Review: Romeo x Juliet
Romeo x Juliet Review Image
Information

Ep/Vols:
24

Vintage:
2007
Other Names:
n/a
Genres:
Gender-Switch, Romance, Tragedy
Type:
Anime (TV)
Rating:

Reviewer:
In a land floating in the sky there is a city called Neo Verona. 14 years ago the old tyrant Prince Capulet was overthrown by the heroic Prince Montague, or at least that is what everyone has been led to believe. On that night 14 years ago, Montague through a coup d'etate, wiped out the Capulet family and their supporters, however even now rumours of the Capulet daughter still remain and the military police are ever on the search for her. However it is not only the Princess Capulet they are searching for, a young champion of the people has arose calling himself the Red Whirlwind, he fights the opression of the palace guards and nobility, protecting the people from Montagues tyrannical rule. The Red Whirlwinds real identity is a young boy named Odin who lives under the protection of the Farnasse family, staying in the back room of the theatre run by William Farnasse (Shakespeare) as he tries to write plays for his own amusement. But Odin hides another secret, a secret that only a few know of, Odin is actually a girl named Juliet, and though she has forgotten everything that happened to her before 14years ago due to her young age, she is the one remaining heir to the Capulet family. However, what will happen when on the eve of her 16th Birthday she finally finds out her true identity, and the young noble she has fallen in love with is none other than Prince Montagues son, Romeo Montague.

Following the story of Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, this anime portrays the well known play in a magical and more fantastical world than that set in the original play. Though the main story follows much of what Shakespeare has written, the story is somewhat different featuring another sub-story to suit the new world in which it is based. For those who are fans of Romeo and Juliet, you will be pleased to know that this anime features the same tragic ending that one would expect from a true Romeo and Juliet story, though not quite in the way you may expect.
With all the main characters, but in different roles, RomeoxJuliet provides an exciting and interesting retelling of an old classic play that will keep even the most ardent of Shakespeare fans interested. With the theme song being a japanese remake of "You Raise Me Up" and even featuring the original lyrics at certain points in the anime, the music has been chosen wisely to fit the somewhat tragic theme.

The art style of this anime is a slightly more pastel based colouring with slightly less detailed faces than you may see in other anime, it may not be of interest to those who like huge battle scenes as portrayed in other anime, however this makes for a great Shoujo genre anime which I would recomend to be watched by anyone who loves truely tragic and romantic stories, and with numerous sword fights throughout, it can even keep those who like more action based anime entertained for hours.

Another feature which might interest you all is the opening song of this series. Probably one of the best songs, "You Raise Me Up" is the featuring song throughout the series. However, though the song is mostly changed to the Japanese equivalent (with altered lyrics), they even have the original lyrics in english at a couple of points in the series.

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