Lady Oscar: how does this historic anime end?

“Lady, Lady Oscar, you were born during the Revolution!” lady oscar is an anime based on the manga The Rose of Versailles from the author Riyoko Ikeda broadcast in France from 1986 on Antenne 2 then in 1998 on France 3 in Les Minikeums. In 2004, it will appear in Midi les zouzous and later on Mangas.

In the 18th century in France, a little blond girl named Oscar was born, whose father wanted a boy. His military education allows him to become Captain of the Royal Guard. Responsible for the protection of Marie-Antoinette, accompanied by her childhood friend André, Oscar will see her world change during the Revolution.

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The final episode is the 40th, although there is a 41st episode in Japan featuring a compilation of the series’ highlights. Entitled “Farewell my beloved Oscar”, the final episode is to be placed – like the rest of the series – under the sign of drama.

In episode 39, Oscar lost her white horse with whom she shared so many memories and closest friend, André, who died in his fight for freedom, and whom she loved without really knowing it.

The finale begins where the previous one ended: with the attack on the Bastille, still in progress by the Parisian people, and Oscar, who was shot multiple times by the defenders of the royal fortress! She falls to the ground, carried away from the attackers’ fire by her followers. Dying, she orders the troops to continue the assault.

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The battle therefore resumes with renewed vigor between the royal soldiers and the people, with the cannons thundering on both sides. The Bastille is won by the people, while a montage of drawings by Lady Oscar begins. A new chapter then opens, set five years after these events, accompanied by these words:

“Oscar and André had paid with their lives for their attachment to new ideas, but there are people whose memory will never disappear. Much water has since flowed under the bridges. There are times of madness, of clamor and tumult, from which sometimes emerges new blood. There are times of noise, fury, hope and joy. France, almost in spite of herself, had left an old world and discovered how difficult it was to build a new world”.

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We then find the French people surging on the Palace of Versailles to demand something to eat. Queen Marie-Antoinette bows to the people but makes no decision. The royal family is quickly locked up in the Tuileries. On June 20, 1789, Monsieur de Fersen, in love with Marie-Antoinette, participated in their release and the king left with his relatives to join the army of the Marquis de Bouyer.

The monarch then dismisses Monsieur de Fersen, making the young man’s love for the queen definitively impossible. In Varennes, the royal family is recognized and brought back to the Tuileries. The king reigns as a constitutional monarchy but for a short time, because he is overthrown on August 10, 1792 and the royal family is locked up again. On January 19, 1793, King Louis XVI was sentenced to death and guillotined two days later. On October 16, it is the turn of Marie-Antoinette.

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In the countryside, Bernard announces to Alain that he is going to tell the story of Oscar de Jarjayes and André Grandier. For her part, Rosalie recounted the adventures of Oscar to Marie-Antoinette before her execution. The queen gives her a silk rose because “Oscar loved them so much”.

Bernard, Alain and Rosalie find that even though she has gone through their lives “like lightning”they were permanently marked by Oscar, whose only weapon was “his courage”. End of the series.

Note that a “live” film lady oscar was released in 1979, a year before the anime aired in Japan. Realized by Jacques Demyhe puts on a show Catriona MacColl in the title role. Due to the financial requirements of Japanese producers, the film will not be released until almost twenty years later in French cinemas, in 1997, and in a confidential manner.