Line #86 Manga/BoardingSchoolJuliet


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/juliet_8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[TagLine To LOVE, or not to LOVE]]]]
3
4	''Boarding School Juliet'', also known by its Japanese title ''Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet'', is a romantic comedy manga by Yousuke Kaneda. It is loosely based on Creator/WilliamShakespeare's famous play ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. The series started serialization in ''Magazine/ShonenMagazine'' in 2015 [[note]]after a similar oneshot by the author was positively received[[/note]] and was released in English by Kodansha. The manga concluded on September 4th, 2019.
5
6	The Black Dogs of Towa and the White Cats of Principality of the West, although they have warred for generations, have much in common: pride, fiercely martial spirits, and Dahlia Academy. This elite boarding school sits on the countries' border, teaching their children both academia and patriotism. No one has ever wanted to end the war, or ever tried...
7
8	Until Romio Inuzuka and Juliet Persia [[StarCrossedLovers fall in love]]. Now, these teenagers must navigate politics and the usual romcom misunderstandings as they try to keep their relationship secret.
9
10	An anime adaptation aired on October 2018, animated by Liden Films.
11
12	See also ''Anime/RomeoXJuliet'', another series inspired by ''Romeo and Juliet'', but much more on the dramatic side and RecycledInSpace.
13	----
14	!!This manga includes the following tropes:
15
16	* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: The prefects decide anything that other students can't. The head prefects have authority that equals that of the teachers. [[spoiler:Hence the protagonists' goal to become prefects so they can end the 'war'.]]
17	** [[spoiler: As of Chapter 89, their goal has been achieved as they are both voted in as the newest prefects.]]
18	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: All over the place, the only exceptions are the OfficialCouple Romio and Juliet, and Aby and Somali.
19	** Scott has a crush on Juliet since the start and is apparently very upfront about it (but she mostly ignores it's unknown if she actually knows about his feelings or just sees him as fooling around). Maru is in the same boat, but he has a harder time with his feelings [[spoiler:especially after Juliet was unmasked as Julio.]]
20	** Hasuki, Leon and Teria have feelings for Romio, while Char and Shuna are left a bit ambiguous (the latter implies having more of a BigBrotherWorship than actual romantic feelings). Unfortunately for them, Romio only has eyes for Juliet.
21	* AnimalThemeNaming: The Black Dogs all have dog-themed names, as do the White Cats who have cat-themed names.
22	* AntiClimax: Best shown during the exhibition match between the new prefects [[spoiler: (Romio, Juliet, Leon, Aby, Scott and Hasuki)]] and the retiring ones (Airu, Sieber, Cait, Rex and the Wang twins). Romio and his team are practically at the enemy goal, and he is gearing up to power-throw the winning ball into the gate with maximum force and style, with all the school cheering him on. Right before he does though, [[spoiler: he trips and falls flat on his face, with the ball ending up rolling and ''just barely'' touching the goal]]. ''Everyone'' is struck silent at such a ridiculous display.
23	* ArcVillain: Even in a lighthearted work, there are antagonists that try to undermine the plot. However, not all arcs have actual solid antagonists; here are the few that do:
24	** School Sports Festival: Aby Ssinia, who uses the festival to gain more popularity while trying to discredit Persia as a White Cat Leader.
25	** Juliet's Birthday: Airu Inuzuka, who starts to suspect the SecretRelationship.
26	** Winter Break in Touwa: Airu Inuzuka again.
27	** Amnesiac Romio: Oddly enough, Romio Inuzuka himself, because he becomes outright hostile to Hasuki and Persia (especially toward the latter) in their attempts to restore his memories.
28	** Prefect Elections: Leon Inugami, most prominent opponent of Inuzuka and Persia in the elections, [[spoiler:and the one who eventually reveals their relationship to the whole school.]]
29	** Field Trip to the West: Turkish Persia, who forcibly takes Juliet away from the school trip, [[spoiler:and decides that she enroll in a West-exclusive high school.]]
30	* ArcSymbol:
31	** Walls, in regards to the segregation of the Black Dogs and White Cats (and what the main couple occasionally compare the obstacles in their goals to). The penultimate chapter even has a panning shot of the two school dorms [[RuleOfSymbolism showing that the wall that used to separate them now a thing of the past]].
32	** Fitting for the characters' [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet namesake]], balconies, of which where some of their crucial developments occur. Some substitutes are used but has the same general imagery, like Romio scaling up to a dressing room to see Juliet, the second-floor landing of the White Cats dorm where Airu accuses them of their relationship, and even the viewing deck of a LighthousePoint.
33	** Crosses. It doesn't just refer to rosaries (a slightly important mcguffin in earlier chapters) but the anime uses the visual of crossing swords to foreshadow the first important climax of the series [[spoiler:when Romio and Juliet have to duel in order to keep up the charade and lift Romio's brother's suspicion off of them.]] In all, it also contrasts the wall symbol in that it's the leads' goal to bring their two worlds together.
34	* ArcWords: "Change the world." It is Inuzuka's and Persia's resolve to beat down each and every obstacle in their relationship.
35	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Surprisingly enough, '''Romio''''s speech in Chapter 81 is full of this.
36	--> '''Romio''': Do you like this academy?
37	--> '''Romio''': In the first place, why do you think [the curfew]'s only once every three months? Does anyone know? [...] Don't you find that strange?
38	--> '''Romio''': Ever since we were small, we saw each other as enemies. But is this really something we are doing of our own free will?
39	--> '''Romio''': What I wanna say is... Are we really thinking through things for ourselves?
40	* {{Arrowgram}}: Persia and Inuzuka often use arrows to send messages to each other.
41	* ASimplePlan: Chapter 12 has Persia trying to bring food to her sick boyfriend. It ends with her running--while dripping wet and screaming like hell--from dozens of angry schoolgirls chasing her through the hallways.
42	* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: For all the cultural differences between the two countries, one thing both sides agree on is that the most badass students should be the ones in charge. Inuzuka and Persia are the leaders of each dorm and seem to be the best fighters of their year, seeing how much damage they can dish out. The head prefects for their respective dorms are the strongest students in the school, with Airu habitually beating up Romio and Romio admitting that he stands no chance against Cait.
43	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:BetaCouple Aby and Somali]] have two infant daughters by the time of the DistantFinale.
44	* BaitAndSwitch: One chapter started with the arrival of a beautiful blonde woman on Dahlia island, only seen from the back [[note]]later identified as Rackdoll Persia[[/note]]. Later in the same chapter, a beautiful blonde woman enters a beauty contest, and Romio even wonders how he never met her before. The two women are actually different people, and Romio apparently [[spoiler:forgets that the beauty contest is a ''crossdressing'' affair: the second "woman" is actually ''Cait Sith''.]]
45	* TheBeautifulElite: Everyone is so pampered and aristocratic that they can spend about 80% of their time fighting a 'war' with no practical purpose. One wonders if they're doing it out of ennui.
46	* BedmateReveal: During winter break, Chiwa insists that Romio and Julio sleep in the same room, not knowing that the latter is a girl. They use separate futons of course, but the next morning Romio wakes up to find Juliet snuggling up to him under the sheets.
47	* TheBet:
48	** Romio and Juliet make a personal contest over who gets to become freshman MVP at the upcoming Sports Fest, with the loser having to obey any command the winner asks. Romio believes this is his chance to go FirstNameBasis with Juliet, although she seems to think that he had dirtier wishes in mind. Juliet uses her win for a simple wish: to dance with Romio.
49	** Juliet and Hasuki use the orienteering race to try to end their rivalry, by having the loser give up on and leave Romio forever. Romio isn't having any of this and invokes DarkHorseVictory to render the girls' stakes moot.
50	* BigWhat:
51	** This is the universal reaction, Touwans and Westians alike, to the ending of the first years' portion of the Sports Festival, when Juliet won by default only because Romio [[AccidentalPervert accidentally grabbed one of her breasts]] and passed out in the process.
52	** During Char's debutante ball, when she announces her first dance partner to be Romio. From Romio himself, to their closest friends (who are familiar with the [[SitcomArchnemesis animosity]] between the two), and all the nobles present. And since this was a televised event, the reaction can also be applicable worldwide.
53	* BookDumb: Seems to be a chronic problem with the Black Dogs, at least among those from the first year. When they are doing a study session for mid-term tests, most of the dormitory falls asleep in seconds. With that being said, ThoseTwoGuys are the only recurring characters from this dorm who are portrayed as also being dumb outside of academic matters.
54	* BookEnds:
55	** The first and last chapters are titled solely after the two main characters, with the difference being the omission of their last names in the latter, [[spoiler:probably because it focuses on their wedding. [[note]]depending on culture, one of them has to adopt the other's last name[[/note]]]]
56	** Romio makes his LoveConfession to Juliet in front of Dahlia Academy's fountain. [[spoiler:In the penultimate chapter, he proposes to her in the very same place.]]
57	** Even the anime gets a BookEnds, where both the first and last episode climaxes with a sword fight between Romio and Juliet.
58	* BreatherEpisode:
59	** A non-canon HalloweenEpisode was squeezed into the story just before the arc about Juliet's birthday reaches its climax.
60	** Chapter 59 is about Romio and Juliet going on a date on their own before Juliet goes back to West for the holidays, taking place literally after [[spoiler:Romio's and Airu's fight leading to the latter's TookALevelInKindness HazyFeelTurn]] and just before the new school year.
61	** Chapter 84 has Julio going to the Black Dorms to find Romio and enlisting Maru's help (HilarityEnsues here, really), just before the WHAMEpisode of the Prefect Elections. [[spoiler:However, a small detail at the end of the chapter becomes very important in regards to the aforementioned WHAMEpisode.]]
62	** Chapter 109 had Juliet taking Romio to a special spot in her hometown, to mentally prepare him for formally meeting her family. However, the chapter ends [[spoiler:with Turkish's arrival at the dormitory.]]
63	* BrickJoke: During the Sports Festival, Juliet tells Romio that her mother came to watch her compete. That means she was witness to the infamous ending of the Sports Festival between Romio and Juliet. Later during the Cultural Festival, Rackdoll Persia shows up in person and boy [[MamaBear does she have a bone to pick]] with Mr. "boob-loving jackass" Romio.
64	* CerebusSyndrome: Comedic moments remain common, but as the series progresses more overtly cruel characters are introduced and the effects of racism are clearer.
65	* ChekhovsGunman: The Black Dog child in the first chapter that Persia saved from her fellow White Cats [[spoiler:is Leon's adoptive brother. Persia's actions made him realize Westians are still people and prevent him from falling into complete hatred of the West like Leon did, and this is what leads him to tell Inuzuka Leon's secret and ultimately convince Leon to take the open prefect position.]]
66	* ClothingDamage: Tosa and Eigo suffers from this when Romio runs away from a murderous Hasuki chasing him with a sword. With one swift stroke, both men's bathrobes rips to shreds. Maru peeks out into the hallway briefly after hearing some commotion. When he spots the two naked guys, he just silently closes and locks them out of their room.
67	* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The Black Dogs' and White Cats' uniforms.
68	* ContrivedCoincidence: In the final arc, Romio gets roped into multiple engagements with Hasuki, Leon and Char separately in the third and final day of their school trip. This leaves Romio in despair since this means he won't have enough time for his plans with Juliet to finally meet with her family. Considering Romio's luck, it was rather convenient that Hasuki and Leon got into circumstances that allowed them to find closure in the next two days [[note]]a chance meeting with Rackdoll Persia lets Hasuki decide for herself what she wants to do with her life, and Leon having an unexpected reunion with her missing mother[[/note]]. Char's plans aside, this leaves Romio ample time with Juliet after all. [[spoiler:They are going to need it, since Juliet's father is not as understanding as Romio hoped he would be.]]
69	* CoversAlwaysLie: The covers of the manga before Volume 12 and the posters for the anime show only the female characters, which is a trademark practice of harem series. In reality, it's a romantic comedy where the ratio of male to female characters is more or less 1:1.
70	* DeusExitMachina:
71	** Leon invokes this during the elections, sending the prefects and servants on a futile search for the teachers who she drugged and kidnapped. That way, her minions can start a riot in the assembly hall that, by the time the prefects get back, becomes too chaotic to stop even for them.
72	** At the third and final day of the West Field Trip:
73	*** It is free time for the students, with most of the important players using that time to go sightseeing without supervision. This leaves only a few students at the dorm to protest Turkish's intentions when he shows up. Explicitly, [[spoiler:the large presence of both White Cats and Black Dogs who confront Turkish at his estate on Romio and Juliet's behalf]] convince him that the couple ''have'' changed Dahlia for the better. (he even directly contrasts them to his own past schoolmates)
74	*** Char leaves [[spoiler:to prepare for her debutante ball.]] Her presence (she ''is'' a princess after all) alone would have made all the characters' struggles in the next few chapters much easier. This was actually lampshaded by Kohitsuji.
75	* DistantFinale: The last chapter takes place 7 years after the rest of the series, with [[spoiler:Inuzuka's and Persia's wedding.]]
76	* DraggedIntoDrag:
77	** In the Culture Festival, Romio and a few other boys get tricked into entering a crossdresing beauty contest hosted by Rex. Cait is the only one convincing enough to look like an actual girl, but Sieber forcefully draws him out of the contest because he ruined his own "beauty" image by [[CloudCuckooLander just being Cait]]. The actual winner is Kohitsuji because, apparently, not having his entire face shown has become appealing to the audience.
78	** Later on, Scott learns to his horror that if he wants to be a prefect's apprentice under Rex, he has to wear a girl's uniform most of the time.
79	* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the end of the series, most of the main characters grow up to have successful careers in life. Romio and Juliet managed to change the world (like they promised to do): the two countries are on the road to peace, and the segregation in Dahlia is a thing of the past. And unlike their literary namesakes, they did it ''without dying''. The couple then officially ties the knot, with all their friends and families in attendance.
80	* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Being essentially two schools smooshed into one, Dahlia is huge. It includes a hedge maze, a bell tower, and architecture that wouldn't look out of place in a housing magazine.
81	* ElevatorSchool: Dahlia Academy is this, having facilities and students from elementary all the way to high school.
82	* EmptyNest: Mrs. Persia visits her daughter during the school festival as a surprise, and is a little hurt (though understanding) when she finds out that Juliet already made plans with her boyfriend.
83	-->'''Char:''' There they go...\
84	'''Mrs. Persia:''' Yes...But this is how it's meant to be. ''(sobs loudly)'' It's meant to be!
85	* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting: Perhaps due to the ForeverWar between Towa and the Principality of the West, nearly all students at Dahlia Academy are skilled in combat to some degree, ready to fight students of the other side at a moment's notice. And the leaders of both sides, which happens to include most of the named cast, tend to be [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership the most skilled fighters of them all]].
86	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Familial version: Rackdoll's tsundere treatment of her daughter Juliet is very obvious to everyone present, except for Juliet herself.
87	* EveryoneHasStandards:
88	** In the Black Dogs' first salvo of pies during Juliet's birthday, Hasuki and Scott trade piethrows and insults. Hasuki calls Scott out on a LameComeback he made, and to [[ButtMonkey Scott's]] chagrin the other White Cats agree with ''her''.
89	** As much as the Black Dogs and White Cats hate each other, bringing the NonLethalWarfare back to Lethal is a line nobody is willing to cross. When [[spoiler:Persia and Inuzuka managed to convince the others that they were seriously fighting to kill each other]], everyone [[MassOhCrap freaked out]].
90	* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Zigzagged. In the oneshot manga, the Cats and Dogs are explicitly from England and Japan, respectively. In the official serialization, the countries' names were changed to The Principality of the West and Towa, but the characters are national stereotypes (i.e, Dogs using katanas, Cats upholding a code of chivalry and sipping tea) still.
91	* FlowerMotifs:
92	** Dahlia Academy is an ElaborateUniversityHigh for children of the elite, so it's naturally named after a flower that symbolizes dignity and elegance.
93	** Being from counterparts of Japan and the UK, the Black Doggies are associated with cherry blossoms, while the White Cats are associated with roses.
94	* FoeRomanceSubtext: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]]. Due to Inuzuka and Persia's web of lies to conceal their SecretRelationship, it is currently believed that 1), he sexually harassed her, and 2) he wants her dead. For [[FantasticRacism some reason]], nobody finds these two 'facts' contradictory.
95	* {{Foil}}: The Black Dogs and White Cats. The Black Dogs are often loud, rowdy, and less organized, and many of the Black Dogs characters either have NonUniformUniform or delinquent attire and hairstyles (although the color theme of their uniforms are consistent). The White Cats, by contrast, are more structured and disciplined, follow a code of chivalry, and often keep their appearance neat. Their fighting styles are also different, as the Black Dogs fight [[AttackAttackAttack aggressively]], like delinquents. The White Cats are more organized, and duels they initiate take a LetsFightLikeGentlemen approach.
96	* ForeverWar: In theory, the war between Towa and the Principality of the West ended years ago. In practice, the two countries are as hostile as ever and merely switched to NonLethalWarfare.
97	* ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself: variant; in both the HalloweenEpisode and the Cultural Festival's costume parade, Romio disguised himself as an anthropomorphic dog. In both cases he was supposed to keep his identity a secret, since he was supposed to rendezvous with Juliet, even though for the parade he was only ''forced'' into the costume by Hasuki and her GirlPosse, and he wasn't expecting to meet with Juliet anyway.
98	* GenerationXerox: [[spoiler:Of the "parents' feelings being reflected in their children" kind.]] The adult characters' time at Dahlia was just as dramatic, according to exposition. And more tragic.
99	* GetARoom: After their relationship is outed, the sight of Romio and Juliet together in public without any fighting leaves some of the students rather uncomfortable.
100	* GilliganCut: In chapter 3, Persia explains to Inuzuka that disguising herself to go on a date with him would be [[SecretRelationship too risky]]:
101	-->'''Persia''': You can't sway me with your tears! No means no!\
102	''(cut to her wearing the disguise)''
103	* GoKartingWithBowser: According to Romio, one trip to Dahlia Town had Maru challenge Shuna into an eating contest. Since Maru is well-aware of Shuna's skill ever since their first meeting back in winter break, this might be because he believes this is one contest he can come out on top. The actual results are never revealed.
104	* GoneHorriblyRight:
105	** Romio invented the Julio persona so Juliet can blend in with the Black Dogs. Unfortunately for him, Julio becomes ''very'' popular that he gets alienated.
106	** Romio pretending to be a sexual predator to scare off some White Cat primary schoolers and he can be alone with Juliet. It worked as he intended on the little girls...and Juliet.
107	* GratuitousForeignLanguage: [[AnimeChineseGirl The Wang twins]] occasionally let some Mandarin slip.
108	* GreatOffscreenWar: The war between Towa and the Principality of the West, which influences the entire plot of the manga. While for the most part the remaining hostilities are a source of comedy due to the NonLethalWarfare, it's occasionally portrayed seriously, as the fact that the two countries are still not in friendly terms years after the war ended means that there is real social repercussion for "siding with the enemy", putting the main characters in constant risk. [[spoiler:One couple between two countries in the past highlights this]].
109	* GroupPictureEnding: At the end of the DistantFinale, featuring most of the main characters. It's also the most prominent photo in a collage of pictures depicting [[spoiler:the wedding.]]
110	* HammerSpace: Char is expert in this one, always finding some chain out of nowhere to bind Scott, or some chair to sit on while a bunch of random guys carries her around.
111	* HappilyEverAfter: [[spoiler:The series ends with both countries on the road to ending their long feud, Juliet's parents accepting her relationship with Romio, nearly everyone finding success later in life, and our main couple tying the knot and [[SealedWithAKiss finally sharing an onscreen kiss]].]]
112	* HistoryRepeats: The start of the main cast's second year of high school also had a brawl between White Cat and Black Dog freshmen. The difference is that this time around, Romio and Juliet have to break up the fight instead of starting them in the first place.
113	* HourglassPlot:
114	** After spending their early chapters admonishing Romio for a lousy job of keeping their relationship a secret, Juliet asks him to take her out to the lake (and out in the open, although, as Juliet points out, it was nighttime already so they wouldn't get noticed) on a boat ride, which Romio even lampshades.
115	** When Romio wants to take a couple's picture with Juliet, she goes along with it on one condition: that they burn it as soon as it gets developed, since it may get used as solid evidence for their secret should anyone else might find it. In the end they get a "sort-of" couple's picture, and Romio even lists a LoopholeAbuse about the photo that he reasons it would never be used against them, and Juliet gladly accepts it.
116	** Romio gets mad that his first date with Juliet [[note]]which was also her first appearance as Julio[[/note]] doesn't go as he had planned, until Juliet tells him that, to her, a date involves the couple getting to know each other better. Later, Juliet asks Romio out (something that he realizes was a first for her), but that date didn't go as well as ''she'' had planned, either. Romio even reminds her of what she said in the first date.
117	** During the short period that Romio has suffered memory loss, he becomes convinced that the White Cats truly are his enemies, and Juliet is no exception. This is a complete reversal of their circumstances before the LoveConfession, and, appropriately enough Juliet decides to re-enact the closing moments of Chapter 1 (only this time ''she's'' the one who confesses her love to him) in order to get Romio to remember her again.
118	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: It's not that Romio is huge, but Juliet is tiny compared to him, as she only reaches his chest. Lampshaded when Juliet asked him to help her train for the three-legged race; the height difference between them makes the practice awkward, and they took several adjustments before finding the right position.
119	* InformedFlaw: In Chapter 81, Romio states that he's not good at speeches, right before giving an heartfelt one that raises an uproar of applauses.
120	* KissKissSlap: Justified. Romio and Juliet definitely love each other, but they will only show their affection in private for good reasons. In public or with friends, they often end up beating the crap out of each other, often resulting in AmusingInjuries.
121	* JustInTime:
122	** Juliet manages to restore Romio's memories at midnight of their first anniversary.
123	** The Dahlia students reunite with Romio and Juliet just after [[spoiler:Juliet has defeated her father Turkish in a duel.]] The students collectively standing up for Juliet was the clincher that convinced [[spoiler:Turkish that his daughter]] really did change Dahlia for the better.
124	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Leon's maternal family took away her Western mother Bamy by force to marry her to a duke's family for social standing. When Leon encounters the personal goons under her maternal family, it's discovered Bamy escaped the duke's house after learning Leon came to West trying to see her again, which has led to the family to a precarious situation in their reputation. Lampshaded by Inuzuka, who bluntly shuts them down when they try to blame Leon for the troubles saying they were the ones who forced Bamy to return to West.]]
125	* LastNameBasis: Notably, Juliet and Romio are called by their last names by most people close to them. This includes the couple themselves. [[spoiler:Juliet eventually calls Romio by his first name as part of her LoveConfession that she hopes would cure him of his amnesia. It works, and they start calling each other by their first names after that.]]
126	* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: Early on, Char had to very, ''very'' reluctantly hide one of Romio and Juliet's secret rendezvous from almost every important character up to that point: Scott (twice!), the Wang twins, Maru and his gang, and Cait Sith and Sieber.
127	* LoveDodecahedron: There is the OfficialCouple, but then there's also their supporting cast: Romio is a CluelessChickMagnet, not just with Juliet, but also Hasuki, Teria, Leon and (very debatably for the next examples) Char and adoptive sister Shuna. However, Char is also secretly in love with Juliet, as is Scott and Maru (or rather, with Juliet's male alter-ego Julio). Char, Scott and Maru all "want to kill" Romio for that matter. Hasuki's younger brother Kougi (who other characters believe is a huge siscon, hence another person to have a beef with Romio) has a potential LoveTriangle of his own with Shuna and Ameria. [[spoiler:And for a little dramatic flair, Romio's mother and Juliet's father are ex-lovers.]]
128	* LighterAndSofter: A romantic comedy with a high school setting vaguely based on [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet a tragedy by Shakespeare]].
129	* MasculineGirlFeminineBoy: At first glance Inuzuka and Persia look like the exact opposite of this trope, but when they are alone they are arguably an even better example than their namesakes. Inuzuka is hopelessly romantic, has an idealized vision of how a relationship works, and gets embarrassed easily when he is with his girlfriend. In contrast, Persia is serious and practical, constantly has to remind Inuzuka that his romantic ideas are risky for them, and has more controlled reactions than him when she is the one who gets emotional.
130	* MeaningfulEcho: In the beginning, Inuzuka confesses to Persia during the sword duel at the fountain, back when she was hesitant about the relationship. 78 chapters later, Persia is the one that confesses to the amnesiac Inuzuka purposely reenacting the same duel, now having grown to love him the same.
131	* MeetTheInLaws: Romio decides to take advantage of the field trip to go to Juliet's hometown and formally meet her parents. He already met Rackdoll before (but not in a good way) but there's also the matter of Juliet's father Turkish [[spoiler:not wanting Juliet to suffer the same hardships as he did because of a failed SecretRelationship.]]
132	* MassOhCrap:
133	** PlayedForLaughs early on when Romio gets mad about getting the rosary he wanted to give to Juliet destroyed. The two sides halt their fighting and panic when Romio, in retaliation, lifts a statue and starts swinging it about without impunity, hitting both Cats and Dogs.
134	** Romio, Juliet and all their friends (SecretKeeper and LockedOutOfTheLoop alike) when [[spoiler:Leon exposes the SecretRelationship to the whole school.]]
135	* MistakenForGay:
136	** Seeing Romio fawn over Julio (a.k.a. crossdressing Juliet) Hasuki literally falls into a HeroicBSOD because she believes "Romio is batting for the other team".
137	** When Maru finds a naked Eigo and Kento in the hallway (their clothes had been cut off by Hasuki), Maru immediately locks the door and leaves them outside.
138	** A RunningGag with Aby is that he thinks Romio is interested in him. Romio is horrified, but Aby doesn't seem to mind.
139	* MouthyKid: A bunch of them are used in the final volume's omake, where they all [[SelfDeprecation call out the author]] for what they perceived as a rush ending (to the point where they ''ask if it got cancelled'') and the fact that they never actually got to see what Romio and Juliet's married life was like since the series [[spoiler:ends exactly on their wedding day]].
140	* NonLethalWarfare: Neither side fights to kill, despite the abundance of swords being waved around [[LighterAndSofter (it's that kind of story)]], and certain moral standards are strictly upheld. Even duels to prove loyalty [[spoiler:like the one fought in chapter 18)]] are more about showing you're willing to ''risk'' killing your opponent. The prefects step in to prevent lethal wounds...usually.
141	* NoodleIncident: It's never explained why the GreatOffscreenWar between Towa and the West started, or why they eventually made peace...though if the leaders during that time were half as pigheaded as their descendants in the present day are, they wouldn't really have needed a reason.
142	* NotWorthKilling: A downplayed version. The Black Dogs and White Cats fight because that's all they've done for generations, and it's the only way any of them know how to interact with someone from the opposing side. Cats can only be important to Dogs as rivals, and vice versa. So Persia interprets Inuzuka's going easy on her as a 'rejection' of her, a statement that she doesn't matter to him in ''any'' way. The {{Irony}} is that Inuzuka acts like that because [[StarCrossedLovers he is in love with her]], and by being ObliviousToLove Persia managed to mistake his feelings for this trope.
143	* ObliviousToLove: The two lead characters are really dense. Right at the start of the series it's made clear that Persia had no clue that Inuzuka was in love with her. She also never notices that there are other people with feelings for her, and Inuzuka is equally bad in this aspect.
144	* OfficialCouple: ''Why of course!'' And in this adaption, the main characters ''didn't died!''
145	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: Romio is all alone with Juliet in a gym shed before the sports festival. He says that he wants it, since they've been dating for a while. She immediately assumes that he meant sex, but he revealed to her that he actually wanted a homemade lunch. She then gets mad at him when he wonders what she thought he meant.
146	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
147	** Romio was in such a bad mood during the days leading to the Sports Fest that he barely acknowledged Juliet's presence when nearby. Juliet takes notice and schemes to snap him out of it.
148	** Shuna and Kougi usually get along well (especially compared to how they treat the other one's older sibling). But siblingcon wins out over friendship when Shuna believes that Hasuki wants to take advantage of Romio's amnesia to get together, and Kougi thinks Romio was only faking it for [[StrangeMindsThinkAlike the same reason]], and wind up brawling with each other. PlayedForLaughs.
149	* OutGambitted:
150	** While under surveillance by Airu, Romio pulls this by pretending to be compliant, but secretly planned to sneak away to meet Juliet. However, Airu anticipated that Romio planned this and manages to intercept him, beating him up and locking him in the shed. Romio still manages to one-up his brother in that regard, as he also reasoned that Airu would do this, and enlists Kochou and Teria to help him escape.
151	** It happens to Airu again in the very same arc: having backed Romio and Juliet into a corner, he didn't buy the duel between the two and insists that they just give themselves up. What he didn't expect (and the very first time he was [[OhCrap visibly concerned]]) was that the two of them were literally going for the throats. [[spoiler:Only because Juliet sent a secret signal to Romio to aim for their rosaries.]] Romio and Juliet actually anticipated that the prefects (Airu included) would step in before the killing blow(s).
152	* OverlyLongGag:
153	** Juliet sending Romio a letter telling him to help her practice for the three-legged race the next day. The thought of innocent skinship between the two of them caused Romio to scream in delighted panic for hours. From when he recieved the letter, to dinner, to the bath. It only ended during bedtime when someone shouts back at him to finally shut up.
154	** Romio and Juliet trying to avoid the Wang twins at the Harvest Festival. For five straight panels Romio was screaming:
155	-->''UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!''
156	** The never-ending (for Maru at least) throng of Black Dogs greeting Julio and giving him sympathy for being HeldBackInSchool. In the end Maru winds up sulking for how popular Julio actually was.
157	** TheBigDamnKiss that the manga had been withholding for so long. After the splash page, there are a few panels of {{Reaction Shot}}s of the other characters, then a couple of smaller panels repeating the scene, until...
158	-->''(Juliet starts frantically slapping Romio on the side to make him let go)'' "Isn't it taking a little too long?"
159	-->"The groom has fainted while standing!!"
160	* PhenotypeStereotype: Nearly all of the White Cats have pale hair and eyes, being English expies. The exceptions are the "low-class" Aby (redhead) and Somali, implying that it's an aristocracy thing.
161	* PieInTheFace:
162	** While Romio is escorting Teria and Kochou during the festival, they prank him with a barrage of pies. He ends up with so many on him that they taunt him as the mysterious 'pie man'.
163	** It's established that Romio had a tradition of leading the Black Cats to invade Juliet's birthday party each year so he could throw a pie in her face. During the birthday arc, he does this as an excuse to see Juliet on her birthday. Scott's attempts to taunt Romio are interrupted by Hasuki pieing him, though he quickly gets his revenge by throwing a pie in her face when she gets distracted. Romio and Juliet later pie each other as a way of bringing the pie fight to a draw.
164	* PoorCommunicationKills: Inuzuka and Maru come into one of the most brutal blows between them all because of a misunderstanding: Maru discovers Julio is really a girl and mistakenly believed that she was forced into dressing up to suit Inuzuka's "twisted" taste, and Inuzuka believed that Maru assaulted Julio (when Maru actually ''saved'' Julio from some White Cat bullies).
165	* RuleOfFunny: In chapter 7 of the manga, a sword explicitly pointed out to be a replica with no edge manages to cut the clothes of two persons to shreds. Without doing a single scratch to their skins.
166	* ReflexiveResponse: Inuzuka and Persia have spent such a long time hiding their SecretRelationship, that [[spoiler:even after the secret is out and everyone has accepted it]] they resort to instinctively hiding or fighting whenever someone walks in on the two of them together. It apparently took two weeks before they got to finally kick that habit.
167	* RunningGag: Oh so many.
168	** Both Scott and Romio having bad luck come their way.
169	** Romio "dying" of HighPressureEmotion. And always getting caught by surprise by Juliet's {{Arrowgram}}s.
170	** Scott suffering several punishments from Char. And being used as [[GrievousHarmWithABody a basketball, shield, boomerang, etc.]] And Romio's favorite greeting for Scott usually involves [[GoombaStomp his feet]]. His glasses suffering under all those circumstances and more, to the point that Scott had ''plenty'' of spares.
171	** Tosa and Kohitsuji trying to get Maru more involved with some of their activities, and Maru failing to get them off his back. Also, Maru pining for Julio.
172	** The two main characters acting all tsundere towards each other backfiring horribly.
173	** See ReflexiveResponse: All InterruptedIntimacy moments result in either Romio or Juliet inflicting AmusingInjuries on each other, but especially the former.
174	** The Black Dorm headmaster's ElmuhFuddSyndwome has a PhraseCatcher roughly translated to "I have no idea what he's saying." And that he instantly drops his SpeechImpediment whenever he bickers with the White Dorm headmistress.
175	** Girls getting into weird situations with animals.
176	** When someone becomes a SecretKeeper it doesn't mean they have to ''support'' it. Char, Hasuki [[spoiler:and Airu]] all said so (the first two multiple times even), and Maru becomes a resentful one as well, but for a ''different'' secret. [[spoiler:Chiwa Inuzuka]] is the only one who broke the trend.
177	* RunningGagged
178	** Juliet's Julio persona.
179	*** Rather early on in the manga, Juliet tells Romio that she must refrain from going out as Julio, since she thought that Maru was starting to suspect her (he ''was'', but for [[LoveAtFirstPunch different reasons]]). This is a subversion, since that didn't stop Juliet from crossdressing again multiple times, all of her own volition.
180	*** Played straight later on in Julio's lone appearance in the second half of the manga. The reason why she decided to stop appearing as Julio was because that lone appearance [[spoiler:became Leon's secret weapon that turned the entire student body against Romio and Juliet.]] After that, the whole school now knows Juliet and Julio are the same person and that she and Romio are dating, so Julio doesn't need to show up anymore. (although the manga's ending montage has Julio showing up again, as the winner of [[BrickJoke yet another crossdressing pageant]])
181	** The InterruptedIntimacy moments get a LampshadeHanging where, after their secret is finally out, Romio and Juliet try to shake off their habit (although it took two weeks). Romio explicitly says that they should set an example to get the two dorms to start being friendly with each other. (Romio being Romio, his ulterior motive was so they could finally go out in public) Much later, however, this actually becomes a ChekhovsSkill: The couple's stealth skills become especially handy [[spoiler:when trying to evade the many guards in the Persia estate.]]
182	* SchoolOfNoStudying: There ''may'' be actual schooling going on the school. We don't know. We certainly never see any.
183	* ShoutOut
184	** The audience during the crossdressing pageant is based on the "gaijin yonkoma" meme.
185	** Somali invokes a ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}'' reference with Aby during the boat trip to West.
186	** Chapter 60. Romio unleashed a flurry of punches on Scott while crying 'ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA'. Yeah, even this manga can't escape ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'' references.
187	** Furthering the ''Romeo and Juliet'' references is the name of Juliet's hometown: ''Verora'' City.
188	** The finale has a brief reference to the isekai subgenre in general. It's actually schoolteacher Leon telling what happened to Romio before he gets married to Juliet. None of her students believe her.
189	* SlobsVsSnobs: The Black Dogs and White Cats, respectively. Juliet is actually surprised that the former have a ''library''.
190	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: ''Far'' on the former end. The only conflict caused by anything more than [[PoorCommunicationKills ignorance]] is the war, and even that isn't an actual war anymore and conducted with scrupulous honor on both sides.
191	* SomethingWeForgot: Frequent enough to be a RunningGag. Not even the main characters are safe.
192	** During the harvest festival, Romio decides to join the Wang twins so they won't be lonely, and promises to keep his date to see the fireworks with Juliet...except eventually the fireworks show has come and gone, and Juliet spent the whole thing inside a barrel.
193	** In one of the rare occasions that Char allowed Romio and Juliet some time alone together, she even had to tie Scott up with a leash to make it happen. This is actually an InvokedTrope, since Char explicitly says that she's fine leaving him like that for a while.
194	** There was an orienteering race where Juliet and Hazuki compete with the loser having to give up on Romio. After Romio invokes DarkHorseVictory by snatching a win from both girls, they reconcile...and almost forgot that in all his efforts Romio ended up hanging from a cliff.
195	** During the Culture Festival, a series of misunderstandings led to Teria getting angry at both Kochou ''and'' Romio. In the end Teria makes peace with Romio, but apparently not with Kochou, who resorted to DrowningMySorrows.
196	** While in West Village looking for Char, Romio and Juliet split up to make the search easier. Romio finds Char working part-time at a café, and he is forcibly conscripted into working there after accidentally hurting the owner. Romio and Char work the evening shift for a couple chapters and after some hijinks finally close for the night, only to find Juliet waiting for them this whole time, justifiably angry at them.
197	** During one trip to Dahlia Town, Romio and Char stage a fight as a distraction to help Juliet escape the White Cat headmistress with Ameria. For the remainder of the chapter, Juliet and Ameria finally become friends, while Romio and Char have to feel the wrath of the headmistress.
198	** Juliet has successfully restored her boyfriend's memories, and the two of them are about to have a tender moment celebrating their anniversary, until Juliet's accomplice Hasuki (hiding nearby to ensure their plans do not fail), [[MomentKiller cuts in]] just to ruin the mood.
199	** In trying to get Shuna off his back and spend time alone with Julio, Maru suggests to have her pretend to be a damsel in distress in order to have Romio come straight for them, so Maru ties her up and flees with Julio. After some time, Shuna eventually realizes she's been had and untied herself, seeking revenge on Maru.
200	* StarCrossedLovers: Should be obvious, given [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet the inspiration]] for the series. The main characters are in love, but the war between their countries has left a strong hostility between its inhabitants even after a peace treaty was signed. If their relationship is discovered, it would be the end of their social lives.
201	** Persia's mother reveals back during her days in the academy [[spoiler: a Black Dog and a White Cat couple were exposed and socially pressured to drop out of school. Consequently they returned to their home countries and never were able to see each other again.]] As later revealed, [[spoiler:the couple was [[GenerationXerox Romio's mother and Persia's father]].]]
202	* StatusQuoIsGod: The ending of the extra chapter shows that despite Romio and Juliet's marriage, they still act like the couple of chaste and embarrassed teenagers they started off the series as.
203	* StormingTheCastle:
204	** Apparently, once a year the Black Dogs would forcibly raid the White Cats dormitory to crash Persia's birthday party. On Persia's 16th birthday Inuzuka uses the raid as a smokescreen to see Persia, under his brother's nose.
205	** Near the end of the manga, most of the students at the field trip (White Cats and Black Dogs alike), with a little help from Rackdoll Persia, [[RoaringRampageOfRescue raid the Persia estate to rescue Juliet]]. The Black Dogs even CallBack to their annual tradition (mentioned directly above) during the whole thing, to the White Cats' chagrin.
206	* SweetOnPollyOliver: Persia disguises herself as a boy so she can hang out with Inuzuka without anyone knowing, but this causes several boys and girls to be attracted to "him".
207	* TalkToTheFist: After rescuing Persia from Maru's ambush but seemingly being mistaken for the assailant by her, Inuzuka gets so pissed with Maru's group that he punches the daylights out of them before they can even finish complaining about how he ruined their plan.
208	* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Inuzuka and Maru are always at odds with each other. But when they're forced to work together during the final event of the sports festival, they become utterly unstoppable.
209	* {{Tsundere}}: Persia's mother goes in denial when meeting her daughter that she only ''happened'' to be passing by to attend the school festival, not because she wanted to see Persia. The lie is so obvious that all the witnesses realize this...except Persia.
210	** Char for Juliet, she is overly obssessed with her to the point of having several photos of her in her closet, and in several occasions she makes comments about stealing Juliet away from Romio, but apparently nobody InUniverse takes her seriously (aside from Romio).
211	* WasItAllALie: Chapter 86 has ''the entire student body'' wonder if all of [[spoiler:Romio and Juilet]]'s kindness and friendships were all just to manipulate them into accepting [[spoiler:their SecretRelationship]]. The following chapters would have [[CharacterWitness some of their friends, and even a few enemies, help everyone realize it wasn't a lie.]]
212	* WhamEpisode
213	** Chapter 18: Airu Inuzuka accuses Romio and Juliet in front of a huge audience, presenting solid evidence to the SecretRelationship. It culminates in the couple having a duel with real swords in order to remove suspicion away from them [[spoiler:which they gamble on the prefects ensuring that they stop Romio and Juliet just mere inches from killing each other. Thanks to [[PocketProtector their rosaries]], the two managed to pull off a successful bluff.]] At the end, Romio decides to aim for a prefect position in order to bring change to the school.
214	** Chapter 44: Rackdoll Persia, who [[AmbiguousSituation may or may not]] have figured out who her daughter's lover was, advises Juliet to break up with him if he was a Black Dog. Why? [[spoiler:In Rackdoll's time as a student at the academy, there was also a Black Dog and White Cat who fell in love, and upon being found out, peer pressure drove the two lovers apart as well as to drop out of the school.]]
215	** Chapter 53: Julio confronts Chiwa Inuzuka with her DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:as the Black Dog who dropped out of Dahlia because of her SecretRelationship...with Turkish Persia, Juliet's father.]]
216	** Chapter 55-58: Airu returns home before Julio could leave the Inuzuka household, [[spoiler:and she eventually gets unmasked as Juliet in front of him after an accident. This leads to a chain of events that ends with Romio finally besting his older brother in a fistfight, and Airu being convinced to keep Romio and Juliet's relationship secret for the time being.]]
217	** Chapter 85-89: Leon's faction covertly throws the prefect elections into chaos that even the prefects could barely handle, [[spoiler:and finally exposes the SecretRelationship to the entire school. However, after all of Romio's and Juliet's friends from both factions stand by their side, the rest of the school is convinced to give the couple a chance and decisively vote for the two of them to become prefects.]]
218	** Chapter 109-110: [[spoiler:Turkish Persia finally shows up in person, and voices his intention to have Juliet move to a West-exclusive school.]]
219	* WeWantOurJerkBack: The White Cats are unaware of Romio's amnesiac episode, so when he just casually strolls through their gates and even looked like he's trying to make friends, they were all completely floored.
220	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: An extra chapter shows the paths the characters chose in their lives, taking place [[AnachronicOrder before]] the OfficialCouple's wedding at the DistantFinale.
221	** Romio, Airu, Juliet, Hasuki, Leon and (arguably) Kohitsuji's careers have already been established in the DistantFinale itself, as two members of the Diet, a Viscount, actress, teacher and magazine photographer respectively.
222	** Char is still studying to inherit the throne. And poor Scott has become her "pet".
223	** Tosa became a soldier, Maru a banker and Somali a wrestler. Cait Sith is now a pediatrician with Sieber as his nurse, still the CloudcuckoolandersMinder. Rex is a fashion designer specializing in lolita fashion. Kochou and Teria pursue their respective fields, and Kochou is inspired by the wedding to try to confess to Airu. Ameria is a model, Kougi a priest and Shuna a policewoman.
224	* WomenAreWiser: At least on the Black Dogs side. Hasuki has the best grades among the first year students of her dormitory, and the twins Teria and Kochou are both ChildProdigy that are already in second year of high school at 14. In contrast, the head prefect Airu seems to be the only named male characters of the Black Dogs that isn't BookDumb. On the White Cats side, women may not be wiser, but at least they are more prudent. Anne Sieber is the OnlySaneMan among the prefects of the dormitory, and Juliet is repeatedly shown to be more rational and self-controlled than her boyfriend. Even Somali is more emotionally intelligent than Aby, her clever yet immoral love interest.
225	* WorldOfBadass: An absolute rule of the setting. To put this in perspective, there is a character who was kidnapped by her abusive family, shipped overseas, and torn away from her husband and child. But she managed to overcome all of these things, because '''everyone''' in the series is badass, no matter how oppressed or irrevelant to the plot.
226	* WoundLicking: Romio does this to Juliet in chapter 20.
227	* WoundedGazelleGambit: During the Mock Cavalry battle at the Sports Fest, Tosa and Kohitsuji are among those who got drugged by Aby's minions...except they were faking it the whole time, to pull a sneak attack on Aby's unit later.
228	* YouAreNotAlone:
229	** Airu Inuzuka's FreudianExcuse is that he had to force himself into leading the Inuzuka family at such a young age. [[spoiler:After Romio beats him, he tells Airu that he doesn't have to shoulder the responsibility on his own anymore.]]
230	** All the friends Romio and Juliet have made from both factions stand up for them in their DarkestHour.
231	* YoungLoveVersusOldHate: Another thing the manga borrows from ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. The two countries have already signed a peace treaty, but there is still plenty of hostility between them. When Inuzuka and Persia fall in love in spite of being in opposite sides, they are hesitant because they would be shunned by the entire school, but ultimately they decide they want to be together even if they don’t know when or if their relationship will be accepted.

Context Manga / BoardingSchoolJuliet