Romeo x Juliet 1
Gonzo does a completely retold version of the love story that Shakespeare has made popular, that of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet. According to Gonzo, Montague gets hold of the Capulet house in a bloody takeover. The Capulets’ young daughter, Juliet, escapes from the massacre with the help of faithful retainers. Fast-forward fourteen years, and we see an older, self-assured Juliet. She puts on a boy’s clothes, goes around by the name of Odin and keeps the Neo Verona soldiers from bullying the ordinary citizens too much. During one of her adventures, she falls off a tall building, and gets saved by Romeo, son of the same Montague who murdered her family way back when. One night, mistaken for her friend, Juliet gets whisked into a ball at what used to be the Capulet house. Overwhelmed with memories and shaken at seeing Montague, she runs out and stops near a fountain. Romeo spots her and they stare at each other, captivated.
I want to like this series, I honestly do. The first episode, unfortunately, makes me hesitate. There’s a lot of eye-candy, and the animation is good without being obtrusively so. However, there’s a certain missing logic that grates sorely on me, and it has to do with the titular characters. When Juliet sees Romeo again at the fountain, does she remember that this is the same guy who rescued her earlier, and whom she acted so brusquely to? If she does, why the sudden blushing, change of attitude, and fascination? If she doesn’t remember, how come? It’s not like he’s dressed differently or wearing some sort of a mask. Is it because he looks different by night than he does by day (…?), or because she hasn’t gotten a good look at her savior? Well, Gonzo?
All right, so that may have been nitpicking on my part. However, since the story is, I assume, will be mainly about romance, the audience has the right to see a romance that develops in a believable manner. Love at first sight is fine and dandy, but preceding circumstances also have to be taken into account. When they don’t fit together, the audience may spend more time than necessary puzzling over said love at first sight.
So here I sit, waiting for someone to come along and convince me Romeo x Juliet is worth watching for other than the visual aspects (and I’m not being sarcastic). O, anime industry, wherefore art thou industry?
