Anime Romeo x Juliet

[inactive]

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted anything on OtakuBoards, but I figured it was due time to say something...

I've been really busy with stuff lately, but I've finally caught up with the episodes. Episode 20 was certainly a [spoiler]display of Montague's tyranny[/spoiler]. And I was pretty much disgusted when [spoiler]not ONE of the people in that room stayed sitting because they all valued their misrable lives more than the whole of Neo Verona[/spoiler]. :animeangr I'm also not crazy about the fact that Mercutio is such a [spoiler]snivelling, power-hungry coward[/spoiler]... but oh well.

My immediate thought at the end was that [spoiler]Juliet would have to become the new Tree to save Neo Verona[/spoiler]. That would be like how in the play, the two of them had to die to bring the feud to an end, and they all regretted it and stuff. In this case, [spoiler]they'll see what had to be sacrificed to save their world, and realise their mistakes and all that[/spoiler]. I'm not sure what may happen to Romeo, but I don't think [spoiler]he'll inherit Ophelia's role... I think it more likely that he'd die trying to protect Juliet in some way[/spoiler]...

As for Ophelia's [spoiler]hands being bark, I guess that means she's linked to or part of Escalus in some way. In other words, not human. Since her hands weren't like that before, one can definitely assume that she's wasting away just as Escalus is.[/spoiler]

[Meggido]

Surprise move by Gonzo as the have requested Funimation act as legal representation in the fight against fansubbing groups. I'm posting this here because the anime in which this is related to is actually Romeo X Juliet, so maybe there is a licensing agreement in the works.

source: [URL="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-09-28/gonzo-halts-romeo-juliet-fansub-with-funimation's-help"]ANN[/URL]

[Dagger]

Finally sat down and watched the last four episodes.

Episode 21

[spoiler]
- Begins with a recap (or not? It's been so long that I don't remember) of the conversation between Ophelia and Juliet. Ophelia explains about the two trees that once supported the continent and how, due to human fallacy, only Escalus is left.
- Mercutio & the soldiers under his command set Neo-Verona on fire while Francisco and Curio try to bring the commoners to safety.
- Romeo renounces Montague as his father and attacks Mercutio to stop him, which leads to an emotional confrontation.
- Romeo and Juliet meet again while Juliet helps transport the injured, but she can't bring herself to tell him about the seed of Escalus.
- While the Capulet forces prepare to take down Montague, this time for good, Cordelia (at Juliet's urging) hastily marries Benvolio. Willy takes on the priest's role, haha.
- As snow falls over Neo-Verona, Juliet decides that when the last battle is over, she'll sacrifice herself to Escalus for the sake of the city's people, even though it means breaking the vows she made with Romeo.[/spoiler]

Episode 22

[spoiler]
- Tybalt finds Juliet in the ruins and tells her that he's going to kill Montague before any of her people get to him. In turn, she says that she's going to offer up her life to save Neo-Verona from ruin. She thinks that maybe she was able to tell Tybalt this, even though she kept it a secret from everyone else, because he's Romeo's brother. She asks him to look after Romeo when she's gone.
- Romeo visits Portia to tell her that he's about to go face Montague.
- Juliet puts on her battle gear from the OP and leads her forces to the castle. As they're spotted approaching, almost everyone flees. But in this three-way-race of sorts, Tybalt makes it to the throne room first. Once he gets a sword to Montague's throat, though, instead of killing him right away, he demands that Montague tell him whether there's any way to save both the world and Juliet.
- This is the moment at which Romeo (rather redundantly, haha) bursts in and attacks. He and Tybalt then proceed to squabble over who gets to kill Montague, which creates enough of a gap for Juliet & co. to arrive. She says that there's no more need for swords and demands that Montague surrender. Montague actually seems like he might, but then Mercutio (who must've been hiding in the room before or something) stabs him from behind.
- With his dying breath, Montague calls out the name of Tybalt's mother and falls into Juliet's arms. Tybalt is severely pissed off but tells the insanely laughing Mercutio to get lost; there'd be no value in killing someone like him.[/spoiler]

Episode 23

[spoiler]- Before the OP: Romeo kneels to Juliet, telling her that she's the new ruler of Neo-Verona, and asks her to forgive the sins of the Montague family. He entrusts the city to her; he's going to return to the village in hopes of continuing to revive the earth. Juliet answers his implicit promise to return with a simple good-bye.
- Juliet and Romeo go their separate ways--Juliet to Escalus (secretly, of course) and Romeo to the vault where his father's body has been laid. Tybalt also comes there, and once they get their family relationship sorted out, Romeo asks Tybalt to find Petruchio's little siblings and give them the gems Petruchio left behind and to take them for a ride on a pegasus.
- Angered, Tybalt tells him to stop being so concerned about other people and reveals the truth about Escalus and Juliet. In Escalus' place, she'll undergo an eternity of pain and suffering.
- As the earthquakes (skyquakes?) intensify, Romeo catches up with Juliet. They fight over whether or not she should be martyered for Escalus until he manages to disarm her. But then Escalus' roots burst up, separating them. The gradually withering Ophelia appears, declaring that the time of budding/flowering has come, and wings erupt from Juliet's back, dragging her toward the main trunk.
- Romeo comes chasing after as Ophelia reaches for Juliet, but Ophelia repels him easily. Smiling, she kisses Juliet, who slumps forward as if her life has been sucked away...[/spoiler]

Episode 24

[spoiler]- Ophelia tells Romeo that she's given Juliet the kiss of death, the sign of the contract with Escalus, and that she'll never wake up again. The dying tree itself strikes out at Romeo as he tries to save her.
- Enormous portions of land begin to fall throughout the continent. When Ophelia finishes pronouncing the ritual words, Juliet's wings enfold her, and she gets sucked deep into the trunk.
- Ophelia observes that the new bud is feeling lost/stranded. Romeo says that it's because the Juliet within it isn't doing this of her free will and that such a cruel fate can't be right. Ophelia asks him whether he would be fine if the whole world were destroyed instead, and he says yes, because he vowed to be by Juliet's side.
- She's about to kill him, to erase the seed of Juliet's hesitation, when Tybalt, Curio and Francisco make their entrance. They fight Ophelia & the branches (very stylishly) while Romeo tears his way toward Juliet. He calls out her name again and again until she responds, shattering the giant bud. He lays her on the ground, telling her that she's no longer bound by destiny and can rest. She closes her eyes again.
- Romeo destroys Ophelia, who has completely merged with the dead parts of Escalus. Now the continent begins to fall in earnest.
- When Juliet wakes up, she sees that Ophelia's final attack pierced Romeo straight through his chest. He tells her that thanks to her, he felt the joy of falling in love for the first time, and that he was truly happy to live in this world where she exists. And then: "I can't call your name anymore. I can't see your form anymore..."
- Juliet embraces the dead Romeo, weeping. The supporting characters, some with commoners in tow, have risen on flying horses and are thus escaping the brunt of the damage from the descent. Tybalt tells Juliet to get on his, for this place will soon crumble completely. She answers that because Romeo protected their vow to the end ("in life and in death" etc.), she'll do the same and stay with him. She came here to save everyone, and she can still do that. Even if the rest of Escalus is dead, the wings sprouting from her--the seed inside her--still lives.
- At her invocation, her wings grow vast and radiant, shining down on all the people in the air and on the ground. Although the island still hits the sea, its descent is slowed, preventing a greater disaster.
- As the credits roll, we see Neo-Verona a little bit in the future. Willy reflects on the fact that none of them knew anything--not that the land was supported by Escalus or even that it was floating in the sky.
- Hermione offers a rose & an iris in honor of Romeo and wonders whether he and Juliet are happy together. She says that someday she'll find a way to be happy, too.
- Francisco is the new ruler of Neo-Verona! Also, Benvolio's father has been restored to the seat of mayor.
- Curio is... a greengrocer? XD Cordelia & Benvolio have a baby.
- Conrad, at Juliet's parents' grave, says that perhaps he was wrong ("about everything" is the connotation). An older-looking Antonio denies this; Juliet wouldn't have wanted to see Conrad lament her.
- Tybalt takes Petruchio's siblings aloft on the horse Romeo set free earlier in the series (he tells them it's his little brother's). The rest of the horse's family are chilling out on the ground.
- The last lines belong to Willy. "War, hatred, sorrow, pain.... that which can end all of them is love. You two taught us the joy of loving others."[/spoiler]

That was a [I]great[/I] ending.

~Dagger~

[inactive]

I guess it's a little late to be posting on the conclusion of this series (seeing as the final episode played on Sept. 26), but I've only just gotten a hold of an English sub of the episode. It would really be nice if I could understand Japanese so I could watch the raw. :animeswea

Anyway, the ending was great. [spoiler]I admit that I was really expecting Juliet to stab herself after Romeo died (just like in the play), but it's definitely better that she ended up saving the world instead. Now that I think back on it, I don't really know why I thought she'd stab herself, since it?s not really in keeping with her character (in this anime, anyway).

It may seem a little odd, but I was really hoping that Romeo and Juilet would end up being really selfish in their love for each other in the end. That is, I wanted them to not care what happened to the rest of the world, so long as they could be together. I didn't want them to be noble and do the right thing for the "greater good". That would just take away from their romance... It pretty much turned out that way in the end, except that Juliet still got to be noble by saving the world--but that was only after she didn't have anything left to live for (after Romeo's death).

I also found it rather ironic how Escalus, the being that supported their world and sustained their existence for so long, became the villian in the end.

I really enjoyed that little glimpse into the post-"falling-from-the-sky" Neo Verona. I always like when series (especially ones with sad endings) show how life has moved on, and the other characters have found happiness and peace--at least for now. :p Even though this was a tragedy, it still managed to have an optimistic ending. I appriciate that.[/spoiler]

I really, really liked this series. In fact, I enjoyed it a great deal more than the original. ;) Definitely a must see.

[Meggido]

I'm still yet to see an English sub of the last ep but I've still seen the whole series.One thing is though that were currently showing this at my anime club and while I do enjoy it the second time through I'm one of 2 people in th club that likes it. Everyone else say it's boring and all i say back is that a) they fail to see what it's trying to achieve and b) they have no care for romance/drama. We're also showing Nodame cantabile which also seems to be flailing when it comes to our members like/dislike. yet all the action/gory stuff is loved.

But enough about that back onto RxJ. I think the ending suited the anime nicely. it was a real change and in some ways up until the last two eps was progressive of Shakespeare's own work. We started off very much with the romantic tragedy and revenge concepts but we finish with the forgiveness concept (at least in the 2 main characters) that was prevalent in his plays for the Whitefriars playhouse. It's not until the last two eps they we see the tragedy unfold, in some ways it's not so much tragic like the play. I'm still waiting for the english sub though to better formulate this idea.

[dark desires]

Hm...i actually like this spin off of Shakespear. Considering i have yet to watch any of Gonzo's other works. Now i've read the oringal play of Romeo and Juliet and i have to say i was never really interested in it..but this..this grabed my attention instantly and i dont know why. Perhaps i like the artwork and the futuristic idea of it and the tragedy that lied ahead. I can also say that their was a Robinhood idea going on for Juliet which i wasnt expecting. But...i cant happen to think of william as the writer shakespear himself? Or at least it seems so...and the added characters from other plays were a nice touch to this.

Please forgive me for any typo's and any spoilers that i have accidental have left open.