Rose of Versailles ~The Fall of the Bastille, and the fall of Lady Oscar~

[ozaline]

Story and art by Riyoko Ikeda


Chapter 54















They let envoys in only to shut the gate on them and slaughter them



Chapter 55

"Rose of Versailles 1991 Reunion in Heaven ベルサイユのばら」－オスカル編" (Watch on YouTube)

Comments

[skjam]

Farewell, Oscar.

[leahandillyana]

Having her die at the very beginning of the revolution allows the author to avoid the issue of whether Oscar should support the morally just case of the people or stay loyal to the queen she swore to protect. I suspect she was just tired of Oscar's popularity at that point.

[ozaline]

Considering the decision to kill her was far from unanimous (and even the decision to kill the king earlier was carried by only one vote), and that was after she was the subject of a protracted campaign of propaganda against her for being Austrian (her expenditures while exorbitant were actually restrained, and she did try to institute some reforms but lacked the political power to do so)... I'm not saying Marie-Antionette's hands were clean, but she wasn't the monster she's sometimes portrayed as, and Oscar would definitely try to keep her alive; something she'd be doomed to fail at, better to give her a death that ends in success.

[locuatico]

Yeah. I think it is more of a case of limited number of options: There is no scenario were Marie-Antoinette survives and very few in which Oscar survives that would feel satisfying.

[ozaline]

She survives in the film by Demy, but that stopped at the Siege of the Bastille, so it didn't need to answer the questions (also it's far less sympathetic to Marie than the Manga and anime are).

Also I meant to say her expenditures were restrained compared to other nobles and what was expected for the Queen.

[deh_tommy]

I think Mary Antoinette's biggest sin was of passiveness in an unfair system instead of anything intentionally bad.

[ozaline]

Even that's a little hard to charge her with as she had next to no real power in government. There are things she tried to do, but they were worried she might be trying to advance Austria's interests instead of France's.

This video isn't comprehensive but it does hit some good bullet points https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Z8yWVFZZE

[alicemacher]

Wow. I've heard of this manga but this is the first time I've seen it. The art is just beautiful. Might get this in print if it isn't like 70 volumes or something. :-}

[leahandillyana]

First printing is 10 volumes, later editions vary.

[alicemacher]

Thanks!

[ozaline]

There's also a follow up series about Napoleon that has some of the supporting cast return, but it's never been translated to English. The anime is 40 episodes long, and perhaps a bit more focused from the start, (Oscar was not meant to be the star when the manga debuted, but she ascended to that position through fan popularity the anime put her and Marie Antoinette as co-leads from the start).

[janegray]

Gotta say, Rose of Versailles is one of those very rare series where I actually like the anime much better than the manga. This scene in particular in the anime made me cry like a baby, but it didn't have nearly the same effect in the manga.

[beoweasel]

I see Ikeda quickly glossed over what happened to Marquis de Launay, as he was only beheaded after he died, prior he had been dragged through the street, beaten, stabbed multiple times and shot, before he yelled, "Enough! Let me die," and kicked a guy in the balls.

[sarahnewlin]

What is UDON doing? We are supposed to get the manga

[deh_tommy]

This seems quite interesting. Thanks for posting this!