Le Chevalier d'Eon takes place in feudal France during the reign of Louis XV, when whispers of revolution float through the country. The story begins with a lonely coffin drifting in the great river Seine into Versailles - one word written upon it: "Psalms". Inside is the perfectly preserved body of Lia de Beaumont, a beautiful French diplomat and the older sister of young knight d'Eon de Beaumont.
Torn by his sister death, but sworn to his duties to the king, d'Eon is unable to properly mourn his sister's death. Instead, he continues to work as part of an organization called "Secret du Roi" (The King's Secret), investigating a series of women's disappearances across the country. It revealed that their disappearances are more than what they seem. d'Eon learns that they are linked to his sister's death by the Psalms.
Under orders from the king and accompanied by his four comrades, d'Eon de Beaumont sets out to Russia, the place where his sister was last seen alive, to determine the cause of her death and carry out his sister's work, involving a book containing the "Psalms of the King", in hopes of allowing her wandering soul to rest in peace.
As they delve deeper, they discover the shocking truth that lies behind and that the mystical power of the Psalms will determine the future of beloved France forever.
By: kukuru
Story & Characters
This anime is based on Tow Ubukata's historical fantasy novel of the same title. The novel has also been made into a
manga (currently at 5 volumes) by Kiriko Yumeji and Tow Ubukata.
Story
Le Chevalier d'Eon takes place in feudal France during the reign of Louis XV. This story begins with a lonely coffin
drifting in the great river Seine into Versailles with one word written upon it: 'Psalms'. Inside contains the body of
Lia de Beaumont, a beautiful French diplomat and the older sister of young knight d'Eon de Beaumont. Under orders from
his king and along with his four comrades, d'Eon de Beaumont sets out to Russia, the place where his sister was last
alive to determine the cause of his sister's death and carry out his sister's work in hopes to allow her wandering soul
to rest in peace.
As they continue further into their quest, they discover that the truth lies much deeper that it seems and one mystery
connects to one another like a chain: Who killed his sister? Why was Lia de Beaumont murdered? And what mystery
surrounds the 'Psalms of the Kings?'
----
This story has class. It is rare to find an anime that is set up in a world outside of Japan, never mind a series that
is based during a historical period in time that actually existed. In fact, many of the characters in the show are based
on real life people such as d'Eon de Beaumont, Marquise Pompadour and Louis XV, just to name a few. Granted, the series
is loosely based on the characters and time, but it was certainly enough to
satisfy my love of history and mixing truth with fiction.
The storyline is a little complex - it is not one you can just sit back and take in as such. Having said that, it
certainly is one that keeps you on your toes. The plot is a combination of action, drama and fantasy that moves at a
fitting pace with enough twists thrown in to keep you interested. Everything that occurs in the series has a purpose to
the ultimate end of the show, so it is important to pay attention.
While everything does get resolved in the closing stages, there were a few parts throughout the show that had me a
little confused and required a little forethought on my part to piece together the puzzle (the ending included!). It was
actually something I quite liked about the series because it caused you to think and look from a deeper level. I realize
though, for some people, it may be slightly annoying, and would prefer to have it spelt out clearly.
Characters
Each character in the show had their role to play in the story. I think what I enjoyed most character wise was that
there was no real villain to speak of. Sure, there are 'baddies', but they are realistic: the characters each pursuing
their own goals because they believe what they are doing is right. Sure, sometimes you can't accept why they would do
such a thing when clearly it is morally wrong, and yet on another level you can somewhat understand.
Character development was well done. You see loyal knights struggle with having to face the idea that perhaps serving
someone to whom they've sworn allegiance to is not the right path to take. You see a young boy grow from the horror he
has witnessed and the hard lessons he was forced to learn. You discover the reasoning behind character actions and
reluctantly sympathize with them, or at least see their level of justification.
While I will not delve into summaries of each of the characters, I will say this: each character is not to be taken at
face value; people are not always what they seem.
I am a bit torn between giving this category rating an 8 or 9.
Rating: 9
Art
Background Art
The art literally took my breath away. Unlike any other anime that I have seen, the backgrounds in Le Chevalier d'Eon
are always stunning.
The French lived in quite lavish surroundings and the animators beautifully captured the detail of the era (screen shot
1). From the polished floors showing reflections, to the intricate paintings that lined the palace walls (screen shot
2), or my favorite; the chandeliers that adorned the roof as the characters walked down the halls - not an episode would
go by in which I would not sit mesmerized by the superb art.
Character Design
If I had any complaints it would be this: I wish the characters contained the same amount of detail as their
settings.
[In fact, if the animators had produced had the same level of life in their characters as the backgrounds did I'd be
giving this category an 11 hands down (and I suppose for that the production department would be very broke X-P).]
This is what brings down my rating in this category: because the backgrounds were so magnificent, it caused the
characters to look a bit bland in comparison.
In any case, while character designs were not breath-taking, they were still appropriate (screen shots 3 & 4). Each
character fitted to their design and had their own unique personality. I was also quite pleased to see little details
taken into account, such as later in the series between Lia and d'Eon.
Animation
A wonderful mix of art of CGI: the animation of this anime was executed wonderfully. The sword fighting scenes were
executed well and the use of Psalms had a lovely mystical feel to them. Scenes flowed clean and smoothly, so much so
that at times you felt you were looking at the carriage window with them as the buildings went by. A slightly trippy
effect I must admit because clearly you are not moving, but I liked it all the same.
On a side note: there is one episode where the quartet is seen running on the bridge from a wide shot and they are
blocked by the enemy. In the shot, d'Eon's hair is out of his ponytail. Cut to the close up and it's back in a ponytail.
Perhaps I'm a little picky, but surely the animators could have noticed this as well.
Anyways, it's just a trivial matter and certainly does not affect my overall opinion on the art of the show.
Rating: 9
Sound
Opening and Ending themes
Opening: "BORN" Miwako Okuda
Ending: "OVER NIGHT" Aya
I quite enjoyed them. They are sort of mellow songs that were well chosen to set up the tone of the show. I'm a person
who likes watching the opening and ending themes always, allowing me time to anticipate what is to come, or reflect on
what has happened and I felt they allowed me to do that sufficiently.
Show soundtrack
The show has a lovely soundtrack consisting of stringed instruments playing music well written to suit the mood of the
era. The music is well chosen to complement the scenes in play.
Sound effects were also well done so that little things such as the wheels and clops of hooves during a carriage ride,
or hearing the clang of metal as two swords battled it out helped to further develop the atmosphere of the
show.
Voice acting
Japanese: Although I found d'Eon's voice a little too soft for the character, I was quite pleased with the cast chosen
to portray the characters: Lia gives a sense of strength and commanding and yet still retains her feminine edge; Robin
has the voice of a child who is just stepping into manhood; Maximilian contains that mysterious, seductive edge (which I
felt his character should have ;) ).
Contrast that to the English dub: Slightly irritating. Perhaps I am biased because I started watching it in Japanese and
then watched the dub but even then: d'Eon's voice is too manly (in fact I think if we mixed the two character's voices
together we'd have the perfect voice for d'Eon); Lia's voice is too girly; Robin sounds too manly; Maximilian has next
to no expression... in short I recommend watching this anime in Japanese.
What I would REALLY love to see done to the show is have the characters actually speaking the French language and when
they travel to Russia, speak Russian etc. There was just something about watching a show about the French with Japanese
speaking characters that I think took a little away.
Rating: 9
Presentation
It's been almost a year since I've watched any anime, never mind something new. Nothing really seemed to catch my
interest. I mean sure, I enjoy a good mecha battle or demon battle as much as the next anime lover, even the odd high
school-hero romance; but I longed for something different: I just didn't know what.
Then I was channel flicking one day and landed on episode 11 of a new show entitled "Le Chevalier d'Eon" It
wasn't a particular fantastic episode; middle episodes generally never are - and yet something about it captured my
interest.
To determine whether it was worth watching for the beginning, I hit the net and was met with comments like: 'Fast,
Thrilling: Chevalier is a must have' and 'Hands down, one of the best anime to come out of 2007.' With such glowing
reviews I decided to stick it out - and I tell you I was not disappointed.
While there are some bits which I'm still a little vague on, I'd like to I think of this series like a good book: when
you read it for the second time, you pick up on the bits that you missed the first time round allowing you to see how it
all ties together making the book even better than it was before.
I know that I shall be criticized by rating my review too high, and as I watch more anime my opinion of it may change,
but right now I can honestly say that this is one of the best anime I have ever seen.
Great story, lovely soundtrack, topped off with gorgeous art: there is not much more that one can ask from an anime.
This is a no-nonsense anime. If you're looking for action, drama and suspense mixed in with sorcery and swordplay - then
this anime is for you!
Rating: 10
Final Verdict
9.33 (very good)
Reviewed by Kukuru, Dec 06, 2007
