Romeo x Juliet tv Review

Story & Characters

My first impressions of this anime were that it was going to be like Gankutsuou, another anime based on classic works done by the same studio. As I love Gankutsuou, I believed this anime is going to be one of my favorites and I was right, only seven episodes and I have been absorbed so much.

Like most western works, this version of Romeo and Juliet has also been "japanized," and the settings have been completely altered from the original. My impressions after watching the first episode were Juliet doing Zorro's cosplay, flying horses, Willy = weird Shakespeare,... I can imagine how the Shakespearean purists upset and I still remember when Gankutsuou and Samurai 7 came out, a lot of people complained they weren't following the original stories well. But what the heck, what's the point of repeating the same old story in the same old way when you have an avenue as limitless of animation to bring any fantasy to life? Because they ARE adaptations, how much things change are not mainly important, as long as the plot is great then it matters.

So here's the plot: unlike the original, which involves the feud between the two sworn enemies, Capulet and Montague, this series starts with Montague's hatred toward the Capulet family, eventually leads to the destruction of the latter. The remnants of the Capulet along with our heroine, Juliet, after hiding for fourteen years, starts their own revolution to overthrow the now-tyrant Montague. However, an unexpected turn of event occurs when Juliet falls in love with the young Romeo, the son of her sworn enemy. What fate awaits these two "Star-Crossed Lovers?"

Although it is about people who find it's unbearable to be governed by tyranny, and tried to reclaim their rights, the typical cliche cannot be found in Romeo x Juliet. The intensity turns the story from a love/tragedy play to an amazing adventurous, twisted and touching story which I don't think the original has.

The characters are also well-developed, each of them has his/her own unique personality. From a shy, meek, and emotional lady, Juliet here is presented as a strong and intelligent young woman, with a strong sense of justice and determination. At first, she was only seek to avenge the deaths of her parents and to revive her House, but her experience through her adventure has changed her idea and she eventually fights for the sake of Neo Verona instead of her own personal goal. Romeo has also been well-developed, a confident, polite young man with little respect for his Montague heritage and wants to build a better world.

The main antagonist, Lord Montague, is one of the most total bastard I've ever seen. The extremities of his ruthlessness know no bounds; he orders his son's beloved mount to be killed just to discipline Romeo and is even willing to burn most of his city to keep its populace under control, for instance. His motives for wanting to annihilate House Capulet are ultimately pretty petty, too. I hate this character (and I'm sure many does), but I can understand how a man with such childhood would become a demon. Even though he is such a jerk, all he ever wanted was to be loved, that I can sympathize. His ruthless nature, cruel demeanor and tragic end certainly make him stand as one of the greatest anime villains.

Legendary playwright Shakespeare also makes a Hitchcock appearance here as the whimsical, flamboyant yet intelligent William de Farnase, who sometimes secret supports Juliet. This character is quite hilarious, every time I see him, I would "OMG! IT'S SHAKESPEARE!"

Many characters from other Shakespeare's works also make cameo appearance here.

But the ending. Sad, isn't it? It didn't take me to finish the whole series to predict the end. What can I say? IT'S ROMEO AND JULIET. However, although I knew what would happen, it still saddened me. Because it was SO tragic yet was SO beautiful and was SO sweet. I didn't cry, but I know it left a bitter taste for me. Romeo x Juliet displays love in its truest form; sometimes, tragic endings turn out to be beautiful, making it unique from all the rest.

Rating: 10

Art

Gorgeous. Once again Gonzo amazed me with their amazing artwork. There's nothing much for me to say about this part. Romeo is handsome and Juliet is beautiful, and Montague, well, he fits the image of a tragic villain and an evil Monte Cristo.

Rating: 9

Sound

They fit the flow of the series. The OP "Inori~You Raise Me Up?" by Lena Park is probably the best piece of music here. The first ED "Cyclone," I hate to say it, but it kinda reminds me of Gankutsuou (it has rock style and the ED animation is exactly the same of Gankutsuou), but overall, it's a very good song. "Good Bye, Yesterday" by Mizrock is also great; it really fits the ending neatly, I mean the song sound so sad yet beautiful here. If you watch it carefully, you can see in the animation, there was a rose petal (represents the Montague) flew among the lilies field (represents the Capulet). By the time of the second ED, Juliet has discarded her feud with the Montague and asked Romeo to offer her a rose.

The voice actings are splendid, I really like Juliet's voice, sounds just as the Red Whirlwind and at the same time feminine. Both the seiyuu and the English voice actors have done their job well although I actually prefer the original version. Juliet sounds a little annoying in the English version even though they pronounce the western name more fluently.

Rating: 10

Presentation

This anime is currently placed number two on the only three Gonzo's shows that I find deep, profound, creative and extraordinary (the other two being Welcome to the N.H.K.! and Gankutsuou). The letter "x" here may has its own significance, while "x" sometimes means "kiss," making Romeo and Juliet's love scenes so touching yet so depressing.

Whether or not Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet stands amongst the best of all of love stories has been much-debated over the course of time, but it is unquestionably one of the greatest and best-known. It may sound biased, but this is come from a Japanese who has never been able to see the play (only read the summary on Wikipedia and some sources), but I prefer this anime over the original. I don't know, at least here Juliet has a better reason to follow Romeo; it is a strong romantic story with a loveable couples alright. If you ask me, I would greatly recommend this masterpiece (not much to Shakespearean purists though) to those who enjoys romance, tragedy and character developments. Though many things have been changed, Romeo x Juliet has proven itself as one of the most potential adaptations of the classic Shakespearean tragedy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Story: 10
Characters: 10
Art: 9
Animation: 9
Voice: 10
Music: 10
Overall: 9.75

Good:
+Wonderful executed love story with a highly lovable couple.
+Gorgeous character designs and animation.
+Beautifully orchestrated music score.
+A brilliant take on the play that manages to preserve some of its significant parts.
Bad:
+Might not be a good show for some, especially the purists and those think Romeo and Juliet is a stupid suicide love story.

Rating: 10

Final Verdict

9.8333 (excellent)

Reviewed by Weskalia, Sep 15, 2010

Comments

maryshee Sep 15, 2010

Very well said! ^_^,, This may sound biased to some but I just love Romeo x Juliet.

Justified the series well, great job! :)
CyanideBlizzard Retired Moderator Sep 15, 2010

I was a bit disappointed that the animation went from being absolutely outstanding sometimes to mediocre others. I also preferred the English voice overs, since they went with a more Shakespearean style of speech than with the Japanese version. Still, I have to say that the anime of Romeo x Juliet far, far exceeded the manga. It's one of my favorite series of all time.
MaoMao Sep 16, 2010

I am one Italian boy.

This anime is really horrible.
First of all because the designers have never seen Romeo and Juliet's balcony in Verona and this is very serious and worrying.
Second, because the nature of the characters is based on the personality of the Japanese and no Italian would behave as in the anime.
Third, because the wings to see Juliet and Romeo fight with a plant and fly on a winged horse is a thing that spins in his grave the great William Shakespeare.

The only good thing about this anime is the theme song both English and Jap version, but after 10 times that she felt tired too ....
Rate this anime = 4
rzero21 Sep 16, 2010

To MaoMao:

Actually this was never intended to be exactly like the original play. It's a very loosely adaptation of Shakespeare's play. The Japanese adaptation only took the main and supporting characters, a little of the plot, and well, the setting. The story occurs in Neo Verona, a totally different place from the real city, although it does have some resemblance to the real in some aspects. Maybe I would feel the same if someone took a famous play from my country, and rearrange to the point that many things don't make sense. But again, hey, it's a Japanese Manga/Anime adaptation of Shakespeare's play, there's a lot of movies, representations, and media that follow the original, so what's the point of making an anime, exactly the same as the original? Why not turning it on something a bit revolutionary or different? Yes, i liked the anime, because the romantic setting and blablablabla...but mostly because the OST was made by the Eminence Orchestra, it's the first time, Eminence does something for an anime, they usually do OST for games.

The part that i felt like...eeerrr what? it's the part of the tree..maybe, that was the trigger so that Romeo x Juliet could end with both young lovers being together eternally, but..umm i felt like it was ended with the wrong setting...maybe i am wrong, and that was the best setting for the ending to make sense after all...don't really know, but still, it was really sad, haha everyone seeing this anime would guess the fate of both lovers..

also, 20 eps or so, waiting for a great final battle, and then, nothing? hmmm..and that's true about the drop-off in animation, noticed on the last eps.

but anyway, i enjoyed very well the anime, loved the soundtrack (the in-show music, not so much the op/ed), and liked the romantic setting. Interesting divergence from Shakespeare's play.

Rate his anime = 8
MaoMao Sep 17, 2010

I understand what you say, but ...........

"I'm Juliet and are made of the same substance of which dreams are made"

In this anime there is no trace of what made a huge masterpiece of the works in any form even if there is sudden and I'm not talking about the phrase, but what they represent in the whole work.

Sry, but my opinion don't change.
clafann1 Sep 17, 2010

That anime was ok, but IMO could have been much better...
http://www.anime-characters.com/s66/Romeo-X-Juliet/
patriz0 Oct 04, 2010

the twist of the story was interesting.. i like all the songs in this series...
SchRita Nov 09, 2010

It's interesting to see how much you like it...I'm happy to hear an opinion like this.
Warpten29 Jan 11, 2011

Good summarization!
kuryuki Apr 23, 2011

hm, I've been wondering about this series after we did the book in english xD nice review
Nessbad94 Jun 26, 2011

Thanks to your review I wanna watch it!
Blue-Latte Nov 25, 2013

Hm.. Romeo x Juliet is one of my favorite anime. I like your review and I must agree that the art is gorgeous. This anime has beautiful songs too. <3

page 1 of 1 12 total items

Only members can post replies, please register.