Romeo x Juliet - 01

For the avid anime viewer, a common thought comes to mind: "What would [insert literary work or film here] be like as an anime?"  Romeo x Juliet takes the classic work of Shakespeare and adds a floating city, a superhero clad in red, and dragon-pegasi.

This rendition begins on the floating city of Neo Verona.  Upon this island the Capulet family had ruled, but the Montague family assassinated these rulers and took control themselves.  The first scene shows the adorable young Juliet and her faithful servant witness the murder then escape due to the swift action of a guardsman of the family and his dragon-pegasus.  The Montague family then steps up to take control of the city and rule it with tyranny.  The nobles of the city sit fat in their houses while the people suffer.

The episode continues with an instance of the tyranny in effect as a young girl is being punished for a crime falsely accused.  Though the people deny the crime, a noble had decreed that she was the culprit and thusly the town guard was to enact her punishment.  Then, from nowhere, an individual clad in red cape and wide brimmed hat with a black mask appears and loudly denounces the act taking place.  After a bit of nonlethal swordplay and some comical escape routes, our hero is stopped by a broken bridge and nowhere to go but down.

Then rides in a gallant young noble on a dragon-pegasus that looks favorably on such heroic acts and comments on the slender frame of our crimson hero.  Soon we find this young lad to be Romeo, son of the current Montague in power whose mere visage oozes with evil tyrant.  The crimson hero we find out later (spoiler alert, but obvious from the opening) is none other than Juliet in disguise.  Though their passing is swift, both feel a draw to the other.

In classic Shakespearean style, a certain individual makes an appearance as the playwright of the troop that is hiding young Juliet.  In common anime style for eccentric characters, William the playwright is portrayed as a flamboyant man with more than a passing interest in those of his own gender.  This is either odd or poignant when he has such interest in Juliet, disguised as a man.

One more versed in the original works of Shakespeare may notice more of the artistic license taken and whether Romeo x Juliet properly conveys the same message, but on its own this show looks to be an interesting watch.  Dragon-pegasi and acrobatics aside, the story of the "star-crossed lovers" truly takes a fresh turn as Juliet sees the corruption of the city from below and Romeo sees it from within the system.  One can also applaud the bold reference to the author of the original text.  This tends to be easier when the original writer isn't around to step up about it.

Check out this reworking of Shakespeare's classic tale on Funimation's Hulu account here.