Even before I fully became an anime fan, I knew about The Rose of Versailles, one of the greats of the shoujo genre. I’d seen pictures of gender-nonconforming aristocrat Oscar François de Jarjayes in her French military uniform, luxurious blond hair tumbling over her svelte shoulders. Even without knowing much about who she was, I was intrigued by her striking looks and gender ambiguity. I never read Riyoko Ikeda’s 1972 manga or watched the 1979 anime series, but it held a constant place on my perpetually growing backlog.
After the first teaser for Netflix and MAPPA’s Rose of Versailles movie, I did some preliminary research and learned that Ikeda dove into themes of revolution, sexuality, and gender, all with gorgeous art and poignant love stories woven throughout. I was excited for this new version, which would let me experience all the highs I’d heard about, but visually updated for a
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