Rose of Versailles seems an obvious inspiration for Revolutionary Girl Utena. Set in Revolutionary France the main character is a woman raised as a man fulfilling a man's role. Much of the setting from Versailles seems to be the inspiration for the style of Utena.
Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena bring to the front the issues of gender identity. The titular heroines in these series choose to take on traditionally male roles which create a tension in these characters as they struggle to conciliate feelings with duty. In both series there is a recurring theme of roses and sword fighting; they both deal with Revolutions albeit of a very different nature and are concerned with moral nobility. Rose of Versailles has a more social and linear approach while Utena spins into a heavy psychological study that renders narrative almost obsolete. Breaking through illusions, be them class based or emotional hang-ups, is at the heart of these two anime.
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Chiho Saito was probably inspired from Ryoko Ikeda's works, as these authors' styles are very alike.
Utena & Versailles No Bara are quite similar, as they both involve crossdressing, sword fights, roses, drama, romance, and a gorgeous, rich, aristocratic mood.
If you liked Utena this is another anime/manga I believe you should enjoy. Utena drew inspiration from this both in setting and characters. While Rose of Versailles takes place in the country of France and isn't confined to a school setting, the focus on fighting with swords plays a big part in both anime. The decadent European lifestyle that is acted out in Utena is very much the same as is acted out in Oscar's France (balls, food, elaborate dressing, even many high culture interests).
The main character in Rose of Versailles is Oscar, a woman who got a mans name because her father was stricken with grief that his wife bore a girl,and who was then raised as a male. You can see that Utena's 'Prince' complex (her desire to become a prince) is very much comparable, such as dressing like a boy acting like one but maintaining a certain unbreakable feminine beauty and fragility in both looks and personality (as Oscar is unable to overcome her feminine qualities even dressing more like a guy plus cutting her hair). Both characters are also tested by male characters who try to get them to lose this strength they have by treating them as women but not equals. The main difference between the two characters is Utena has chosen to become what she likes to call a 'prince' while Oscar was raised like a boy.read more
It's been long debated that Rose of Versailles heavily influenced many elements present in Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Utena and Oscar are almost mirror images of each other.
Besides the protagonist (Utena/Oscar) being a female character crossing the gender line, both animes deal with the complexity of love, but in very different ways. While Utena focuses on the relationships between people, Rose of Versailles focuses on love itself, the passion/attraction.
They both have a ... novel view on love and romance. You also follow the evolution of the feelings of the characters, and their developpement.
Though Utena is much more better when it comes to the psychology of the characters. ROV can be brillant at times and then get excessively manichean.
The main characters have some similarities and both shows have similar themes like the style and the heroic female lead. The Rose Of Versailles gets alot darker and more serious than this show, while Revolutionary Girl Utena has a bit more of a magical girl anime feel to it.
Utena and Rose of Versailles are two older shows, sharing a similar artstyle, which center around a girl, which is trying to blurre the gender line by becoming a prince herself. The two protagonists are similar in personality and compete in sword fights.
Utena is the next iteration of the ideas found in Versailles: a strong willed young woman takes on a role that is seen as masculine by acting chivalrously, wearing military uniforms, and fighting with a sword; also there is an opulent aristocratic stage set for the show.
Though the content is significantly different (a space opera as opposed to a story on the French Revolution), the presentation and themes are very much similar. Political corruption—especially within the aristocracy—is a major theme in both titles. Both sides of the conflict are never portrayed as being intrinsically good or bad: there are only circumstances. Some parallels also exist within the characters; for example the relationship between Oscar and Andre resembling that of Reinhard and Kircheis.
Legend Of Galactic Heroes may not be a shoujo like Rose Of Versailles so the romantic aspect is missing, but pretty much everything else about the series are similar, I may risk and say that LOGH went to take some aspects and influences of Rose, mainly the political and social critic of the aristocracy. The dramatic aspect and overall feeling throughout the series are pretty similar too not to speak that even the narrator has the same feel.
Completely different plotwise but similar in nature. LoGH is a fictional space opera while Rose of Versailles is about the French Revolution. Yet both have a political background and deal with corruption and the consequences thereof in their own setting. There's a great cast of both main and side characters who develop from fairly unknown to people with massive influence. Moreover, the relationship between Reinhard and Kircheis is similar to that of Oscar and André.
there isn't much that comapred to logh in terms of plot, but Rose of Versailles holds up if you enjoy classical series that involve politics, corruption, and ambiguous themes of good/bad. even if it's kinda shoujo
Aristocracy-centric political dramas that make use of headstrong characters, an extensive setting, and smart presentation, carrying a very old-fashioned flair throughout.
The two anime definitely have the same vibe and possess common main themes like corruption, political systems clashing and the fight for democracy by some party of the story.
Rose of Versailles OST also reminded me of LotGH and the animation also holds some similarities despite the different periods they were animated.
The time periods the stories happens is very different but holds many similar social and moral problems.
The main characters develop a lot through the two long anime and change their minds at some time, most characters are not one-dimensional and they learn with their mistakes.
Both anime are almost like animated documentaries of war. If you like to see what happens behind the curtains of war instead of just witnessing the action, who's plotting, scheming and commanding the troops, look no further.read more
2 spectacular series rife with political intrigue, conspiracies and war. One thing I find incredible between both series is how important even minor characters become later in the series. They're both incredibly unpredictable yet each event occurs as the result of logical consequences to characters' actions. Though I think Ginga is more impressive in this regard, due to it being entirely fictional, it is still rather impressive how Versailles manages to pull off this unpredictable plot despite us all knowing the fate of many of the major characters.e.g King Louis and Antoinette.
The main difference between these series is Ginga feels more focused on its thesis regarding the role of governance in a sci fi setting, however, Versailles has more of a focus on romance.
I would say both are equally great. I would say every anime fan should watch these series at some point.read more
Both share many similar themes, especially between the political intrigue from Reinhard's perspective in the Galactic Empire in the first half of LotGH, and Rose of Versailles, including some subplots that are similar. Both also share an incredibly similar narration style where a third-person narrator narrates and foreshadows certain events in the plot. The main protagonist from both also look similar, particularly between Reinhard von Lohengramm, and Oscar François.
VnB and LotGH both take place in the aristocratic worlds of a feudal, military empire. The first 25 episodes of LotGH and VnB's plot and vibe are very similar, both depicting the downfall of corrupt feudal regimes disrespecting ordinary citizen. Both glorify 19th century values such as chivalry, honor, while limiting those to an aristocratic elite. Both are historical, with LotGH emphasizing this more (despite being fake history unlike VnB). VnB is far more emotional due to intended target audience (shoujo) and prominently has romance.
Both BeruBara and Chevalier feature crossdressing and genderbending main characters in a revolution-era French setting that's as accurate as possible, sans the liberties that, of course, had to be taken to create the story.
So lets see. The only reason why I finde this 2 series verry similar is the main charachter and the historic theme of bouth animes.In Le Chevalier D'eon as well as in Rose of Versailles we have the main charachter who is stucked betwen 2 faces. The face of a woman or the face of a man. In Rose of versailles Oscar was raised as a man, but she is going to love as a woman. Determinated, courageous and proude as a man, but fragile like a woman. In Le Chevalier D'eon our main charachter, a male is possesed by his twin sisters soul who want's revenge. Traped between the 2 personalites he is confused and at a point doesn't even know who is the real him.In bouth series the confusion because of the 2 faces life apear at some point and finishes when the charachter is finaly accepting the person that he is. In Le chevalier D'on this crisis is a bit more stronger because he is actualy controled by his sisters spirit.If you watched one of this movie for his historical tipe you will surely like the other for the same reason. In bouth the action is situated in France.Corruption, kings failing and the thirst for power. You can finde them all in this animes.Conclusio: if you liked one of them you'll surely like the other.read more
Historical anime about France, Versailles, aristocracy, with plenty of sword duels.
Both series play with the gender of the main character (crossdressing in Versailles No Bara, gender bender in Le Chevalier D'Eon).
While one has more drama and romance, the other is more into the horror/supernatural side.
Both stories take places in history at the same time and both contains same historical characters, but Le Chevalier D'Eon is much darker and includes supernatural accidents.
Two historical fiction anime set in pre-Revolutionary France. 'Rose' is a swashbuckling adventure/romance while 'D'Eon' is a Gothic horror/mystery. 'Rose' is the superior title, but both will be enjoyable to fans of historical fiction.
Many similarities. Older anime, historical France, one has a cross-dressing female swordsman and the other (Chevalier) has a similar character based on a transgender historical figure (except in this version, it's a man who becomes his sister as part of her soul's search for revenge.) They both may be slow going but are well worth it and they are underrated.
Both are reasonably serious shows with a focus on political intrigue, back-stabbing nobles and how cruel people can be. But Berserk is set in a fantasy universe with demons and monsters, with a lot of battles, whilst RoV is a historical anime that takes place in France, documenting the beginnings of the French Revolution.
Also, Griffith looks awfully similar to Lady Oscar (all that long, fluffy hair...)
While Berserk is a fantasy anime and Rose of Versailles is more focused on romance, both have to do with political intrigue, nobility's schemes, betrayals and kingdoms in crisis. Miura, the author of Berserk has stated that Rose of Versailles has been one of the many inspirations behind his writing.
While Berserk is much bloodier than Rose of Versailles, both series are about a nation in conflict (the nation in Berserk is in war, the nation in Rose of Versailles is on the verge of war). Both put focus on the backstabbing that happens within the nobility on a regular basis (this plays center stage in Rose of Versailles and takes a very important back seat in Berserk). Neither series shy away from showing the harsh truths of life.
Berserk has the "rich people are awful" perspective shown from soldiers, with Rose of Versailles has the "rich people are awful" perspective shown through rich people.
If I'm not mistaken, Kentaro Miura cited Rose of Versailles as influence on the political aspect of Berserk.
If you're looking for a good drama about crisis, look into these two series.read more
Both are war stories with characters who you get to see grow througout their lives. Berserk is obviously more fantastical, but both focus on the human element of war, and let you see the gruesomness that happens from all perspectives.
From what I've read about Berserk's creator, Kentaro Miura, Berserk is essentially the world's best and most popular piece of Ladyhawk/Rose of Versailles/Fist of the North Star crossover fanfiction, with bits of Devilman thrown in. The golden age arc, which the original Berserk series adapts, borrows heavily from the motifs and character archetypes of Versailles no Bara, and even as a casual viewer, I can see the parallels, particularly if one has also seen the relatively obscure film Ladyhawk, of which Miura is a professed fan.
Essentially, if you liked the golden age arc of Berserk, you'll probably like Versailles no Bara, and vice versa. Berserk is bloodier, and features slightly less in the way of shojo tropes, owing to its fusion of shonen elements into its manga 'DNA', but they're very similar in most ways that I feel matter.read more
Based on manga of the same author Oniisama E nad Lady Oscar has a similar spirit. In spite of telling about completly diffirent things both anime has a similar way of the storyline- every little thing has a meaning. Other thing common in both animes is a way of creating characters- they aren't bad or crystal, everyone has pros and cons- like in real life.
Prepare for lots of melodrama and strong princely women! After watching Rose of Versailles I was trying to find another good classic shoujo series, I was recommended to watch Oniisama e... and it was the perfect follow up show. Both question gender roles in a way beyond their time and have inspired many other shows in a good way. After watching both of these shows you can see their influence all over the place in modern anime. (Especially in yuri and shoujo type shows)
- same author, artstyle, vibe overall
- female characters that embody males' traits and hence likable by a vast array of other characters in the series
- "true love waits and wins"-premise is present
Quite unusual for their time, both of these vintage series have a tomboy with a sword who is actually a royalty that was raised as a boy. Both take inspiration in European aesthetics, though unlike Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight is entirely fictional.
- Both are old series with plot revolving around girls who were raised like boys; more specifically noblemen or knights.
- Lots of European inspirations in the design and story; castles, princesses, knights, and sword fights.
- Rose of Versailles if roughly based on the real story of Marie Antoinette, whereas Ribbon no Kishi is entirely fictional.
Ribbon no Kishi is shallower thematically and geared more towards younger girls with a distinct Disney feel (hardly a surprise considering Osamu Tezuka was a friend of Walt Disney and heavily inspired by early Disney). Whilst Rose of Versailles does draw inspiration from Ribbon no Kishi (the earlier work of the two), it is much darker and the style is more classic Showa era shoujo à la Macoto Takashi with its detailed curling hair and eyes filled with what looks like whole galaxies.read more
Both gender-bender animes typically centering around a young female hero, who disguises herself as a man. Ribbon no Kishi has participated genuine, although in small changes in women’s empowerment, promoting a young female hero being less passive and domesticated, although I still felt that princess Sapphire relied on a man to save the kingdom. Furthermore, I don't think she was really comfortable playing the role of a male not that it's not okay too not like it but this just reinforced the pretty pink princess desire. Now, in Versailles no Bara, Oscar was strong and did fight the bad guys, and she was vocal about her concerns, and, yes, both André and Fersen helped her loosen up and pay attention to other things besides protecting the Queen, but I see that in a more positive way of character development than as a man trying to change her. So, both are lovely animes to engage a conversation about gender and sexuality. read more
The major plot point for both shows is that there's something amiss in their respective societies; they explore morality and those who have power over everyone else. Characters' relationships with each other are important and both somewhat explore sexuality/gender identity in the context of their societies.
Despite having very different settings (Versailles being a show from the 70s about historical events while Shinsekai is newer and takes place in the future), care went into the world building of both.
Both of these animes focus on the harsh realities of war and are both very tragic. Versailles no bara starts out sweet and focused on marie Antoinette but then it focuses on Oscar and the French Revolution. The moments that showed the poverty stricken characters that were forced to starve are tear jerkers. They are both portrayals of real tragedies from history.
When the acclaimed manga Rose of Versailles was set to get an anime adaptation, it was a given that someone would try to match it in regards of subject matter and theme, and so we got Isabelle of Paris. Both shows came out in 1979, both have a female lead who is good with a sword and looks good in a (male) military uniform, both have lots of melodrama as the world burns, and both use revolutionary Paris as their location, just for Versailles it's 1789 and for Isabelle it's 1870. Both even feature a vigilante figure wearing a domino mask.
Do you want a strong female protagonist, a great story and good characters? Well both are excellent choises. VnB is located at the time of the famous French revolution is a classic shoujo that has marked generations. A beautiful story about tragedies, passion and a woman's struggle for freedom. Akatsuki no Yona is the journey of a fragile spoiled princess who saw her world fall and her incredible development as she faces her destiny head-on to become a great leader and warrior. Two works of different generations but that manage to deliver a beautiful material of quality. Watch and you will not regret it.
Hanasakeru Seishounen (HsS) is actually adapted from a fairly old Shoujo manga. The Rose of Versailles (RoV) is an older classic of the same genre. While the former is set in modern times, it involves royal political struggles and revolution of a fictional country. This is obviously similar to French revolution, the main setting of RoV.
The main characters in both shows are strong-willed and charismatic females (Kajika in HsS and Oscar in RoV) destined to play important roles in their respective eras. In addition, the developments of romance bear some similarity in how the MCs learn about their true love.
RoV is more of an epic historical drama (which is inevitably more tragic), while HsS contains more romance and has a happier tone. read more
Both are classic shows and deal with old fashioned politics and themes of war. Berserk however is told from a completely different perspective and has a lot of supernatural elements involved.
Although Les Miserables begins in a usual WMT manner, midway into the series the Rose of Versailles influences and comparisons start pouring in at full force. For starters the story of LM takes place shortly after the French Revolution, which as you could obviously guess was not magic that fixed things overnight... Paris was still a wreck. While RoV typically put you into the shoes of the higher classes and rich, showcasing the twisted politics of an aristocracy, it did depict the lower classes at times but not nearly as often as LM did which was pretty much for the entire second half of the series. There's also a dash of romances and forbidden romances to an extent in both. Chances are if you like RoV you should really check out all things WMT, and these two in particular have a lot in common with a lot of classic Paris drama. read more
Both are about young queens and their hardships in managing their kingdoms. Rose of Versailles follows Marie Antoinette during the late 18th century in France, while Twelve Kingdoms follows Youko in the kingdom of En, one of twelve kingdoms in a mysterious land separate from the world we know. There is a fair amount of court politics and oppression of the lower class in both.
While the main theme of these two series is considerably different they both take place in Pre-Industrial France and cover their respective time periods with some historical accuracy. In both there is the theme of social injustice and the scars it leaves on people. There is plenty of drama in these series and the artwork invokes an old school ambience that is very similar. Furthermore, both deal with forbidden loves; Rose of Versailles deals with class differences while Song deals with the growing romantic attachment between two boys. These are bittersweet anime through and through. RoV focuses both on political aspects as well as individual conflicts with plenty of history, and Song deals almost exclusively with the tortuous relationship between the two main characters in a very slow paced and poignant manner.
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If you like one of these shows, you're going to love the other. It's really as simple as that. Both are French novel adaptations flawlessly brought to life in anime form by director Osamu Dezaki. I could praise him endlessly but the entire staff for both shows deserves a medal or two. Both shows retain a very serious tone and can be pretty melodramatic, with RoV diving a bit more into romances whereas Remi is more of a somber adventure following his everyday life as he barely gets by. The art and music in both are very high quality if you're into old stuff (honestly look better than a handful of 80's shows I've seen). I'll just stop there though, simply enough these are absolute masterpieces from Dezaki. Must see for both. read more
Another series by the same director, Tadao Nagahama. Both shows share the major theme of revolution, and both feature plenty of melodrama, swordfights, horses, frilly dresses and crying.
Besides the historical reference there is a striking similarity between the characters of Aramis (Anime Sanjushi) and Oscar (Rose of Versailles). Anime Sanjushi however gears on a light-hearted and melo-dramatic road than ROV's tragic landscape. Both anime are also focused in serving the royalties.
Both stories take places in history and have some well-known historical characters. Both main characters are strong willed woman who pretend to be a man (not all the time though).
Both are set in France around the same time and the main characters are both girls who know how to handle an épée. The Rose of Versailles is more historically correct though and its success was the main reason for "La seine no hoshi" being produced in the first place. So if you like this series, you should definitely check out The Rose of Versailles as well ^^
The anime have different vibes but one common factor is that both the main characters are women who are of noble origin, that carry around swords who find themselves realizing how evil the nobility really are.
