Richard Plantagenet has dedicated his whole life to becoming strong enough to fight alongside his father, the Duke of York. Together they have waged war to reclaim the right to the throne of England from King Henry VI and the House of Lancaster. However, the young Richard hides a secret—one that his mother scorns him for, which the cruel voices in his head never fail to remind him of. Even amid his personal turmoil, he is fortunate to find solace in the light of his father's love. But when the War of the Roses takes a turn for the bloodier, the fervent ambitions of Richard grow while his old loyalties splinter, threatening to taint his family's path to glory.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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KANLen09
Of all the historical events in notable history, the War of the Roses happening in the mid-to-late 15th Century (22 May 1455 - 16 June 1487) that's also known as the Civil War, was a very notable harbinger series of tumultuous wars where people fought over control of the English throne, supporting for the rival cadet branchrd of the royal House of Plantagenet in one of two camps: the House of Lancaster (birthed when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster that was named for his 2nd son Edmund Crouchback in 1267) or the House of York (descending from the male lineof Edmund of Langlet, 1st Duke of York and the 4th surviving son of Edward III).
It's this basis that sets up mangaka Aya Kanno's manga-centric plays into stardom (though her first work of 2001's short manga Soul Rescue didn't really set the world on fire), starting with Otomen from 2006-2012, which once licensed by VIZ Media, became one of the best-selling Shoujo manga of the late 2000s in both Japan and the West. What happens thereafter is the longest work that she has ever done: the historical dark fantasy series Baraou no Souretsu a.k.a Requiem of the Rose King, that is loosely based on the William Shakespearean medieval plays of Henry VI, Part 3 (1591) and Richard III (1592-1594). If you'd ask me of what I'll remember Aya Kanno by, it's this tragedy series that cements her status as someone with a historical lore, yet doesn't fail to showcase the hallmarks of disturbing imagery and complex notions that's just as ever alluring to see as it is to read the entirety of the manga's 78 chapters in 17 volumes run that started from October 2013 to its recent finish in January 2022.
However, I'm just gonna say that please, PLEASE, read the manga instead as J.C.Staff's complete and finished adaptation and interpretation of this magnificent historical tragedy series is severely underwhelming in all aspects, and is a very stark comparison against the original source material which had so much depth and cognizant feelings. And this is all coming off from director Suzuki Kentarou which directed Summer 2018's Satsuriku no Tenshi (which had a very similar dark premise), which almost seems like a slap in the face to the psychological, horror and suspense genres, and now adding the historical, action, drama and supernatural themes altogether to make one more extra bad and awful rap.
As the show's title suggests, Baraou no Souretsu a.k.a Requiem of the Rose King takes place in the trying times known as the War of the Roses (or the Civil War), and being heavily inspired off of the Shakespearean plays should give you an idea of what to expect. THe only difference in this show, is by following the main character: the House of York's Richard III, deviated into an intersex version of himself that's fighting his own "questionable" descent, where hateful despise from his mother, extreme adoration from his father, alienation from the surrounding people, grappling with the haunting and taunting of frightful spirits, unsteady and unintentional alliances with frenemies, above all, this is his story of own passion fighting for a throne, that is the throne of the King of England.
So first off, I have to clear the misconceptions that some of you may not understand what the somewhat derogatory term means. These are individuals that are birthed with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies". Nowadays, intersex people are most representated as part of the LGBTQ+ community, whereas in the past they're referred to as "hermaphrodites" or "congenital eunuchs", facing discrimination from birth, or following the discovery of intersex traits at stages of development such as puberty, which would ultimately result in infanticide (infant homicide), abandonment, and the stigmatization of their families.
The 3rd son of Richard Plantagenet of the Duke of York, alongside older brothers Edward IV of York and George of the Duke of Clarence, Richard seems like your typical kind of birthed son and sibling of the family, that according to its claims of being superior to the throne of England according to cognatic primogeniture (a male-preference succession to a female member of the House taking over the throne only if there weren't any male offspring) but inferior according to agnatic/patrilineal primogeniture (where inheritance is given according to the seniority of birth among kin, mainly sons before brothers and with both females and matrilineal (tracing through female kinship) males), would result that he would eventually rise to the throne, but not after both of his brothers Edward IV and George get their succession phase before he does. The problem (as is inferred) is Richard's intersex or hermaphrodite (son of the Greek god Hermes and the goddess Aphrodite) nature, whom looks like a male but has both sexes' reproductive organs where he can act as either the male or the female, and the closest of people interpret him in both ways, which his mother Cecily Neville of the Duchess of York (Richard Plantagenet's wife and the mother of the Yorkist sons) dubbed him as a demon of the worst kind. Day and night, Cecily would protest her hatred in Richard's face and memories, reminding him of his needless existence, that's only supplemented by the French warrior woman Joan of Arc's inclusions appearing in his visions to torment him, based on the belief by the English that she is a witch.
It definitely is sad seeing Richard's character be brushed and glanced by people from whom he has earned the trust to many of his detractors that's mainly the House of Lancaster with everybody else except Henry VI, the King of England, whom he has an inept connection with of both the sexual and purpose kind, because you see that Richard longs for someone whom he can be himself with, someone that will accept him for who he is despite being intersex, and certainly that someone whom will make him shine and receive happiness unbound. But alas, this was never meant to be, as the War of the Roses mounts between the Houses of York and Lancaster into in-fighting, backstabbing, betrayals, and all that is within the confines of murder and rebellion just to obtain personal objectives as their own vendettas. The closest people to Richard III (aside from his immediate family of his brothers Edward IV and George) are his loyal servant Catesby, Henry Stafford of the Duke of Buckingham (which is King Henry VI's replacement for sexual affection), Anne Neville of Richard Neville's family (also known as Warwick the Kingmaker of York that then defected to Lancaster) whom eventually becomes his wife after the in-fighting rumours of Prince Edward of Lancaster, the only son of Henry VI and Queen Margaret, and thus, leading to the Head of the Lancaster family himself. Anyone whom has very inept with history would already surmise that times like these are rudimentary complexities to deal with, ranging from family issues to allies that become frenemies in the process, begrudgingly often using them for their own self gain, and this War of the Roses is no exception.
Take the House of Lancaster for example, where Henry VI feels like a bird in a cage that he cannot get out of, and his wife Margaret being the shrewd queen that she is to help ascert his dominance of the throne by reinforcing to the Lancaster subjects that he is the king, where Henry himself just wants out of the oppression of his own mother, running away from the throne like it's sin and punishment. This does not get any better after Henry VI and Richard III's secret meet-ups that only show that both of them had a semblance for one another that the world would never understand, and more characters ranging from Richard Neville's family's politically-driven marriage into both the House of York and Lancaster's families to their sons (Edward iV, George, Richard III, Prince Edward of Lancaster) and outsiders of the likes of John Grey's descendants, the witch Jane Shore assisting the Yorkist older brother, the murderer James Tyrell, and eventually the Earl of Richmond Henry Tudor (whom is the stepson of Thomas Stanley and ally to Queen Elizabeth) to reclaim England. These are the group of people that interwine for the King of England's throne position, and this is attesting to the disorderly fashion that results in the War of the Roses that starts from a simple war of rivalry to turn into a bloody mess that culminates in the unification of England.
It's such a noteworthy historical centerpiece of a work that Aya Kanno has ever done, and I'd say that this is probably her best work that has been the current mainstay of her work biography, yet for some reason, how J.C. Staff managed to butcher this wonderful manga into a lifeless, PowerPoint-like production and presentation, the likes of Tokyo Ghoul and The Promised Neverland's sequel seasons is beyond me. So first off, the rushed pacing that attributes to the major cutting of content that explains most of the series' lore in the very beginning, that as the episodes went by, was severely cut out and provided no context for the audience, because this is a series that exclusively demands the 5W1Hs of storytelling to make it much more compelling and a deep dive of a read that drives the manga into pure insanity. This is a 2-cour show that's 24 episodes long, and if there was a choice to re-adapt this manga, I would have put it in a maximum of 26 episodes just that ALL of the manga can be adapted 1-to-1 with the anime for sizable pacing that loses none of the source material's flare, despite Japanese TV broadcast timing schedule issues. Also, it doesn't help that scriptwriter and series composer Hiroki Uchida is essentially the wrong person to do this job, giving by the fact that he did the screenplay for Date A Live Season 3 (when it was produced under J.C. Staff) and most recently, the series composition for Shikkakumon (though Gamers! was the first under his belt, it almost seems now that this is a one-off good out of the many bad). To note, thsi is newbie character designer Tsutomu Hashizume's first gig, so as much as the symbolisms were done decently, I hope that he continues to get more works and broaden his CV. But as a whole, J.C. Staff's work here was abominable, from incomplete background work (literally people have no faces at all) to the drab art style that you can argue, either reinforces greatly or badly to the whole show's mood swings to reflect the solemn and dark vibe.
Ultimately, the saving grace for such a palpitable series like this has to be the music, and then again, it's a mixed bag of feelings. Music composer Kow Otani is a well-known composer that can stand amongst the likes of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu and Metal Gear Solid's Hideo Kojima, and no doubt that his primetime was in the anime scene in the 1980s and 1990s, that continues to grow today with classic shows like 2002's Haibane Renmei and the entirety of the Shakugan no Shana series of the mid to late 2000s. This guy is a god amongst the few that creates iconic OSTs, but I'm sad to say that while this show's OST is good, it's nowhere near the levels of his past works. In regards to the sound direction however, Yoshikazu Iwanami may have done a lot of work as of recently, but the clear-cut adage of "quantity never equals quality" shows here, and at times, feels like a chore that the work was half-assed and not done proper. If there was a plus point of the show, I'd say that the 1st Cour's OP/ED set was pretty much perfection from Makoto Furukawa and ZAQ's pairing to showcase the amount of discourse that was to set for the series to come with some good visuals and great songs. The 2nd Cour's OP/ED set however, felt like everyone was already giving up even before the halfway mark to show the same amount of quality input, that there was no difference as a whole from visuals to even the songs that were a step down. Started off great, but clearly ran out of gas halfway through.
Is it REALLY that hard to follow a plan such as this just to vindicate manga readers of their reasons to watch the adaptations of their favourite series? I guess not, because anime production is so expensive, and hiring good talent to help out almost seems like it has to be dealt with back-door exclusivity deals, so much that what you're left is with the rag-tag people that have hit-and-miss works to their name, And this is what I can surmise that truly happened to this show: originally supposing to release last Fall but couldn't due to production issues, then taking a really good-to-great existing property and adapting it at the very bare minimum just to pass off as a by-product of the most inferior kind, which honestly, disgusts me to no end. I'd rather watch a PROPER adaptation than to have one that downgrades the source material (especially if it's a really good one), and Baraou no Souretsu literally has a black sheep now: the anime adaptation done by J.C. Staff (that literally, the studio now has no creativeness to their name anymore).
Just heed my (and many others) word to read the manga and forget that the anime ever existed, I promise that you'll spend your time better in a word-reading and art-gratifying premise that is this dark fantasy and historical drama of a compelling Shoujo manga. What a disappointment and an utter disgrace of an adaptation.
OhNova
You know what, despite being super confused and the god awful animation, I managed to like Baraou no Souretsu. The only problem with this is the animation and i guess the pacing because there is too much manga stories and not enough episodes. But hey! I stilll managed to enjoy it, it introduced me ti my favourite manga and lastly, it finished the story which was what I, an EN manga reader can't get bcuz the manga is not fully translated. They ended the anime very well too. But anyway not as bad as everyone says, it has a decent story.
DesiSkorm
This anime, or rather this story, is simply an art piece. It's told as such, it's shown as such, it's supposed to be experienced as one, it cries and bleeds as such. It's meant to be art, it's meant to be complicated, its meant to cause all kinds of mixed feelings and emotions, so keep that in mind. The theme of "Requiem of the rose king" is what caught my attention initially. Won't lie - was deeply intrigued by what would happen next, how a person of such nature would survive in the given world/era, presented in the anime. Richard is very different from mostcharacters you're probably used to. The inner conflict, the way they're inevitably treated by society once the truth is revealed is mostly cruel, a witch's hunt would be the best possible description.
If you do decide to step foot in the anime, it should be with a completely open mind, or at least a desire to learn about the different kinds of people, who exist out there. We all deserve the same amount of love.
meg_lowde
This wasn't great - the animation was very poor, often being one still that's just zoomed in and out of, and I just really didn't care for it. The story and characters weren't enough to bring this back for me either. The whole thing was just kind of dull and I struggled to pay attention to this and actually finish it. Couple that with some weird time jumps and repetition and I wasn't having the best of times. Hopefully the manga will have more to offer, but this definitely wasn't a great adaptation and I'm surprised it managed to go for 24 episodes.
Wolfie219
I am writing this after watching the absolute nonsense that was this series' final episode. Appaling doesn't even begin to describe something that was put together as sloppily as this. I don't understand what was the thought process behind this at all. To be honest, it is the best to start talking about each component of this show individually. Firstly, the story was completely rushed. If I didn't have a prior knowledge about historical people some of these characters were based off, I wouldn't understand a damn thing. Characters kept coming and going, dying one after another and I didn't see the point of most ofthem. Richard the Third, our intersex main character, as a whole fully revolved around his body being different. He just wanted to be accepted or something, I'm not even sure because that whole plot point stayed unresolved at the end. His main love interest Buckingham died, he couldn't overcome that loss and completely stopped thinking about his body's irregularity.
The art and animation are pretty much the worst thing about this adaptation. If they were any better I might have seen this show in a tad bit better regard. Art sometimes can look quite estetically pleasing, but other times characters' faces aren't drawn or they look completely off-model. Animation was non-existent. I think I didn't see a single animated sequence. The whole thing was a slideshow from beginning until the end.
OST was okay at best. Openings were decent, but the lack of animation (once again) in the visuals ruined the music following them. The soundtracks weren't used improperly, so I guess that is the only positive side I can think of about this show.
I would list more things I disliked/hated in "Wars of Roses", but I don't see the point. This is the single worst anime series I have ever watched, and if I could give it an even lower score I would.
ladyigiko
When I started watching this show, I had low expectations, but started watching it due to the BL elements it'd likely have. After watching the first episode I was skeptical if I'd continue, but I gave it the 3 episode rule. Sure enough, I could tell with each episode the story was like an onion full of layers. I quickly became invested in the shows story and characters, which became more tragic with each episode. Before I knew it, I was looking forward to this show weekly even more so then the popular, highly anticipated anime simulcasts. I do wish the animation budget was higher.This was the weakest part of the show, but, for me, the amazing story made up for it. Also, both opening themes were actually pretty good. This was a pleasant surprise. The animators also did not fail in making Richard beautiful in every scene they were in. Even if the animation wasn't great, they always made the eye candy characters look amazing. Overall, this show was a beautiful mix of tragedy, edge, and love. For anyone wanting to experience a great story that pulls you in and doesn't mind low budget animation/subtle BL elements, I recommend this one.
weeb_creature
This anime is a terrible adapation. There is no point to judge it by its story or characters, it is that bad. That is why I will not take them into account in this review. After watching 3 episodes I started reading the manga because I had no idea what was actually going on. There are quite a few timeskips and flashbacks, especially at the beginning of the series. I was wondering what part of it the actual present story was. I was surprised how easy it was to understand in the manga. But to concretely point out what is so bad about this adaption: The ATROCIOUSart and animation and the fact that they tried to squeeze 17 manga volumes into 24 anime episodes. For reference, the first 25 episodes of Shingeki no Kyojin adapt the first 8 volumes of the manga. You can imagine how much content was cut, as a concequence. Important content that gave insight to the characters' thoughts and motivations. Or scenes that just are, you know, important to the plot.
The animation is almost non-existent. Still after still. If there is movement, just the bare minimum is animated. It hurts especially to watch in the few sword fight scenes. The character designs lack the detail of their manga counterparts. There is little shading and their colors are pale. The background characters are actually so bad, it is hilarous. They are not colored in, just gray, and they do not even have faces (main characters also sometimes lose their faces if they have not spoken in a long time). You could argue that this is an artistic choice but seeing how overall bad the quality is, it just feels extremely lazy. It becomes especially apparent when you spot cgi models amidst the colorless crowd. I understand using cgi models for dances or for having people walk through town to show it is lively but the models here are not even moving. Not to mention that the background characters in the manga are quite expressive.
The backgrounds themselves might be nice to look at on their own but in the anime they fail to convey any atmosphere or give you the feeling "yes, this scene is taking place here". The characters feel too seperate from the background.
The only thing I enjoyed was the voice acting. I think the voice actors were casted very well and of course they gave a professional performance. The soundtrack was also quite good but of course it had no chance of saving this disaster.
Are the people involved in making this anime proud? Are they ashamed? Can they look ahead and think "Let's do it better next time"? I really wonder. I cannot help but feel sorry for them and the mangaka since this project seemed doomed from the start to me.
If you are interested in the story, go read the manga.
ApocalypSnow
We’ve all heard of the Wars of the Roses. Despite occurring more than half a millennium ago across the ocean with no modern consequence, every high school curriculum gets in your face about it with Shakespeare’s eight-part work depicting two different Richards and three different Henrys. Requiem of the Rose King cuts to the chase and adapts Henry VI Part 3 and Richard III. One of the biggest changes from Shakespeare’s version is that Richard is now intersex, which I think is awesome. Anime has always been diverse (kind of), and that diversity has improved these past several years. There are plenty of non-straight characters butfar fewer non-cis ones, and Richard adds to the growing representation for the LGBT+ community. Born with both male and female parts but identifying exclusively as male, Richard has to deal with politics, war, and discrimination even from his own mother. I also like the touch with Joan of Arc’s ghost haunting Richard, adding more complexity to his mental state and implying that the famous knight is also non-cis.
Beyond historical fiction, this anime doesn’t have a clear genre, which can make it hard for viewers to be interested. Don’t expect shonen like Attack on Titan, as the focus is more on Richard’s psyche than on the war or action; and don’t expect shojo or fluffy BL, as the setting puts Richard in a difficult position to find love. If you know anything about history or Shakespeare’s thing with titles, you’ll know it won’t end well for Richard unless the anime takes serious liberties. But I enjoy it for what it is—drama, internal conflict, and gorgeous art.
The art emphasizes backgrounds and still frames instead of animation. Thick brush strokes emphasize Richard and the war while Gankutsuou-style cutouts are used for Joan’s ghost. I like how the splattered backgrounds make it feel like I’m watching animated paintings from the past. Overall, I love how Requiem of the Rose King makes me feel like I’m watching history play out from a different lens.
tochigami
Lets say this: the first 12 episodes are quite sloppy as far of animation goes, the rhythm can be really slow and hard to swallow but if you have the guts to pass the first 12 chapters (which is a lot I know!) then the story regains fly and begins to develops a little better, the animation improves enough to enjoy the story. By the time you reach the last chapter you end up deep in sadness and despair because you commit yourself to those characters and their story, you feel empathy for all of them and their tragedies and wish they somehow reach ahappy ending which will never come and then, realize this is truly a masterpiece. The big turn down however, are the first 12 chapters which lets be honest, an average anime viewer can drop it at the very first episodes. So yeah, it can be hard to follow. I recommend reading the manga instead if you drop the anime but don't miss this story!
