Le Chevalier D’eon: Livre II

Reviewed By: Carla Land

ADV Films DVD

Review based on volume 2 (episodes 5-8)

Rating TV-14

What it’s (basically) all about:  The story of D’eon and his search for his sister’s murderer in pre-Revolution France continues. He and his three (four if you count his sister Lia’s soul) companions must travel to Russia to find the answers that have alluded them in France, namely, who are these Poets and why do they have creepy magical powers? The intrigue and cross dressing grow ever more as D’eon tries to find out who his sister really was and what she was doing before her death.

Nitty Gritty: Much the same as the previous volume (reviewed here), Le Chevalier D’eon volume two has beautiful animation and an interesting story line. D’eon grows more accepting of his sister using his body as a vessel for her soul, and he gets closer to finding out the answers he is seeking. There are two occasions where he dons his sister’s clothes (once to contact her spirit, once to attend a masquerade ball), but neither of these instances seem to compare to the true story of D’eon de Beaumont as chronicled in the special features on disk 1.

Language is still tame, and the violence is still pretty prime time, although the gargoyles (people and animals controlled by others via use of mercury and magic) are on the disturbing side, especially when they are bleeding mercury out of their eyes like silvery tears. In episode seven there is stylized nudity (a female poet has Psalms written all over her body) and in episode eight we see a woman in the bathtub, hiding from her abusive and drunken husband.

Special features include historical notes (lots of reading here), Crossed Swords and Cross Dressing: a Photographic Profile (pictures of David Matranga and Taylor Hansen, the voices of D’eon and Lia, in drag), Conversations with the Knights (commentary with director and actor John Swasey- some foul language used), Royal Mystique (commentary with actress who plays the Queen of France, also some foul language used), Japanese promo event footage (subbed), and clean opening and closing animation. Previews included are for Kurau Phantom Memory, Guyver, Utawarerumono, Samurai Gun (this one is pretty violent), Gilgamesh, and Coyote Ragtime Show.  The disk opens with a new promo for the Anime Network and a familiar one for Newtype-USA.

Survey says: Adult collections. This series is rated TV 14 for the violence, but I don’t think it’s that bad. Even the brief stylized nudity isn’t enough to keep this out of teen collections. In fact, the only reason I really think this title belongs in adult collections is that the director has a tendency to use bad language on the commentaries that I know most libraries would keep out of their teen collections.

Personal Ad: I really, really, love this series. It’s masterfully done, and interesting, and the characters are complex and real, in spite of all the supernatural elements around them. I highly recommend this anime to people to illustrate how anime isn’t just about “big eyes and robots.”