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"RomeoXJuliet" Part 1: Shakespeare and Anime DO Mix
By Ian Lueck
07-22-2009, 12:45 AM |
Does Romeo & Juliet really need an introduction? It's one of the most famous plays of all time, and the main characters have become synonymous with any form of entertainment dealing with doomed lovers. Numerous versions of the story have been told, and so it may seem that yet another is overkill. But Gonzo's 24-episode anime series, RomeoXJuliet, contains enough differences from the play to ensure that veterans of Shakespeare's original aren't bored, while still conveying its plot and emotions.
 As I'm sure you all know the plot (even if you haven't read the play), I won't go into great detail. Basically, teenagers Juliet Capulet and Romeo Montague have fallen in love. The only problem: their families hate each other, to put it lightly. In fact, in this adaptation, Juliet is the sole blood survivor of the Capulets, her family having been slaughtered by the Montagues when she was only a young child. As a result, she's lived in hiding under the male name Odin and somehow conceals her flowing hair underneath a guy wig (seriously, how does she fit all that under there?!), fighting the corrupt Montague government under a Robin Hood-esque identity, The Red Whirlwind.
As you can probably tell already, there are some liberties taken with the play; call it a loose adaptation. For instance, in the play, Romeo is initially in love with a girl named Rosaline (who doesn't return the affections), but in the anime, Romeo is the reluctant one in love, with a girl named Hermione. More interestingly, Romeo and Juliet marry themselves in the anime; there is no priest at the wedding. Yet, these changes don't spit on the spirit of the original; they feel natural. Furthermore, it's grin-inducing to see the show reenact famous scenes from the play (the balcony "wherefore art thou Romeo?" scene and the chapel wedding, in particular) in new ways. I look forward to seeing other well-known bits in the second volume.
The show is also helped by its fantasy setting. Taking place on a floating island with Old English-style architecture and Venice-style canals, it evokes images of the original locale while having its own identity. One addition I find especially cool is a winged horse that Romeo rides; not only does it add to the fantasy aspect, but it emphasizes the class difference between Romeo and Juliet, as only the wealthy can afford flying horses, while the rest just ride the normal, grounded ones.
I also liked Juliet's portrayal. She's depicted as a tough, independent young woman who stands up for the weak, yet isn't ruthless in her vigilante role (as shown in an episode when she can't bring herself to kill a corrupt priest). In addition, she's certainly pretty, but for those annoyed with the blatant fanservice in some modern anime series, the show doesn't focus on exploiting that. As such, she's a positive female role model without being preachy about it, and that's really refreshing.
I'd be lying if I said the series was perfect, though. Being that the original play is only so long, the show does tend to drag in certain spots. But it's not enough to pull one out of the experience. And luckily just when things look to settle down, something happens to snap one back to attention. For example, after a fairly serene episode of Romeo and Juliet enjoying married life in the country, their happiness is interrupted by an event I won't give away.
The show looks like it was handled by Gonzo's A unit, boasting lots of detail, in-betweens, and a crisp, lively look. The first couple of episodes especially impress, as Juliet as The Red Whirlwind offers some finely-directed action sequences. There are still some plainly-animated moments, being TV and all, but not an overabundance of them. Speaking of visuals, the backdrops which I mentioned before are equally impressive and really bring one into this world. The music is also a highlight; Hitoshi Sakimoto composed it, and the sweeping orchestral tunes really bring the show to life.
 But let's talk about the best part of this release: the dub. Clearly inspired by the source material, the dub mixes modern yet formal English with the poetic, fancy, purposefully archaic phrases that Shakespeare built his plays upon (switching when it feels natural to do so), and even more amazingly, they manage to combine these without sounding awkward or jarring. The entire cast speaks in this unorthodox manner without missing a beat, and of course, it always helps that the VAs are right for their characters. Thankfully, they are. Brina Palencia (whom I know from Shin-chan as Georgie and Negima!? as Yue) voices Juliet, while Chris Burnett (who I'm unfamiliar with) is Romeo. Both work wonderfully, and in the case of Juliet, I'm glad they got someone whom you could buy as a male, certainly appropriate given the fact that Juliet had to hide her female identity for so many years. I think we may have a winner for best new FUNi dub this year, not only for its ambition but the execution.
Special features include trailers, textless songs, and a "Making of RomeoXJuliet" feature that runs about 20 minutes. The narrated character profiles don't tell us what we haven't already gathered from watching the show, but the interviews with cast/crew members fare better, as we hear their viewpoints in adapting this play to a TV series. My favorite part of the video was when the crew went down to Australia to record the music for the show. The only downside to this documentary is that, for some reason, they frequently do a vexing editing technique where they repeat footage of the last few words of someone's sentence. I guess they did this for emphasis or to look "cool", but it just becomes tiresome and distracting.
So far, RomeoXJuliet has impressed me. It's a fine retelling of the classic Shakespeare play while giving it new twists so it doesn't feel like an unnecessary retread, the olden settings are a refreshing change of pace for me, the dub excels, and even though I know the ending from reading the play in high school, I'm interested to see how they get there in this new version. If you're curious to see a new take on the familiar fable, give RomeoXJuliet a try.
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