TRSI / Nozomi Ent. licenses The Rose of Versailles

[Reinhardt]

This is awesome news, I haven't been paying much attention to anime announcements recently. Glad to watch the 1st episode online, can't wait to finish watching the entire series. I watched about half the series back in college with the local anime club.

[sheleigha]

Heard so much about it, will check out the first ep soon! Definitely a surprise announcement! I often forgot about it, and seems like the type of show that Nozomi would pick up. About time it came to North America, too.

[WTK]

Episode 1 is also streaming on TRSI's YouTube channel: LINK.

EDIT: via PR...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NOZOMI ENTERTAINMENT Wants Fans’ Questions for
THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES Creator Riyoko Ikeda

Submit questions at rov.rightstuf.com by 4 p.m. CDT on Nov. 1, 2012.
GRIMES, Iowa, Oct. 18, 2012 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment want fans’ questions for Riyoko Ikeda, the legendary creator of THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES. Please submit questions, via the form located at the official series site (rov.rightstuf.com), by 4 p.m. CDT on Thurs., Nov. 1, 2012.

Right Stuf’s Nozomi Entertainment division will be releasing the anime adaptation of The Rose of Versailles, also known as “Berusaiyu no Bara” and “Lady Oscar,” both digitally, via Viki.com in December 2012 (U.S. and Canada), and as two limited-edition DVD box sets in 2013.

This will be the first time the entire anime series will be available to English-speaking audiences in North America. Right Stuf, Inc. licensed the series from TMS Entertainment, Ltd. Set during the years preceding the French Revolution, The Rose of Versailles is a tale of romance and political intrigue that centers around Oscar François de Jarjayes, a young woman whose father has raised her as a man – and trained her to be an elite and skilled soldier – so she can succeed him as the commander of the palace guards.
The Rose of Versailles is based upon the best-selling manga (comic) by Riyoko Ikeda (Dear Brother, a.k.a. Oniisama e...), which was originally serialized in Shueisha’s shoujo (girls’) anthology magazine Margaret, from 1972 through 1973, and later collected into 10 volumes. In addition to its anime adaptation, it inspired a short story collection (also written by Ikeda), a French-Japanese live-action film, and multiple musicals staged by Japan’s famed Takarazuka Revue.
This 40-episode anime adaptation of The Rose of Versailles originally aired on Japanese television from October 1979 through September 1980. It features animation by TMS Entertainment, Ltd., as well as direction by Tadao Nagahama (Romance Robot Trilogy) and Osamu Dezaki (Nobody’s Boy – Remi, Dear Brother, Aim for the Ace!).

For more information about the series and to submit questions for the Q&A with Ms. Ikeda, visit rov.rightstuf.com.

[WTK]

Some interesting bits from this ANN article and I quoted one of the paragraphs.

Making History: The Rose of Versailles

Katsuki Masai, the Deputy Manager of TMS Entertainment, USA, Inc., spoke a little about why this is happening now and why TMS Entertainment agreed to work with Right Stuf. “I always thought Right Stuf was a fascinating company as they publish both the latest anime and anime classics dating back to the 1960s,” he said. “Concerning The Rose of Versailles, I learned that Shawne Kleckner had been trying to license it for years, and now it has become a reality. I believe the deciding factor was Shawne's unyielding passion and dedication to bring this title to the North American fans. I view Shawne as an anime treasure hunter, so I hope he continues to find more buried treasures and introduce them to the North American fans.” A dub would definitely make it more accessible to more viewers, though Kleckner said a dub was not in the works. “While we want to make The Rose of Versailles accessible to as many fans as possible, we've determined that the most effective way to do so is by making its releases affordable,” he said. “Producing an English dub would double or triple the series' final price for fans.”

[WTK]

Pre-order listings are up @ TRSI...

• The Rose of Versailles: Collection 1 (LE) - 480 minutes - $49.99 - Coming Soon, Date to be Determined
• The Rose of Versailles: Collection 2 (LE) - 480 minutes - $49.99 - Coming Soon, Date to be Determined

via TRSI

THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES: DVD Sets Now Available for Pre-Order & Now Streaming on Viki
Posted on: Thursday, December 6, 2012

Limited-edition DVD sets for The Rose of Versailles, Part 1 and Part 2 are now up and available for pre-order. Each 4-disc DVD set will contain 20 episodes of the groundbreaking anime series and will feature Japanese audio and English-language subtitles and on-screen translations. Order your copies of parts 1 and 2 today!

Stream episodes of The Rose of Versailles on Viki, or preview the first episode on our YouTube channel.

[Buckeye]

I'll be quite interested to see what is coming with the LE version and if they are going to do something like what they did with the release of Utena.

[WTK]

http://blog.viki.com/2012/12/the-ros...lable-now.html

The wait is over! For the first time in more than 30 years, The Rose of Versailles (ベルサイユのばら) is available to viewers in North America. You can now watch the first 5 episodes of the legendary anime series, and we'll be adding 5 more episodes to the Channel every week, so make sure you follow the Channel in order to receive an email notification when new episodes are made available.

[WTK]

Originally Posted by WTK

http://blog.viki.com/2012/12/the-ros...lable-now.html

5 more episodes are now up (up to episode 10).

[WTK]

http://www.viki.com/channels/10630-t...-of-versailles

The upload is now up to episode 25.

EDIT: up to 30 now.

[WTK]

http://www.viki.com/channels/10630-t...-of-versailles

Upload is now up to episode 35.

EDIT: all 40 episodes are now up.