Romeo x Juliet Review
June 25th, 2009 by Orange Skirt
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Title rating: Overall pretty tame. There’s some miscellaneous death and murder, but I wouldn’t rate it higher than PG-13. - 24 anime episodes (2007), complete |
Like all English-speaking high school students, I was exposed to quite a bit of Shakespeare in the classroom and Romeo and Juliet was my introduction to his work. Now, I wasn’t the best student, but nowhere in my annotated text do I remember that Juliet being “of a pretty age” meant “disguised as a masked vigilante” and Romeo being “bescreen’d in night” meant “flew around on a winged horse.” But I didn’t understand Shakespeare that well, so maybe my interpretation was biased by normalcy.
Not so Studio GONZO. In the spirit of entertainment, a few “liberal” interpretations and additions were made to spice up the anime adaptation, Romeo x Juliet, because apparently the source material didn’t have enough…masked vigilantism or flying horses. Oh, Japan. Don’t ever change.
This updated story is laid in Neo-Verona, a city where, 14 years before, the ruling Capulets were overthrown and killed in a takeover lead by the Montagues. The only member of the royal family to survive is a young Juliet, who is protected by those who wish to see her one day take back the throne and free the city from the oppressive hand of Lord Montague. But even before she finds out her true identity (it’s a secret, don’t tell anyone), rising injustices prompt her to put on a costume and become a hero called the Red Whirlwind in order to fight back on behalf of the townspeople. Romeo, himself against the tyranny of his father Lord Montague, one day helps the Red Whirlwind. When the two meet without the obstruction of Juliet’s mask they subsequently enter into a tragic romance.
For someone who doesn’t consider herself either a theatre or literature geek, I’m not one to consider the changes made for this classic’s adaptation into animation to be blasphemous, but they are substantial enough that Romeo x Juliet should be regarded as its own separate entity. Getting past that, a lot of the appeal of this series for me is not the added element of fantasy, but the simple flipping of gender norms and getting to see a female lead like Juliet who has a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to use a sword. Even after she falls in love, her character isn’t completely reduced to a damsel in distress, and given how rare that happens in stories with princes and princesses, that’s actually refreshing.
At the same time that Juliet is pursuing war, Romeo is the one pursuing her, and his influence simultaneously softens Juliet’s personality and makes her seriously conflicted. He’s the epitome of the sensitive, romantic male lead, and on top of being a prince (aka catch), he’s also an extremely optimistic and idealistic person, even overly so. As expected, he blushes a lot and has a thing for flowers. And while I appreciate his being the compliment to Juliet’s take-charge character, this story would have been twice as good in my mind if both the leads, instead of just one, had urges to kick ass and take names. Just saying.
There’s also a wide cast of side characters, some more developed than others, ranging from a playwright who’s a caricature of Shakespeare himself to an ally of Juliet named Francisco, who is essentially Allen Schezar right down to the blond hair and flirting. Then there’s Lord Montague, representing a psychotic brand of “Burn them all!” supervillainy, and some others whose emergence as evil is rushed and questionable, but overall the characterization is well done. There’s really a lot to love about this series.
Here’s where I take issue with it: The beginning is the best part, and it never quite rebounds. The Red Whirlwind facet of Juliet’s character is entertaining, and so is the lead up to Romeo and Juliet confessing their feelings to one another, but in the middle of the series a line is crossed from being “touching” to “sappy” and the addition of two irrelevant and dull subplots doesn’t help. The story can be incredibly romantic when it wants to be, which is obviously why so many people adore it, but when Romeo and Juliet’s obstacles mount and they start saying “We’ll be together someday!” I start to lose interest. This is supposed to be a story about forbidden love, and conflict is necessary to create some tension. “We’ll be together someday!” does not convey tension unless the clause “after you kill my father and your cohorts lead a bloody coup” is tacked on and actively brought up. I’ll forgive some longing looks into the sky, because Romeo and Juliet’s situation is pretty messed up, but that’s what’s supposed to make it interesting! Don’t just ignore that and hope for the future - do something about it! Passivity and hesitance are not conductive to advancing a plot.
Another drawback is the addition of a supernatural element to the story. It’s a shame GONZO couldn’t have left it out, because the same sort of thing has been much better executed in other series (and tied into main plots seamlessly). Unfortunately, here it only comes off as being tacked on, despite its major importance to the eventual chain of events.
As a final note, the dub script seems to be in a strange version of Shakespearean English, which is an eyebrow-raising choice. I’m certainly not thrilled, but I can see other people enjoying it, and there’s a level of dedication to the original play from Funimation that you have to respect. If nothing else, it will make quotes from the play mesh better with the rest of the dialogue when the odd famous scene re-creation comes up.
The companion manga to the series, run in Asuka magazine during the anime’s original broadcast, is a scant 9 chapters long and compiled into 2 volumes.
While I was watching the anime, I convinced myself that had middle been cut out and the whole series generally shortened up, that would have improved it. Actually do that, and you’ve got the manga. What really surprised me while reading it is that everything that I thought could have been cut out was strangely necessary in hindsight, even if it was boring to watch. The manga is a hack-and-slash summary of the anime with minimal character development. The art is nice, but that doesn’t make it worth the time.
There are also two Romeo x Juliet novels illustrated by the same artist who did the manga. I have no idea what they’re like, but they’re in written in Japanese and out there, so just…the more you know.
I often include anime artbooks in my merchandise sections just to fill them up, but the Romeo x Juliet Visual Fanbook really is worth mentioning here. The production art is one of the best things this series has going for it, and was a big motivator for me to watch the series in the first place. It’s gorgeous; go spend your money on it.
The only other unique products that I think deserve nods are rose-shaped floating candles (such a perfect tie-in for a romantic shoujo-esque series!) and a limited edition iris-scented perfume. However, I haven’t actually seen these things for sale so much as they were advertised a few years ago, and I’d imagine anyone who got their hands on them aren’t giving them up. Forget I even mentioned them. And while you’re at it, just accept that I’m a tease.
Without saying a word about the two average ending themes, the opening theme “Inori ~ You Raise Me Up~” is a cover of a song best known for also being covered by Josh Groban a few years earlier. And while I think that it’s a suitably beautiful and dramatic choice for a Shakespeare adaptation, it always reminds me of “The Wind Beneath My Wings” for some reason. And that, really, is how I felt about the music for Romeo x Juliet at the beginning: it reminded me of something else that I’d heard before, but which left a much stronger impression. It was only after repeated viewings that everything grew on me, and I recognized just how well the opening theme and background music work in the context of the show. That process might be sped up for you if you’ve ever heard of Hitoshi Sakimoto, of Final Fantasy XII soundtrack fame, or Sydney’s Eminence Symphony Orchestra - both parties have a hand in the Romeo x Juliet soundtrack. (Ed note: I think they didn’t use music from the Romeo and Juliet ballet because it’s not in public domain, which is pretty much the biggest shame ever, but GONZO did use it in a very cool trailer made specifically to promote Romeo x Juliet.)
For a genuinely sweet show, there isn’t an active fandom for this series to be found. The one semi-comprehensive English site looked to be off to a good start but stopped updating midway through the original run, but as it is now it’s a good resource for basic information and some screencaps. For a higher quality gallery, videos, and information I find that the official Japanese page is the place to go, even if it isn’t meant for an English audience. The release of the Region 1 DVDs should bring in some more fans, though. Blushing boys are good for that.
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Overview: If you want romance, you’ll love it. If you want a strong female lead, you’ll love it. If you want action, you’ll love it. But if you want all those things to stay consistent throughout, you might, like me, love it a little less. 3.7 stars out of 5.  |
I watched this series fansubbed before it was bought and found myself laughing before I could be at all interested in the characters or plot. By episode 5 it was more blasphemy than solid, cracky fun so I gave up.
The show, to me, put together a lot of elements that worked better in other series (Utena, Escaflowne) and then pretended it was Romeo x Juliet. I would have had a lot easier time with the show if they’d just called it something else, honestly.
My biggest frustration were the leads– Juliet was stupid but supposedly heroic and Romeo was as milquetoast as shoujo heroes ever get.
I’m glad to hear it only gets worse, had I pushed through it it would’ve been a waste of my precious time, I suppose. But it’s a shame– the last four items you list before the ratings seem to indicate I would love the series, as that’s what drew me to watch it in the first place.
well to be this really by far one of best english audio of 2009 even english audio anime of the the year. (besides i seen it 10 TIMES in english audio)
really from it shakespearean english to op song & yet story it selfthat indeed that “LOVE something you never REGRET”.
yet overall this is truely a true masterpiece from anime to op song & english audio.