Ani-Mania: ‘Romeo X Juliet’

Love is something you never regret… But you might regret it if you miss this week’s AniMania feature, Funimation’s new release, Romeo X Juliet.

Based — loosely based — on William Shakespeare’s classic tale of star crossed lovers (but this time without the ninjas — read the Basilisk review if you’re confused), Romeo X Juliet provides a new spin on the old tale. Set in a fantasy world of islands in the sky and flying horses, it’s in the city of fair Neo Verona where we lay our scene. Here, citizens are in the grip of the tyrannical Montague regime, which seized power fourteen years ago by assassinating every member of the House of Capulet.

The only one brave enough to stand in the face of these oppressive dictators is the mysterious vigilante known as the Red Whirlwind. But unknown to everyone, even the Whirlwind herself, is that she is actually the last surviving heir to the Capulet family. Even worse, the handsome young boy she has just fallen in love with is from ANOTHER noble family — the Montagues.

If this sounds like a big departure from Shakespeare’s script — it is. Normally I would vigorously protest this kind of thing. But borrowing from the bard is hardly a crime. Shakespeare himself adapted most of his plays from other sources, and given the fact that it would be hard to find anyone in the US, Japan, or anywhere else in the world who doesn’t already know the original story, I don’t begrudge Studio Gonzo for taking creative license. Just know going in that if you want a rendering of the play that sticks closely to Shakespeare’s original, this isn’t it.

What Romeo X Juliet IS, however, is a fanciful re-imagining of a classic tale. It sits somewhere on a continuum between the lush period drama of Chevalier D’Eon, and the bold re-imagining of a literary classic, like Gankutsuo: The Count of Monte Cristo. But unlike either of these works, which are dark in their vision, Romeo X Juliet comes across as very light. There is tragedy, and lots of it, but there is also romance, humor, even a bit of swash buckling. The world itself feels very light and airy. The art has a fairy tale quality to it, which makes for an odd contrast with some of the very dark elements of the story.

And on the subject of romance, Romeo X Juliet is to be commended for staying the course. Many anime give their subjects a kind of “shonen” treatment, injecting large quantities of violence, or fanservice, or both. Not so here. The show is modest enough for Queen Elizabeth, and while there is action, it is subordinate to the romantic elements. Everything about the show: the plot, the art, the music, the choices for cliff hangers at the episode breaks and lead-ins, is all geared to emphasize the romantic portions of the plot.

While a marked departure, the series does make a genuine effort to bring as much Shakespeare into the story as possible, going beyond the borders of the source play to pull in characters from many of the bard’s other works. Will himself makes an appearance, both as a character, and as the narrator for the previews at the end of each episode. It may not be accurate enough to cheat and use Romeo X Juliet as cliff notes to pass your lit class (though if you try, I want to read your paper), but there’s more than enough here to make a literary student smile.

The cast boasts some worthy stars to be crossed, including Chris Burnett (Big Windup) as Romeo and Brina Palencia (Negima — that’s right, the voice of Yue!) as Juliet. Other notables include Colleen Clinkenbeard (xxxHolic) as Cordelia, Sean Michael Teague (Jyu Oh Sei,) as Benvolio, Eric Vale (Fruits Basket) as Francisco, Robert McCollum (Witchblade) as Curio, Carrie Savage (Solty Rei) as Hermione, and Mike McFarland (Trinity Blood) as one very bad-ass Tybalt. Clearly, Will has a crowded stage to work with.

Production value is high. The art is beautiful, and the music comes courtesy of Final Fantasy VII composer, Hitoshi Sakimoto. The opening theme, Inori, is a Japanese version of “You Raise Me Up” as sung by Lena Park and it sounds every bit as beautiful in translation as it does in the original. The ending, Cyclone, is light J-rock, performed by 12012.

The show is being released in what seems to be the new Funimation standard, the entire season, split into two halves. Part one, dubbed the “Romeo Collection”, contains episodes 1-12 on two discs, in a thin pack. The second part, the “Juliet Collection”, will contain episodes 13-24, and is scheduled to be released on 8/11.

We all know how the play ends, but will our young lovers from Neo Verona meet the same fate? Is this truly a love that cannot be? We’ll have to keep watching to find out.

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