Le Chevalier D'Eon is ADV Films' flagship, setting a new standard for series anime production that few will be able to follow much less surpass. All Le Chevalier D'Eon images © TOW UBUKATA Production I.G/ Project Chevalier 2006.

Le Chevalier D'Eon V.1
(2007) Four episodes/100 minutes. Director: Kazuhiro Furuhashi; from TV series (24 episodes). DVD bilingual $29.98. Distributor: ADV Films.

A flagship (noun) is defined by Merriam-Webster as the finest, largest, or most important one of a series, network, or chain. It is the flagship that is the measure by which everything that follows it will be judged. Only the very best or greatest of things could ever carry the title of flagship. An example of this would be the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG sedan. At a cost of $180,000+ it is the most expensive (standard retail market), with a 604 hp V12 motor the most powerful, and with every possible amenity, the most luxurious Mercedes has to offer. Truly the S65 AMG defines what the title of flagship signifies. Le Chevalier D'Eon is ADV Films' flagship in every sense of the word. It will set a new standard for series anime production that few will be able to follow much less surpass. Production I.G, of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame, has really pulled out all the stops to bring a truly epic anime home.

I find myself struggling where to begin with this one, because it is really that impressive on so many levels. My overall impression of Le Chevalier D'Eon is that it is mislabeled as a TV series. Rather, a better description would be a collection of theatrical quality animations. Each episode is produced in the widescreen format that is found in movie theaters and the newest HD screens. Every scene, in fact every frame, is composed not for a television set, but rather with the theatrical format in mind. The wide aspect ratio frame provides a greater freedom and creativity for shot composition and camera blocking. And the added screen real estate helps boost the excitement and dynamics of fight scenes. Kazuhiro Furuhashi, who is known for Rurouni Kenshin, really takes full advantage of the wide aspect ratio that gives the world of Le Chevalier D'Eon the open and expansive feel of live-action films.

The story is not the typical sort to be found in an anime. Le Chevalier D'Eon could have been easily one of Hollywood's next big summer blockbusters. Writing is very slick and mature with the original story by Tow Ubukata and chief scriptwriter Yasuyuki Muto. The setting is 18th century France where a beautiful young woman in a casket, with the word Psalms written on the lid, has been floating downriver and has finally washed ashore. Her name is Lia de Beaumont and her death is a shrouded in mystery. The church has denied her burial, because her body is filled with mercury and, therefore, unable to decompose.

Her brother and our hero D'Eon de Beaumont is outraged at the fact that no one knows what has happened to his sister. He decides to find those who are responsible for his sister's death. From here Muto has the story unfold and introduce its characters as D'Eon encounters them. I found this to be particularly effective in immersing me into the story, and the well thought out layers of subplots and political espionage became very engrossing. It shows that the writers really spent some time researching 18th century France and its aristocracy. Within the courts of Versailles real historical figures are used as major players in the story and they exist in their proper roles to a lesser extent, such as Marquise de Pompadour, King Louie the XV's mistress. There is this feeling that everyone at Versailles has an agenda and that all these agendas are geared toward the single purpose of controlling France.

Le Chevalier D'Eon is mislabeled as a TV series. Rather, it is a collection of theatrical quality animations. Every scene, every frame, is composed not for a TV set, but, rather, with the theatrical format in mind.

Once the major players are all brought into the story a major shift in direction happens. In a complete 180º turn, the story switches from loyalists trying to protect their king from rebels, to a truly unique type of occult horror story. The spiritual undertones of this new direction are made up of an amalgamation of several major world religions. There are influences from Christianity, Judaism, Daoism, paganism, wizardry and even the alchemy that was practiced during the Renaissance. The major story arc includes hidden manuscripts of the bible that are referred to as the Royal Psalms.

These Psalms are different from the canonized Psalms, which are mostly a collection of songs and poems written largely by King David. These hidden Psalms are more like incantations that can be used to do extraordinary things, like turn the living into the walking dead, called "gargoyles," and turn D'Eon into his sister. That isn't a typo. Through a chant that D'Eon is told to find by Queen Marie of France, D'Eon actually physically turns into his sister and boy does she open a can of whoop ass. I suppose if I was murdered and then unable to rest, I would kind of cranky too when I was resurrected. The story then regularly switches back and forth from espionage to the occult, thereby delving deeper into the subplots with a secret police named Le Secret du Roi, and the Philippe d' Orleans trying to use magic to oust his cousin Louie XV. This continual rotation keeps everything interesting and avoids the often "filler" story that is used to pass the episodes' allotted time.

On a side note Queen Marie seems to have a strange little friend that she carries around with her. It is a skull that appears to be inhabited by the spirit of a little girl and who acts as the queen's eyes and ears in the spirit world. The queen keeps the skull fully dressed (à la Norm Bates) in her bedroom and spends time talking with the little girl spirit to find out information that the queen can use for her own means. I find this to be wonderfully creepy and bazaar.