Holy! Flippin’! Heck!!!
Christ, I can’t believe the creators really went SO FAR IN THIS EPISODE!! I can’t believe what happened at the beginning of the episode. Obviously, it involves spoilers. DO NOT READ THIS ENTRY IF YOU HAVE NEITHER SEEN THE EPISODE NOR READ THE BOOK!!! This sentence is there to fill space in the blog aggregators.
Seriously… oh my god. I never expected the creators to actually kill off my favourite character of the entire series off so cruelly. This episode became utterly incredible because of it, but still… Eponine is really gone now… This was by FAR the best episode of the entire series. And with such an excellent series already, that HAS TO SAY SOMETHING.
I absolutely loved how Eponine managed to confess her love in the end at least. Not only was it great that she finally was released of the burden in her heart, but this also made Marius realize what he had done to her. In anime, love triangles are often forced, but the one between Cosette, Eponine and Marius was a mighty fine exception. It really featured perfect build-up and it used this build-up perfectly.
I seriously urge everyone to check out this series, and perhaps get some fansubbing group to sub beyond the fifth episode. With this episode, Les Miserables has really turned into one of the best series of the year, and it really shows the power of 52-episoded series.
And if that wasn’t enough, the upcoming attractions are looking really interesting too: Gavroche will finally meet Cosette again, and Javert has been unmasked as a spy.
(PS: apologies for the delay, but I’ve been really busy for the past days. You might expect more of these delays for the next few months. Still, this episode was SO worth the wait!)]]>
Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette – 41
Why the freaking hell doesn’t anybody subb this ??! Looks so great, exactly the type of series i LOVE, and yet, everybody’s too busy watching crap like harems or stupid stereotyped shonen.
I can’t even find RAWs for this anymore! đ I was wondering when the anime would reach this point and how’d you react to it (did you know at all? It’s a very huge part of the play) the musical version is also very sad at this part but I just want to see this anime version already!
World Masterpiece Theater anime never dissapoint, I suggest you watch their other shows if you can.
Why it doesn’t get subbed:
-It’s a Shoujo series, or a show for little girls. Even though there’s alot of mature subject mature and the characters and plot have a metric bitch ton of development and depth, fansubbers are always reluctant to do historical shows and shoujo shows so combining them doesn’t help.
-The anime community isn’t well versed in classical literature historically and a show like this demands that there me a quality checker who is extremely knowledgeable in both the time period and the source material. This take more work than most groups are prepared or used to doing. Just look at a series like Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, the Japanese in that is of a very high level so it requires alot of work to translate it, also it has all those awesome little comments.
-It’s not very popular. The fansub community is very needy for affection. Fansubbers want their work to be recognized by a group of people. There’s little incentive to sub a series that’ll have a very small, silent base.
I was looking forward to this alot, I’m a fan of Les MisĂ©rables, but oh well. I have to wait ’til it gets licenced and even that’s a very slim possibility.
DUDE….. i would never watch this series… why?
because no anime can truely remake this story. IF POSSIBLE, you should take a road trip to NEW YORK, and watch the musical there. Just titled Les Miserables, it is utterly incredible, better than any anime can ever recreate it. i actually have no idea why they would make it into an anime… plus it is unlike no other, the stage is actually a spinning stage, basically a big round disk spinning and it is amazing.
I truly want to watch this…seriously people only care for harem/shonen crap or worse kodomo no jikan
They should give this a chance, I doubt it will even get licenced
Eponine was my favorite character, too. D:
” IF POSSIBLE, you should take a road trip to NEW YORK, and watch the musical there. ”
if not possible because you live on another continent what do you do?
now ureshii fansubs did the first 3 and then dropped it on july 15th but they posted this:
“We are still interested in doing this series if any translator wants to do it. Just join our recruits channel (#ureshii-recruits@irc.rizon.net) and ask about it if you are interested. If not, Fantine will remain separated from Cossette, and you donât want that do you?”
then formula subs picked it up and posted this did the first 6 but havn’t released anything in nearly 2 months,still,they have this project listed as “active” so they havn’t given up but they’re short on staff “‘ll point this out again, but we are currently looking for a Typesetter and Translation Checker. Thank You”
Not to mention that acording to the poll on their site,les miserable is the most liked of their projects,so there’s a demand.
if you can help,i think those 2 groups would certainly welcome you with open arms.
What continent are you on?
europe,and psgels is also in europe.
Well, Broadway isn’t the only option; there’s London, and a few places in Europe, although I’m not exactly sure where at the moment and I’d have to look it up.
Or you could, y’know, read the book.
I think that goes without saying.
It IS really a sad episode!!! I’ve cried a lot!! I could’t help crying. She was the best character ever and didn’t want her to suffer. And I wonder why Cosette has a beautiful life whereas Eponine has to die. IT is NOT FAIR ! I wanted Marius be with her not with Cosette. She doesn’t deserve him , Eponine do. Marius is really an idiot not to choose Eponine . She’s the bravest and also the most beautiful character I’ve ever seen !!! So just why does he prefer Cosette? I’ve loved the character of Eponine from the very beginning, I’ve never preferred Cosette, so I want her to be happy!
Well, since she had to die according to the book, she’ll definitely remain a heroine. Cosette won’t. She didn’t sacrifice herself for anyone.She just remain hidden in her mansion , safe from any danger. I wish Eponine could live in her beautiful house and have no problems at all with Marius who loves HER.
But it was really an exceptionnal episode and the best ever even if it was unbearably sad. I just could’t take it anymore! When she recognized the voice of Gavroche or when she talked about Cosette. And that damn Marius could at least to say thanks cause she saved HIS LIFE!!!
Well, anyway she ‘ll definitely remain alive in my heart and my imagination.
Oh I was sure a story very similiar to Cosette was out there, an old anime that showed on Mexican TV (and other countries but I viewed it on Mexican televsion) called Candy Candy, it’s said to be the best shoujo of all time according to a Japanese poll and has been dubbed in every language but english. You may want to look into the series because it almost exactly the same as Cosette (both are original but similiar in tone, setting, and characters)
Anyone who thinks Eponine is supposed to be pretty needs to read the book as an antidote to their confusion. Her family is desperately poor. She’s a petty thief, and possibly a hooker. Not the first choice of ideal spouses for someone of Marius’s social standing.
She’s also half-crazy in the book, which might be something of a deterrent. xD
I’m pretty sure Eponine’s death wasn’t meant as a testimony to Cosette being a cruel heartless rat, Tania. First of all, back then it was considered improper for a young woman of the upper class/bourgeoisie(sp?) to go out in public by herself, and, at this pint, if she ran off to fight with Marius, Jean would probably think something was wrong with her, and she sems like the type who wouldn’t wanna upset her father in the slightest way. Second of all, I’m not a literary (or historical) scholar, but I see it as Eponine’s death and overall her crappy life (from the time Jean took Cosette away from the ThĂ©nardiers) was supposed to convey the message that the poor people in Paris didn’t usually get what/who they wanted/loved/dedicated their purpose in life to, and how little sympathy they got anyways.
(side note: For some reason or another, I became more attached to Sonozaki Shion from Higurashi as a figure of tragic unrequited love than to Eponine. It’d take a while to explain.)
But I’m gonna watch this episode to see how they handle Eponine’s death. It’s kinda strange what love does to people, I’ll say.
Actually I’ve read the book and I know that Eponine is described as an ugly young woman due to the poverty ( Cosette was described the same way when she was little and worked for the ThĂ©nardiers )who says curse words and is obviously a petty thief. I know she’s half crazy too (hard not to nocice it ).I have no doubt about it and I don’t need any antidote because I know exactly what it’s talking about. But I said she was really beautiful in the anime, I didn’t mean in the book . Maybe you think Cosette is prettier than Eponine , and you have the right to think it. I just gave my opinion .But you can’t say Eponine isn’t pretty in the anime. I can even prove it. Mabeuf in the 30th episode ( when she watered the flowers for him) said : utsukushi ojosama which means beautiful young woman and at the end I think the woman said kawai( I’m not sure) which means cute. I ‘ve seen lots of anime series but I found that Eponine was the most beautiful ever. Ever since she was little . I know she’s not supposed to be that way but she IS in this serie ( ANIME) , it’s a fact, you must admit that she’s far from being ugly. Even in rags, she remains really pretty. And I wanted to clarify one more thing. I don’t say Cosette is a cruel heartless rat . I just say that she’s not perfect. Nobody is . She makes mistakes too . I don’t blame her cause she hasn’t interfered in the revolution, I know perfectly well that she couldn’t. But according to the book, at the end she’ll leave her “father” who cared for her so much and can’t live without her. That wasn’t a good thing to do. What do you think? it wasn’t very kind of her .
But that’s not the reason why I prefer Eponine.
I just like her very much! I don’t know why , maybe because she has such a personality! I just love the way she is . I wanted her to be happy even if I knew that she dies in the book . Maybe I didn’t want to expect such cruelty from the creators. I just couldn’t keep it . Moreover, she’s particularly cute. I think the one who created this anime must have loved this character too.
She’s not at all a half crazy ugly girl described in the book, that’s a good point. I haven’t nocided any sign of crazyness or ugliness in her. And you ? And I wanted to know if you think that Marius should have been more grateful to her ? Because I do . That’s just a question not an offense.
Sorry, when I mentioned Mabeuf saying Eponine was beautiful in the episode 30th , it was a mistake. Actually IT IS in the 32nd . When she watered the plants . But I was very tired when I wrote it , it was the night. And I spent the whole day at school and had a test( 5 hours of philosophy!).
Sorry again.
You should watch before posting spoilers, Tania, because psgels hasn’t read the book and doesn’t know what’s going to happen XD
And I do agree with what you’re saying, but honestly, I feel that the anime-Marius was a lot kinder to Eponine than the Marius in the book. In the book he barely cared she was dying…he was too busy reading Cosette’s letter and thinking about his darling Cosette to care
We at Delicious Fansubs have always been willing to take this project the full way, but our translator went missing in action shortly after our last release without a word, and lacking a translator there’s not really much that we can do.
1) I can think of other women in anime who are definitely prettier. I’m not crazy about all the character designs in this series.
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2) She doesn’t really leave her father, it’s much more the other way around. He feels uncomfortable in the Gillenormands’ home and doesn’t spend much time there, despite her efforts to convince him. He walks out of her wedding dinner. Plus Marius is uncomfortable with him after that one conversation and pushes him away further.
SPOILER ALERT!
Personally, I’m inclined to agree with R. Valjean’s often described as viewing himself as Marius’s rival for Cosette’s affections, and after Cosette is married he doesn’t really see a need to remain any longer. That said, if we’re going to blame anyone for Valjean’s isolation at the end of the book, we should probably look at Marius, who was definitely rather chilly toward him after he learned of Valjean’s past.
Response to Sarah .
I agree with what you said too, the anime-Marius is really kinder to Eponine than in the book. He acts much like her friend . In the book, he obviously avoids her even knowing that his happyness is due to her and don’t care about her death. In the anime, he doesn’t want her to die and keep saying ” hold on !”
Response to R
Eponine is a petty thief in the book but she IS NOT a hooker. And especially in this serie. Don’t talk about her that way! Her love for Marius is pure. I think that besides Toron , and she was very little by the time, Marius is her first and only love ( and the last one too). If it wasn’t, she would not have died for him. Even in the book, she acts like a child sometimes and I just can’t imagine her to look at other men. Besides, she lives with her parents by the time she meets Marius and her only real company seems to be Azelma. Even if she often has to face the gang of her father ( “the Patrominet”).
She’s not a hooker, persay, but she was involved in prostitution of sorts. She was also the mistress of Montparnasse, which isn’t mentioned in the anime, but is in the book. That’s why Montparnasse is always referring to himself as Thenardier’s son in law. Thoug i can’t remember if thats in the anime either. Though i agree with you. Her love is as pure and as real as cosette’s easily.
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Her only love? Um, it’s made pretty clear that she sleeps with Montparnasse, at the very least.
Another opportunity of laying hands on that “devil’s dandy” must be waited for. Montparnasse had, in fact, encountered Eponine as she stood on the watch under the trees of the boulevard, and had led her off, preferring to play the lover with the daughter rather than the crook with the father. It was well that he did so. He was free. (Slightly paraphrased.)
If she slept with Montparnasse and loved him too then why did she give her life to save Marius ? Moreover, even if it’s possible in the book SHE WOULD NEVER DO SO IN THE ANIME. Well just look at her! She’s honest in her feelings for Marius and upright. Well, actually I found Montparnasse kind of handsome in this serie , well, maybe she should have fallen in love with him , at least she (maybe) wouldn’t have died but she didn’t fall in love with him. Feelings can’t be explained. Anyway, I don’t agree with you on that point. Eponine is for me a symbol of purity. A fallen angel. And she’s too proud to act that way. She has always been so proud of herself. Try to remember her childhood. So it’s just impossible. It doesn’t fit at all with her character.
Well, she is far from purity. She is kinda like fantine in the way that she was also a prostitute, and only did what she did for money, but despised it at the same time. And she didn’t really have feelings for Montparnasse, but she was his mistress. And she became desperate when she was poor. But this might not be true in the anime, however it was 100% true in the book
If she slept with Montparnasse and loved him too then why did she give her life to save Marius ? Moreover, even if it’s possible in the book SHE WOULD NEVER DO SO IN THE ANIME. Well just look at her! She’s honest in her feelings for Marius and upright. Well, actually I found Montparnasse kind of handsome in this serie , well, maybe she should have fallen in love with him , at least she (maybe) wouldn’t have died but she didn’t fall in love with him. Feelings can’t be explained. Anyway, I don’t agree with you on that point. Eponine is for me a symbol of purity. A fallen angel. And she’s too proud to act that way. She has always been so proud of herself. Try to remember her childhood. So it’s just impossible. It doesn’t fit at all with her character.
Anyway, I donât agree with you on that point.
Take it up with Victor Hugo, then. She does indeed sleep with Montparnasse.
Hugo implies that Eponine sleeps with Montparnasse, not that she loves him. There’s a difference.
In any case, bookverse!Eponine leads Marius to the barricades because she hopes he’ll die there. She tried to kill him because she knew she couldn’t have him and only saves his life at the end because part of her regrets her actions. She’s petty and childish and emotionally stunted, and a far cry from the idealized gamine you seem to be describing.
(It’s spelt Patron-Minette, by the way.)
Alright, I get it. By the way, I know why she said to Marius to go to the barricades ( it wasn’t precised in the anime , only in the book ) but even it is her fault that he happened to be there, it was quite brave from her to get the bullet which was intented for him. Don’t you think ? And even if she slept with Montparnasse it doesn’t really change my opinion about her. Sleeping with Montparnasse doesn’t mean she’s a hooker. Then her love for Marius changed her. True love can really change people’s life. Remember, she used to say curse words before she met Marius! At the end, she reminds me of the little mermaid who would rather die herself than live knowing she’s responsible of his death. At first, she thinks she may be able to kill the prince to save her own life but she realizes that she just can’t do it. There’s something like that in the way she dies. She’s quite unstable in the book, for example when she refuses the money Marius gives her in exchange for leading him to the place Cosette lives in. She just throws it back to him and it falls on the ground. And when she hears Gavroche singing she says : ” Don’t say him I’m here .If you do, he’s going to scold me .” It was indeed a sign of crazyness. But what I’m saying is that she is idealized in the anime. Don’t you think so? I’m quite sure she is! She doen’t speak at all like a half-crazy girl. They made her this way and it is obvious right away. There’s something different if we compare her to her character in the book. What do you think ? I started to watch this serie nearly one year ago and I loved the way she’s described there even if I like very much her character in the book too. I’m not the one who imagines her perfect because they represented her that way in the serie.
Well, from what I’ve seen from the earlier episodes, the anime portrays young Eponine as a spoiled brat (mostly due to the way her parents raised her and treated Cosette), so the creators probably wanted her to seem more sympathetic now that she’s dirt poor and wandering in the streets, so we don’t say, “Ha, she got what she deserved!” The truth is, Eponine has a heart, she’s just lived in a very bad environment all her life. The anime creators probably thought it best to make that more obvious, however, by making her more physically and in other ways appealing.
By the way, the hooker issue comes from the fact that Thernadier hired out Eponine as a prostitute to bring in some extra money. Sadly, child prostitution was a real problem in those days. But if you were extremely poor, you had to do what you had to do. Morally wrong? Of course, but people sometimes resort to stealing in the same situation. (i.e. Valjean!) Of course, they do not include Eponine’s prositution in the anime. (I don’t even know how much they emphasize it in the book.) Come on, if they didn’t have Fantine become a prostitute . . .
Yeah, I quite agree with you when you say that Eponine grew up in a very bad environment all her live. First of all , she’s actually never been a brat, she would have remained nice towards Cosette if her mother didn’t interfere in their relationship and didn’t treat Cosette like some kind of a tramp dog. Remember after her mother’s departure, she’s the one who proposed to Cosette to go and play with her and Azelma in their room. But the mother had other projects for this poor child. And children always act like their parents , they would never turn against them ( well, there’re some exeptions like Gavroche but it’s because he wasn’t loved by his mother so it’s not likely ). So they’d rather turn against Cosette. I could never blame Eponine for not being at Cosette’s side. Because I’m sure I would do the same if I had her parents. As a child, my parents were an example for me. Would you rather be at the side of a girl you know practically nothing or at your parents’. It’s an easy answer, don’t you think ? And besides, haven’t you noticed she has always been so kind with everybody exept Cosette . She just can’t stand her and I believe she thinks Cosette steals away every boy she loves. Which is actually true. Cosette doesn’t seem to realize herself the pain she’s been always bringing Eponine. She made her suffer more than anybody else in spite of herself. But I suppose she’s never realized it. Well, anyway, I’ve always considered Eponine like a very good person who didn’t have the chance to have good parents . So, even as a child, I loved what she was like. And besides, poors were so often treated the way Cosette has been that it’s just sounds kinda normal for those days. And, back then, Eponine and Azelma were just children. All children could be cruel . They’re not an exception. But to give her life for her loved one is truely an exception. That really shows the kind of person who is really Eponine ( without considering her parents): someone with a great and big heart. When she loves someone she’s able to give her live for him. And she even protected Cosette against her father knowing she’s the one Marius loved. She didn’t have to but she did. And that’s what makes her even more exeptionnal in my eyes! Besides, when she was dying she had regrets she’s never been too close to Gavroche. And that’s what stroke me the most. I realized even better that her parents ( most of all her father but her mother too) were responsible of everything. And yes, she’s just the best character ever for me!
Ummm… yes, Eponine was implied to be a child prostitute in the novel… When she first speaks to Marius she was sent to deliver a message and prostitute herself. The line that says something like “she looked at the unmade bed with a quiet sureness that chilled the heart”. You honestly think that Thenardier, being as low and villainous as he is wouldn’t sell his daughters’ bodies for a few shillings… They were STARVING and already stealing to make ends meet.
I think the reason Eponine is so appealing to a large number of fans is because most people in general like flawed characters who to some degree redeem themselves in the end. And it is especially heartbreaking when said character meets a tragic end, and it makes us wish that things had turned out differently for him or her. We appreciate a character’s flaws because they make a person realistic and human, but we also savor the hope for their redemption, and their good qualities are even more significant to us.
I think that despite the physical appearance he allotted her, Hugo wanted to portray Eponine as a very sympathetic character. He had a general sympathy for all poverty-strickened women, including prostitutes. And, like many romantics, he had her redemption come through love, which really is its ultimate form. The saddest part was that her love was not returned, and although we can understand why Marius was not attracted to her (and, in truth, somewhat repulsed by her), we are still upset by it. Well, some more than others, I suppose. ^^,
Okay, end of philosophical rant.
People seem to not think of this, so i applaud you for saying this. This is what I’m constantly trying to tell people who don’t understand why i like eponine. I like her for her flaws.
Yes in the book Eponine is described as repulsing but Marius COULD NEVER be repulsed by her in the anime . She’s so beautiful !!! Come on! she’s a thouthand times more beautiful than Cosette here!!!
I agree with you. Cossette unfortunately does not seem to be a person in real life. Eponine sounds more realistic than Cossette can ever be. Cossette seems to be like a useless fairy tales princess that needs to be protected 24/7. If Jean dies and she did not meet Marius than she would surely strave on the street, unlike Eponine and Gravoche.
Oh, dear!!! I say the same!!! WHY?!!! EPONINE?!!! Eponine’s my favorite character, too.
Eponine’s Love is the Truest Form.
Who knew she was capable of such,
All her life she wants to be the centre of
everything.
The abuse and hard living with her family.
For Eponine, Marius is life and love
Her only Hope.
She gave her life for him.
The greatest sacrifice of a True Lover.