Bara ou no Sorestsu is a strange reinterpretation of the story of Richard III, loosely inspired by Shakespeare's plays Henry VI parts 1 - 3 and Richard III. (Not sure what it means in the official summary "Based on an early draft of Shakespeare's play." What early draft? I don't think anything like that exists.) It begins when Richard is a child, rejected by his mother as he was born intersex. (I choose to refer to Richard as "he" as he seems to identify as male most of the time) Richard has a great "father-daughter" relationship with his father, whom he adores, but is troubled by visions of Joan of Arc, who represents his feminine nature. a b c d e f g h i j Hazra, Adriana (31 January 2022). "Funimation Reveals Requiem of the Rose King Anime's English Dub Cast". Anime News Network . Retrieved 31 January 2022. a b c d e Pineda, Rafael Antonio (31 October 2021). " Requiem of the Rose King Anime Unveils 4 More Cast Members, January 9 Debut". Anime News Network . Retrieved 1 November 2021. Edward, now king, enlists Richard to guard the secret of his affair with Elizabeth Woodville. Alone in the woods, Richard has an unexpected encounter that raises unsettling questions.

Pineda, Rafael Antonio (7 June 2021). "Aya Kanno Finishes Storyboard for Final Chapter of Requiem of the Rose King Manga". Anime News Network . Retrieved 7 June 2021. It's been 7-8 years, but I have read Richard III and Henry the VI (both inspirations for this manga title) so I thought I knew what I was getting into. I was a little leery of mashing the two titles together, but Shakespear is so dramatic (especially his Histories and Tragedies) that I thought it would make a good pairing with a Shoujo manga.A bonus manga chapter, Bara-Ō Ryokō-ki ( 薔薇王旅行記, "The Rose King's Travel Report"), was published in the July 2015 issue of Monthly Princess on 5 June 2015. The chapter depicts Kanno's trip to England with her editor for the reburial of King Richard III in March of that year. [83] [84] [85] The Duke of York has seized the capital and the throne, but he must still overcome Queen Margaret's army if he hopes to be crowned king. Richard, imprisoned in the Tower of London, can only speculate about the fortunes of war.

This was truly not a love story, but it was at the same time. It was an internal love, and that payoff, I can see now, was never going to be external or by someone else’s hand, it had to be Richard being able to love himself, and free himself from his own hell. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (4 October 2021). " Requiem of the Rose King Anime's Video Unveils Cast, More Staff, January 2022 Debut With Half-Year Run". Anime News Network . สืบค้นเมื่อ 4 October 2021. Joan of Arc is twisted into a mischievous spirit, and for those who are religious like me, it would be best if you don't take offense at a lot of the liberties this manga took regarding faith. Saying that, religion is a prominent part of the manga, but it isn't shoved down your throat either so both atheists and religious folk can enjoy the story. Regardless, this was set in a time where religion was a big part of life. Also in this book, we meet Elizabeth Woodville. When she shows up portraying herself as the impoverished widow of a Lancastrian knight with two young boys, Edward is captivated. What he doesn’t know is that Elizabeth has ulterior motives; she wants to snag Edward so she can have her revenge upon him. But the final scenes showing that Richard chooses to continue the struggle (especially in contrast with all the people that died around him who had that choice of life or action taken away from them directly or indirectly) and choosing to accept and perhaps even love himself, and the somewhat open ending on glorious, beautiful imagery the only way Aya Kanno knows how, is really powerful. Yes, power and glory is an illusion and tragic as an overarching theme, but for Richard, his final message is of self-love and acceptance.

Alternative Titles

In Rose King, Richard is tormented by his mother who refers to Richard as a demon and devil because of his “misshapen” body. Richard’s father on the other hand loves him dearly and seems more than happy to raise Richard as one of his sons. Richard seems to be comfortable with he/him pronouns however he has a lot of discomfort and dysphoria about his body which has atypical binary sex characteristics. There are two occasions in which Richard’s body is shown to the reader. Both times his chest is revealed. The first time is after a monologue where he takes his shirt off and looks at himself in the mirror. I didn’t have a problem with this necessarily as the scene wasn’t graphic or explicit. It was also not portrayed in a way that was supposed to be titillating to the reader. Instead, it was meant as a way of showing from Richard’s perspective how he feels about his own body. a b "Viz Media Launches the Dark Fantasy Manga Series Requiem of the Rose King" (Press release). Anime News Network. 2 March 2015 . Retrieved 27 June 2018. I'm not intersex, so I can't at all speak to the depiction of it that Kanno presents here, but I'm dubious of it (to say the least). This isn't going to be every Ricardian's cuppa tea, but if you are willing to take a chance on it, I think you might end up liking it. Anyone knowledgeable about this period of the War of the Roses can enjoy the liberties taken by Kanno to create her story. Sure, it is high drama through a modern sensibility. But Kanno has laid her groundwork correctly and the known facts are there for a somewhat supernatural mystery taking more emphasis from Shakespeare (with all the historical faults therein) rather than Wikipedia. Little details - such as the two young men (Richard and Edward) who would marry the same woman, Anne Neville, share a 'kiss' in a river rescue. Kanno enjoys her foreshadowing that the men would share much more in the future.

I also love the art in this manga volume. I think it is absolutely stunning and I find myself stopping to look at the artwork in this book jus so I can admire it. I do find sometimes I get characters mixed up but I absolutely loved reading this volume for that. Even alone, it wasn't frightening. Rather... the loneliness has been kind ever since losing Father." On 16 September 2020, Akita Shoten announced via their YouTube channel that Requiem of the Rose King would be adapted into an anime television series. [2] [72] The series is animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Kentarō Suzuki, with Hiroki Uchida writing and supervising the scripts, Tsutomu Hashizume designing the characters, and Kow Otani composing the musical score. [73] [6] The series was originally scheduled to premiere in October 2021, [74] but was delayed due to production issues. [75] It aired from 9 January to 26 June 2022, on Tokyo MX and other channels in Japan. [8] The series aired for two consecutive cours, for a half-year continuous run. [6] The first opening theme is " Ware, Bara ni Hitasu" ( 我、薔薇に淫す, "I'm Obsessed with Roses") performed by Makoto Furukawa, while the first ending theme is " Akumu" ( 悪夢, "Nightmare") performed by Zaq. [76] The second opening theme is " Bara Rinbukyoku" ( 荊棘輪舞曲, "Rose Briar Rondo") performed by Makoto Furukawa, [10] while the second ending theme is " Rasen" ( 螺旅) performed by Nowlu. Funimation licensed the series as part of their Winter 2022 simulcast lineup in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Australia, and New Zealand. [77] Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania minus Australia and New Zealand. [78] Episodes [ edit ] No. Mateo, Alex (15 September 2020). " Requiem of the Rose King Manga Gets TV Anime". Anime News Network . Retrieved 16 September 2020.Let me be perfectly honest with you. If this were a novel, I’d be tossing it into the circular filing cabinet, muttering “This is trash!” But instead, because of how the author presents it and its graphic novel format with fabulous illustrations, I’m hooked on it. I guess you could say it’s a kind of guilty pleasure, something I shouldn’t like...but I do. In fact, I’ve created “guilty pleasure” as a new category for my books on Goodreads. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (31 October 2021). " Requiem of the Rose King Anime Unveils 4 More Cast Members, January 9 Debut". Anime News Network . สืบค้นเมื่อ 1 November 2021. Although this is hardly historically accurate, in its own way I find it very interesting. I’m reminded of how historical and mythical characters are often re-invented by different authors to appeal to different audiences over the years. A good example of this is King Arthur, who over the centuries has been portrayed as a Romano-British war lord, a medieval King of England, a sci-fi character on Mars, and just about anything in between.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much! a b c d e f g 「薔薇王の葬列」第7巻ドラマCDつき限定特装版、予約開始のお知らせ ー追加キャスト発表!!. Akita Shoten. 1 August 2016 . Retrieved 1 August 2016. Sherman, Jennifer (3 November 2013). " Otomen 's Kanno Adapts Shakespeare's Richard III as Manga Series". Anime News Network . Retrieved 15 September 2020. I’m already hooked on the series, and have volumes 2, 3, and 4 waiting to be read. And with 17 volumes in the series, there’s a good chance I’ll be putting some of them on my Christmas wish list this year.

La vida de Henry cada vez es más difícil. Él solo busca la paz, pero Margaret no se rendirá tan fácil y hará todo lo que este en su alcance para que la corona siga en manos de los Lancaster. En este tomo vemos escenas duras de ellos dos, ya que Henry es demasiado bueno y eso a Margaret le enfada y hace que lo trate fatal y con mucho desprecio. Una historia de fantasía gótica que es un poquito difícil de comprender al principio debido a la cantidad de personajes que se presentan en pocas páginas. Poco a poco se van ubicando mejor todos los personajes y las dos familias principales. What's completely thrown me are the liberties that Kanno has taken with the characters and historical inspiration. I mean, first off, Kanno decided to swap the physical deformity of Shakespeare's Richard III to him now being intersex (!?!?) and Joan of Arc is a character, but she's now a spirit who haunts Richard. UMMM?? a b 「薔薇王の葬列」第1部完結の7巻、斎賀みつきら出演のドラマCD付きも. Comic Natalie (in Japanese). 16 January 2017 . Retrieved 16 September 2020. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (24 January 2020). "Manga Creators Moto Hagio, Keiji Nakazawa Nominated for Eisner Hall of Fame". Anime News Network . Retrieved 27 December 2020. Hagio is a pioneer of shōjo and shōnen-ai manga, and her works helped establish conventions of these and other fields.