The Rose of Versailles is an animanga created by Riyoko Ikeda. The series is a historical drama set in the years before and during the French Revolution. The Rose of Versailles focuses primarily on the lives of a handful of characters, but most importantly the two protags, the Queen Marie Antoinette, and our Heroine Oscar François de Jarjayes, who serves as commander of the Royal Guard.

The Story follows Oscar as she goes from the Captain of the Royal Guard and a loyalist monarchist to a vehement leader in the French Revolution. We watch as her overwhelming devotion to the Queen turn into instead, a disgust for how the French Citizens are treated.

My favorite character is Oscar- and just really, how could it not be? Oscar's story of rebellion and justice is not only incredibly beautiful but tragic, and I consider her one of the most heroic characters in fiction to date. Her bravery in the face of adversity and extreme loyalties to her morals is incredibly beautiful and I can't help but adore her character arc...

As someone who lies between male and female, I also relate to Oscar's gender presentation heavily. She's incredibly masculine, yet uses she/her pronouns. She's a woman, despite using terms like handsome and expressing herself like a man. She doesn't fall onto the traditional male/female masculine/feminine spectrum. Rose of Versailles is so fucking beautiful in that sense. They are able to make one of the most beautiful, heartwrenching characters in fiction whilst never dumbing her down to 'she's so much like a man! haha!' or 'such a woman...' instead, she's treated like a real person outside of her gender.

She is not wholly deprived of their femininity, however. Oscar dances in a dress and wants to feel 'romance like a girl' on occasion. I think many masculine presenting individuals are afraid to love, to feel emotion and are afraid to let themselves be seen. Oscar struggles with this herself, not wanting her job as the Captain of the Royal Guard to be lost to her emotions. Yet, since she is human, Oscar feels and it's beautiful.

To be masculine isn't to be emotionless, it has nothing to do with emotion. It's rather how you express that emotion.

As an Utena fan, Oscar and Utena fill the same hole in my heart of "fuck gender, it's knight time now", their queerness is fundemental to who they are, but it is not the only thing that defines them. They are both incredibly brave individuals in the face of oppressing forces.

SPOILERS.

Rose of Versailles ends in a tragedy. Oscar falls, and is buried next to her lover, Andre. While she passed, she died a noble and incredibly brave death. Oscar will forever be in my heart as one of my all time favorite characters- and I am looking forward to the movie coming out in January.