Versailles no Bara "Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou" (lost alternate final episode of anime series; 1980)

Series poster.

Status: Lost

Versailles no Bara (ベルサイユのばら, La Rose de Versailles), or more commonly called by its English title, The Rose of Versailles, is an anime series adapted from the eponymous manga series by Riyoko Iyeda. The series was produced and animated by TMS Entertainment, and aired from September 10th, 1979 to September 3rd, 1980. The story focuses on a fictionalized version of the French Revolution from the point of view of Marie-Antoinette, and her fictional royal guard Oscar François de Jarjayes.

The series lasted for 40 episodes. In multiple regions of Japan, the series was canceled after its 23rd episode due to scheduling conflicts with multiple broadcasters. An original episode entitled "Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou" (transl. "Portrait of a Burning Rose") was made and aired once in these regions in order to conclude the story of the series, and was never broadcasted again nor included in any home media release of the series. For years, there was no proof of this episode's existence other than testimonies from viewers of its only broadcast, but its airing has been confirmed through screenshots uploaded to the Internet..

Alternate final episode

On March 3rd, 1980, the series was abruptly canceled in various Japan prefectures after its 23rd episode, "ずる賢くてたくましく!" (transl. "Cunning and Tough!" / "Sly and Strong!"), had aired, due to scheduling conflicts with other shows.

To satisfy viewer demand, and conclude the series properly in those areas affected, broadcasters who cancelled the series aired an original alternate "finale" episode entitled, "Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou" on March 26th, 1980, which was an abridged version of the rest of the series' plot that had yet to be adapted into the series. The episode was written and drawn by a small team who were otherwise unaffiliated with the main team working on the series.

In addition, there were rumors that the episode was just a series of recycled drawings that were used from previous episodes, or had been traced from the manga itself, with only the voice recordings being new material. These rumors had since been debunked by fans of the show who have watched the episode from rare recordings.

"Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou" never had a home media release, only being recorded by the rare fan/s who caught the episode when it aired.

Plot

After the "necklace incident" a fictionalized retelling of the Diamond Necklace Affair from 1784-1785, in episodes 22 & 23, there is a four year time skip.

Oscar's father, General Jarje, commanded Oscar to drive the commoners outside, which Oscar refused. After a fair bit of arguing between Oscar and General Jarje, Oscar leaves out of rage, but is stopped by André. André and Oscar exchange words, and confess their love to one another.

Availability

The chances of the episode being officially released by TMS are very unlikely, and people who possess VHS recordings of the episode are really hard to find. However, the events of what had happened in the episode were recalled, summarized, and written on various blog posts by fans of the series for other fans to read, and answer their curiosity about said episode.

On August 29th, 2020, Twitter user @nakky16 uploaded screenshots and tweeted her reactions to the episode on their Twitter account. They also posted that they are in possession of a rare VHS tape that contained the episode. However, Japan has very strict laws and prohibitions on copyright infringement and said Twitter user had already stated the risks of putting the episode online, with the possibility of getting sued and fined.

External Links

• MyAnimeList page for Versailles no Bara Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou.
• Japanese Wikipedia page for Rose of Versailles snippet that lists information about the episode.
• MyAnimeList forums thread on Moetsukita Bara no Shouzou.
• Twitter Thread posted by @nakky16, which consists of poor-quality screenshots