today after realising it got a remake just recently. You know what I'm doing today...
If you asked me to pick one manga to give to a hundred random people to read to ensure the maximum number of people will end up liking it, I'd pick Rose of Versailles.
It's a shōjo classic from the 1970s, and frankly still hasn't lost its charm, for good reason. Why isn't there more historical fiction like this?
The main character, Oscar, is still one of my favourite protagonists. Though I'm just a sucker for androgynous (knight) female characters in general. I want to be her, or be with her, whatever is more realistic.
They don't make manga like this anymore. If anyone reads this review and decides to read or watch it, and ends up not liking it, they'd be the first to do so.
If you asked me to pick one manga to give to a hundred random people to read to ensure the maximum number of people will end up liking it, I'd pick Rose of Versailles.
It's a shōjo classic from the 1970s, and frankly still hasn't lost its charm, for good reason. Why isn't there more historical fiction like this?
The main character, Oscar, is still one of my favourite protagonists. Though I'm just a sucker for androgynous (knight) female characters in general. I want to be her, or be with her, whatever is more realistic.
They don't make manga like this anymore. If anyone reads this review and decides to read or watch it, and ends up not liking it, they'd be the first to do so.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
June 1, 2023
I saw this at one of my library's branches while sneaking around all guerrilla-librarian style looking for graphic novels to bring back to one of my ravenous tween readers because she'd read everything there was to read at my branch and sometimes you just gotta snoop.
While my reader ended up poo-pooing this (creepy manga eyes are a no-go), I checked it out and ended up enjoying it!
It's a delightful retelling of late 18th-century France, chiefly, that of the rise and fall of Marie Antoinette as mostly experienced through her (fictional) female officer of the Royal Guard, Lord/Lady Oscar (who is everything).
There's intrigue. There's danger. There's politics and a willful princess/queen who just wants to do her own thing and wear pretty dresses and help out her (conniving) friends forget about all the consequences of her actions, like the fact that her spending is driving France into depth.
Couple critiques: all the women look exactly the same, save for the main baddie (who has not yet met Antoinette), who is a brunette, because apparently brunettes are Bad, and there is some interesting sexual tension that reads as homophobic but also this was originally written in Japan in 1972 so maybe this was as close as it could get to a romance between two women (mayyyybe???).
Anywho, the omnibus ends on one hell of a cliffhanger, so I don't know if I'll be continuing or not.
While my reader ended up poo-pooing this (creepy manga eyes are a no-go), I checked it out and ended up enjoying it!
It's a delightful retelling of late 18th-century France, chiefly, that of the rise and fall of Marie Antoinette as mostly experienced through her (fictional) female officer of the Royal Guard, Lord/Lady Oscar (who is everything).
There's intrigue. There's danger. There's politics and a willful princess/queen who just wants to do her own thing and wear pretty dresses and help out her (conniving) friends forget about all the consequences of her actions, like the fact that her spending is driving France into depth.
Couple critiques: all the women look exactly the same, save for the main baddie (who has not yet met Antoinette), who is a brunette, because apparently brunettes are Bad, and there is some interesting sexual tension that reads as homophobic but also this was originally written in Japan in 1972 so maybe this was as close as it could get to a romance between two women (mayyyybe???).
Anywho, the omnibus ends on one hell of a cliffhanger, so I don't know if I'll be continuing or not.
October 26, 2022
An intense 18th century Parisian melodrama played out in the lives of several women; Marie Antoinette, sisters Jeanne and Rosalie along with the dashingly androgynous Oscar. All of them find themselves emeshed in Parisian courtly intrigue. Marie Antoinette goes from being an Austrian princess under the eye of her powerful mother, Queen Marie Therese to the Queen of France, falling into the pitfalls of temptation, feeling the scourge of scandal which awaits her there. Jeanne schemes her way out of poverty to noble patronage, thieving and murdering her way to greater and greater power. Rosalie, Jeanne’s gentle sister, finds herself being swept up by Oscar, becoming quite smitten with her rescuer. Oscar, raised to be the male heir and a gentleman by her stern father often out-swashbuckles some of the more corruptable nobles at court, trying to steer the queen out of trouble, and punish wrong-doers.
I’ve been curious about this series ever since I learned it inspired some of my favorite manga and manga artists. Oscar is a delightfully attractive and romantic cross-dresser, making quite a few ladies swoom. There’s a tragic element in that she’s seeing the danger Marie Antoinette is in, trying to guide her away from it, something history reveals she fails at. This may be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of Marie Antoinette I’ve ever read, showing where a lot of the slander began, and how she in her inexperience and giddiness at the power she had fell into traps of temptation which others exploited. If there is a main villain emerging from the panels, it is Jeanne, although one can see how her circumstances created her. My heart bled for Rosalie, losing her mother and sister, only to fall for Oscar who may be too severe in her moral ideals to ever accept Rosalie’s feelings. While the characters feel exaggerated, it’s a fun portrayal of the 18th century French court; its customs and perils, related through compelling characters whom are fun to watch as they navigate their way through the challenges.
I’ve been curious about this series ever since I learned it inspired some of my favorite manga and manga artists. Oscar is a delightfully attractive and romantic cross-dresser, making quite a few ladies swoom. There’s a tragic element in that she’s seeing the danger Marie Antoinette is in, trying to guide her away from it, something history reveals she fails at. This may be one of the most sympathetic portrayals of Marie Antoinette I’ve ever read, showing where a lot of the slander began, and how she in her inexperience and giddiness at the power she had fell into traps of temptation which others exploited. If there is a main villain emerging from the panels, it is Jeanne, although one can see how her circumstances created her. My heart bled for Rosalie, losing her mother and sister, only to fall for Oscar who may be too severe in her moral ideals to ever accept Rosalie’s feelings. While the characters feel exaggerated, it’s a fun portrayal of the 18th century French court; its customs and perils, related through compelling characters whom are fun to watch as they navigate their way through the challenges.
July 19, 2024
Got into this manga after I saw the trailer. Heard of the series and was familiar with its impact and had to pick it up now.
The style is so pretty I’m in love.
We see Marie entering France from Austria as a young naive little girl to grow into a queen. She is a little bit spoiled and careless with her decisions.
We have Oscar- who I’m already in love with. The royal palace guard, very protective over Marie.
I love this manga came out in the 70s and how much it challenges gender roles. Hence Oscar identifies as a girl but is a royal guard and dresses very masculine. There is also a lot of sapphic undertones to this manga. A lot of women fawn over Oscar and no one thinks otherwise about it.
The only thing I dislike so far is that a lot of the character designs look a little similar so it’s easy to mix characters up.
I look forward to volume two of the series.
The style is so pretty I’m in love.
We see Marie entering France from Austria as a young naive little girl to grow into a queen. She is a little bit spoiled and careless with her decisions.
We have Oscar- who I’m already in love with. The royal palace guard, very protective over Marie.
I love this manga came out in the 70s and how much it challenges gender roles. Hence Oscar identifies as a girl but is a royal guard and dresses very masculine. There is also a lot of sapphic undertones to this manga. A lot of women fawn over Oscar and no one thinks otherwise about it.
The only thing I dislike so far is that a lot of the character designs look a little similar so it’s easy to mix characters up.
I look forward to volume two of the series.
October 27, 2021
The Rose of Versailles is an outstanding work of not only shojo manga but historical fiction.
In this work we follow the reign and life of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of her female commander of the royal guard, Oscar.
The characters are all quite compelling with different designs, motivations and personalities. They help give life to an already intriguing narrative. I particularly loved Oscar's character as she deals with trying to do right by a queen who is faltering in her duties to the people.
The art is stunning. This classic art is very shojo with big bright eyes, handsome features, and fabulous fashion. The drawings help move the story at breakneck speed.
If you love shojo manga and or historical fiction the Rose of Versailles is not to be missed.
In this work we follow the reign and life of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of her female commander of the royal guard, Oscar.
The characters are all quite compelling with different designs, motivations and personalities. They help give life to an already intriguing narrative. I particularly loved Oscar's character as she deals with trying to do right by a queen who is faltering in her duties to the people.
The art is stunning. This classic art is very shojo with big bright eyes, handsome features, and fabulous fashion. The drawings help move the story at breakneck speed.
If you love shojo manga and or historical fiction the Rose of Versailles is not to be missed.
January 14, 2020
Sinceramente, estava descrente com o hype desse mangá, porque 1) já li tanto shoujo na vida que peguei algumas preguiças dos clichês do gênero, e 2) Um mangá sobre a monarquia francesa que foi decapitada pela Revolução Francesa pode ser um grande passadão de pano pra vida dos nobres franceses. POIS BEM, eu não poderia estar mais errada, já que Rosa de Versalhes é um dos melhores mangás que já li na vida, cheio de ótimos personagens e consciência histórica perspicaz!
O desenvolvimento dos personagens é INCRÍVEL e o desenho é super bonito. É um traço que marcou a época não só a década de 70, mas também ditou algumas modas posteriores, como nos mangás da Clamp dos anos 80 e 90 e até mesmo umas soluções de Cavaleiros de Zodíaco.
A Oscar é de longe a melhor personagem; não só pelo contexto de gênero e ser uma mulher general de guerra, mas também por ter muito senso de justiça social ao mesmo tempo que é ligada à realeza. Esse conflito é muuuuito bom, e normalmente é a Oscar quem manda a real na história. Também é super interessante ver as personagens mulheres a fim dela, o que me deixou curiosa pra ver o desenvolvimento da história da Oscar quanto a relacionamentos. Já estou ansiosa para ver a parte da Revolução Francesa!!!!
O desenvolvimento dos personagens é INCRÍVEL e o desenho é super bonito. É um traço que marcou a época não só a década de 70, mas também ditou algumas modas posteriores, como nos mangás da Clamp dos anos 80 e 90 e até mesmo umas soluções de Cavaleiros de Zodíaco.
A Oscar é de longe a melhor personagem; não só pelo contexto de gênero e ser uma mulher general de guerra, mas também por ter muito senso de justiça social ao mesmo tempo que é ligada à realeza. Esse conflito é muuuuito bom, e normalmente é a Oscar quem manda a real na história. Também é super interessante ver as personagens mulheres a fim dela, o que me deixou curiosa pra ver o desenvolvimento da história da Oscar quanto a relacionamentos. Já estou ansiosa para ver a parte da Revolução Francesa!!!!
March 14, 2020
It’s a beautiful edition, and the translation is, on the whole, quite good, but the weird “moi” tic they arbitrarily added to all of Rosalie’s dialogue drove me up a wall. I checked my Japanese copies — there’s nothing in her speech that would mandate this weird choice, to say nothing of how the “mois” themselves are used incorrectly (“what am moi to do” would be “what am me to do” — actual code-switching is always grammatically correct in both languages). I sincerely hope they do away with this in future installments, as it dragged down the quality of the translation to a “let’s localize ‘chan’ as ‘-ster’” level for me.
February 1, 2020
This is amazing! Full thoughts coming soon!
March 4, 2026
As great as they say! Onto volume 2!
March 2, 2025
By the first volume in this collection, lots of little threads are set up but they all start connecting by the end of volume 2. It’s a good start.
May 3, 2020
A glacially-paced historical fiction tale of manners and court intrigue set in France during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. It might be more interesting to me if I were more familiar with French history as it utilizes many real people in its plot. I probably should seek out a true history of the era, as I had more fun researching the real characters in order to note them on LibraryThing after finishing the book than I did actually reading the book.
Mostly, I could not find a way to care about any of the three figures at the core of the book. First, we have the bratty and awful Marie Antoinette. Then we have her wooden and barely there love interest, Hans Axel von Fersen, who just stands about looking handsome. Finally, the heart of the story is the fictional character Oscar François de Jarjayes, and I just have trouble suspending belief to accept that she is a woman who openly dresses as a man and has been given command of the king's royal guard. She spends most of the first volume here being a cypher who sort of stands for justice but mostly doesn't do much of anything. Apparently she becomes involved in a love triangle with the other two at some point, but she seems asexual and spends most of her time worrying about her mother and a street urchin in this volume.
I don't imagine I'll read the rest of the series, but I could come back to it once I've had time to forget how dull it is.
Mostly, I could not find a way to care about any of the three figures at the core of the book. First, we have the bratty and awful Marie Antoinette. Then we have her wooden and barely there love interest, Hans Axel von Fersen, who just stands about looking handsome. Finally, the heart of the story is the fictional character Oscar François de Jarjayes, and I just have trouble suspending belief to accept that she is a woman who openly dresses as a man and has been given command of the king's royal guard. She spends most of the first volume here being a cypher who sort of stands for justice but mostly doesn't do much of anything. Apparently she becomes involved in a love triangle with the other two at some point, but she seems asexual and spends most of her time worrying about her mother and a street urchin in this volume.
I don't imagine I'll read the rest of the series, but I could come back to it once I've had time to forget how dull it is.
August 15, 2020
Quite good.
This follows Marie Antoinette and a girl raised as a boy, named Oscar. This story is taking place during the Revolution, but it’s not very apparent, since we’re seeing the royalty for most of the time. It’s very political and was somewhat hard to get through.
I don’t know exactly how accurate this is since my AP European History class didn’t go into detail about Marie’s court until the end of the French Revolution.
This is such a classic shojo manga. The art is so old and I can see how it paved the way for some shojo art movements. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here on.
This follows Marie Antoinette and a girl raised as a boy, named Oscar. This story is taking place during the Revolution, but it’s not very apparent, since we’re seeing the royalty for most of the time. It’s very political and was somewhat hard to get through.
I don’t know exactly how accurate this is since my AP European History class didn’t go into detail about Marie’s court until the end of the French Revolution.
This is such a classic shojo manga. The art is so old and I can see how it paved the way for some shojo art movements. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here on.
April 5, 2020
I was really excited to have the chance to read this historical shojo manga for the first time, since I know of its importance to manga in general. Overall I enjoyed it, and the edition is very nicely printed, but I absolutely cannot stand Rosalie saying “moi” constantly. It makes no grammatical sense and is deeply annoying, and every time she does it I’m taken out of the reading experience. I really hope that it eventually dies out in later volumes, but I’m not holding my breath, unfortunately.
October 28, 2024
(This review is for the entirety of the manga)
I keep rating the manga I read as 5s, but look, it's not a medium I'm super versed in so of course every time I indulge it's going to be one of the greats, and this one is one of said greats. Truly can't be overstated how good this is, from its surprisingly humorous start to the impeccably depicted high emotions of personal and family drama and tragedy set against the backdrop of revolutionary France. By the end you simply have to agree the influence of RoV has had is well deserved and Ikeda is a master of the genre.
I keep rating the manga I read as 5s, but look, it's not a medium I'm super versed in so of course every time I indulge it's going to be one of the greats, and this one is one of said greats. Truly can't be overstated how good this is, from its surprisingly humorous start to the impeccably depicted high emotions of personal and family drama and tragedy set against the backdrop of revolutionary France. By the end you simply have to agree the influence of RoV has had is well deserved and Ikeda is a master of the genre.
January 13, 2023
とても美しい物語ですね。ロマンチックと結構歴史的な環境です！登場人物もいいだと思います。オスカルは美人です。それとも彼女は強い主人公ですね。絶対にこのまながを続けます。
September 3, 2024
4.75 stars
The Rose of Versailles Omnibus 1 covers volumes 1-3 in the series. I had no clue what The Rose of Versailles was about but had heard its praises sung in shojo/josei spaces as being the best shojo manga of all time. High praise about a manga from the 1970s! I found this special edition in June before I watched and fell in love with Riyoko Ikeda's anime Dear Brother, which is adapted from her 1970s series Oniisama e... I was so happy to own this because I wanted to instantly dive back into her art, worldbuilding, and exploration into queer identities.
This is 100% Marie Antoinette manga fanfiction. Don't let anyone tell you different and it's pretty historically accurate from what I've heard around the Internet. There are several key and central figures. Lady Oscar, who is the youngest of six daughters, and given a masculine name and raised as a boy since her father had none. She becomes a soldier and a captain of the Royal Guard for Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette leaves her life in Austria to become the princess, and eventual queen, of France. Rosalie and her sister, Jeanne, are peasants who are struggling to survive in the oppressive poverty of the French streets. Jeanne is a mastermind and ultimate manipulator. She's conniving and will do anything to get her hands on power and riches. Her sister, Rosalie, is demure, weak, and takes life at face value. That is until her mother is struck by a French noblewoman's carriage and murdered. Rosalie embarks on a journey to Versailles to take revenge, which is how she runs into Oscar.
The first volume is a definite build-up and takes some time to gain its footing, but volume 2 is just messy court drama and pettiness from Marie Antoinette to Madame Du Barry. I ate the drama up. Volume 3 is where the series starts to shine and becomes a mix of politics, queer love (between Oscar and Rosalie), and revenge. I am so excited to continue the series and so happy that I bought all 4 of the other omnibuses because I can't wait to dive back into the world of Versailles.
The Rose of Versailles Omnibus 1 covers volumes 1-3 in the series. I had no clue what The Rose of Versailles was about but had heard its praises sung in shojo/josei spaces as being the best shojo manga of all time. High praise about a manga from the 1970s! I found this special edition in June before I watched and fell in love with Riyoko Ikeda's anime Dear Brother, which is adapted from her 1970s series Oniisama e... I was so happy to own this because I wanted to instantly dive back into her art, worldbuilding, and exploration into queer identities.
This is 100% Marie Antoinette manga fanfiction. Don't let anyone tell you different and it's pretty historically accurate from what I've heard around the Internet. There are several key and central figures. Lady Oscar, who is the youngest of six daughters, and given a masculine name and raised as a boy since her father had none. She becomes a soldier and a captain of the Royal Guard for Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette leaves her life in Austria to become the princess, and eventual queen, of France. Rosalie and her sister, Jeanne, are peasants who are struggling to survive in the oppressive poverty of the French streets. Jeanne is a mastermind and ultimate manipulator. She's conniving and will do anything to get her hands on power and riches. Her sister, Rosalie, is demure, weak, and takes life at face value. That is until her mother is struck by a French noblewoman's carriage and murdered. Rosalie embarks on a journey to Versailles to take revenge, which is how she runs into Oscar.
The first volume is a definite build-up and takes some time to gain its footing, but volume 2 is just messy court drama and pettiness from Marie Antoinette to Madame Du Barry. I ate the drama up. Volume 3 is where the series starts to shine and becomes a mix of politics, queer love (between Oscar and Rosalie), and revenge. I am so excited to continue the series and so happy that I bought all 4 of the other omnibuses because I can't wait to dive back into the world of Versailles.
September 28, 2025
⋆. 𐙚 ˚ 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓪𝓲𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓼-𝓻𝓲𝔂𝓸𝓴𝓸 𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓭𝓪 𝓿𝓸𝓵𝓾𝓶𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮
♡🌹♡ 3.85 stars ♡🌹♡
🩷12+🤍 (1/10🌶, no romance)
⊹ ࣪ ˖triggers-underage marriage, violence, hit-and-run, murder
࿐𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮: cute manga, not a romance yet
࿐𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼:
Marie Antoinette: I didn't like her very much. She's not the best person and definitely lives in excess. She doesn't have much pity for the people in a lower class than her.
Oscar: very hot. She has good morals and her storyline is much more interesting than Marie's.
Rosalie: She's super sweet and I also enjoyed her storyline.
Jeanne: ew
࿐𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼
To be honest, the first and last 100 pages were the most interesting to me. The middle pages fell flat and there wasn't much plot. This manga has really pretty art, but by the end I found it difficult to tell the ladies apart as they all have the same hair color and similar styles.
♡🌹♡ 3.85 stars ♡🌹♡
🩷12+🤍 (1/10🌶, no romance)
⊹ ࣪ ˖triggers-underage marriage, violence, hit-and-run, murder
࿐𝓰𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮: cute manga, not a romance yet
࿐𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼:
Marie Antoinette: I didn't like her very much. She's not the best person and definitely lives in excess. She doesn't have much pity for the people in a lower class than her.
Oscar: very hot. She has good morals and her storyline is much more interesting than Marie's.
Rosalie: She's super sweet and I also enjoyed her storyline.
Jeanne: ew
࿐𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼
To be honest, the first and last 100 pages were the most interesting to me. The middle pages fell flat and there wasn't much plot. This manga has really pretty art, but by the end I found it difficult to tell the ladies apart as they all have the same hair color and similar styles.
October 23, 2023
No wonder the boys and girls of the world were hooked on this story in 1972. THIS IS ON ANOTHER LEVEL. The pacing is excellent, once I got going I did not want to put this gorgeous omnibus down.
The foreshadowing is just right, the drama is incredible, the CONFLICT?! Just juicy stuff. Even though we all know how the story of Marie Anoinette goes, Ikeda brings such a freshness with all of the drama and high stakes!
I could spend all day talking about how gorgeous the art was. The hair and fashions (while they’ve got a strong 70s influence, they’re not totally historically accurate and I don’t mind) are sumptuous. I love the inclusion of colonized pages! I wish all manga came printed in omnibuses with plenty of extra artwork and full colour images.
Oscar!!! She is simply the best. I went into this manga thinking Marie Anoinette would be my favourite character, but it’s Oscar. I love her intelligence, bravery, and kindness. I’m worried about how things will play out for her.
I am absolutely going to check out the second omnibus.
The foreshadowing is just right, the drama is incredible, the CONFLICT?! Just juicy stuff. Even though we all know how the story of Marie Anoinette goes, Ikeda brings such a freshness with all of the drama and high stakes!
I could spend all day talking about how gorgeous the art was. The hair and fashions (while they’ve got a strong 70s influence, they’re not totally historically accurate and I don’t mind) are sumptuous. I love the inclusion of colonized pages! I wish all manga came printed in omnibuses with plenty of extra artwork and full colour images.
Oscar!!! She is simply the best. I went into this manga thinking Marie Anoinette would be my favourite character, but it’s Oscar. I love her intelligence, bravery, and kindness. I’m worried about how things will play out for her.
I am absolutely going to check out the second omnibus.
November 21, 2020
This was really good!!! It’s my first time experiencing this story and I was hooked from the beginning. The art is very pretty, I like the plenty colored pages.
I assumed the manga would be Lord-Oscar-focused but it’s more about a group of people living in the 1770s France. I like the social commentary and the themes discussed.
The manga calls itself a romance but I would categorize it as a general historical fiction.
Lord Oscar is 🥰😍
I assumed the manga would be Lord-Oscar-focused but it’s more about a group of people living in the 1770s France. I like the social commentary and the themes discussed.
The manga calls itself a romance but I would categorize it as a general historical fiction.
Lord Oscar is 🥰😍
November 10, 2021
My first manga! I was gonna try Chinese manhwa first, but this kid in my canto class said manhwa is just fight scenes and drugs and excessive onomatopoeia so I started w vic's japanese manga rec instead
I have a love hate relationship w the art. On one hand, I love the way they draw the dresses and the hair and the architecture but I also hateee the eyes like why r they so big. They look like Bernie boos
Plot was nice, who knew I liked historical fiction. Not me
Also Oscar <3
I have a love hate relationship w the art. On one hand, I love the way they draw the dresses and the hair and the architecture but I also hateee the eyes like why r they so big. They look like Bernie boos
Plot was nice, who knew I liked historical fiction. Not me
Also Oscar <3
April 12, 2025
I watched the anime as a little girl in the 1990s, pretty much fascinated by this unusual figure of a woman knight at the court of Marie Antoinette's France, so I had to read the manga.
I love that Lady Oscar is such an interesting character, very modern for her times (1970's). She has the values of a pure hero, and there's no one like her that I've ever read of. I also love the historical context, which makes it all very intriguing.
The drawings, especially those of faces - both close ups and funny sketches - are fantastic. Truly a pleasure to look at
I must admit though that romance and shojo manga aren't my genre so I struggled a bit with the over dramatic falling in love and continuous rolling of corny scenes. I really can only tolerate it here because of my love for the character and the historical setup. If shojo is indeed your genre, this is a classic you must absolutely read.
I'm committing to the whole saga and hoping that I can see a bit of action and French Revolution in the next volumes. Fingers crossed.
I love that Lady Oscar is such an interesting character, very modern for her times (1970's). She has the values of a pure hero, and there's no one like her that I've ever read of. I also love the historical context, which makes it all very intriguing.
The drawings, especially those of faces - both close ups and funny sketches - are fantastic. Truly a pleasure to look at
I must admit though that romance and shojo manga aren't my genre so I struggled a bit with the over dramatic falling in love and continuous rolling of corny scenes. I really can only tolerate it here because of my love for the character and the historical setup. If shojo is indeed your genre, this is a classic you must absolutely read.
I'm committing to the whole saga and hoping that I can see a bit of action and French Revolution in the next volumes. Fingers crossed.
July 30, 2025
Me gustó mucho!
Me preocupaba que me desesperara porque María Antonieta es alguien con quien cero empatizo, pero la verdad es que me gusta la critica velada que hace la autora poniendo a la aristocracia en el centro.
Lady Oscar is gender af. Shippeo durísimo a Lady Oscar con Rosalie.
Me preocupaba que me desesperara porque María Antonieta es alguien con quien cero empatizo, pero la verdad es que me gusta la critica velada que hace la autora poniendo a la aristocracia en el centro.
Lady Oscar is gender af. Shippeo durísimo a Lady Oscar con Rosalie.
December 28, 2022
I have been waiting for years to read The Rose of Versailles, and it has exceeded even that great anticipation. This beautifully drawn, evocatively described tale thoroughly sweeps the reader into the midst of the intrigues of the royal court of 18th century Versailles. This itricately crafted mix of history and fiction, illustration and text, is a marvel of storytelling. It is no wonder that it has been such a fundamental influence in the realm of manga in the fifty years since its 1972 debut. Far from being just a historical curiosity, this story remains as fresh and engrossing as ever.
Additional Note: This English translation is presented in a hardcover edition that is stunningly elegent and well-crafted, the likes of which one would be hard-pressed to find with any publication.
Additional Note: This English translation is presented in a hardcover edition that is stunningly elegent and well-crafted, the likes of which one would be hard-pressed to find with any publication.
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