Gonzo animation Studio's new anime, whose title is pronounced Romeo X Juliet, is a loose adaptation of the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. There are many who complain that the show is nothing like the play. However, I believe the basic elements of the story still are intact. For instance there are still two families who hate each other and their children without knowing who each other was fell in love. It appears to be after the first few episodes to still be the tale of star-crossed lovers. Though it is possible Gonzo may give them a happy ending that is still to be seen.
The series takes place in a place called "Neo-Verona," a land which floats in the sky much like the land of Laputa in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. The premise is that the Capulet family once ruled peacefully over the land and were much loved by the people for their kindness. One day the treacherous Montague and his followers preformed a coup d'etat, murdered the Capulets and their followers. Only Juliet, who was two at the time and a few loyal retainers were able to escape with hopes of one day over throwing Montague and regaining Neo-Verona. In order to protect her they disguise her as a boy and wait till her 16th birthday in order to reveal the truth to her. She acts as a local hero the red whirlwind(
The Party is a factor that exists in the original play. However, in the play it is the Capulet family who is hosting the party, not the Montague. In Romeo X Juliet, Juliet in her boyish disguise as Odin, is enlisted to go with the lead actress to the Rose ball with the man she's seeing. She makes Juliet dress as a girl, not knowing she is a girl, and the man who was taking the actress to the ball mistakes Juliet for his date. In the original play Romeo and his friends were party crashers. Now it is Juliet sneaking in. And this is where their love begins in both the original and in this adaptation.
The series is interesting in that there are references to other Shakespeare plays with either quotes, certain themes that arise, or with character names. Interesting enough one of the characters who is around Juliet is actually William Shakespeare, and the Capulet band lives with him in his theater. I thought it was amusing when Juliet and Antonio tell Shakespeare that his plays are hard to understand. Since at the time they were written in the language of the time they could be easily understood.
Here is a list of some of the characters and the plays they belong to:
Also, the theme of a female character cross-dressing for a purpose exists here. Juliet is raised as a boy in order to protect her from being killed by Montague. Cross-dressing is something that occurs in several Shakespeare plays, though not Romeo and Juliet.
Since the series hasn't been licensed for the US yet you can't purchase it at this time. However, it is available to watch in Japanese on the official Gonzo Romeo X Juliet site. I highly recommend the series. It was licesend and released in the US by Funimation. The last half of the series was released 08/11/2009.