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Romeo x Juliet.


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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:51 am Reply with quote
Romeo x Juliet

Well here we go can Gonzo strike gold with an another adaptation of a world famous novel? After the success from Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo you'd have to figure that there be some other stories done in the same fashion. And so Gonzo decided to pick the most famous story of them all, Shakespeare classical tale Romeo and Juliet.

Fumitoshi OISAKI is directing this show and really this is first director credit, he's done work for Kaleido Star, (character design, and cheif animation) Sergant Frog (Character design), also Mind Game ( Key animation) and done some work on Welcome to the NHK! With that being said it's looks like he's certain got a nice little batch of shows....lets hope that Romeo X Juliet is his big break.

As a big fan of Gankutsuou I was concerned when I heard that R & J was the next titled to be done. R & J has been seen in so many different mediums from theater, to big screen, to TV, I was wondering how Gonzo's plans to keep this series fresh and unique like they did the Count of Monte Cristo. After the first trailer I was a bit nervous, and now it's finally here the first episode

As always folks beware this contains spoilers for the first episode. Enjoy.

Damn I love the environment effects on this show from the snow, the animations is very different from Count, but I love how the weather looks even the sounds of the wind gives you that amazing senses of speed.

Opening theme, a nice slow little piece that I am sitting on the fence currently. I bet with a few more listens I would probably like it, especially with those great looking visuals to go along with it.

Wow to start off with the flags in 3D blowing in the wing those look quite amazing, alright so Caplets are like bandit fugitive and the Montague's are the all powerful leaders....I don't really remember that in the story. Nor do I remember anyone named the Red Whirlwind.....well maybe Gonzo mixed up Zoro and Romeo and Juliet....

I love this music as Cordelia and 'Red Whirlwind' escape it really gives this sense that this is an epic chase. Ahh the flying horses again, I still can't get over them......where are my freakin Jetpacks, I was told (back in my hay day) that everyone was going to get to and from work via jetpack....and nothing.

Oh wow did they just add William Shakespeare into his own play? Brilliant, this is why I love Japan. BTW why do they make Willy the most flamboyant character? Does Japan know something that the rest of world doesn't? Ahh Odin=Juliet....that makes perfect sense seeing as how she's an actress.

Role Reversal, with Juliet going to the ball to meet our fair Romeo instead of the other way around, I love it, well it's at least a nice changes. Did anyone notice a sign in the background that read "Otello", you think that might be related to something? Wink

Ok so this series is turning a bit into Gankutusuo with the characters trying to discover there past. Instead of everyone attempting to figure out who the Count is it's with Juliet being a Capulet. That works for me, ahh the destine meeting, simple yet elegant. Currently the stories almost through act one I wonder how this show will be stretched acrossed 26 episodes.

Ending song not my deal at all, nor did I enjoy the boring animation. And I understand the ending animation normally isn't that great but it just boring.

Verdict: Jury still hasn't come out on this series, unlike Gankutsuou where I felt like I already knew that I had a winner on hand after episode one (with that animation it had to be) R X J is a series that's going to require a few more episodes.
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adonais



Joined: 21 Apr 2006
Posts: 302
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 4:40 am Reply with quote
Laughing Had a hunch you'd be the first to beat the drum for this one...

Well well - I'm quite wowed after the first episode. I'll be less modest and speculate that I think Romeo X Juliet is going to be one of Gonzo's finest to date. The first episode simply shines! Here are some of my first impressions.

Visuals: (A+) Stunning animation and gorgeous backdrops, more traditional than Gankutsuou, but with a warmer and more seamless CG than e.g. Last Exile. The visuals of Romeo X Juliet so far compares extremely favourably to both of the aforementioned. Just beautiful, a work of art in every frame.

Music: (A-) The rich classical scoring delivers magic and grandeur from the first bar, but is somewhat diminished by an all-too corny opening ballad and a nondescript rock song for the ending, which both fall far below the mark, IMO. Oh well.

Characters/story: (??) Obviously something for the future to unfold, but there is ample material for character development; the light-hearted opening is setting the stage, but of course invites the story to take a turn for a heart-rending tragedy at some point, as well it should (this is Romeo and Juliet, after all). A big plus to Montague at this stage, who is voiced by the same guy as Bertuccio in Gankutsuou (I think?) There's presence in that voice! Will (the playwright?) somehow reminds me of Stressman in Nodame Cantabile...

All in all, an excellent and very promising opening for Romeo X Juliet. This anime season is looking up now Smile
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darkchibi07



Joined: 15 Oct 2003
Posts: 5459
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 4:47 am Reply with quote
Out of curiosity, but has any of you actually heard of the OP song before? Supposedly, it's an actual well-known song called "You Raised Me Up" which Josh Gorban also sang a few years back.
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cerulean88



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 130
Location: Ramira.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:11 am Reply with quote
i loved Gankutsuou and i personally think that this adaptation is going to turn out great =)

they've actually added in character's from Shakespeare's other plays. There's Hermione from A Winter's Tale. Curio and Antonio from Twelfth Night. Cordelia from King Lear. Emilia from Othello. Franciso from The Tempest...

the OP song is that same song that was sung by so many singers, one of them Josh Groban, "you raise me up" same tune except that they changed the lyrics to it. if you're interested, i've transcribed and translated the lyrics to the song that was sung by Lena Park.

http://cerulean88.livejournal.com/9215.html#cutid1

(please delete link if not allowed. sorry and thanks.)
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:30 pm Reply with quote
adonais wrote:
Laughing Had a hunch you'd be the first to beat the drum for this one...

Yeah not to sound completely insane (well perhaps I will after saying this) but basically I knew the raws were out a few days ago so it was only a matter of time until the show hit the 'scene'; basically all Wednesday I was refreshing my window waiting to see Romeo X Juliet 1 show up.....of course it hit at like midnight but that's alright that wasn't going to stop me from watching it. Although there was like a three hour window where I went shooting and I couldn't really focus on my targets.....I am glad I can start focusing on my school work now....

adonais wrote:
Visuals: (A+) Stunning animation and gorgeous backdrops, more traditional than Gankutsuou, but with a warmer and more seamless CG than e.g. Last Exile. The visuals of Romeo X Juliet so far compares extremely favourably to both of the aforementioned. Just beautiful, a work of art in every frame.

Completely agree with you here, way that Gonzo manages to blend the the CG with the traditional backdrops really says it all. I am glad that Gonzo went traditional with this, which isn't a knock against Gankutsuou but I just don't that style wouldn't of work here.

adonais wrote:
Music: (A-) The rich classical scoring delivers magic and grandeur from the first bar, but is somewhat diminished by an all-too corny opening ballad and a nondescript rock song for the ending, which both fall far below the mark, IMO. Oh well.

Here I am probably just about the same grade perhaps a bit lower with that dreadful closer, but everything inbetween the opening and closing was fantastic.
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mind over matter



Joined: 11 Apr 2007
Posts: 67
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:01 pm Reply with quote
based on what I saw in the first episode, I was a little disappointed. Yeah, the animation and music were OK, but what I was looking for was the story and characters. I didn't see the adaption of "The Count of Monte Christo" so I couldn't compare that to this, and as for other books adapted into anime, I haven't seen much at all (I think I saw one or two eps of "Tales of Fantasia" ) so I really can't compare it much to any other book into anime series...
but I found myself expecting, and therefor comparing this to the original play. Maybe because of that, I didn't see the beauty of it...but I was disappointed. The first episode didn't really make me interested in watching more, but I probably will anyway...
The story was ok, even with all the changes, but I seemed to always be a second behind mentally what was happening. I think It would have been better to just change the whole series into something different, rather than call it Romeo and Juliet and have the same character names.. if I weren't expecting a similarity between the play and the anime then I probably would have enjoyed it more
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Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18138
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:15 pm Reply with quote
The first episode did exactly what it needed to do: it showed how this reinterpretation was going to run while still retaining the essence of the original story (love at first sight between two individual who, if they knew each other's identities, would probably be at each other's throats). That should make it easy for people to decide how tolerable the alterations are going to be. And while it may not be Gonzo's prettiest work, it looks good enough.

Frankly, I loved it, especially that wonderful opener.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5633
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:18 pm Reply with quote
Oh Shoot! Darn you Delta! Now you've made me want to see this and I HATE the ending to this story and I doubt that Gonzo will change it.

I'm looking forward to reading more of this thread and seeing if you continue to like it.

The only saving grace for me will probably be that it will be a year or more before it hits California's sunny shores.
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Eruanna



Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 451
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 1:17 am Reply with quote
darkchibi07 wrote:
Out of curiosity, but has any of you actually heard of the OP song before? Supposedly, it's an actual well-known song called "You Raised Me Up" which Josh Gorban also sang a few years back.


Its the same tune. But the lyrics are totaly different.
I was watching it, and I though "Man, this sounds REALLY FAMILIER.." And then I starting singing "You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains... " And I was like "Oh my word, this is to the tune of "You Raised me up"!" And I was like, "WOW!"
I love that song. Razz I also love Josh Groban. He has such an amazing voice *_*
This rendtion of the song sounds reeaally good too. I was so excited.

EDIT:
And now that Iv seen the rest of it, I can comment on more then just the opening! (The opening excited me so much I had to pause it so I could run off and post here.)
I am so excited about this series. It dosnt seem to be much of anything like the original Romeo and Juliet, they have taken an awfull lot of libreties with the story. Notably, the fact that Juliet is living a life that is some sort of strange cross between Anastasia and Zoro.
It seems like she dosnt quite know who she is, or rather, who she used to be (hence the Anastasia compairison) and she's living a double life as an awsome sword brandishing hero. (Hence the Zoro compairison)
I dont recall the Montangues ever so completely wiping out the Capulets as shown in this show, so that also is one huge difference.
However, these dont really bother me overlymuch. Im not as much of a purist when it comes to adaptations as I used to be. Still, these changes do seem a little strange.
The art looks really good! It really makes me want to watch these characters. They all look great.
But the best thing about this show is that it features my all time favourite mythical creature: Pegasus! I love Pegasus. You have no idea. Any show with Pegasus flying around has to be at least half decent. Very Happy

I am really looking forwards to following this show.
Very Happy
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Ryvius213



Joined: 03 Aug 2006
Posts: 291
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:09 pm Reply with quote
Episode 1 was a pleasant surprise. I really didn't expect much, since the characters from the original play seemed kinda annoying to me.(Love-obsessed Romeo and whiny Juliet) I have no problem with all the liberties that the creators took with the story. However, Romeo X Juliet could easily have gone under another name, since there's few similarities between it and the original material.(execuation-wise, anyway) Anyway, even if it's a terrible adaption of the play, it's still possibly GONZO's best work yet.
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youkai_ronin



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 117
Location: beneath the starry night sky
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 7:05 pm Reply with quote
Well, I've just seen the trailer and I'm guessing that this version will definitely interest me more than the original(but being forced to read it in school might have something to do with not liking it Razz).

I really have to agree with Ryuvius213, would anyone really want to see yet another RomeoXJuliet rehash? I mean It's been done to death for centuries(but it is a masterpiece....or so the teachers and various other people would tell me Very Happy). I'll probably watch this as its own show, since it really isn't a faithful adaptation. Wink
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Emerje



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 7328
Location: Maine
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 9:46 pm Reply with quote
I enjoyed the first episode quite a bit, it wasn't at all what I had expected. I thought it would be a faithful fantasy retelling of the story like Gankutsuou was which would have been kinda boring, it's been done so many times before. This was a huge surprise, it's not just a retelling, but a complete rewriting of the story. The animation is nice, shows a few shades of Ghibli here and there (in the story telling as well). The music is good, but the ending theme is way out of place. You're kinda drifting along in this dreamworld at the end and then you're jolted awake with the ending. I'm sure they were trying to imitate the way Gankutsuou was handled there, but that show was more stressful on the characters so it worked well. This time, not so much.

I have to admit though, I was a bit conflicted at the end. I'm OK with girls dressing as guys, but not so much with guys dressing as girls, especially when it's kids. I don't know, it's just one of those things. so it was really odd seeing a girl dressed as a guy dressed as a girl. Just took a little while to wrap my brain around that.

Over all though, it was a great first outing. I asked my brother hesitantly if he had watched it because he wasn't too keen on Gankutsuou and was kinda surprised when he boomed out with an excited "Yeah!" I guess it passed that test.

Emerje
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youkai_ronin



Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Posts: 117
Location: beneath the starry night sky
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:14 pm Reply with quote
Man after seeing the first episode I was a little shaken, I mean in the original RomeoXJuliet, I never gave a damn about any of the characters(a bit hard to relate or sympathize with someone from so long ago xD) and the story seemed simplistic(please dont hurt me, please Razz).

This version however I can relate to better and by the ending of the first episode I found my self thinking, "Wow, this is great something to look forward to, finally!" Very Happy Then I remembered one simple detail......spoiler[ROMEO AND JULIET DIE.] Damn gonzo and my short attention span pulled a fast one on me....

So now... Crying or Very sad yea...that's probably what I'll be like if they get it done well. Cool
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frouella



Joined: 05 Jul 2006
Posts: 199
Location: 大阪
PostPosted: Sun Apr 15, 2007 11:26 pm Reply with quote
youkai_ronin wrote:
Then I remembered one simple detail......spoiler[ROMEO AND JULIET DIE.] Damn gonzo and my short attention span pulled a fast one on me....

I find it both hilarious and sad that THAT merits a spoiler tag... Rolling Eyes
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5633
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:07 am Reply with quote
frouella wrote:
youkai_ronin wrote:
Then I remembered one simple detail......spoiler[ROMEO AND JULIET DIE.] Damn gonzo and my short attention span pulled a fast one on me....

I find it both hilarious and sad that THAT merits a spoiler tag... Rolling Eyes


Hey, it's always possible that someone has been living in a dank dark hole somewhere and ditched their English Lit classes.
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