Le Chevalier d’Eon Review - 91/100
Le Chevalier d’Eon tells the brilliant story of the years before the French Revolution, during the reign of Louis XV in a setting with fantasy-elements. It follows d’Eon de Beaumont, a chevalier in service of the king (hence the title), who suddenly discovers the death of his famous sister, whom he admired.
If you’re interested in politics, realism, cross-dressers, historical anime, battle tactics or compassionate characters, then look no further as Chevalier brings a compelling combination of these elements. The storyline is incredibly detailed. Characters act because of complex reasons, and in most of the cases these reasons are explained as well. Through the course of the anime, the countries of France, England and Russia show a bit of their political system they used during the timeline in which the series takes place. And some of the characters get fleshed out incredibly well.
The second half of this series is a pure delight because of this. Starting from episode 15, there isn’t even one bad episode, and each one delivers, with four or five absolutely amazing episodes. Unfortunately, though, the first half is just too slow at times, and it spends perhaps a bit too long on building up. There are a few climaxes, but they weren’t really that special when compared to the second half, and I can imagine that they cost this anime quite an amount of viewers because of it.
The music is good, but forgettable. The graphics however, shine. Not literally, but characters are drawn incredibly detailed, and they’re greatly animated. Battle-scenes also are greatly choreographed as well. But the thing that really made this anime was its cast of characters. I probably won’t be able to forget the charming Durand soon, or the naive Robin, or the knightly Teillagory. Each of them was so worth to watch. It’s a shame you don’t hear so much about this anime, as it’s really the highlight of last year’s summer-season.
while I can’t agree with your ranking, your comments were entertaining and must have taken a lot work to come up with this list. ^_^
Comment by wrex — April 30, 2007 @ 14:54
I to fhinsihed the series (I haven’t fhinsihed blogging all of it yet) and thought it was one of the better shows that have come out recently. I’m surprised you didn’t mention Maximilien Robespierre in the charaters you liked from the show. I also thought that the ending of the show was nicely handled, considering most anime shows have medoicore ending, generally.
Comment by NyanNyan — May 1, 2007 @ 10:50
I indeed loved Robespierre, but I decided to omit him for the sake of spoilers. His whole existance in this anime has a huge meaning behind it, and I thought it would be better for the people who read this review to find that out themselves. And yes, the ending was a beauty. :)
Comment by psgels — May 1, 2007 @ 14:40
I disagree with the conclusion about the characters. I for one was quite disappointed in the lack of development for the characters in ways I can’t quite put my finger on, but they were there. I think that it stands in a poor directional sense, where the characters didn’t develop relationships or trust satisfactorily; it was just assumed to be there by proximity. No doubt, this is a gorgeous series, but I felt let down by this aspect.
Comment by Toby — May 14, 2007 @ 0:05
That might be an interesting anime to watch, since I’m French, but I think Japanese pronunciation of French names is going to kill me ^^’. It’s always fun to see historical figures in anime (Does Robespierre get beheaded in the anime ? I remember learning about him at school)
Comment by Elthyra — June 22, 2007 @ 8:34
Well, from what I can remember, the voice actors pronounced the French names decently. Especially when compared with an other anime set in france: Les Miserables. I can’t really say much about Robespierre without getting into spoilers, by the way. All I can say is that he’s got a great backstory.
Comment by psgels — June 22, 2007 @ 8:44
I LOVE DURAND
Comment by PChan — June 9, 2008 @ 2:21
I agree with everything you’ve said about Le Chevalier D’Eon, it does get slow in the beginning. The characters all have something to love about them, from the Cagliastro to Broglie, why, even the carriage drivers that appeared in episodes 5-8! The fight scenes were one of my favorite things, especialy the one between Durand and Teillagory! It was so well animated, you could see some of Durand’s expressions, definately something you would expect if that fight were reality.
Comment by eva — June 23, 2008 @ 7:13
how can you imbeciles like that idiot Robespierre? he’s the reason durand died dummies
Comment by ken — September 30, 2009 @ 2:59
this is the one of best anime . great story with great music .i agree it is slow during first half . there is no such hero or heroine in whole series . for me it is one of best anime after naruto and fullmetal alchemist
Comment by parasbhanot — October 12, 2009 @ 9:36