Le Chevalier D'Eon

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the anime series based on a historical figure. For the actual person, see Chevalier d'Éon.
Le Chevalier D'Eon
ADV Films
シュヴァリエ
(Shuvarie)
Genre
Created byTow Ubukata, Production I.G
Anime television series
Directed by
Animax Asia
  • US: Anime Network
  • ZA: Animax
    • Original run August 19, 2006 – February 2, 2007
    Episodes24 (List of episodes)
    Manga
    Written by
    Magazine Z
    DemographicSeinen
    Original runJanuary 26, 2005 – November 26, 2008
    Volumes8

    Le Chevalier D'Eon (

    Louis XV.[3]

    Le Chevalier D'Eon was originally licensed to the North American market by

    ADV Films,[5] but it became one of over thirty titles transferred from ADV Films to Funimation in 2008.[6]

    Plot

    See also: List of Le Chevalier D'Eon characters and List of Le Chevalier D'Eon episodes

    The story begins in Paris 1742, when the body of a woman named Lia de Beaumont is found in a casket floating along the

    Louis XV
    , takes it upon himself to investigate his sister's mysterious death, along with the strange disappearances of a number of French women. By order of the King of France, he is to recover the Royal Psalms which is linked to the mysterious death of his sister and the case of the missing women. At the beginning of his journey to find the Royal Psalms, he is accompanied by a young boy named Robin, appointed to him by the Queen, a gentleman named Durand, who is an old colleague of his sister, and his old master, Teillagory. The four musketeers traverse across France, Russia, and England trying to get closer to the truth and the Royal Psalms. However, it is soon known to them that a fifth member is in their party. Loyalties are tested as they usher further down the path of the Royal Psalms.

    Themes

    The spirit of determination to live through tragedy by transforming contradiction into a new set of values—instead of letting it ruin you.

    — Tow Ubukata, creator[8]

    The series' themes center around

    18th-century France, which Ubukata believes to have resulted in a new set of cultural traditions as well as several tragedies. According to him, "the problems stemmed from the fact that no one knew exactly which ideas would lead to greater happiness. In a word, they were forced to live under the burden of contradiction." This is what made the Chevalier d'Eon a "fitting figure to cast as protagonist" because he embodied all of the contradictions of that time period, which Ubukata lists as "Wealth and poverty, faith and heresy, diplomacy and conspiracy, king and commoner, even the devastation of war and the flowering of culture." Ubukata also used this theme in conceptualizing the use of psalms as "dark magic". He said that he "hoped that the irony of using the abstract idea of 'prayers to God' to describe evil would be seen as equally tragic by people of many different faiths and religions."[8]

    Production

    Creation and conception

    toi8 of Studio 4°C was initially asked to work on the series' character designs, but the job was passed on to his wife, Tomomi Ozaki, due to time constraints. According to Ozaki, director Kazuhiro Furuhashi requested that the characters "should not look like manga characters or too real; and not too anime-like," and that he wanted the designs to be faithful to historical details. Ozaki sometimes referred to historical portraits from the series' time period as reference for her designs, as well as actors in Western films, mentioning that she referred to Brigitte Bardot's hairstyles while designing Anna Rochefort's hairstyles, and used Brad Pitt as the reference for Durand.[9]

    Writing

    When we work on a series, we often scrape off unwanted aspects of each character as the series progress and the characters develop because we gradually realize the main qualities of each of them. For Le Chevalier D'Eon, I think we almost never removed any content from the main characters' resumes that was set at the start. I feel we were able to keep the intended atmosphere of a cathartic drama of people who were and were not loyal to their country 'on the eve of the French Revolution.' We stayed true to the plot given to us initially and I feel we actually added depth to it.

    — Shotaro Suga, scriptwriter[10]

    Scriptwriter

    Casshern) were by first-time directors. He described the script readings for Le Chevalier D'Eon as "ever more intense" than his previous projects, and that they all "kept on debating to scrutinize each and every detail." Chief writer Yasuyuki Muto noted that their script meetings lasted as long as twelve hours.[11]

    Muto was in charge of the script for eleven out of the twenty-four episodes.[11] Ubukata and Furuhashi provided the ideas for the episodes, which the writing staff then adapted into the scripts. "Director Furuhashi as well as Ubukata-san, who is a novelist, both put a lot of weight on the dialogues", Muto said. Suga commented that "[c]ompared to other works, the script for Le Chevalier D'Eon is enormous", noting that one episode had a one hundred-page script.[10] Muto noted that their main focus while writing was the "...'emotion' of each character". Muto was present during the productions' post-recording sessions, primarily because he believed that it would be easier for the staff to have a writer on-hand in case problems arose during recordings.[11]

    According to Furuhashi, the script for the series took about roughly ten months to complete, and that thanks to their collaboration with a novelist (Ubukata), the script contained 30 to 40 percent more information than a regular television script.[12]

    Design and animation

    Art director Hiroshi Ono stated that he initially could not make up his mind whether to work on this project or not, saying "The information they gave me was enough to see that this was not going to be a straightforward job. The story takes place in Versailles and stretches from France to Russia and England. This means that you can't reuse the same background elements throughout the series, and instead you have to create new ones for each episode. Traveling stories are always the most difficult projects of all." Ono was responsible for the background designs used in the series, and he used photographs and classical paintings as references.

    Hall of Mirrors.[14]

    toi8 of Studio 4°C took on the role of designing the weapons and props for the series. He utilized different reference materials for his designs, saying that he "relied on images in books and on the web" as well as films such as Fanfan la Tulipe and The Affair of the Necklace.[15] toi8 was initially asked to work on the series' character designs, but the job was passed on to Tomomi Ozaki due to time constraints.

    Ozaki noted that Furuhashi requested that the characters "should not look like manga characters or too real; and not too anime-like," and that he wanted the designs to be faithful to historical details. She said that she sometimes referred to historical portraits from the series' time period as reference for her designs, and also cited specific sources for her designs. "For Anna's hair, I imaged

    Mask of Zorro was my model for Teillagory", she said.[9]

    The color schemes for the characters were decided upon by color designer Idumi Hirose. Due to the constant changes in time and location throughout the series, Hirose said that they sometimes had to use 20 to 30 different color schemes for each character in a single episode. Furuhashi requested that the "color trace" method, a coloring method wherein the solid black outlines are replaced by colored outlines, be used on the clothing of aristocratic female characters.[16]

    Music

    Composer

    Michiru Oshima stated that this is "the first time in years" that she was given the chance to compose pieces that were "very classical". She stated that while she was composing the music for the series, she was "consciously trying to add depth that's typical of European classical music", and that she believed that orchestral pieces suited the series well because the characters "are all serious and weighty."[17]

    The song "BORN", composed and performed by

    Aya), which is also used for all twenty-four episodes, was specially composed for the project. Aya stated that she drew inspiration from the first illustration she was shown, which was of "D'Eon, splattered with the blood of his victim, [walking] in the burning city of Paris holding Lia's hands."[18]

    Media

    See also: List of Le Chevalier D'Eon episodes
    The cover of volume 1 of the Le Chevalier D'Eon manga. Artwork by Kiriko Yumeji.

    Le Chevalier D'Eon was initially developed as a cross-media project that would be simultaneously released in novel, manga, and anime format. The three different mediums each presented a different interpretation of the Ubukata's story and protagonist, but he said that "each version complements the others."[8]

    Releases

    Le Chevalier D'Eon aired in Japan on

    WOWOW from August 19, 2006, to February 2, 2007.[3] Animax also aired the series in Japan as well as its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in Southeast Asia and India.[19][20] The first episode of the series was also screened at the Ottawa International Animation Festival in September 2006.[21]

    As of October 2007, Media Factory released the series in DVD format in Japan with twelve volumes that contained two episodes each.[22] The series was originally licensed in North America by ADV Films,[5] but the rights to the series were transferred over to Funimation in 2008, along with the rights to several other anime series.[6] ADV Films released the series in six DVD volumes with four episodes as of December 2007.[23] In December 2008, Funimation released a complete box set of the series DVDs, which contains all the episodes in four discs. The first two discs contain commentaries along with some of the series' episodes, and an additional disc with extra content such as promotional videos and interviews with the original Japanese cast is also included.[24] On December 1, 2009, Funimation released a DVD set containing all 24 episodes in the North America.

    Manga

    The manga, illustrated by Kiriko Yumeji and written by Tow Ubukata, features a story that is almost entirely different from the anime series. It is described by Ubukata as "a humorous attempt at combining D'Eon de Beaumont, eighteenth-century France, and a superhero story".[25] The story focuses on D'Eon de Beaumont, a police officer who is also a member of King Louis XV's Secret Police (Le Secret du Roi), and his dealings with a cult that sacrifices virgins for their rituals.

    The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Magazine Z and has been released in eight tankōbon volumes, with the first volume having been published in October 2005[26] and the latest volume in September 2008.[27] Del Rey published the first volume of the manga in the United States on June 26, 2007,[28][29] and has released all eight volumes as of July 27, 2010.[30] Kodansha USA have licensed the manga and are releasing it digitally.

    Soundtrack

    The series' soundtrack was released by

    BMG Japan (now known as Sony BMG) on November 22, 2006. The soundtrack features twenty-eight tracks of background music used in the series as well as the short versions of the opening and ending themes.[31]

    Critical reception

    Critics praised Le Chevalier D'Eon for its art design and animation. Tasha Robinson of

    Gankutsuou, describing both series as "heavily talky yet fast-moving enough to be confusing."[32] Martin praised the series' pacing, saying that it is "one of the true keys to the quality of this series".[33]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ a b "Spring 2007 Trade Paperbacks: Graphic Novels". Publishers Weekly. January 22, 2007. Archived from the original on November 23, 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020. [Le Chevalier D'eon] by Kiriko Yumeji and Tou Ubukata is a dark fantasy thriller with action, glamour and goth appeal.
    2. ^ Jones, Tim. "Le Chevalier D'Eon". THEM Anime Reviews. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
    3. ^ a b c "Le Chevalier D'Eon". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
    4. ^ シュヴァリエ 講談社コミックプラス (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on 2009-04-09. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
    5. ^ a b Bell, Ryan (November 3, 2006). "ADV Snags Le Chevalier D'Eon". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
    6. ^ a b "FUNimation Entertainment Awarded Rights to Titles Previously Held by AD Vision". Anime News Network. July 4, 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
    7. ^ "Le Chevalier D'Eon". Archived from the original on 2007-10-22. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
    8. ^
      Newtype USA
      , pp. 26–31
    9. ^ a b "Les 24 Chevaliers Part X: Tomomi Ozaki (Character Design)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    10. ^ a b "Les 24 Chevaliers Part III: Shotaro Suga (Scriptwriter)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    11. ^ a b c "Les 24 Chevaliers Part V: Yasuyuki Muto (Chief Writer) first half". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    12. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part XXIV: Kazuhiro Furuhashi (Director) (01)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2011-10-05.
    13. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part XI: Hiroshi Ono (Art Director)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    14. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part XVII: Makoto Endo (3D Director)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
    15. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part IX: toi8 (Prop Design)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    16. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part XIII: Idumi Hirose (Color Setting)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
    17. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part IV: Michiru Oshima (Music Composer)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    18. ^ "Les 24 Chevaliers Part VII: Aya (Singer)". Production I.G. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
    19. ^ "Synopsis for LE CHEVALIER D'EON". Animax Asia. Archived from the original on 2008-01-13. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
    20. ^ "Synopsis for LE CHEVALIER D'EON". Animax India. Archived from the original on 2008-01-30. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
    21. ^ "Ottawa 06 International Animation Festival". Ottawa International Animation Festival. 2006. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
    22. ^ "シュヴァリエ livre 12" (in Japanese). Media Factory. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
    23. ^ Beveridge, Chris (December 17, 2007). "Le Chevalier D'Eon Vol. #6". Mania.com. Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
    24. ^ Gaudette, Paul (February 27, 2009). "Le Chevalier D'Eon Box Set". Mania.com. Archived from the original on January 1, 2015. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
    25. ISBN 978-0-345-49622-5
      .
    26. ^ シュヴァリエ(1) (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
    27. ^ シュヴァリエ(8) <完> (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
    28. ^ "DEL REY MANGA NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER 2006". Del Rey Online. October 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-07.
    29. ^ "Le Chevalier d'Eon 1". Del Rey Manga. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
    30. ^ "Le Chevalier d'Eon 8". Del Rey Manga. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
    31. ^ "Sony Music Online Japan : サウンドトラック" (in Japanese). Sony BMG. Retrieved 2009-06-06.
    32. ^ a b Robinson, Tasha (March 20, 2007). "Le Chevalier D'Eon". SciFi.com. Retrieved 2009-05-13. [dead link]
    33. ^ a b Martin, Theron (February 5, 2007). "Le Chevalier D'Eon DVD 1". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2009-05-13.
    34. ^ Beveridge, Chris (February 20, 2007). "Le Chevalier D'Eon Vol. #1". Mania.com. Archived from the original on October 1, 2012. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
    35. fps magazine. Archived from the original
      on 2008-12-08. Retrieved 2009-05-14.

    Further reading

    External links

    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Le_Chevalier_D%27Eon&oldid=1205287018"