“Romeo X Juliet” is your classic love story, but with a different twist. It incorporates the ideas of William Shakespeare’s original story with ideas of the people at Studio GONZO to create a refreshing interpretation of a world renowned classic.

Release Date: 21/10/2009
Languages: ENGLISH, JAPANESE
Genre: Action/Adventure, Anime, Romance, Science Fiction
Subtitles: ENGLISH subtitles
Number of Discs: 2
Runtime: 300.0 mins

We all know the story of “Romeo and Juliet” by William Shakespeare, so when it gets the anime treatment you’re either going to love it or avoid it like the plague.

In this version we meet Juliet disguised as a Zorro-style saviour who turns up just in time to save a girl who had been mistaken for Juliet herself. Romeo’s father, Lord Montague, is scouring Neo Verona in search of her, and any girl is open to accusation.

When Juliet was a small child, her family (known as the Capulets) ruled Neo Verona. Jealous of their position, Lord Montague set out to slay the entire Capulet line. Juliet’s life was saved by Cordelia (her friend and maid) and the Capulet guards.

For the next 14 years Juliet is raised in hiding, safe in none other than William Shakespeare’s theater! Juliet goes out in public disguised as a boy named Odin, or disguises herself as the Red Whirlwind (the previously mentioned Zorro-style saviour) to stop an injustice. On her 16^th Birthday her past is revealed to her, and now she needs to decide whether to reveal herself to Neo Verona and reclaim her inheritance.

The night of the Rose Ball, one of William’s actresses makes Juliet (disguised as Odin) dress up as a woman to accompany her and a noble escort. Said actress leaves Juliet to change. Their escort soon shows up, and unaware that he is being accompanied by two ladies, grabs Juliet (who is on her own) and takes her to their transport. He obviously isn’t able to see clearly either as he assumes Juliet is his date.

As soon as they arrive at the ball, Juliet soon realises the venue is the place where she was living before her family was killed. She rushes out to an empty courtyard and sits beside a water fountain to regain her composure. Here Romeo enters and comes across Juliet, and this is where they become attracted to each other.

Of course, they have chance meetings every now and then, but Juliet struggles with her feelings for Romeo. She knows Romeo’s family history and knows they shouldn’t get involved with each other. Romeo is unaware of this information though.

Romeo is actually of a different personality to his father. Montague is cruel and unjust, whereas Romeo is the opposite. He spends most of his time flying over Neo Verona on his dragon steed named Cielo – either on his own, or with his best friend Benvolio.

Romeo’s mother is also of a different personality to Lord Montague. Lady Portia left Romeo and Montague to distance herself from them after Montague had slain the Capulets. She now resides at a convent, where Romeo visits her on a regular basis.

Benvolio is the son of the Mayor in Neo Verona. Sadly, when the Mayor speaks out against the latest plot to terrorise the locals, he is relieved of his position and instructed to gather his family and leave Neo Verona. Lord Montague also orders an assassination of the family as they make their leave. Luckily Juliet and her posse catch wind of this latest tidbit.

Benvolio’s extradition naturally upsets Romeo. Depressed and flying over Neo Verona, he comes across Juliet. Both now knowing the complete history of the other, Romeo suggests that they flee from Neo Verona and start their lives together somewhere else. And this they do, setting Cielo free in a forest along the way when the creature finds himself a lady love.

They eventually start setting up house in an abandoned village. They need to find a way to gather enough resources to live, and their search leads them to what appears to be an ancient ruin. They find a large tree that appears to be harnessing magical powers. Romeo doesn’t know it, but his dad has one just like it! An elder appears and informs them that the guards of Neo Verona (the Carabinieri) are scouring a town they’ve passed through, looking for Romeo.

Romeo and Juliet go to the town to survey what the Carabinieri are doing. Romeo decides the situation is too dire to ignore. He disguises himself and tries to fight them off, but Juliet can’t bare it so she disguises herself and joins him. What happens when they become overwhelmed, and Romeo and Juliet foolishly reveal themselves to save their love in front of the Carabinieri?

Special Features include:

• Making of Romeo X Juliet Anime – a behind-the-scenes look at how the anime was made (with Japanese audio and English subs)
• Textless versions of the opening and closing themes
• Art Gallery – pictures of official artwork and concept sketches from the anime.
• Trailers for other Madman anime releases

“Romeo X Juliet” is your classic love story, but with a different twist. It incorporates the ideas of William Shakespeare’s original story with ideas of the people at Studio GONZO to create a refreshing interpretation of a world renowned classic.

The music was something which I enjoyed, and I have never really paid this much attention to it before. The composer for this series was also responsible for some of the Final Fantasy game soundtracks – Hitoshi Sakimoto. He came all the way to Australia to secure the group “Eminence” to record the soundtrack and watch the recordings. It was also interesting to hear the Japanese version of “You Raise Me Up” (sung by Lena Park), which is the opening theme.

Being that this was a love story I was absolutely enthralled by this series, but more so because of my personal appreciation for the Shakespeare version. I won’t lie – I was a little apprehensive at first, but now I can’t wait to see what happens in Collection 2 “Juliet”! If you like Romeo and Juliet already then my suggestion would be to give this version a chance to see whether you’ll like it. It can’t be any worse than some of the other attempts we’ve seen of late!

Review product was provided by Madman Entertainment, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

Images © 2007 GONZO/CBC ・ GDH ・ SPWT