So let’s run through this checklist… I have here a historic shojo anime set in France, released to television in 1979 and features a main character who does a little gender bending. Gotta be Rose of Versailles? Oh good guess, but WRONG! Fooled you and honestly those clues would have fooled me as well as a short time ago until I discovered another series that is ‘similar’. Take what you will, but give it a shot as it is only 13 episodes (very short for a series in those days). May I present Isabelle of Paris.
Call me ignorant, but I have never heard of the Romantic Masterpiece Theater. World Masterpiece Theater oh yes, I love those shows, but the previous moniker is our current interest and I don’t have much to say on it except I can guess (and I mean guess!) that Isabelle of Paris was labeled in this category as this was one of four shows released by a studio not usually seen on our radars, DAX International in 1979/80. These four shows could have been the Romantic Masterpiece Theater? By the way I want to thank Helen McCarthy’s research as this is what helped me come to this conclusion. Now this means I need to check out the other three shows: Julie the Wild Rose, Golden-Haired Jeannie and Wandering Girl Nell. … What I do know is that we get a pre-intro to Isabelle for Romantic Masterpiece Theater which features cats… I love cats and it’s a short, simple and a cute sequence, but anyway… on with the show!
Isabelle of Paris always begins with a few seconds of recap before the start of the official intro, but when that intro comes, I am excited. It’s not the most technically advanced in terms of animation and it always outlines the main cast, which by the end of episode one you should have a good handle on. My joy is that it features the music of Frédéric Chopin (the real Piano Man). Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor to be exact, a very bold choice, but somewhat fitting as well. Chopin’s work is often heard throughout the series including one of my personal favorites, Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1.
Set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during the reign of Napolean III, we find the backdrop to Isabelle of Paris. Isabelle is a carefree 15 year old noble French girl who gets caught up in the social-political climate of that era. France has been defeated and the Prussian Army has laid siege to Paris much to the delight of many crooked Parisian nobles and politicians. Being of the upperclass she witnesses first hand the toil this situation has put onto the Rostain family. Her brother is an officer in the army, her sister is in love with a commoner (the piano teacher!) who like many others aims to defend Paris as the army and government cannot and her parents are set on upholding tradition of the family name and prestige.
Isabelle herself must flee to safety in Versailles once the Prussians near Paris and is constantly accompanied by Jean, and old friend who happens to have the biggest crush on Isabelle. Gender bending plays a minor role by the second half of this short series. Not so much a struggle for identity, but the need to reverse one’s role to escape Versailles and perform acts of espionage. Isabelle has been tasked to get to London, England to recruit help to save Paris from the invading Prussian army. Isabelle proclaims, “If only I were a boy?” She begins to cut her flowing locks of hair and a rushes to a change of clothes thus adopting a new role, a disguise to get past anyone who might be looking for our lady. Different from The Rose of Versailles in the fact that Oscar was bred to be a son, an heir, to her father, Isabelle does not have an issue of struggling with her internal sense of self. This is only a matter of procedure to get the job done so to speak. And the shorter hairstyle, it looks really sharp!
Though a short series for the time (40–50 episodes was the norm), Isabelle of Paris told an effective story which when you look at it from a glance is really a reflection on the evolution of the Rostain family from privileged nobility to defenders of the common man. Isabelle of Paris portrays a solid, dramatic and adventurous tale full of strength that also occasionally threw in a monkey wrench that made me go, “What, the…?”… like being chased by a guy who looks like Frankenstein and the main ‘evil’ politician having green skin, lol. Yet the conclusion was a definite surprise as I was not expecting such a tragic downfall… prepare a few tissues. This was a happy find as of recent and is without question a welcome break from much more drawn out series which sometimes can be a haul getting through. May I add yet another fun shojo series to my collection. YES!!!
What if you mixed the premise of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman with The Incredibles? Or maybe the senate fighting of Gatchaman with warmth of My Neighbor Totoro? That’s how I see Bionic Six, a show I have not seriously watched since it was first on syndicated broadcast back in 1987. Oh sure I caught an episode from time to time, but as far as fandom all I know was that I really remembered this show as a favorite of mine way back then. Yet ironically I did not follow up much after that. I forgot a lot of the plot line, the premise, etc. All I remembered were a couple of the characters names, the title of the show and it was for an 80s cartoon, animated extremely well. Sadly, most of the video footage I find of Bionic Six is in poor shape.
Have you seen the intro for Bionic Six? Perhaps one of the best examples of short animation from the 1980s? To no surprise the name of TMS, or Tokyo Movie Shinsha, is credited as a co-producer of the show. I have numerous times gushed my love for this studio and for one of it’s star directors who happens to appear in the credits, Osamu Dezaki. Every episode is A-Grade beautiful, no cheapening out for visual budget. Bionic Six may not officially be anime, but like Galaxy Rangers (which was also animated by TMS), this was the closest thing we got here in the West that could pass in many ways as anime with the look and feel. A half-anime, or distant cousin could be the categorization. 
Remember I mentioned this is a family show as well as a superhero title? The family in question that are the heroes of Bionic Six are the Bennetts. A mixed family including dad, Jack; mom, Helen; and kids Eric, Meg, J.D. and Bunji (the last two being adopted), they are via the help of Professor Sharp and the “miracle of modern science” the ultimate sentai squad, the Bionic Six. BIONICS ON! With the help of cybernetic technology the family becomes Bionic-1, Mother-1, Sport-1, Rock-1, IQ and Karate-1 respectively. After all isn’t stopping bad guys the ultimate family bonding experience?
Their main nemesis are the followers of one Dr. Scarab, including the corrupt Doctor himself… “HAIL SCARAB!” They are an oddball collection with names like Glove, Mechanic, Klunk, Chopper and the elusive Madame-O, they are fun in terms of being “the bad guys”, but they are way too monster-like in a cartoonish way. I often wonder if this ‘evil’ group was recycled later into shows like Captain Planet and the Planeteers? Many toy related shows of the era were very similar in terms of plot and tone, basic good guys vs. bad guys, but I think the inclusion of a family dynamic makes Bionic Six stand out. It was perfect for television and if production was was tweaked slightly, this could have been great for primetime as after all… bad cartoons only appeal to blind consumption of products and great cartoons can often times tell a visual story better than anything live action… just my opinion. 
Long ago I wrote about Birth right at the beginning of this website’s inception (it was entry #4) and it’s high time I give another shout out to this jewel of an OVA. Some of you may not be a fan of this show and some of you I know are totally passionate about this one-off oddity like me. I am not going to go over the synopsis of this production again, that was the job for my first entry… or was it? Does the plot really matter when the proverbial ride of watching this production becomes the major enjoyment. We do have a story… an alien world, Aqualoid, inhabited by organic life, some are humanoid, and Inorganic invaders who are at a tug of war struggle in terms of survival. This isn’t a war per se, more like opposing forces in nature balancing themselves out via an animated free for all… or perhaps an overdone chase scene set to a battle of life versus death which renews itself without realizing it.
Birth exudes style no question, but it is the more profound looks at life, death and the natural cycles of balance that appeal more to my eye with each viewing. Has my listening to Alan Watts lectures, reading the Tao Te Ching and studying astrological and mythological practices found a way into my viewing of anime? Guilty as charged! The ghostlike Arlia drops the initial clues when speaking to our quartet of protagonists. She states that the invading Inorganics and the native organic life forms are both products of the universe. The inclusion of evil, or destructive… malefic influences are important to continue the cycle of life. We often like to say let’s get rid of war and disease, etc. and live in total harmony and peace, but those more challenging elements are a part of what harmony is all about. How would you know the sweet if you didn’t experience the bitter and the sour. Sometimes we have to let go of something even if it is painful.
And now for an even bigger topic… death. Much like 
Finally let’s look at cosmology. The universe from my understanding exists on many levels, perhaps dimensions, and each is interconnected with the others. Harmony on one level can create chaos on another and vice versa… thank you Alan Watts. Could these life forms on the planet Aqualoid actually exist as a lower level to say the ethereal character Arlia? We zoom out at the end to find this was all in Arlia’s eye, or perhaps her mind. Could the Aqualoid population be part of her internal organs and bloodstream? Or perhaps it was only just a dream? Either way life and conciousness are much more complex than than tangible surface we witness with our five senses. We may have an Aqualoid inside of all of us, or perhaps we are an Aqualoid for a higher level of being?
The Classic Anime Museum 
You must be logged in to post a comment.