Le Chevalier D'Eon: Book 2

Introduction

One of the finest pleasures to be had with a decent anime show is to buy all the volumes at the same time, and just marathon the series. There's none of that faffing around with release schedules, waiting a couple of months for the next instalment, and desperately trying to remember what happened previously without having to watch the disc again. But, marathoning and then reviewing a series is a different kettle of fish, especially as with Le Chevalier D'Eon, there are six volumes to write about, and not a single, convenient boxset. It means coming up with six of my usual meandering intros to a review in rapid succession, and believe me, it's harder than it looks. I'm resorting to being self-referential, and it's only the second volume.

For d'Eon de Beaumont, it should have been the culmination of his ascension to the highest levels of nobility, but the day he was elevated to the Royal Court at Versailles, was the day that his sister Lia's body was fished out of the river, in a coffin with the word Psalms daubed on the lid in blood. Since then, he's spent more time away from the court than not, searching for his sister's murderers, haunting the Paris back alleys, and prowling the city streets at night. But his investigation leads to a dark conspiracy indeed, one that reaches to the highest levels of European royalty, involving the invocation of dark and mysterious powers by arcane spell-casting Poets. Fortunately, d'Eon is not alone, he has allies, and chief among them is Lia's soul. She's come back from the dead to avenge her murder, although to do so she has to possess her younger brother's body.

The next four episodes are presented on this disc from ADV.


5. Palais - Royal
It's Easter and amidst all the festivities, word comes in that the Russian spy Vorontsov is planning to meet with a tailor that evening. It's a chance to finally arrest and question him, but Robin reminds d'Eon that he has other responsibilities. He needs to mend his relationship with fiancée Anna, one of the Queen's servants, after neglecting her in his single-minded pursuit of Lia's killers. But it turns out that the Vorontsov tip is a diversion, and he's actually using the hubbub to make his escape to Le Havre, and a fast ship. While the Four Musketeers, d'Eon, Teillagory, Durand, and Robin pursue him, the King decides to put a stop to his uncle the Duke of Orleans' scheming.

6. Knights of the King
D'Eon and his fellow knights have been relieved of their duty to Le Secret du Roi. D'Eon's ire is curtailed when he is told that it's a euphemism for certain death. They are to be sent on a potential suicide mission to Russia to apprehend Vorontsov and further investigate the conspiracy darkening the Royal family. Before they leave for St Petersburg, they have a chance to say their goodbyes and settle their affairs. For d'Eon it means finally facing his sister's spirit, and coming to terms with hosting her vengeful soul. But Lia also has a sinister message regarding a traitor to France at the highest levels of the king's court.


7. Gargoyles
On her mission to Russia, Lia saved the life of Empress Elizaveta by preventing an assassination. The hope is that the Empress will be amenable enough to grant Lia's brother an audience, and allow them to retrieve the Royal Psalms that were stolen from Versailles. But on reaching Cologne, the midpoint of their journey, they begin to appreciate the odds stacked against them. The progressive faction, the Poets can communicate instantaneously, and forces in Cologne have been alerted to their arrival. Count Cagliostro and his Poet companion Lorenza have unleashed a pack of gargoyles against them, and the first thing that d'Eon and his comrades must do when they arrive in Cologne, is flee.

8. An Audience With the Empress
The Four Musketeers arrive in St Petersburg and into uncertainty. They can't be certain if Empress Elizaveta will be amenable to their request for audience, or even if she is aware of and complicit in Vorontsov's actions. They also need to be discreet about the way they approach her, and masquerading as jewel merchants to an Empress that is obsessed with jewels may not be the most prudent way. They get their chance at a masquerade ball, which requires its guests to dress as the opposite sex. So it is that d'Eon and Robin go to the ball while Durand and Teillagory wait outside in a fast carriage. But trouble has followed them to St Petersburg; Comte de Cagliostro has arrived to continue the hunt. Meanwhile Crown Prince Pyotr plots the assassination of the Empress.

Picture

The 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is clear and sharp, although there is the usual smidgen of NTSC-PAL conversion issues to put up with. It's nowhere near as bad as it could be though, and by and large this is in the top range of anime transfers. It needs to be good, as it's a Production IG animation, with all the attention to detail and reputation for excellence that implies. The character designs are realistic rather than stylised, the costume designs are astounding, and Europe of the eighteenth century is brought to vivid life. The final result is a very high budget look. The animation is top-notch as well; it's worth seeing some of the fencing sequences as an example of the research and veracity.

Sound

You have a choice of DD 5.1 English and Japanese soundtracks, along with an optional translated English subtitle track, or simple signs to accompany the English track (The signs more often than not translate French text onscreen, not Japanese in this case). The surround is very impressive, certainly working well in the action sequences, and also conveying the orchestral music with a suitable level of grandeur. My choice as always was for the Japanese track, but from what I sampled of the English dub it is exceptional, well cast and well performed. The 5.1 Surround is also a tad more expressive in the English dub, so that may swing it if you waver over which language to listen in.

Extras

This has character designs and info for Durand and Robin printed on the inside of the Amaray cover.

The booklet, entitled Chapter 2 runs to 16 pages, and offers Teillagory's character design and some info. There is a look at the all-important rosary, a glossary of key words used in the show, an interview with creator Tow Ubukata, and part two of a prequel side story presented in the form of a script.

On the disc you'll find two commentaries. The Royal Mystique: Commentary with the Royal Women of Le Chevalier accompanies episode 6. It's more of an audio interview, and ADR Director Steven Foster talks first to Donna Hannah (Queen Marie), and then Shelley Calene Black (Madame Pompadour), about the show and their careers. The second commentary is Conversations with Knights: Commentary with the Swordsmen of Le Chevalier, and sees Steven Foster talking with John Swasey (Teillagory) about the show and the sport of fencing. Once again, be aware of some profanity in these commentary tracks.

Crossed Swords & Cross-Dressing is a 4-minute photo slideshow, which sees voice actors Taylor Hannah (Lia), and David Matranga (D'Eon), getting their cosplay on.


The Japanese Promo event lasts 17 minutes, and presents the creators and Japanese voice cast to the world to field some questions and indulge in a little mutual backslapping.

The Historical Notes offer the truth behind the fiction, giving a glimpse at the setting of the story, as well as some of the real life characters that get fictionalised in it. There are 8 articles to read, compiled with the aid of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Wikipedia. There's a look at what was happening in the rest of the world at the time of this story, as well as a series of biographies of all the King Louies (except the king of the swingers). These notes are far more comprehensive than you would expect for a few text pages on a DVD.

You'll find the Japanese promo video for the show, the Japanese trailer, the clean credit sequences, trailers for Pani Poni Dash, Jinki Extend, Shadow Skill, and This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, as well as a preview for Volume 3 of Le Chevalier D'Eon.

The disc gets the usual animated menus, in this case very evocative and well accomplished, as well as the usual jacket picture.

Conclusion

The first volume of Le Chevalier D'Eon was very much a case of being thrown in at the deep end, and being bombarded with plenty of story developments happening in all aspects of the show, while introducing several characters whose motivations and ambitions remained ambiguous. Trying to get to grips with what the story was about and the direction it would take was like trying to hold onto air with your bare hands. It was a case of trusting that the show's creators at least knew what they were doing, and instead marvelling at how beautiful it all looked. With this second volume, the production values remain just as high, but the show seems to find direction, and the pace of the story picks up momentum. The ultimate goal and the characters are just as ambiguous as before, but they continue to develop, and new facets of the story continue to be revealed. The pieces of the puzzle start coming together and there is a lot more satisfaction to be had from this volume.


It's still a visually striking show, and the attention to detail and the intricacy of the animation still astounds. This is a story set at the highest levels of European aristocracy, and the animators seem to take perverse delight in making more work for themselves, creating lavish palaces, the finest of clothing, while administering little touches like reflections in windows, distortions through glass that all make the experience as rich as possible. This volume sees the Cathedral at Cologne under construction, as well as the Russian palaces in St Petersburg. It's topped off with a masquerade ball that must have up to fifty characters on screen at one point, all individually designed and costumed.


The story starts to make sense at this point, and it's surprisingly closely tied in to actual historical events, the precursors to the inevitable French Revolution. There are two powers fighting for control of the monarchy, the progressive faction and the conservative faction. The conservatives are the protagonists of the story, the king and his court who wish to maintain the status quo and the greatness of France. The progressive faction wants to change society, which means replacing the head of state. The fiction comes in with their methods, with the Poets' invocation of the occult, and arcane biblical texts to in essence effect magic, creating Gargoyles and as we learn communicate instantaneously across vast distances. The conservatives aren't beyond such means and methods, with Lia's soul inhabiting d'Eon's body the obvious example. At the same time Queen Marie has her own curious confidante, a skull named Belle who advises her.


It turns out that this power struggle isn't confined to Paris alone, as it follows the four men as they head for Russia, and they find it has preceded them there, where it is being played out in the Empress' court, and we also meet another member of the progressive faction, Robespierre. Le Chevalier certainly picks up the historical personages as it creates its intricate fiction.


I still have no idea in which direction Le Chevalier D'Eon is heading, but I'm more than happy to hop on for the ride now. The high level of writing and the sheer complexity of the characters make this show an unrivalled anime experience. I see that I'm going to have to restrain myself with subsequent volumes, as it is very moreish, the urge to watch just one more episode to see what happens next is almost overwhelming. It's just that it's countered with a desire to take things slowly, to drown in the intricate beauty of the show, and savour the love and attention that's gone into creating it. The seeds have been sown, the foundation laid, the pieces put into play. All that's left now is to see how the story will develop from here, and that is a tantalising prospect indeed.