The moving and fascinating story of "Les Miserables: Cosette": Anime review

"Les Miserables: Cosette": A moving animated version of Victor Hugo's classic

Based on Victor Hugo's timeless masterpiece "Les Miserables," the anime "Les Miserables: Girl Cosette" is a 52-episode TV anime series that was broadcast in 2007. It is told from the perspective of the young girl Cosette. This work recreates the epic story of the original in the medium of animation, deeply moving viewers. Below, we will introduce detailed information and reviews of this work, as well as recommended points.

Overview

"Les Miserables: Cosette" was broadcast every Sunday from January 7 to December 30, 2007 on BS Fuji. It is a long series of 52 episodes, each 30 minutes long, that incorporates the essence of the original work while also allowing viewers to enjoy the anime's unique story development. It was produced by Nippon Animation and Fuji Television, and directed by Hiroaki Sakurai.

story

Set in revolutionary Paris, the story depicts the tense escape drama between Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, who is pursuing him, as well as the beautiful love story between the young Marius and the grown-up Cosette. Fantine, the mother of young Cosette, comes from Paris with her and arrives in the village of Montfermeil in search of work, but is deceived by the Thénardiers and forced to leave her beloved daughter in their care. Fantine promises that she will "definitely come back for her someday" and begins working in the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer, but falls ill from the harsh conditions of the work. Jean Valjean (Madeleine), who inherits Cosette's wish, meets her, and so begins the fateful drama.

Jean Valjean served 19 years in prison for stealing bread, and after his release he was still in a bad mood, but he regained his humanity after meeting Bishop Myriel. Using the false name Madeleine, he managed a factory in the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer and rose to the position of mayor. Meanwhile, Cosette was overworked as a servant for the Thénardiers, but she continued to live happily, believing in her mother's promise. Eventually, Jean Valjean and Cosette met, and the two began to walk the path of life together.

character

The main characters in this work are:

• Cosette : Depicted from her childhood to her adulthood, voiced by Kaori Nazuka and Tamaki Matsumoto. She is a bright and strong girl who believes in her mother Fantine's promise and lives a harsh life under the Thénardiers. She meets Jean Valjean and grows up loving him as her father.
• Jean Valjean : Voiced by Masashi Sugawara. After serving many years in prison for stealing bread, he was still in a bad mood after his release, but he was reformed after meeting Bishop Myriel. Using the false name Madeleine, he runs a factory in the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer and rises to the position of mayor. He saves Cosette and chooses to live with her.
• Fantine : Voiced by Emiko Hagiwara. Due to her poverty, she comes to the countryside from Paris with her daughter Cosette in search of work, but is deceived by the Thénardiers and forced to leave Cosette in their care. She falls ill due to her harsh life, and on her deathbed she entrusts Cosette to Jean Valjean.
• Javert : Voiced by Takashi Matsuyama. A detective who relentlessly pursues Jean Valjean, Javert takes pride in his dedication to his job. He does not believe in the change of human nature, but he begins to feel conflicted as he pursues Jean Valjean.
• Gavroche : Voiced by Yumiko Kobayashi. The eldest son of the Thénardiers, he is treated coldly by his parents, but becomes close to Cosette like siblings. When Jean Valjean comes to pick up Cosette, he is invited to join him, but he chooses to stay with the Thénardiers, saying that this is his home.
• Marius : Voiced by Anri Katsu. Although he was raised by his aristocratic grandfather, he left home after learning of his father's thoughts and rebelled against the royalists. He met Cosette as an adult and fell in love with her. Together with Enjolras and his companions, he threw himself into the fight against the government forces in order to bring true freedom to his country.
• Eponine : Voiced by Yuko Sasamoto. The eldest daughter of the Thenardiers, she is the same age as Cosette. At first, she gets along well with Cosette, but her parents' influence causes her to treat her coldly. She falls in love with Marius, but when she finds out that he only has eyes for Cosette, she has mixed feelings.
• Thénardier, the Innkeeper : Voiced by Masashi Yabe and Maki Horikoshi. The husband and wife owners of the inn in Montfermeil, they are greedy. They cheat Cosette and make her work as a servant. Later, they go bankrupt and move to Paris, where they continue to commit crimes.
• Azelma : Voiced by Kurumi Mamiya. The second daughter of the Thenardiers, she bullies Cosette following her parents and older sister. She has no sense of self-reliance and tends to follow those who are stronger than her.
• Alain : Voiced by Anri Katsu. A boy from the town where Jean Valjean became mayor, he steals because of his poverty, but is saved by Jean Valjean. He helps him with his work, and takes over his will after Jean Valjean is absent.
• Fauchervent : Voiced by Tatsuyuki Ishimori. He disliked Jean Valjean, but was saved by a carriage accident and had a change of heart. While working at the convent, he hid Jean Valjean and Cosette from Javert.
• Courfeyrac : Voiced by Hidefumi Takemoto. A member of the Friends of the ABC political society and a classmate of Marius. He dies during the revolution.
• Enjolras : Voiced by Yuji Kishi. A central character in Friends of the ABC's, he dies at the barricade.
• Bishop Myriel : Voiced by Norio Otsuka. The merciful Bishop of Digne, who offers Jean Valjean a silver candlestick that leads to his conversion.

staff

Many staff members were involved in the production of this work. The main staff members are introduced below.

• Based on Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables"
• Planning : Kazuya Maeda (Fuji Television), Kohei Sano, Kazuko Ishikawa
• Production management : Kenichiro Hayafune
• Series Composition : Tomoko Konparu
• Character design : Hajime Watanabe, Takahiro Yoshimatsu
• Chief animation director : Tadashi Shida
• Music : Hayato Matsuo
• Music produced by : Jin Yoshimura, Daisuke Honchi (Index Music)
• Art setting : Kazue Ito
• Art director : Mitsutake Nakamura
• Director of photography : Seiichi Morishita
• Sound Director : Hiroyuki Hayase, Hideo Takahashi
• Color design : Tomoko Komatsubara
• Producers : Yukihiro Ito (Fuji Television), Koji Yamamoto (Fuji Television), Michio Kato, Atsushi Tanaka, Kenichi Sato
• Director : Hiroaki Sakurai
• Produced by : Koichi Motohashi
• Screenplay : Tomoko Kaneharu, Miho Maruo, Masahiro Yokotani, Mamiko Ikeda, Mitsuru Shimada
• Animation Directors : Hiroki Fujiwara, Keiko Yamamoto, Chiaki Abe, Masahiro Kase, Shinichiro Minami, Keizo Shimizu, Yousuke Miura, Tomoko Shimizu, Son Gil-young, Kumiko Shishido, Akira Watanabe, Shinichiro Kajiura, Ippei Masui, Kazuyuki Iizai, Hajime Watanabe, Satoshi Hattori, Shinichi Suzuki, Shinnosuke Kon, Akiko Nakano, Takahiro Miura, Hiroaki Kawaguchi, Kenji Matsuoka, Ichiro Ogawa
• Storyboard : Hiroaki Sakurai, Ittoku Tanahashi, Setsuko Yobunichi, Hideki Okamoto, Hisashi Fujimori, Kiyotaka Igasama, Yusuke Sato, Rei Kotaki, Hiromasa Amano, Michio Fukuda
• Directed by : Yoshiyuki Ichihashi, Ittoku Tanahashi, Hiroaki Akagi, Nichi Tsuchiya, Akira Shimizu, Kunitoshi Okajima, Taiji Kawanishi, Koichi Sasaki, Yosuke Hashiguchi, Yui Umemoto, Masahiro Sonoda, Hagiwara Exposure, Kiyoshi Fukumoto, Takeshi Ando, ​​Yoshizo Tsuda
• Original illustrations : Hiroki Fujiwara, Maiko Suzuki, Yasue Ohno, Takashi Iwao, Shinichi Iimura, Takashi Hirabayashi, Shoji Endo, Atsushi Shibata, Kaname Wakabayashi, Koichi Takai, Takeshi Morita, Hiroki Kawazoe, Koichi Murata and others
• Video : FAI, Studio Mark, Snow Light Staff
• Video check : Shin Ohba and others
• Digital Paint : Studio Robin
• Background : Design Office Mechaman
• Photography : Studio Twinkle, Umikiri Ayumu, Kawamata Ayano and others
• Edited by : Shinichi Natori
• Assistant editors : Sumimi Takamura, Tomoko Watanabe
• Video editing : Yoshiaki Kanazawa, Kenichi Nomoto (Tokyo Development Laboratory)
• Mixer : Hiroki Ikeda
• AE : Izumi Nakakura
• Effects : Fizz Sound Akihiko Matsuda
• Recording studio : Omnibus Sanbunzaka Studio
• Recording Production : Sun Onkyo Aida Masakatsu
• Casting office : Mikako Kurahashi
• Planning cooperation : Noriko Masutani (Index Music), Kenichi Yamaguchi (NEC Biglobe), Chizuko Kanno (Bandai Visual)
• Production desk : Shinichi Okuma
• Production Assistants : Yu Yanagisawa, Hirohiko Sugawara
• Title back illustration : Tan Xiaoyong
• Produced by : Fuji Television, Nippon Animation

Theme songs and music

The theme songs and insert songs of this work are also one of its charms. The main songs are introduced below.

• OP1 : "Beyond the Wind"
  Lyrics: Yuki Saito Music: Megumi Ishii Arrangement: Taisuke Sawachika Vocals: Yuki Saito
• ED1 : "Ma Maman"
  Lyrics: Yuki Saito Music: Taisuke Sawachika Arrangement: Taisuke Sawachika Vocals: Yuki Saito
• IN1 : "See you in my dreams"
  Lyrics: Megumi Ishii Composition: Megumi Ishii Arrangement: Megumi Ishii Singer: Cosette (Kaori Nazuka)
• IN2 : "What I can do"
  ・Lyrics: Megumi Ishii ・Composition: Megumi Ishii ・Arrangement: D'iLL
  ・Singer: Cosette (Kaori Nazuka)
• IN3 : "Eternal Ring"
  Lyrics: Megumi Saito Music: Jun Abe Arrangement: Kenji Ogura Singer: Cosette (Kaori Nazuka)

Evaluation and Impressions

"Les Miserables: Cosette" is a work that deeply moved viewers by recreating the epic story of the original in the medium of animation. In particular, the story told from the perspective of the young girl Cosette made the profound theme of the original feel more familiar, and resonated with many viewers. In addition, while firmly incorporating the essence of the original, such as the bond between Jean Valjean and Cosette, the tense escape with Javert, and the romance with Marius, the anime also offers unique developments.

The characters are also portrayed very carefully, with Cosette's growth, Jean Valjean's changes in humanity, and Javert's conflicts all depicted realistically. In particular, Nazuka Kaori's performance, portraying Cosette from her childhood to her adulthood, left a strong impression on viewers. Additionally, Sugawara Masashi's Jean Valjean and Matsuyama Takashi's Javert are faithful to the characters in the original work, while also bringing out the unique charm of anime.

Music is also an important element in enhancing the appeal of this work. The opening theme "Kaze no Mukou" and the ending theme "Ma Maman" sung by Saito Yuki further deepened the moving story and left a strong impression on viewers. Additionally, the insert songs sung by Cosette, "Let's Meet in Our Dreams," "What I Can Do," and "Eternal Ring," also play an important role in expressing her feelings.

Recommended points

"Les Miserables: Cosette" is a moving animated version of Victor Hugo's masterpiece, and we recommend it for the following reasons:

• A story that fully captures the essence of the original : The epic tale of the original is recreated in the medium of anime, deeply inspiring viewers. In particular, the story is told from the perspective of the young girl, Cosette, making the profound themes of the original feel more familiar.
• Carefully drawn characters : Cosette's growth, Jean Valjean's changes in humanity, Javert's conflicts, etc. are depicted realistically. In particular, Kaori Nazuka's performance, which portrays Cosette from her childhood to her adulthood, leaves a strong impression on the audience.
• Inspiring Music : The music adds to the emotion of the story, including the opening theme "Kaze no Mukou" (Beyond the Wind) and the ending theme "Ma Maman" sung by Saito Yuki, as well as insert songs sung by Cosette such as "Let's Meet in Our Dreams," "What I Can Do," and "Eternal Ring."
• Original anime storyline : While keeping the essence of the original work, the anime also offers unique storylines. The storyline draws viewers in with the bond between Jean Valjean and Cosette, the tense escape with Javert, and the romance between Jean Valjean and Marius.

Related Titles

The following works are related to "Les Miserables: Cosette":

• World Masterpiece Theater Complete Edition Les Miserables: Cosette : In this complete edition, you can enjoy a more detailed story.
• Perrine's Story : Also produced by Nippon Animation, this is a touching story about a young girl's growth.

Conclusion

"Les Miserables: Cosette" is a moving story that is an animated adaptation of Victor Hugo's masterpiece, and while it firmly incorporates the essence of the original work, you can also enjoy the unique development of the anime. The story is told from the perspective of the young girl Cosette, making the profound theme of the original work feel more familiar and resonating with many viewers. The careful portrayal of the characters and the moving music are also part of the charm, and will deeply move viewers. Please watch this work and enjoy the world of Victor Hugo's masterpiece.