Versailles no Bara, Gaksital Recommendations
Gaksital and Rose of Versailles have a lot in common. Both of them take place within a specific country, Gaksital in Korea and Rose of Versailles in France. They're both stories of real-life events that took place during each countries respective tragic eras [Korea (1930) and France (late 1700s)]. 1930s Korea was under the oppressive rule of Coloniel Japan and thousands of Koreans were being raped, enslaved and slaughtered. 1700s France was going through a time of revolution because of the corruption of the government, and thousands of people were dead by the time the Reign of Terror ended.
Both the main characters are somewhat similar
- Tragic Heroes. Gaksital revolves around a mysterious masked villain/hero (The Gaksital) who not only physically serves justice for the people of Korea, but also plays psychological mind games with the Japanese Police Beareu in Korea. The Gaksital hides his own pain in order to protect the ones he cherishes, and questions whether what he's doing is beneficial for his country and the people, or toxic. Rose of Versailles revolves around a high-ranking female officer, Oscar François de Jarjeyes (Lady Oscar), whose life duty is to protect the royal family/government, but is torn just like the Gaksital, but for different reasons. Lady Oscar is torn between her duty as a "Male-raised Officer" and her true female desires, as well as her duty as the Royal Family's Commander and her personal ideals. Both mangas focus on comparing the luxurious/corrupt rich nobles and the filthy poor citizens. Both are a build-up to, and eventually end up in a awe-inspiring revolution. Both the Gaksital and Lady Oscar are tragic figures who are two of the greatest literature-characters I have ever read about, both inside and outside the manga community; same goes for the stories.
Both stories are brilliant masterpieces, and are must-reads/watches.
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