Anime / Romeo × Juliet

Star-Crossed Lovers...IN SPACE!

Is this truly a love that can never be?

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night when Lord Leontes Van de Montague staged a bloody coup against the rulers of Neo Verona, slaughtering each and every member of House Capulet. Only one survives: Prince Capulet's youngest daughter, two-year-old Juliet Fiammata Ars De Capulet, who was spirited away by the captain of the guard and the few retainers that lived.

Fourteen years later, Montague rules over Neo Verona as its tyrannical prince, and the surviving Capulet retainers live in hiding beneath a theater run by a sympathetic playwright named William. To remain hidden from Montague, Juliet has been disguised as a boy her whole life and kept in the dark about her true heritage, until the day she turns sixteen. Nevertheless feeling a strong sense of justice, she sneaks out whenever she can to fight against the oppressive Montague regime as the Red Whirlwind, a Zorro-esque vigilante.

As Juliet's sixteenth birthday draws near, she gets into a scrape while acting as the Red Whirlwind and is saved by Romeo Candore Van de Montague, the idealistic son of the prince. The two instantly feel a connection, and can't seem to help crossing paths again and again.

Romeo × Juliet is loosely based on William Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet. The series also draws a bit on other William Shakespeare plays for both character names and plot elements. The cross-dressing and disguises, and a play within the play that matters to the plot.

Not to be confused with other adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, especially another one that also uses a mathematical symbol, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

The anime is available legally in the U.S. streaming on Funimation's Video Portal. It also has a manga adaptation written by the series' writer Reiko Yoshida and illustrated by Hiroki Harada, which was serialized in the shoujo magazine Monthly Asuka from 2007 to 2009 and is licensed in English by Yen Press.

The examples below contain unmarked spoilers for plot points that are carried over from the original play.

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This show provides examples of:

• 2D Visuals, 3D Effects: Unfortunately, despite one of the show's strong points being the beautiful hand-drawn animated fight scenes and characters (to the point that the characters are virtually on-model for all 24 episodes), most of the buildings and furniture stick out like a sore thumb. The biggest offenders are the family flags (done similarly in the Code Geass anime) and the crazed branch-roots of the Escalus tree during the finale.
• Action Girl: Juliet starts off as this, particularly in her Red Whirlwind persona, but once she falls in love with Romeo, she sadly falls straight into Faux Action Girl who cannot win a battle one-on-one against anyone.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: While Romeo and Juliet still die in the end, it's more of a Heroic Sacrifice than suicide. Romeo is mortally wounded while trying to save Juliet, and Juliet, with Romeo in her arms, sacrifices herself to become the New Escalus, and save Neo-Verona, lowering it slowly into the sea, making it a normal island instead of a floating continent.
• Anime Theme Song: A Japanese version of "You Raise Me Up", no less, just for extra angst.
• Arranged Marriage: Romeo and Hermione
• Ascended Extra: The entire Montague family. Even though the Capulet family is mostly dead here, they're still a significant force in the story as opposed to being a moving prop. The Capulet family gets the focus in the play due to Juliet's arranged marriage, whereas Benvolio is cast aside quickly, and Lady Montague has one line. In this story, Romeo's the one with the Arranged Marriage instead, among other things!
• Asshole Victim: Montague's biological father (who abandoned him and his mother) and his adopted father (who's heavily implied to have sexually abused him) are probably the only two of his victims who actually deserved their fates. Leontes himself is killed by Mercutio.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: After Montague is defeated, Romeo pronounces Juliet Grand Duchess of Neo Verona.
• Ax-Crazy: Ophelia in the last few episodes. Lord Montague before her.
  • Hermione has one episode where she temporarily goes nuts, but she gets over it.
• Babies Ever After: The Beta Couple gets this as part of their Happily Ever After.
• Because Destiny Says So: This is Ophelia's modus operandi and Juliet falls for it hook, line, and sinker.
• Beta Couple: Benvolio and Cordelia, surprisingly enough.
• The Big Damn Kiss: The titular characters' first in Episode 7. Just to put even more emphasis on it, fireworks start going off right at liplock.
• Bilingual Bonus: The wanted posters for the Crimson Whirlwind are in Italian. Also, during the church scene in episode 11, the aria "Lascia ch'io pianga" from Handel's Rinaldo opera plays; the lyrics go "Let me weep my cruel luck and sigh for freedom".
• Bittersweet Ending: Romeo and Juliet still die like in the original story, though it's a Heroic Sacrifice to save all of Neo Verona rather than Driven to Suicide. Things turn out relatively well for the secondary protagonists though.
• Break the Cutie: Things really don't work out for poor Hermione, and it really shows. Episodes later, Mercutio as well.
• Call-Back: When Juliet confronts Leontes in the throne room in Episode 22 it's almost a mirror of their first meeting in Episode 13. They're standing in the same spot, but this time Juliet's the one in a position of power (having an army at her back while Montague's men have abandoned him) while Leontes is utterly defeated. Unlike Montague (who sentences her to death) Juliet opts to show mercy to the man who killed her family.
• Competence Zone: The show has a surprisingly wide Competence Zone, to the point that the trope might as well be averted. Prepubescent Antonio, his grandfather (Conrad), and every Capulet supporter in between are reasonably competent and don't require rescuing on a regular basis.
• Cool Mask: The Red Whirlwind has one, as well as a billowing red cape and a very nice hat.
• Cosmic Horror Reveal: Towards the end, it becomes clear that the true enemy isn't the murderous Lord Montague, who is slowly descending into cackling, city-burning madness, but rather the death of Escalus, which is what's holding Neo Verona in the sky: the earthquakes that become much more frequent and ruinous towards the series' climax are the result of Escalus slowly perishing.
• Curtains Match the Window: Romeo and Juliet, to highlight their families' Red Oni, Blue Oni status. Cordelia, too.
• Cycle of Revenge: House Capulet wants to overthrow Lord Montague for usurping the throne and killing almost the entire Capulet family, which he did because he's the bastard son of a prostitute and a Capulet.
  • Ironically, he also ends up seducing a Capulet and siring a bastard son of his own, who also wants revenge on him. Due to her love of his son Juliet is ultimately able to let go of her anger and show Leontes mercy
• Dangerous 16th Birthday: On her sixteenth birthday, Juliet is told her real identity, which makes her relationship with Romeo all the more complicated.
• Death by Childbirth: Tybalt's mother.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Tybalt.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Romeo dies in Juliet's arms. Leontes dies in both Romeo's and Juliet's.
• Disneyfication: Though not much lighter then the play (you won't see Romeo and Juliet committing suicide), it is more uplifting. It also simplifies the morality into good and bad.
• The Dog Bites Back: Driving Mercutio insane didn't turn out well for Lord Montague.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: As Lord Montague dies, he tells Juliet he'll not have her pity.
• Driven to Suicide: In the Manga, Montague kills himself rather than be stabbed by Tybalt.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: As per the source material.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Commander Tubal, previously shown to not be a particularly nice man, refuses to enforce the order to kill any guards that desert, saying that any that wish to can leave, and is clearly disgusted by the order to burn the commoner's quarters. Later he surrenders and opens the gates to Juliet's rebellion.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Juliet. She and Romeo are the official couple, but after learning Juliet's true identity, her friend Emilia admits a bit of attraction towards her as well.
• The Exile: Romeo eventually becomes this. He comes back when Juliet begins her rebellion.
• Expy: Aside of Romeo, Juliet, Benvolio, Mercutio and Lord Montague being expies of their Romeo And Juliet selves, Hermione is a genderflipped expy for Count Paris (as well as Romeo's unrequited love Rosaline), and William is an obvious stand-in for Shakespeare himself.
• Eyes Always Shut: Hilariously played with when a nobleman who looks like this mistakes Juliet (disguised as Odin disguised as a girl) for Emilia, his actual date, and rushes out with Juliet before Emilia has a chance to return and explain the situation.
• Eye Scream: Curio loses an eye protecting "Odin" from abusive guards. That prompts Juliet to become the Red Whirlwind
• Floating Continent: Neo Verona and the surrounding lands, which becomes quite important to the plot in the second half.
• Forceful Kiss: Romeo plants one on Juliet, which doubles as their First Kiss. He's sweet and innocent enough to pull it off as romantic.
• Foregone Conclusion: The anime is based on Romeo and Juliet. Did you really expect it to end Happily Ever After?
• Freak Out: Mercutio, after being defeated
• Freudian Excuse: Leontes Montague was the bastard child of a Capulet and a prostitute. He climbed his way up the Montague clan to seek revenge for his Break the Cutie childhood years. It's also very heavily implied that his adopted father sexually abused him.
• Gainax Ending: Despite their deaths being being a Foregone Conclusion it still comes across as a kick in the nads when it finally happens.
  • The last 10 seconds of the final, 24th episode shows Romeo and Juliet standing in a shrine in front of Escalus, alive and holding hands.
• Graceful Loser: Hermione ultimately gets over her anger at Juliet when she realizes that Juliet truly does care for Romeo and isn't just manipulating him.
• Heel–Face Turn: Tubal turns against Lord Montague after the latter orders the peasant's quarters of Neo Varona burnt to the ground.
• Heir Club for Men: it's literally stated that Capulet daughters get sacrificed to the Escalus to sustain Neo Verona and keep it afloat, meaning that only men have a chance of inheriting the throne.
• The Hero Dies: Did you really expect Juliet or Romeo to come out of this one alive? Though the last 10 seconds of the final episode makes it really ambiguous...
• Heroic Sacrifice: Lancelot and Juliet. Romeo too, depending on how you interpret the ending. With Ophelia dead and Neo Verona safely landed, it can be assumed the tree won't be calling for blood anymore. Plus Juliet won't be consigned to eternal torment, since she'll instead be spending eternity with Romeo.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Lord Montague, who is killed by Mercutio.
• Hope Spot: Twice in the final episode, once when Juliet opens her eyes when Escalus is destroyed, and once not even two minutes later, when Romeo drives his sword through Ophelia, killing her - the scene that shatters this hope is when Romeo is shown with one of Ophelia's branches driven through his chest.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Romeo, by a giant tree root. Ouch.
• In Name Only: Not so much an adaption of the play as a story inspired by several of Shakespeare's works as well as drawing on many anime and fantasy tropes.
  • Maybe he took after his mother?
• In the Back: It was Mercutio, with the knife, in the throne room.
• It Gets Easier: In the earliest parts of the anime, Juliet has a Heroic BSoD when she wounds a soldier who tries to kill her. Later in the second to last episode she has no qualms about making good on a promise to run Romeo, her love interest and husband through if he tries to stop her. She loses the fight though.
• Karmic Death: Lord Montague is killed by Mercutio, who has been driven insane as a result of Lord Montague's actions.
• Kick the Dog: Lord Montague does this on a fairly regular basis, but perhaps the most shocking example is when he kills his old friend Titus for blackmailing him, forcing Mercutio's descent into insanity. His decision to have Juliet publicly executed despite her being a.) a teenager and b.) in a relationship with his son is also particularly noteworthy.
• Kissing Cousins: Mildly teased at but eventually averted with Tybalt and Juliet. Turns out he's quite the Shipper on Deck.
  • Technically Romeo and Juliet as well, considering Montague's father was a Capulet.
• Laughing Mad:
  • Mercutio, in his final episode.
  • Leontes does this during a flashback, as he tells Portia that he has massacred everyone in the Capulet clan.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Half way through the series, Willy confides to Juliet how he's been wanting to write a play about two Star-Crossed Lovers who both die horribly. Juliet, understandably, doesn't share his enthusiasm.
• Love at First Sight: Romeo and Juliet, though it happens to Romeo twice (once with the Red Whirlwind and once with Juliet).
• Lucky Charms Title: The "X" is assumed to be pronounced "and", similarly to Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
• Mad Dictator's Handsome Son: Romeo, of course. Also, Heroic Bastard Tybalt. And through adoption (sorta), Mercutio.
• Malignant Plot Tumor: Escalus dying becomes the focus of the final two episodes after being fairly irrelevant to the main plot until then, though in fairness there WAS foreshadowing.
• Mythology Gag / Fridge Brilliance: It should also be noted that back in Shakespeare's time, the parts of women were usually played by young boys (11-13 years old). And then you have Juliet dressing up as a male and going by the name "Odin"...
  • Virtually every character not from the original play is named after other Shakespearean characters. Even characters who went unnamed in the original play, like Lord and Lady Montague, are given proper names borrowed from Shakespeare's other works.
  • Tybalt outright telling Mercutio that he's not worth killing. In Shakespeare's original play, Tybalt kills Mercutio in cold blood.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: Montague inadvertently condemns Neo Verona to a slow death by slaughtering House Capulet, whose blood keeps Escalus alive and healthy. And of course he gets increasingly paranoid throughout the series as he learns that there's a Capulet survivor out there somewhere and she's really pissed with him.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: Willy, oh so much. He only pretended to not have an idea of Juliet's identity for almost 14 years, but in fact he was an asymmetric Secret-Keeper.
• Official Couple: Do you even have to ask?
• "On the Next Episode of..." Catch-Phrase: "Is this truly a love that can never be?"
• Pet the Dog: Anti-Hero Tybalt doesn't get a moment like this until his final scene: he takes Petruccio's younger siblings for a ride on a dragonhorse in the epilogue. Awwww.
  • Arguably, hugging Juliet during her Heroic BSoD after the Shoot the Dog incident would count as well.
  • Montague of all people gets this when he decides not to arrest Portia despite heavily suspecting that she was sheltering Juliet.
• Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Hermione pulls this on Lord Montague to make sure Cielo isn't taken away.
• Princesses Rule: Gender Flip example. The ruler of Neo Verona is Prince Montague, not King Montague.
• Proper Lady:
  • Hermione, at her best.
  • Also Portia, Romeo's mom.
  • And Cordelia.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: Juliet, in spades. Once she meets Romeo, he occupies most of her thoughts, and the suffering of the other citizens of Neo Verona go by the wayside until someone reminds her. It comes to a head where the remaining Capulet retainers are ambushed right after Juliet accepts her destiny, and while Juliet manages to escape, the fate of everyone else is unknown. Romeo shows up soon afterwards and the two run away to the countryside and get married, where they would have happily lived the rest of their lives if Romeo's dad didn't send his army after them. Not once during that whole exchange did Juliet even attempt to find out if the people who raised her actually survived the attack. Somewhat addressed when she asks Leontes to spare the remaining loyalists.
• Puppy Love: Antonio and Regan. Way too cute.
• Rape as Backstory: It's not outright stated but it's very heavily implied that Montague's adopted father raped him.
• Recursive Crossdressing: Juliet, disguised as Odin, disguises herself as a girl to go to a party.
• Rescue Introduction: Juliet, with both Tybalt and Romeo.
• Riches to Rags: Romeo's courting of Juliet eventually pisses his father off enough that he ends up exiled from the city and working in a derelict old mine (though part of that is his own decision; he could've easily just supervised the mine without having to lift a finger, but chose to take part in the actual mining as well.
• Romantic False Lead:
  • Hermione, who initially comes off as an unfortunate victim of circumstance, but at some point shows her Yandere side. Unlike others, she does get better; she was more at a breaking point than a true yandere.
  • Subverted, also. We were led to believe Tybalt would be a male one of the Kissing Cousins variety at the beginning, but this doesn't happen.
• Romantic Runner-Up: Hermione is a female version of this; while Romeo was polite to her but never particularly interested in her, her only flaw was perhaps being too accepting of Romeo forgetting about meeting her whenever he ran into Juliet, at least until she gets stuck on the wrong end of Break the Cutie...
• Rule of Symbolism: On both occasions that Juliet meets Lord Montague it's in the throne room, and in both cases one is in a position of power over the other (Montague in their first meeting, and Juliet in their second). They even stand in the same spot in both meetings. However unlike Lord Montague (who angrily sentences her to death) Juliet opts to show mercy and exile him instead despite having far more reason to hate him.
• Runaway Fiancé: Romeo (contrast with this role in the original play—yep, Romeo's the one stuck dealing with romantic issues while Juliet plans a coup)
• Sacrificial Lamb: Dr. Lancelot.
• Sanity Slippage: Mercutio, starting with watching the murder of someone close to him
• Say My Name: ROMIOOOOOOOOOO! JULIETTOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The same in English, just take off all the "O's".
• Scenery Porn
• Setting Update: It's Romeo and Juliet WITH DRAGONHORSES AND MAGIC TREES ON AN ISLAND IN THE SKY
• Sheltered Aristocrat: When the story begins, Romeo is the sympathetic version of this trope, as is his friend Benvolio, albeit with a lesser emphasis on nobility and a greater emphasis on clumsiness. This aspect lessens, particularly in Benvolio, when they get hit with Character Development, and Benvolio adapts to peasant life rather quickly anyway.
  • Hermione also qualifies. The one time she ventures outside the city ends extremely badly for her (her carriage is stolen, she's forced to pawn one of her rings to afford travel, and it gets to the point where her Love Rival takes pity on her and shelters her.) She even refers to a wagon driver as "good rustic."
• Shipper on Deck: For the main couple, Antonio, Willy, and also Cordelia to a certain degree, but Tybalt, of all people, takes the cake.
  • Juliet herself ships Benvolio and Cordelia.
• Shoot the Dog: Tybalt takes Juliet to confront a snitch and tells her to kill him so that he can't report back to Montague in the future. She lets the priest go, and Tybalt has to kill him to save her life.
• Smug Snake: Mercutio, until his Freak Out. Also Camillo (Tybalt's caretaker).
• Snicket Warning Label: You know that scene where everyone important with a hint of combat ability shows up in the throne room? It's completely alright to stop watching after the end of that scene and skip the final two episodes if you want a (mostly) happy ending.
• Son of a Whore: Montague, supposedly with a Capulet noble for a father
• Star-Crossed Lovers: Romeo and Juliet, obviously.
• Stuff Blowing Up: Antonio's weapons are his smoke bombs.
• Stupid Evil: Both Ophelia and Montague engage in this. In Montague's case allowing Juliet and Romeo to marry would basically neuter the rebellion (since Romeo and any kids they have would inherit her titles, while Juliet and any children she has could be hostages), yet he tries to have her executed (which just comes off as cruel and disproportionate to the people of Neo Verona). In Ophelia's case Romeo flat out states that he's willing to let Juliet's sacrifice occur for the good of Neo Verona IF he's allowed to die with her. Ophelia refuses and tries to kill him, which ultimately ends in a Mutual Kill.
• Tagalong Kid: Antonio often tags along with Juliet when she goes out as the Red Whirlwind. Fortunately for the audience, he's surprisingly competent and sensible for a token child in a show with teenage protagonists.
• Take a Third Option: The show flirts with this for half its run then veers wildly back into Because Destiny Says So at the end.
• Team Mom: Cordelia, despite being one of the younger Capulets in hiding, fills this role in the group. It helps that at age 4, she was already looking after the two-year-old Juliet.
• Theme Naming: Characters largely original to the plot are given names from other Shakespearean works, such as Cordelia, Hermione, and Antonio.
• Third Line, Some Waiting: The subplot about Escalus tends to be of tertiary importance any time it appears (behind the romance and the Capulet coup/whatever they're keeping Romeo busy with)
• Together in Death: Romeo and Juliet, of course
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Juliet and either Hermione, Cordelia or Emilia.
• Too Dumb to Live: For some reason, after Hermione tried to attack Juliet with a rock and told her that she should have perished with her family, everyone thought it was a good idea to let Juliet take care of Hermione and to leave a sharp knife in the same room. That was just a disaster waiting to happen.
• Trailers Always Lie: So remember how at the end of the trailer, there's a big Duel to the Death between Romeo and Juliet on top of a tower, showing how their families' feud has driven them against each other, and as the fight intensifies they suddenly plummet off the tower's edge and share a passionate kiss as they descend? Remember how awesome that was? Well it never happened.
  • They do end up having a duel ending in a kiss but for different reasons than the trailer implies and in a radically different location
• Trauma Conga Line: Hermione endures one over 9 episodes. To wit, her boyfriend blows her off on what amounts to Valentine's Day, she finds out he's essentially cheating on her with another woman, meets the love rival in person, sees the man she loved exiled for saving her from execution, and her attempt to check up on him sees her robbed and forced to pawn a ring for travel fare. Unsurprisingly, she snaps when she sees Juliet again, blaming her for all her misfortune.
• Tsundere: Cordelia is a bit of a Type B (more deredere), towards Benvolio.
• Two Guys and a Girl: Curio, Francisco, Cordelia
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Since one of the main characters is a Wholesome Crossdresser, of course it happens more than once.
• Urban Segregation: The nobles live in the upper parts of Neo Verona.
• Vigilante Man: Juliet as the Red Whirlwind
• Villainous Lineage: Averted like no tomorrow with Romeo. Lord Montague is a puppy-kicking bastard while Romeo's a pure Knight in Shining Armor. Makes you wonder how he turned out to be a complete opposite of his father while being raised in the same castle.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Romeo, much to the disgust of his father and Mercutio.
• Yandere: Hermione, at her worst. Being Romeo's fiance, she seems rather demure at first, but once she finds out about Romeo's love for Juliet, she subtly starts showing some subtle signs of mental instability. And then comes episode 16... She did get better, though, at the end of that very same episode no less.
• Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Promotional copies of the English dub version feature this trope. For many viewers it's strange that they kept switching between normal English and Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe.
• You Killed My Father: As the series nears its end, it becomes a question of whether Juliet, Tybalt, or Romeo will be the one to kill Lord Montague, with the former two having lost family at his hand. It ends up being the fourth candidate, Mercutio.

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