Key Characters Missing from the ‘Rose of Versailles’ (2025) Anime Movie
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Even if you’ve never read Riyoko Ikeda’s legendary manga The Rose of Versailles, you might still feel like something’s missing from the sparkly 2025 anime movie adaptation. Because let’s be real – it is missing things. Key subplots? Gone. Political drama? Trimmed down. And worst of all? Some truly iconic characters were washed down or got the chop entirely.
If you’re a longtime fan of the original manga or even the classic 1979 anime series, you’ll know what I mean when you realize these four characters were completely snubbed in the movie. Let’s break it down…
1. Rosalie Lamorlière
Rosalie is basically the underdog Cinderella of Versailles – a sweet but spirited girl from the lower class, whose tragic backstory and personal growth are a huge part of the original story’s heart. Adopted by Oscar’s mother, Rosalie gets pulled into the world of nobility, vengeance, and politics. Her emotional bond with Oscar and André brings much-needed warmth to the palace drama.
But in the 2025 film? She gets a blink-and-miss role, and non-manga readers won’t even register her importance. No training montage. No revenge arc. It’s a real shame, because Rosalie added layers to the class conflict and showed how Oscar’s kindness reached beyond her military persona.
2. The Duchess of Polignac
Ah yes, Madame Polignac, Marie Antoinette’s real-life BFF and royal moocher-in-chief. She’s glamorous, manipulative, and totally in it for the perks of court life. In the manga, she plays a pretty important role in showcasing Antoinette’s bad judgment and obsession with all things fabulous. But she is nowhere to be seen in the film version, maybe she’s in the background, but not as an active character.
Cutting Polignac out robs the audience of some juicy Versailles drama. The woman was basically the Regina George of the French court. Without her, Antoinette’s fall from grace feels a bit less… well… earned. She’s like the missing link between Antoinette’s charm and her eventual public enemy status.
3. Duke of Orléans
Oh yes, the shady cousin with revolutionary ideas and his own thirst for power. The Duke of Orléans added delicious political intrigue to the story. He wasn’t just another aristocrat, he was part of the larger storm brewing beneath the polished marble floors of Versailles.
In Ikeda’s manga, he’s a key part of the anti-monarchy plotline, and skipping him means the movie leaves out a major thread that connects the palace to the rising tide of revolution.
4. Madame Du Barry
Oh, come on! How do you do a Versailles story and leave out Du Barry?! The King’s controversial mistress and the original court villain in The Rose of Versailles, Madame Du Barry was a firecracker: seductive, clever, and always stirring the pot. She and Marie Antoinette’s early feud is one of the most entertaining parts of the manga.
Du Barry’s exclusion means we skip that dramatic arc where Antoinette’s childish stubbornness and courtly arrogance are first tested. It’s like the movie just glosses over her first taste of real political tension, which is a huge part of her development!
Sure, the 2025 film looks stunning, from the glittering ballrooms to the watercolor skies. And Oscar and Marie Antoinette still sparkle. But by trimming down the cast, the movie loses a lot of what made The Rose of Versailles such a sweeping epic in the first place: layered characters, palace politics, and the intricate web of relationships that lead to revolution.
So if you walked out of the movie thinking, “Wait, wasn’t there supposed to be more?” – you’re not alone. These characters didn’t just get left behind… they deserved their moment to shine.
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