ZOMG ANIME 8D
I feel productive~ I have no good reason to feel that way.... BUT I DO ANYWAY.
Larissa and I finished Romeo x Juliet tonight. It was good~ It was pretty and heartfelt and sappy and had a nice bittersweet ending, much like the play it's based on. I might have to marathon it again so that I get a better feel for it, but it was a lovely anime, if only just in appearance.
I do have some comments about it... So...
The original play "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare is not my favorite of his plays. I've never seen it as the greatest love story of all time only due to the main characters. In concept, it's great. But the characters are so... grating... My favorite character in the play was Mercutio. He seemed to be the only one thinking straight through the whole ordeal. And Romeo? Ugh. I stand by my statement that he is possibly the most hateful character in literature. He was shallow, whiny, self-pitying and oh so weak in the play... I couldn't stand him. And Juliet was so hollow. She had a more pleasant personality than Romeo did, but so much of her character was based off of him that she just always struck me as falling flat. Maybe I need to read the play again, but.. Gah. Mercutio~ I love you~
Which brings me to the anime based on the play. It's so SO loosely based on it that it didn't even feel like Romeo and Juliet. The concept was there, sure, but a lot about the basic plot line was changed, probably in order to highten the drama and widen the rift between the starcrossed lovers. It was the characters that made the show so different from the play. It was like they took the name Romeo and slapped it on some super cute dude who was NOTHING like the character he was based on. And Juliet! They turned her into a rough and rowdy vigilante, fighting for the people while being forced to live in hiding for most of the show. Tybalt was there, too. I remember him from the play. As I recall he was Juliet's cousin and was quite hateful himself. He was Romeo's rival, too. Not so in the anime! In the anime he's Romeo's illigitimate brother who wants to take vengence for his mother's (a Capulet) ill treatment at the hands of Romeo's father Lord Montegue. And my poor poor Mercutio! The anime totally ruined him! ;.;.; In the play he was such a free spirit, prone to long-winded speeches about nothing. He had such a quick wit and a sharp tongue that made him so hilariously charming. In the anime, he's a sleazy, underhanded, weak-willed man who looks out only for his own well-being and ends up having the most miserable confrontation with Lord Montague, Romeo and Tybalt. He was horrible! I died inside... ;.;.; They made Tybalt a cool, sexy, dark man at the expense of Mercutio's character... It's a shame...
As a stand alone production, Romeo x Juliet is gorgeously done. The plot has a few hiccups, and a lot of the characters are vastly different from the original play, but it's well made. The animation is pretty solid, the character designs are simple yet elegant, and the score is lovely. And I actually LIKE Romeo a lot in the anime, so COOKIES for the writers on that one! 8D The whole Escalus thing could've been left out entirely, but eh~ *shrug* It was pretty and made for a nicely summed up ending to the series. That's another thing... Escalus in the anime was a giant tree of life ala Yggdrasil in ToS that kept the floating continent of Neo Verona from falling out of the sky. In the play, wasn't Escalus the Prince of Verona? *looks it up* OMG, he was. Guess he got downgraded to a tree for story-telling purposes. XD
As an adaption of the original classic play... It could've been so much better. I'm all for making Romeo likeable and giving Juliet a character, but as for everything else? It's not really even the same story. They took the basic premise and then went in a totally different direction. Makes for a fine show, but not the best adaptation.
I also can't help but compare this show to Gonzo's recent string of classic adaptations. Samurai 7 and Gankutsuou, to be precise. Samurai 7 was great. It stuck pretty close to the original movie without being a total retelling of the same story. The characters all generally behaved like they did in the original movie and the basic plot was there. Sure they threw in all that craziness with Ukyo, but it was still a pretty good adaption. And I have nothing but praise for Gankutsuou. I haven't finished the book yet, but from what I hear (from Emily) the anime was better than the book in some regards. I do like that the anime is told almost exclusively from Albert's perspective. It makes the Count that much more interesting because we discover things about him right along with Albert. Everything about that adaption was brilliantly done. It ranks as one of my favorites. As for Romeo x Juliet... It doesn't really live up to the other's example. I couldn't get away from the original play and how much was so radically different. I'm not saying it's bad. It's really good! It made me giggle and get choked up and smile. It was enjoyable and lovely. It just didn't feel like the original. Which... In a way... Isn't all bad. :)
Except they messed with Mercutio... CURSE THEM. *shakefist*
/rant
Now that we've finished that one, we still have a lot to see... We still have yet to watch the last disc of so many things... Mushi-shi, Trinity Blood, Darker Than Black, Ergo Proxy, Scrapped Princess........... And more and more.... We've been slacking off.... Not sure what we'll watch next but after all that RxJ, I really want to marathon Gankutsuou with Emily again. I need me some Gonzo awesomeness. And I don't feel like I can fully appreciate it without Emily being present. XD; Soooo.... Emilyyyyyy? *taps fingers together and smiles sweetly* Besides, I miss watching anime with people~ I'm glad I have Larissa to watch everything with, but I miss our anime/pizza nights with friends. *wistful sigh* I'm still way too into anime... I know... I should just grow out of it... ;.;.; But I was a late bloomer! I've got a good ten years in me! lol~ Ah, me...
You know what else was awesome? Baccano! was awesome. I should re-watch that one too... *shifty eyes*
Wheeeee~ Not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. Never am. So I'll see you all later then! Night all~
Larissa and I finished Romeo x Juliet tonight. It was good~ It was pretty and heartfelt and sappy and had a nice bittersweet ending, much like the play it's based on. I might have to marathon it again so that I get a better feel for it, but it was a lovely anime, if only just in appearance.
I do have some comments about it... So...
The original play "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare is not my favorite of his plays. I've never seen it as the greatest love story of all time only due to the main characters. In concept, it's great. But the characters are so... grating... My favorite character in the play was Mercutio. He seemed to be the only one thinking straight through the whole ordeal. And Romeo? Ugh. I stand by my statement that he is possibly the most hateful character in literature. He was shallow, whiny, self-pitying and oh so weak in the play... I couldn't stand him. And Juliet was so hollow. She had a more pleasant personality than Romeo did, but so much of her character was based off of him that she just always struck me as falling flat. Maybe I need to read the play again, but.. Gah. Mercutio~ I love you~
Which brings me to the anime based on the play. It's so SO loosely based on it that it didn't even feel like Romeo and Juliet. The concept was there, sure, but a lot about the basic plot line was changed, probably in order to highten the drama and widen the rift between the starcrossed lovers. It was the characters that made the show so different from the play. It was like they took the name Romeo and slapped it on some super cute dude who was NOTHING like the character he was based on. And Juliet! They turned her into a rough and rowdy vigilante, fighting for the people while being forced to live in hiding for most of the show. Tybalt was there, too. I remember him from the play. As I recall he was Juliet's cousin and was quite hateful himself. He was Romeo's rival, too. Not so in the anime! In the anime he's Romeo's illigitimate brother who wants to take vengence for his mother's (a Capulet) ill treatment at the hands of Romeo's father Lord Montegue. And my poor poor Mercutio! The anime totally ruined him! ;.;.; In the play he was such a free spirit, prone to long-winded speeches about nothing. He had such a quick wit and a sharp tongue that made him so hilariously charming. In the anime, he's a sleazy, underhanded, weak-willed man who looks out only for his own well-being and ends up having the most miserable confrontation with Lord Montague, Romeo and Tybalt. He was horrible! I died inside... ;.;.; They made Tybalt a cool, sexy, dark man at the expense of Mercutio's character... It's a shame...
As a stand alone production, Romeo x Juliet is gorgeously done. The plot has a few hiccups, and a lot of the characters are vastly different from the original play, but it's well made. The animation is pretty solid, the character designs are simple yet elegant, and the score is lovely. And I actually LIKE Romeo a lot in the anime, so COOKIES for the writers on that one! 8D The whole Escalus thing could've been left out entirely, but eh~ *shrug* It was pretty and made for a nicely summed up ending to the series. That's another thing... Escalus in the anime was a giant tree of life ala Yggdrasil in ToS that kept the floating continent of Neo Verona from falling out of the sky. In the play, wasn't Escalus the Prince of Verona? *looks it up* OMG, he was. Guess he got downgraded to a tree for story-telling purposes. XD
As an adaption of the original classic play... It could've been so much better. I'm all for making Romeo likeable and giving Juliet a character, but as for everything else? It's not really even the same story. They took the basic premise and then went in a totally different direction. Makes for a fine show, but not the best adaptation.
I also can't help but compare this show to Gonzo's recent string of classic adaptations. Samurai 7 and Gankutsuou, to be precise. Samurai 7 was great. It stuck pretty close to the original movie without being a total retelling of the same story. The characters all generally behaved like they did in the original movie and the basic plot was there. Sure they threw in all that craziness with Ukyo, but it was still a pretty good adaption. And I have nothing but praise for Gankutsuou. I haven't finished the book yet, but from what I hear (from Emily) the anime was better than the book in some regards. I do like that the anime is told almost exclusively from Albert's perspective. It makes the Count that much more interesting because we discover things about him right along with Albert. Everything about that adaption was brilliantly done. It ranks as one of my favorites. As for Romeo x Juliet... It doesn't really live up to the other's example. I couldn't get away from the original play and how much was so radically different. I'm not saying it's bad. It's really good! It made me giggle and get choked up and smile. It was enjoyable and lovely. It just didn't feel like the original. Which... In a way... Isn't all bad. :)
Except they messed with Mercutio... CURSE THEM. *shakefist*
/rant
Now that we've finished that one, we still have a lot to see... We still have yet to watch the last disc of so many things... Mushi-shi, Trinity Blood, Darker Than Black, Ergo Proxy, Scrapped Princess........... And more and more.... We've been slacking off.... Not sure what we'll watch next but after all that RxJ, I really want to marathon Gankutsuou with Emily again. I need me some Gonzo awesomeness. And I don't feel like I can fully appreciate it without Emily being present. XD; Soooo.... Emilyyyyyy? *taps fingers together and smiles sweetly* Besides, I miss watching anime with people~ I'm glad I have Larissa to watch everything with, but I miss our anime/pizza nights with friends. *wistful sigh* I'm still way too into anime... I know... I should just grow out of it... ;.;.; But I was a late bloomer! I've got a good ten years in me! lol~ Ah, me...
You know what else was awesome? Baccano! was awesome. I should re-watch that one too... *shifty eyes*
Wheeeee~ Not sure what I'll be doing tomorrow. Never am. So I'll see you all later then! Night all~