Anime / La Seine No Hoshi

Italian poster

La Seine No Hoshi (ラ・セーヌの星; Star of the Seine) is a 1975 anime created by Mitsuru Kaneko. It was produced by Unimax and Soeisha, and aired on Fuji TV.

The anime takes place in 1800s France. The nation is governed by the tyrannical king Louis XVI, who's unbothered about the corruption that runs deep in the political system. The bourgeois oppress, arrest, pillage and live as they please, and have no interest in changing the status quo. They uphold the system that keeps them in power with their boots on the necks of the commonfolk, who live miserable lives.

Simone is an ordinary poor girl who's parents are murdered by wealthy aristocrats. Vowing to avenge them by killing the uptight bourgeois and those that serve them, becomes the masked heroine La Seine No Hoshi. Joining her are her are the mysterious masked beautiful Black Tulip, and the circus boy with a heart of gold, Danton, and the American revolutionary who was once her childhood friend, Milan.

Her presence causes quite the stir in French society - who is this woman, and where did she come from? Why are the aristocrats of France desperate to bring her down? As Simone edges towards uprooting the system that's brought her and her loved ones nothing but pain, she starts finding out things she was never meant to know - not just about French society, but about herself. After all - she's just like her fellow Parisians, right?

The anime is based on the 1963 French movie La Tulipe Noire ("The Black Tulip"), which was based on the Alexandre Dumas novel of the same name. Despite this, the film has very little to do with the book. The first 26 episodes were directed by Masaaki Osumi, while the other 13 were directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino (yes, THAT Tomino). The anime ran from April 4, 1975 to December 26, 1975 and comprised of 39 episodes in total.

Mentioning the name might cause a bit of Flame Bait, as the anime is often accused of being a ripoff of The Rose of Versailles.

La Seine No Hoshi has examples of:

• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The Italian OP of the anime was sung by Cristina D'Avena. You might also know her from singing the Italian OP of Doraemon, One Piece, Candy♡Candy, The Rose of Versailles, Magic Knight Rayearth, Marmalade Boy and Kimagure Orange Road, amongst others.
• Ambiguously Christian: Many characters are seen praying Christian-style, and Simone herself attends a convent and wears a cross◊.
• Anyone Can Die: Nearly once an episode there's a major character death, either by tragedy or by the hands of the aristocrats - and even the finale kills off Marie Antoinette. Simone is also willing to kill people.
• Arch-Enemy: Zaral. He hates La Seine No Hoshi because she always finds a way to breach his defenses and make him look like a fool in front of the bourgeoisie. There are quite a few moments where Zaral seems to have the upper hand over La Seine No Hoshi, only to be thwarted last second because of his own incompetence.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: A core part of the show. The aristocrats and the bourgeoisie will gladly take any opportunity to screw over the poor and climb up their social ranks, and even attack each other just for a sliver of power. Worst of these cases include Madame Catherine (the one who ordered the death of Simone's adoptive parents) and Count Crozier (who imposes heavy taxes on the people of his territory and embezzles from others).
• Artistic License – History: In one episode a hot air balloon is seen. Given that the Montgolfier brothers invented the first hot air balloon in 1783, it can be presumed that the series takes place after this year. However, since Simone is said to have finished her studies at the convent after 3 years while being 15, this would mean that Simone was born in 1765 and the series takes place in 1780.
• Artistic License – Martial Arts: One episode of had an interesting mix of this and Shown Their Work: a one-shot character featured in it had some rather improbable techniques, but not only was the martial art chosen for him, Savate, appropriate to the place, era and social status (the series being set in Paris right before the French Revolution, when Savate already existed but was only used by soldiers, sailors and street brawlers), the character was noted as extremely skilled, doing things that shouldn't have been possible, and the one time he fought a skilled foe (another Savate practitioner) he fought in a very sensible manner, aside for the flying kick that won him the bout (with the foe actually being caught by surprise by the attack and unable to dodge in time).
• Assassination Attempt: Charles de Bayer attempts to murder the King with a set of fireworks. As La Seine No Hoshi pursues him, he is suddenly shot and killed on the spot (presumably by one of the King's guards).
• Bittersweet Ending: A bit more on the sweet side. Simone loses many of her loved ones (including her childhood friends) die, the de Forges are disgraced and her half-sister Marie Antoinette is executed. She saves Marie's children from the same fate and years later, is shown to be living a happy, fulfilling life with Robert.
• Capitalism Is Bad:
  • Many aristocrats are Spoiled Brats who don't care about the damage they inflict on the peasant populace. They are apathetic to their rioting because the issues they face (such as exhorbitant taxes) don't affect them.
  • Crozier embezzles the taxes of his people despite already being wealthy for no other reason than being a Rich Bitch. When Brisseau finds out, he uses his political connections to have him arrested. Thankfully, Le Seine No Hoshi rescues him.
• Cartoon Physics: La Seine No Hoshi can jump up to six times her own height and fall from tall buildings without sustaining any real damage. She also manages to best adult men in battle despite being a little girl.
• Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: Averted with La Seine No Hoshi, who's French and knows how to kick ass. She's a constant pain for the French guards and her name is well-known across the streets of Paris. The rest of the Parisians also count, being ready to fight tooth and nail to liberate France from the bourgeoise.
• Children Are Innocent: Simone, Danton, Milan and so many other characters are exploited or abused by the adults around them and left to fend for themselves. Michelle, especially, who was unfortunate to be born with a cruel uncle who used her as a pawn for his plans and ended up accidentally executing her when trying to kill La Seine No Hoshi.
• Coming of Age Story: Simone was just an ordinary fifteen year old girl until her parents were murdered. Being adopted by the wealthy noble Duke de Forges, Simone discovers that the France she's known all her life is actually run by corrupt nobles. Swearing to oppose them, she becomes the caped superhero La Seine No Hoshi and joins La Résistance against them.
• Costume Porn: The artistocrats have an Unlimited Wardrobe of extremely glitzy dresses and accessories, especially in the first episode where they're at a ball and Marie Antoinette's dress outshines everybody else's.
• Creator Provincialism: Averted. The anime is set in France, but all the staff are Japanese. Rumour has it that the anime was inspired by The Rose of Versailles, while others allege it to be a full-on ripoff.
• Death of a Child: Like his Real Life counterpart, Prince Louis Joseph dies at the age of 7 from disease.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: In the first episode, after Milan is arrested, Simone asks the Parisians to take her with them when they go free him. The man leading the commoners laughs and says it's a man's job. This becomes deeply ironic once she becomes La Seine No Hoshi.
• Domino Mask: La Seine No Hoshi, Black Tulip and the attendants of the Masquerade Ball wear these.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Simone has to struggle with constant humiliations and the losses of many loved ones to achieve hers. These extend to the other protagonists too - Robert's family is publicly disgraced in front of the other aristocrats while Milan is sent to jail. It's not a pretty journey for anybody.
• Everyone Went to School Together: Simone and Michelle went to Panthémont together, and it's also revealed that Duke de Forges and Francis I attended the same school and became friends.
• Expy: To the point the line between "expy" and "plagiarism" becomes very thin - the anime is obviously inspired by The Rose of Versailles, Simone is Oscar with a Zorro flavour, and the creators even admitted that they copied the idea for the anime from La Tulip Noire (1963).
• Flowers of Femininity:
  • Simone's deceased parents were florists and she was the poster girl for their flower shop. After she is exiled, she returns to Île de la Cité to inherit it.
  • La Seine No Hoshi carries red carnations with her wherever she goes, and leaves them as her Zorro Mark.
  • Madame Catherine wears blue, pink and purple lillies in her Beehive Hairdo.
  • Marie Antoinette adores roses, to the point she can't go to a ball without decking her gown in them.
• The French Revolution: This is the time period La Seine No Hoshi occurs in, hence the themes of social class, oppression and aristocratic drama.
• Gratuitous French: Many characters speak French and use French phrases. Even the main character's code name is in French (La Seine No Hoshi —> "Star of the Seine").
• Gorgeous Period Dress: The nobles have an array of beautioful clothing, from large, poofy gowns with ribbons near the hems, lacy outfits clad in roses with Domino Masks to match, Pimped Out Dresses. Even Simone herself dons a pretty green dress in her civilian guise.
• Happily Adopted: By the end of the anime, Simone and Robert adopt Maria Therese and Louis Charles, after their biological mother Marie Antoinette is executed.
• Hates Rich People:
  • Simone hates the arisrocrats ever since they abused her friend Milan and had him thrown in jail for protesting about the poverty ordinary civilians faced. She despises Marie Antoinette in particular, and is shocked to find out they are half-sisters.
  • Milan grew up watching his fellow Parisians starve and suffer from poverty, and grew a desire to wipe France of it's aristocrats so he can start a new society where everyone is equal. Eventually, he lets go of this mindset after finding out that not all nobles are bad and some share his ideals.
• Historical Domain Character: Napoléon Bonaparte shows up in one episode, with focus given on his activities in Corsica.
• La Résistance: Milan hates the aristocracy and after mobilizing his forces, starts a rebellion to create a world without class discrimination. At the end of the anime, they win and successfully execute Marie Antoinette.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: Simone is the younger half-sister of Marie Antoinette. When Simone learns the truth, she finds it difficult to accept the fact that the queen whom she hates and is an enemy of the people is her sister.
• Kill the Cutie: Michelle, the cheerful schoolgirl from Panthémont, who died trying to save Simone from her uncle.
• Masquerade Ball: A hobby of the nobles is throwing lavish ball parties (even when other nobles point out they can't afford it), and Marie Antoinette is always hailed as the most beautiful woman in all of them. This makes Madame Catherine jealous as she's always felt inferior to Marie Antoinette and wants to get one above her any way she can.
• Melodrama: It's a superhero story set in 1700s France, about a little girl who becomes enmeshed in the web of sticky French politics after she's adopted into a noble family. She doesn't know why, but various nobles have expressed an interest in her and seem to know about her parents, even though all her life she's believed herself to be one of the commoners. Waters are muddied further when she finds out Marie Antoinette may have had something to do with her past, even though she hates aristocrats like her as they killed her adoptive parents and maltreat the people of Paris regularly.
• Official Couple: Simone/Robert by the end of the series, with little Danton becoming their adoptive son alongside the children of Marie Antoinette.
• Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame: The OP of the anime does this whenever La Seine No Hoshi performs a dangerous act, likely to highlight her badassness and bravery.
• Phenotype Stereotype: Most characters have blonde hair, since they're in France. Also, Danton is Spanish and has darker skin than everyone else.
• Poison Is Evil: Count Crozier tries to kill Simone by having Michelle feed her poisoned sweets. It doesn't work.
• Praetorian Guard: They serve as La Seine No Hoshi's most common nemesis, as her acts often disrupt the law and order of Paris.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Zaral, the commander of a French Guards group detached to police Paris. He serves as the primary antagonist, but that's only because it's his job to enforce the orders of the court. As long as you aren't targeted by said orders or don't break the law, the worse he does is a few empty threats. In one occasion he even let the Black Tulip go in spite of him being a wanted criminal and a personal hate for him because the Black Tulip had brought him a much worse criminal, only remarking he was supposed to arrest him too and that it would be easy to do it in the Guards' barracks.
• Red Baron: Saint Juste is known as the "Archangel of Death" because of his beauty and cold-hearted style of speech.
• Shout-Out:
  • Simone's adoptive parents are called the Rollands, likely a nod to to The Song of Rolland.
  • Danton, the Spanish circus boy, is likely named after revolutionary Georges Danton.
  • The donkey is named Tintin.
• Shown Their Work:
  • Many named locations in the story (such as the Palais Royal and Île de la Cité) are Real Life French locations.
  • From episode 27 onwards, the detailed dates and dates of each historical event are shown, following the flow of the French Revolution.
  • Napoleon is accurately depicted as quelling Corsican independence and warring with Corsican revolutionists, before he became Emperor. Also, a little girl really did give him those flowers.
• Upper-Class Equestrian: Justified, since this is 1780s France. All the nobles travel by elaborate horse-pulled carriages. Simone, in contrast, rides a shabby, small donkey, until Robert gives her her signature White Stallion.
• Wolverine Publicity: Quite a few dubs change the name of the show to "Il Tulipe Noire", even though the Black Tulip isn't the main character.

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