Romeo x Juliet- Episode One (Destino)

This was my most anticipated title of the season, but I have to admit that I felt a small amount of hesitation despite the superb background of the staff and the quality of the trailer. It did not let me down. My fears were unwarranted. This was a great first episode, and I foresee it getting better. Of course there’s the small chance the quality level will drop drastically, but for now I’m extremely excited. I haven’t enjoyed the first episode of a ‘new’ (as in I’m watching it as it’s being released) title this much in quite some time, if ever. (It seems a lot of my favorites, I don’t end up seeing until their run is over.)

The story starts out fourteen years in the past. Juliet’s family, the Capulets, are taken out by Montague asassins. Juliet is saved and goes into hiding. Of course, already the story has deviated from Shakespeare heavily. I do not mind this. The story of ’star-crossed lovers’ found in Romeo and Juliet is so old and there are so many variations- one in almost every culture, that it would be difficult to fault a new version for changing it. Besides, at twenty-six episodes, complete loyalty to a two hour play is impossible.

Click ‘read more’ for thoughts and caps.

Like Gankutsuou, the series takes place in a surreal and quasi-futuristic environment. Also, like Gankutsuou, the clothes, architecture, and customs remain archaic. It makes for an intriguing almost ‘dream world’ as the setting. For this series, that setting is Neo Verona. It’s an island in the sky. I am sure the mechanics of this will not be explained (it snows there in the introduction, so they somehow have weather), but it’s not really relevant.

There are several new characters not found in Shakespeare’s canon, appearing in this series so far. The main ones are:

Cordelia- A young woman slightly older than Juliet. She seems to be the fill in for Juliet’s ‘nurse.’ Seemingly named after Cordelia from King Lear.

Hermione- A suitor for Romeo. Romeo finds her attractive but feels nothing towards her. Seemingly named after Queen Hermione from A Winter’s Tale.

William- Seen her with ‘Odin,’ Juliet’s male alterego. William is, you guessed it, a playwright who resides over a theater/troupe of actors.

The Red Whirlwind- Juliet spends most of her time masquerading as a boy by the named of Odin. However, she has another identity as well. ‘Odin’ masquerades as a Zoro like character by the name of ‘The Red Whirlwind.’ This is probably the only adaptation of RxJ where you’ll see Juliet kicking ass and taking names.

Emilia- An actress in William’s group. She’s coquettish and fun loving, and a bit of a drama queen. It’s because of Emilia, who insists upon it, that Juliet ends up attending the Rose Ball at which she meets Romeo.

Other Aspects:

The execution of the first episode left little to be desired. Romeo and Juliet (especially Juliet, as she has more focus than Romeo in the first ep), establish themselves easily as endearing and likable leads.

The music is outstanding and the animation is top notch. Gonzo has a history of off/on animation, but I imagine the budget is a bit higher for this series than most so it probably won’t be as much of an issue. The voice cast is quite good (Junichi Sato of Princess Tutu is directing that part), and features seiyuu who are almost complete newcomers for the leads.

The ‘cinematography‘ is one of the most impressive aspects though. This is recognizable very early on, in the beautifully rendered scene in which young Juliet is flown from the Capulet home through an intense blizzard on a flying horse (oh yeah, they have those). After that, special attention is played to the two scenes in which Romeo and Juliet meet, especially the scene at the end of the episode when they see each other for the first time at the ball. Although the action scenes were somewhat sparse in this episode, they were very well done. Another memorable scene due to the angles/animation was when Juliet is preparing for the ball and takes a few moments to express her inner ‘girl.’ One gets the impression that as Odin, she obviously does not get many chances to do this. The backgrounds and settings are far from skimped on as well.

Opening/Ending

For those not in the know, the opening song is You Raise Me Up, performed by Korean singer Lena Park. No it’s not in English. Most recently made popular by Josh Groban, the song is a beautiful ballad and serves its purpose well here. The footage is quite sweeping, but the shots are sparse and there’s not a lot going on until the second half- and even then the action isn’t super fast and only lasts through the crescendo of the song. This is not a bad thing. The busy openings found in most anime would have been illfitting of both the song, and the series. Except for one pan shot, some shots during the battle sequence, and one shot of Romeo’s villanous father, the opening is dedicated entirely to the two leads. It’s very lovely.

Cyclone by 12012 serves as the ending theme. The ending theme is not as great as the opening, but there’s little to gripe about with it. It’s a rock ending, which reflects the battle aspect of the series instead of the romance. The footage is not amazing, featuring mostly decorative elements with a few ‘pencil-sketched’ fight shots in the middle.

Overall, I’m thrilled for this series. I have thirty-nine caps from the first episode uploaded onto my photobucket. They are 1024×576 and come from an HQ raw. They do include HQ caps of the ones used in this post.

YOU MAY CHECK THEM OUT HERE.

I don’t mind what is done with these, but please don’t post them on a website as if they are your own. If you do use them, I’d love a link back. This is not required, but it would help me spread the word that this blog is here.

-Haro