Reference:   Shueisha bunko 2, 315-316 (tankoubon 4);   anime ep.25

 

 Manga

[ After learning of Polignac's plan to marry her to de Guiche, Rosalie runs away.   Worried, Oscar stops by Fersen's house but does not find Rosalie there.   Fersen then asks Oscar to protect Antoinette for his sake.   Sophia, Fersen's sister, enters and is introduced to Oscar.   Oscar then leaves, galloping toward home in the falling snow. ]

Oscar:

{{ Fersen ... Don't you have even the slightest room for me in your heart? Are you just going to let your hopeless love for Lady Antoinette lead you toward destruction? Oh how painful ... Must all human beings yearn and suffer for love all alone? Tell me, André, Rosalie! Will I forget these things someday? * Can I ever give him up?   Can I? }}

 

 Anime

[ The following scene from the anime is not an exact match for the one in the manga, since the anime reorganized the events around Fersen's return to France and eliminated the Sophia character.   I picked it to show how the anime treats Oscar's love for Fersen differently from the manga.   This scene takes place right after Oscar sees Fersen visiting Antoinette after he returned to France. ]

Oscar:

{{ Fersen, oh Fersen. You have returned to the woman who needs you and loves you more than anyone else. After seven years of separation, seven years of suffering ... Oh dear, how lovely this is. I think you're wonderful ... With all my heart, as a woman for the first time. }}

 

Very different indeed!   The manga depicts a more vulnerable Oscar who weeps over her unrequited love.   We get a stronger sense of Oscar's conflict between her personal interest and professional loyalty to Antoinette.

It is also interesting that Oscar calls out to André and Rosalie.   With Rosalie, we know that Oscar knows Rosalie has a crush on her.   So it's understandable that Oscar would think of Rosalie when she finds herself in a similar situation.   But how about André?   I think Oscar senses André's feelings but does not yet realize that such feelings indicate romantic love.   In this way, she is thinking of André as dear friend who commiserates over her troubles, rather than a secret admirer like herself.

In the anime, Oscar appears calmer and more detached.   We don't see or hear much of Oscar expressing her troubles.   This scene is one of those rare ones where Oscar explicitly mentions her feelings.   Yet here she seems to be admiring Fersen's devotion to Antoinette and celebrating her maturing as a woman.   There is no trace of the despondency in the manga.   While it's true that she later cries about her spurned love, I think the anime tones down some of the tragic elements in the manga.   Instead of a monologue, the anime hints at Oscar's conflicted feelings through her swordfights with Fersen and André.   A rather refreshing look at the same story, and fun to watch.

Scenes Index