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| Light and Shadow |
by Happii
Oscar and André... Can anyone deny the harmony of these names? The story of these two marks the uniqueness of RoV. It is one of the most beautiful and touching both in the anime and in the manga. I will mostly focus on the storyline of the anime because I am more familiar with it but I will make references to the manga when I find necessary. My aim is to paint a picture of the relationship between these two extraordinary characters through some of their most memorable moments, so obviously there will be a lot of spoilers. Here we go...
Ironically, Oscar and André owe their encounter to General de Jarjeyes, the one person who tries with all his might to keep Oscar away from womanly pleasures. He orders Oscar's Nanny to bring his orphaned grandson to accompany Oscar and to be her servant, playmate and companion but never the love of her life. The two kids grow up together. They share many carefree years just playing with swords, horse riding, playing pranks and getting scolded by Nanny (especially André, because he is one year older and supposedly responsible from the "mademoiselle"). They have two memories from those times that fans love to make references to in fanfictions. At one time when Oscar was 5, she and André were about to drown in a lake and at the other when Oscar was 7, they buried "treasures" which consisted of a stuffed bear, a lead top and a red knife, under an oak tree. These memories are only mentioned in the anime.
Oscar's assignment as Marie Antoinette's personal guard at the age of 14 marks the end of these carefree years. For the first time in her life, Oscar is makes a choice which will effect her life forever. She hesitates to put on the military uniform which means goodbye to her womanhood. General de Jarjeyes tries to use André to persuade her to wear the uniform because he thinks she will do as André says always. However, André disobeys his master and tries to lead her to whatever she believes to be the right choice without forcing her. This is the first time the audience sees André's loyalty and how much he cares about his dear friend although his feelings are still in a fraternal level.
It is only when Oscar saves André's life that he starts to see her in a different light. André has been feeling that ever since Oscar started her duty, she has become colder and colder towards him. But he is proven wrong when Oscar offers her life in exchange of his to the king after André is sentenced to death following an unfortunate incident involving Marie Antoinette. André feels deeply ashamed of ever doubting Oscar's friendship and swears that one day he will do the same for her.
As time goes by, Oscar begins to spend more time with Fersen. André painfully watches her fall in love with him even before she can admit her feelings to herself. He doesn't say anything and simply stares Oscar in astonishment even when she attends a ball in a women's dress, hiding her identity to dance with Fersen. Neither of them talks openly about this but after a certain point they both accept it in a silent agreement.
When the Black Knight appears, Oscar makes a plan to capture him: dressing up just like him in the hope of running into him one day during his midnight robberies. André offers to be the Black Knight claiming that he looks more like him with his brown hair and cuts his ponytail without hesitating a second. In the manga, however, this scene is slightly (!) different. Oscar "orders" André to be the fake Black Knight and chases him with a pair of scissors! Unfortunately, Oscar's plan costs André his left eye and he gladly sacrifices it to save his beloved. Oscar burns with a desire to avenge his dear friend. Surely she was very touched by André's sacrifice too (especially after he tells her "I'm glad it wasn't your eye.") but we are not given more insight to her feelings other than her anger towards the Black Knight. Yet André tells her to release him and she reluctantly does as he says.
After sometime, Fersen comes to the Jarjeyes mansion out of nowhere and tells Oscar when she least expects that she was the mysterious lady he danced at the ball. Oscar, hurt that her feelings have been revealed, tells Fersen that she can't stay friends with him anymore and parts her ways with him. This unexpected separation has a big effect on Oscar and she decides to make some radical changes in her life to live strongly like a man and never to fall in love. She starts with resigning from the Royal Guards and transferring to the French Guards as their commander. Then she tells André that he doesn't have to accompany her anymore and that he can do as he wishes. André deeply resents at Oscar because the thought of being away from her is unbearable for him. That is when he tells her his ever-famous line: "A rose is a rose whether it blooms in red or white. But a rose can never be lilac." Infuriated by the meaning behind these words, Oscar slaps at her friend. André loses himself in a moment of insanity and confesses his love desperately, kissing Oscar violently. He rips her shirt but luckily comes to his senses with the sound it makes. He apologizes with shame and repeats that she is a woman no matter what she does to change it. In utter shock of her friend's confession, Oscar cries silently.
The next day, Oscar tells André that she is not angry about what happened and that she won't report it. She looks back at all the years they spent together and understands finally that André wasn't different from her at all. While she was suffering after Fersen, she was making André suffer too. She feels guilty but decides that it is best to avoid him. Little did she know that André had already found a way to join the French Guards under her command? Oscar is shocked to see André at the first day of inspection. She asks him to give her an explanation and he tells that he is the only one who can protect her. At this, Oscar stops questioning him further and accepts the situation, murmuring "Do whatever you like!" in an indifferent tone.
When Girodelle pops out of nowhere with a marriage proposal, Oscar is completely taken aback. While she thinks that it is a terrible joke, André is going mad with jealousy imagining Oscar with another man. Actually, this description fits the manga André more because his attempt to poison his beloved can only be explained through madness. In the anime, he simply cries and mumbles half-consciously "Oscar, don't get married…" after being beat up by his comrades. But in the manga, André thinks that if he can't have Oscar, no one can. He plans to put poison in her wine and kill himself right after she is dead. However, he realizes what a selfish thing he is doing and prevents her from drinking the wine at the last moment. Oscar suspects what he was trying to do but never questions him about it. Sometime after this incident, she announces him out of the blue that she is never going to marry which leaves André crying silently with relief.
What makes Oscar finally realize her love for André is a terrible incident involving Oscar, André, Fersen and a group of bloodthirsty rioters. Oscar's carriage is attacked in the streets of Paris by the rioters who think that there must be nobles inside from the way the carriage looks. They take André away to the gallows while Oscar desperately yells that André is not noble. But the mob doesn't hear her at all. She falls down, trying to escape and just when she is about to be run down by the mob, Fersen appears out of nowhere and saves her. She regains consciousness and realizes that André is still not around and... she screams "My André! He's in danger!" Fersen pauses for a moment upon hearing these words then tries to calm Oscar down, saying that he will get 'her' André back. Oscar stands there unable to believe what had come out of her mouth just then. After this incident she admits her real feelings to herself.
A point not to be missed here is that her real feelings resurfaced only when she was scared to lose André. This characteristic of Oscar is highly despised among fans. She is so used to André's presence that she can't realize how important he is for her. That is the same reason why she didn't realize that he was in love with her all those years.
When the rumors that Oscar disobeyed the rules of the king and let the third estate delegates into the National Assembly reaches the court, General Jarjeyes gets so furious that he decides to punish his daughter in "his way." Just when he pulls his sword to kill Oscar, André stops him. He begs him to kill him first if he must kill Oscar because he can't stand seeing his beloved dying even for one second. Thankfully, a messenger from Marie Antoinette arrives just in time to tell that Oscar has been forgiven. This is the first time that André openly declares that he will gladly give his life for Oscar. Naturally, Oscar is shocked and deeply touched by André's devotion but she keeps her silence... at least, in the anime.
The first signs of the great tragedy that awaits Oscar and André are revealed when we find out that André's vision is getting worse and that Oscar has caught tuberculosis. Both of them hide their critical condition from the other and at the same time both of them suspect that something is not right with the other. Oscar decides to have a portrait of herself painted to leave behind after she dies after she finds out about her illness and realizes that she doesn't have much time left. When the portrait is finished, André stands in front of it but he can't see it because his vision is blurry. So he describes how he would imagine Oscar to look in the portrait. He sees her as Artemis, the Virgin Goddess instead of Mars, the God of War as the painter intended her to look like. Oscar, who has found out from the family doctor that André is almost blind, is very touched that André reveals this image of her he kept in his heart. This scene is one of the key A&O moments of the anime. It is highly symbolic but at the same time very revealing.
On the night of July 12, 1789, the order calling French Guards Company B military intervention in Paris finally arrives. Oscar and André are trapped in a forest because an angry mob blocks their way to Paris. Oscar, taking advantage of the situation, tells André that she knows about his eye and for that reason she can't take him to Paris. However, André tells her that he will always be by her side. Oscar can't keep her feelings to herself anymore upon hearing these words and finally confesses her love. That night the two lovers are united without knowing anything about the destiny that awaits them. Regardless to say, this is the ultimate fan moment.
In the manga, Oscar confesses her love after André saves her from her father's sword. She starts with an agonizing self-acknowledgement, telling him that she is weak and that she always wants someone to depend on. Then, taking André completely by surprise, she says the words that he dreamed of hearing from her for so many years. Oscar, crying, asks him if he will love only her despite all. André takes her to his arms and tells her that even if he tells it thousands of times, his answer will stay the same. The night they are finally united also develops differently (and definitely shows more). It is on July 12 like in the anime. Oscar calls André to her room and tells him, with a slight hesitation, that she would like to spend the night with him and become his wife. André can't believe his ears over against Oscar's sudden proposal. He kneels down in front of her and tells her that he doesn't have anything to make her happy. Oscar tells him in return that true masculinity is one man's passion and kindness. Upon these words André puts his hands on her shoulders but Oscar pushes him away telling she is scared. This shows that no matter how many armies she can lead, Oscar is only a regular woman when it comes to love. André grabs her hand just in time and tells her that he can't wait any longer. He reassures her, kissing her forehead. Oscar surrenders herself to André's arms with one last "I'm yours."
Another difference between these two versions is that in the anime André is pretty calm. He says that he knew for a long time that Oscar loved him and adds "No, even before I was born..." to emphasize that they were meant for each other. In the manga, however, André is in utter shock over Oscar's confession. This leads us to the notable difference in André's character between the anime and the manga. While he is very calm, patient and mature in the anime, in the manga, he is more human and incredibly jealous of Oscar (jealous enough to attempt to poison her). Moreover he is almost nonexistent in the first chapters of the manga because Riyoko Ikeda changed her mind about the storyline probably in the middle of the story. However, one characteristic stays the same always in both versions: André's undying love for Oscar. As for her, fans tend to agree that she is more "feminine" in the manga compared to the "walking iceberg" she is in the anime.
The day succeeding the night their love bloomed, André is shot while trying to protect Oscar. He was, by then, completely blind, yet he senses that Oscar was in danger and follows her without hesitation but unfortunately is targeted by a bullet that was aimed at Oscar. The soldiers take him to a big court yard and call a doctor but there is nothing anyone can do. Oscar stays by him, crying silently. She tells him to take her to a small church make her his wife when their fight is over. André notices her tears falling on his hand and asks her why she is crying as if he was going to die. Oscar says no fiercely. André repeats to himself with his last strength that he can't and won't die. But with one teardrop forming in his eye as if he was saying sorry, he falls into silence. Oscar's cries echo on the court yard.
Later she sits outside the church where André's body is taken. She tells Alain to take command from then on because she is out of force to command her soldiers. This is the first time we see Oscar showing weakness. It seems like she has also given up the revolution. But the next morning she agrees to take command again thanks to Alain's encouragement. In the manga, it is more obvious that she can't imagine a life without André. When he is dead she commands desperately to her soldiers to shoot her. She recalls André telling her that a soldier should never get carried away by his feelings. Crying miserably, she answers him in her mind that she is only a human-being. On the storming of the Bastille, she leads her soldiers to the battle area as if nothing had happened. When she realizes that André is no longer with them, the gravity of the horrible truth comes crushing down on her once again. She thinks to herself: "When you died, I died with you." And when she is shot by the soldiers in the Bastille, the happiness of joining her husband in heaven cannot be missed on her painful expression.
On the whole Oscar and André are inseparable. Oscar is the light, André is the shadow. For a long time their relationship develops in this order but in the end the light follows the shadow willingly but at the same time heroically because they can never fall apart.
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