Le Chevalier D’Eon, Series Review

Le Chevalier D’Eon scored well with me on a lot of notes in the beginning. The story borrows the setting of pre French Revolution Europe, uses the history and historical figures, twists them up, throws in zombies and wizards called poets in an intrigue filled plot. Sounds like it could be interesting, but add in wonderful art direction, solid animation (for a TV show), and a cast of characters that don’t fall into the usual collection of fetish archetypes and it should have been bait for best anime released on R1 dvd for 2007. I wish I liked it more.

To quickly sum the premise without giving anything away, Le Chevalier D’Eon starts with a wooden casket floating down the River Seine. Inside is the body of a young noblewoman, Lia de Beaumont. Obviously the circumstances of her death look suspicious, which causes her brother D’Eon de Beaumont to seek the reason for her murder. His investigation leads him to learn of a plot that threatens France as he comes face to face with the Poets, the sorcerers who seek to bring about that destruction.

I know when watching the first volume, I thought Le Chevalier would be one of the best things I’d seen all year. For sure I was taken by the surface elements of detailed backgrounds that draw the viewer into the time period in which the story takes place. It was a time of intricate decor and representing that is more than eye candy. Representing the style of the period defines the period for the viewer. Even someone like myself who isn’t that well versed in exactly what constitutes the style of that time would feel something was left out if the art direction did not portray some version of it. Production IG used CG to accomplish this in several places and overall it worked well even when the CG was a little more obvious.

The characters in the show also added to the appeal of something different, not just because of the setting, but because the main character was a little older than in most shows and everyone did not look “standard anime”. Plus each of the four main characters seemed like they had room to grow or someplace to go since they weren’t so clearly defined by a single personality trait.

At the end of the first dvd, I really wanted to see more. Unfortunately, after the initial arc where we learn who the bad guys are and who will be with D’Eon on his mission, there is a long and boring arc where D’Eon and his comrades go to Russia. This arc spans volumes 2 and 3, or much of the first half of the show, killing a lot of momentum and my ability to bond with the characters enough to care. I kept watching because the show breathed quality that powered my hope that it would get better at some point.

Thankfully, the show becomes more entertaining once D’Eon and his comrades leave Russia and find themselves in England in pursuit of Maximilian Robespierre. The winks and nods to historical figures are amusing, but they’re so far removed from their place in history in Le Chevalier that it doesn’t really matter if you’d never ever heard of them. That’s fine. I think the story should work without any of that knowledge at all. It’s probably a distraction while watching Le Chevalier to know the history behind the name used for the characters.

Ambitious shows like Le Chevalier often fall into the trap of being too convoluted for it’s own good that what happens becomes plain silly rather than part of an intricate story. In Le Chevalier, the surprising plot elements are at bad daytime drama levels and executed with as much finesse. Just about every character and event has a twist or sudden table turn that by the time we get to the important plot and character twist, I’ve got a severe case of surprise fatigue. Even though the story gets overrun with schlock in the end, it was entertaining enough where I didn’t feel bored watching the final dvd.

English Dub Notes

The Stephen Foster directed dub has good points and bad points. Like many Foster dubs, Le Chevalier reaches beyond the standard anime dub talent pool, so it doesn’t feel like the same old voices in Le Chevalier. Most of the named characters sound like good matches for their characters and there are a number of good performances as well. Where the dub breaks the mood is with random middle aged men we see in court scenes. They just sound like they are emphasizing the fact that they are middle aged men.

Parting Shot

Le Chevalier D’Eon starts strong, falls off in the middle, and returns with an entertaining finish in the second half. The show initially holds great appeal with the setting, art direction and cast of characters. It feels a lot less sophisticated in the end than it seemed it would be in the beginning. The main hurdle is a weak middle that some will not be able to recover from. In all, I enjoyed it even if it never reached where I hoped it would.