The most tragic love story of all time is here.
ROMEO X JULIET
The list of Spring 2007's release of animes was out several weeks back and from a glance, I do not seem to find anything particularly interesting (if it's not yuri, it's harem, or other overused animation themes). However, there was only one which I thought might be promising: Gonzo's RomeoXJuliet.
Random Curiosity had introduced this animation several months back, when the project was announced to be released in Spring 2007. I had watched the trailer back then, and I really liked it. But I had thought, Romeo and Juliet, what a cliche love story.
I was so wrong.
The first episode was released on 4th April and it took my breath away. The music was great, the voice acting was great, the graphics were great, the animation was great, the story was fantastic. Apart from using the characters 'Romeo' and 'Juliet', and the hunch that this will end very tragically, there is nothing similar to William Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet.
Let me just gush how beautiful the opening theme is. It totally fits the tragic romantic theme of this series, and the voice of Lena Park is very soulful to start with. I loved it when I first heard it and it's now on my playlist over and over and over again. I'm going to let you listen for yourself the best OP theme of the Spring season:
Watching the first episode, you will find this a neo-Romeo&Juliet story. I supposed it's 'neo' because the city our hero and heroine reside in is called Neo-Verona, and it's an aerial city, meaning city in the sky. Horses here can fly (that totally caught me off guard) and Juliet is a master swords(wo)man.
Unlike William Shakespear's Romeo & Juliet where both the Montague and Capulet families were just noble feuds, Gonzo's Romeo X Juliet relates that Romeo's father, Montague, murdered every single member of the Capulet family except for Juliet herself as she was rescued in time by a loyal servant. For the next 14 years, Juliet lived in disguise as a common boy without knowing her true identity until her 16th birthday. For the 14 years, she also masqueraded as a swords(wo)man, nicknamed Red Whirlwind, and often whiz around the Neo-Verona city to rescue the poor commoners bullied by the Montague-led noble men and soldiers. On the night before her 16th birthday, her friend Emilia dragged Juliet to a Rose Ball, a masquerade ball organized by the Montague family for their son, Romeo. Unbeknowst of her history, Juliet let her hair down and dolled up for the party. Upon reaching the castle however, she experience flashbacks of memories in the castle, which was rightfully a property of the Capulet family. Intimidated by the cold stare from Montague, Juliet ran out into the fountain garden, and under the moonlight (with all the rose petals falling in the wind) she met Romeo and it was love at first sight.
What really captivated me about Gonzo's neo-Romeo and Juliet story is that Juliet fell in love with the son of her whole Capulet family murderer, Montague. And Romeo, who is totally clueless about the whole bloody history his father had created, was totally in love with Juliet as well. Can you still love someone the way you did at first sight when you learnt that his family had killed yours? Is love pure enough to actually persevere through such ugly betrayal? Will Juliet choose to forgive and love or will she sacrifice her love to redeem justice for her family's murder? It would be interesting to see how Juliet struggle against love, hate, justice, forgiveness and revenge.
I'm going to bet this story will end very tragically, but I think it will be the most entertaining tragic love story of the year.
Watch the trailer on the official site and be blown away by the awesome-ness of this creation.
Images from Random Curiosity and ロミオXジュィエット
～みはる～
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