Lady Oscar Révolution française, manga et série animée de masse

Ikeda triumphs with The Rose of Versailles. The mangaka establishes the figure of a female transvestite and tackles the issue of gender in the shôjo manga. It follows the path of Oscar François de Jarjayes, a young woman raised as a boy who becomes Captain in the royal guard of Louis XIV. She is in charge of the protection of Marie-Antoinette and has to face the French Revolution. The manga is adapted for television along with Lady Oscar. The 40 episode cartoon is made by Tokyo-Movie-Shinsha and first broadcasted in 1979 arriving in France six years later. The study of the last 9 episodes, which are devoted to the prelude and the beginnings of the Revolution, allows for an examination of the construction of the revolutionary narrative as well as its animated representation, by measuring the place given to the erudite culture and to the people’s images. A vehicle for mass culture, the animated manga Lady Oscar takes part in the creation of a true people’s culture of the French Revolution in France and abroad.