The Rose of Versailles (with Erica Friedman)

Shojo & Tell: A Manga Podcast

Covers all 10 volumes plus the 10th anniversary side stories of The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda (that's the five omnibus volumes released by Udon!)

It's hard to overstate how significant The Rose of Versailles is to the history of shojo manga and beyond. In this episode about Riyoko Ikeda's masterpiece, Erica Friedman, the editor of the English edition of the series, details the legacy of Oscar François de Jarjayes, the ultimate girl prince. Erica answers listener questions about the localization, plus she and Ashley dive into the series' queerness (despite not being about gender or sexuality), how historically accurate it is to the events of the French Revolution (immensely), and much more. We hope you're as delighted as we are to finally be able to read this iconic series legally, in gorgeous English editions.

REFERENCES

• The Rose of Versailles manga is available physically in omnibuses from Udon Entertainment
• The Rose of Versailles anime is available from Discotek. (But you have to watch the Dear Brother anime first.)
• Ikeda is part of the legendary Magnificent 49ers group of manga artists
• Erica's book, By Your Side, will be coming out in 2022. It's about the history of yuri manga.
• Other great folks who worked on the English edition of The Rose of Versailles:
  • Erik Ko (head of Udon)
  • Mari Morimoto (translator)
  • Jocelyne Allen (translator)
• The first Girl Prince was Sapphire in Osamu Tezuka's Princess Knight (available in English from Kodansha)
  • Erica's equation on manga legends: If Osamu Tezuka is the god of manga, then Riyoko Ikeda is the goddess of manga, and Go Nagai is the creepy uncle
• Now you know why Sarasa is always saying she wants to play Oscar in Kageki Shojo!!
  • The Rose of Versailles is important to the Takarazuka Revue
• Legacy of girl princes:
  • Utena in Revolutionary Girl Utena
  • Haruka Tenou from Sailor Moon
• Redacted letters between Marie-Antoinette and Axel von Fersen were recently decoded
• Historian Evelyn Farr has a great video on Marie-Antoinette and Fersen
• One of the Lulu stories is based off Elizabeth Báthory
• Miscellaneous mentions:
  • ALA list of great graphic novels for teens
  • The Heart of Thomas
  • Flower Stories
  • Revue Starlight
  • Babylon 5 reboot
  • Other Ikeda work: Claudine
• Mangasplaining is another good manga podcast
• Outro song: "The Streatham Hill Gods" by Danosongs

CONTACT US

• Erica's Yuricon site: https://okazu.yuricon.com/
• Erica on Twitter: @OkazuYuri
• Shojo & Tell on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram
• Ashley on Twitter: @AshMcD00