Romeo X Juliet Volume 4

In the final act of the original Shakespeare play, a great misunderstanding and the rival families failing to make amends lead to the death of the star-crossed lovers: one taking a vial of poison on mistaking his lover for dead, the other a dagger to the heart upon discovering her true love’s body next to hers. Tears pour as the families finally come together in the wake of their children’s death, sadly too late for the couple to live happily ever after. In the final act of Romeo x Juliet however, a very different tune is played. Juliet takes up her red cape again as The Red Whirlwind in order to restore faith into the people of New Verona to strike against Montague’s ruthless order over the kingdom. Romeo catches word of the Capulet uprising and rushes home to help his father step down from the throne in a peaceful manner. However as New Verona is freed from Montague’s rule, a greater threat appears. Juliet’s destiny is revealed to her as a seed for the magical tree residing in her former home, now dying and the key to the slow destruction of her world. Juliet will be forced to sacrifice herself to save her people and land; can Romeo allow such a tragedy to happen?

Romeo x Juliet has never been 100% true to the original source material, but its tone has always been consistent in replicating many scenes found in the original play, including love at first sight at a party, the balcony scene, and the pair eloping. Since the third disc however, Romeo x Juliet has slowly taken a new direction using less from the play and relying more on conventional anime storytelling archetypes. By the fourth disc, the anime has deviated so far from the original that it’s now its own entity. Sure, a tragic ending still occurs as the star-crossed lovers die, but instead of it being based upon mixed messages, dying in the name of love, and ‘the world will never understand us’ type of tone – it’s because of destiny, magic, and for the greater good – a big departure that will be too much for purist Shakespeare fans.

I’m never against trying to create a new version of an old story; no tale is perfect and a fresh pair of eyes can create something out of nothing. However, Gonzo’s attempts to branch off from the original results in the loss of some of the heart-wrenching drama and tension that made the play the classic that it is. After the energetic opening episode with Juliet storming Montague’s palace, it suddenly takes a nose dive as the driving force of the season – the war between Montague and Capulet – comes to a swift and unsatisfactory conclusion. We see Tybalt (the man with a mission to kill Montague) and Romeo (the son of the enemy and secret brother of Tybalt) approaching the castle with the illusion that a great battle is about to commence with big revelations and betrayals, but instead it becomes a test of wills and various discussions with little spark behind it all. The final episode finds its dramatic conclusion in Romeo’s desperate struggle to restore the world without losing Juliet, building a well-choreographed battle sequence and emotions continuously rising with each minute passing by seeing the world crumble and Juliet’s life slipping away. The emotional turmoil is easier to grasp in the anime as the relationship between the couple is fleshed out a lot more, therefore the sad ending plus the last kiss between the couple will gratify the watcher tuning in for the romance.
 
Anyone into shojo fantasy anime will see many elements replicated here and all of them are portrayed very well, providing a decent conclusion overall. However, considering that the material it’s based on and the themes woven in during the story don’t contribute wholly towards the ending, I felt slightly cynical by the conclusion. There was nothing about the ending that had a stamp on it that said “only to be found in Romeo x Juliet;” the ‘destiny’ and ‘fate’ cards have been seen many times in similar genres within anime. The lives lost during the Capulet/Montague war and the Prince’s disdain over his son’s love for the enemy’s daughter become nothing but window dressing to Juliet’s sprouting wings and the mystical tree that is the answer to all and end all. Plus the concept of Juliet’s sacrifice to save the world is only revealed during disc 4, and is not given enough time to flourish or register with the audience before Juliet makes up her mind up on what to do and how to keep Romeo from finding out. Yes, we received cryptic hints from the mysterious Ophelia earlier during the season but it was done sparingly and felt like an afterthought compared to the war between the households, which should have been the main focus in the finale. The ending isn’t ‘bad’, it just doesn’t follow the rhythm of the original play or sing the same tune that the anime has been playing since the beginning. 
 
The animation and character designs remain consistent; they provide beautiful imagery towards the end and don’t fail to give the action sequences the fluid motion needed. However the minimal use of CGI for the trees in the second-to-last episode was noticeably bad. There are no DVD extras.

This anime series fixed one of the issues I had with Shakespeare’s play: the forcedly dealt romance that was clearly nothing more than lust. But it in turn took away an interesting conflict between two ancient families just before it could come to an epic climax, replacing it with several clichés that the series was doing a good job of avoiding until the end. Taking everything into consideration, Romeo x Juliet is definitely a top-tier anime that maintains its quality from start to finish. From the lush animation to the brilliantly scripted dub, its story is well told and the ending will have a varied reception depending on how much of a fan you are of the original play. Regardless, it’s a journey worth investing in and will be remembered fondly.