The anime Le Chevalier D'Eon is from Production I.G. The same people that gave the world such gems as the Ghost in the Shell movies and shows, the two Evangelion movies, IGPX, and Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit. Just to name a few.
The show is loosely based on the actual chevalier D'Eon de Beaumont. And by loosely I mean there was a man named D'Eon who lived from 1728 to 1810, but he never fought zombies filled with mercury like substance and tried to uncover a plot to topple the French Monarchy during the 1750s.
At the start of the series, the body of D'Eon's older sister named Lia is found dead and floating down the Seine River with the word "Psalms" written on the lid of the casket. Obviously upset at the mysteriousness surrounding her death, D'Eon joins the French secret police in order to help out with a concurrent investigation of the mysterious disappearances of young women. During the investigations, all but D'Eon and his friend are killed and D'Eon is told to hand over a secret document in his possession in exchange for his friend’s life. Sadly, when he gets to where he must be; his friend has been turned into a freaky zombie-like creature that attacks D'Eon.
In the second episode, after getting his French butt handed too him, he subconsciously says a prayer and is possessed by his dead sister's soul. This results in one of the simplest transformation sequences in anime history. Seriously, all he does is have the ribbon that ties his hair back become unraveled. After his hair is loose he looks exactly like his sister and begins to decimate his zombie friend.
After defeating his friend, D'Eon is taken to the palace too heal and after leaving he meets up with a young man named Robin. When the two are talking secretly, they are confronted by fake police who are quickly taken out by a man named Durand and then meet up with D'Eon and Lia's mentor named Teillagory who calls the group the "The Four Musketeers"
Well I've spoken enough. For anyone who is into historical fantasy, this is a great show to watch. Even if you are just a fan of Production I.G. it's worth checking out.
My thoughts on the show are this: I loved the animation of the show, everything from clothing and buildings to weaponry look just like what existed in 18th century France, and the characters were proportional in the facial features(No big eyes and small mouths). The story is great, and the enemies were very well thought out. And a nice bit of political intrigue and you really grow to care about D'Eon & company's journey. The English voice actors did a good job on all the characters.
Some issues I had, were that after the first episode they just give a clip summary of the entire second episode while playing the ending theme song and would be confusing on the first time watching the show. But by the second episode they put an actual ending in where they show portraits of all the characters with the birth/death dates for the characters that existed in the real world. The second episode also felt a bit forced with the introduction of the two other members of the team, but it is excusable in that they both had history with D'Eon's sister Lia.
A big, "What the Heck Was That", moment in the show would be the talking skull with a girls voice that asks the Queen of France who her mother is. It happens once or twice but was a big shock when it first happend.
ComicsOnline gives Le Chevalier D'Eon it 3.5 out of 5 baguettes.
