Le Chevalier D'Eon (the Anime vs. The Manga)!

'Rediscovering' Le Chevalier D'Eon (aka finding out my copy came with the sub option) inspired me to see if this awesome anime came in manga form. Le Chevalier D'Eon does indeed have a manga. If my first impression of the manga had to be summarized into one word it would be...weird. So weird I was not sure if I could write strictly about the manga without comparing it to the anime. Then I did some research. I found there is no way to understand why the heck the manga is what it is without knowing a little about the anime. They are supposed to compliment each other..or so wiki says.

Let us begin with Le Chevalier D'Eon (the anime): 
Le Chevalier D'Eon will forever hold a place in my heart as it was my first true anime experience. What drew me in to the anime (and later bothered me about the manga) was the overall beauty. Clean lines, elegant features, and the colors of a romanticized version of France on the verge of Revolution.

Lia's body is found with the word Psalms its only clue

As for the story itself, In the words of D'Eon D'Beaumont 'this story begins with a body.' The body of his sister, Lia D'Beaumont, found floating in the Seine with the word 'Psalms' scrolled over her coffin. 

The power of the Psalms

She is the victim of a society known as 'poets.' They spread destruction in their search for the royal psalms, the book which chooses the king's future. 

I will have my vengeance!

Lia's murder has left her soul unable to rest. She desires vengeance and D'eon finds himself the vessel for her soul. 



To find a way to bring his sister peace, D'eon joins Le Secret du Roi (the king's secret police). Along with his former swordsmanship teacher, Tellagory, the queen's page, Robin, and Durand, fellow member of the Le Secret du Roi and friend of Lia, D'eon sets out to reclaim the royal psalms. At the center of the psalms is the mysterious Maximilian Robespierre. The once most loyal knight of the king turned revolutionary set on destroying the monarchy. France's future lies on the brink, Lia's soul thirsts for vengeance, and the strains of Revolution reach beyond France's borders. 

The Charactes in this dramatic anime

Now, the manga:

Lia with Deon

The first time I saw the illustrations for Le Chevalier D'eon I was shocked. All the beauty I found in the simplicity of the anime characters was gone. Instead of the demurely attired Lia there was 'the sphinx' whose boobs were large enough to be comical. Gone were the delicate features as well. In the anime Lia's possession of D'eon's body is preluded by words written in red appearing upon D'eon's sword. Her hair grows longer and facial features more feminine but overall, not a huge difference. I was completely mystified as to how the whole change would work with Lia's excessively large bust. No way were these knockers going to squeeze into D'eon's fitted knightly clothes. 

The storyline does share some points with its anime counterpart. Madame De Pompadour (the king's mistress) is still ruling from her corner of the palace. She does feature heavily especially since her daughter is 'infected' by the poets with the psalms of revolution written upon  her skin and her vocabulary reduced to the word 'palms.' The poets, those who use the psalms, for evil are in the manga but their hierarchy will just confuse you. There's a great deal of action but not a lot of explanation. Words like '... circle' make you feel as though you missed a few chapters (I double-checked just to make sure I hadn't missed any). 

If only Deon were always like this we could respect him a lot more....

Lia spends most of her time fighting evil and trying to discover who murderered her and why. D'eon spends most of his manga time treated like a slave by his commander for poor behavior, running errands for the king who treats him more like a chum than knight, and overall well...mainly we just wait for him to become Lia so the storyline will keep on moving.

No words to describe this one

At first I was utterly repulsed the manga dare refer to itself as 'Le Chevalier D'eon' when clearly it lacked every element of the anime I adored. Later (like 20 chapters later) it occurred to me to look into the manga-anime timeline. I found something very interesting. Supposedly the anime, manga, and light novel(?), were supposed to make for a complete version. The manga was to be a comical view of the anime. This could explain why all the characters either appear distorted or just plain weird. For example, La Comte de Germaine. Actually compared to the police chief, he looks pretty normal. Maybe it's just me but I missed the comedy aspect.

Perhaps I would have found something brilliant if the manga had continued but as soon as I really found myself getting into this new aspect storyline, it ended. No updates since 2009.

So...Le Chevalier D'eon vs. Le Chevalier D'eon or Both?

I will always recommend the anime. Definitely not for fans of standard action animes (like Dragon Ball Z or Naruto) but for the open-minded who get intriguedby the idea of anime meeting French history Le Chevalier D'eon may be for you.

As for Le Chevalier D'eon, the manga. I was confused. Although this may be because I was expecting the storyline to be more similar to the anime. There is a lot more action in the manga. If you like pages with almost no text but lots of battles then you may find yourself a huge fan. I couldn't spot much humor in its pages but my sense of humor runs a bit off the norm. If you do brave this manga I will warn you. There does not seem to be a date given for an update. No estimates on that one. However, read if you will and let me know what you think.

Name (s): シュヴァリエ; Le Chevalier D'Eon; The Knight of Eon

Artist:Yumeji Kiriko

Author: Ubakato Tow

Chapters: 39

Chapter Length: ~30

Anime: Yes

Status: Ongoing (?)