I think you should watch it
The first half may have a lot of plotlines that seem frivolous or melodramatic, but it provides great contrast for the actual masterpiece second half. If you're even a little entertained, watch until the end.
The story takes place in the years preceding and during the French Revolution. It's historical fiction: emphasis on fiction, a lot of the shit even with real people just didn't happen. So consider all the characters as just characters. I think the anime does a great job at development: character development and world development. Slowly over the course of 40 episodes you can see France change and the characters change with it. Oscar starts off as a noble and very loyal to the queen, but she's also a person with an extremely upstanding moral character, which, without giving too much away, doesn't lead to her staying that way.
It feels like a 70s anime for sure, but also the best 70s anime to exist.
I think Oscar may be my favorite anime character ever.
I've heard that the manga is pretty solid, too. I'm actually trying to decide if I want to watch the anime for Rose of Versailles or finish off Macross as a franchise (Delta TV and movies) after I finish Space Battleship Yamato.
Since all almost all Macross is standalone there is no harm in putting stuff on hold between entries. Since Yamato is space opera/sci-fi doing a historical melodrama afterwards in RoV maybe would be more refreshing than a Macross entry