The Rose of Versailles, Part 1

Anyone who is looking for a perfect example of why anime films and series are not “just cartoons” should check out this fabulous epic about Oscar, a young girl raised by her father to be a soldier in the palace guard in the court of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The series, released in Japan in 1972, has a throwback, hand drawn look that really compliments the storytelling, and the attention to detail in both the interior and exterior scenes is the equal of any Broadway or Hollywood set designer. The characters are well designed and the scripts very well written. It’s a solid story, but there are moments of true visual flair that raise it to the level of real art.