Boarding School Juliet

KANLen09★ 9

Being a great fan of the typical Romeo X Juliet school-twisted manga at hindsight, I was wishing for an anime adaptation of this rom-com for sometime, and when it premiered in Fall 2018, I was SO happy and ready for the anime adaptation by Liden Films, and it delivered flawlessly (well, small faults but big wins). (Yay, Happy Xmas wish granted!) The story...let's just say that if you know a even a little bit about the Romeo X Juliet Shakespeary context, it's the exact same premise here, just in terms of different factions, mainly the White Cats and Black Dogs, led by both leaders Romio Inuzukaand Juliet Persia. So with that, Dahlia Academy Boarding School (Juliet), was made as per the neutral ground for both factions to have and nurture education for everyone regardless of which faction they belong to. However, as both Inuzuka and Persia encounter each other *starts rolling Romeo X Juliet the play*, the amount of controversy that both have that's weighted on their shoulders become the main problem for concerning people. And that's where the side characters come in. From the assistants, Inuzuka's ever-helpful assistant-cum-crush Hasuki and Percia's strangle-hold Princess Chartreux (just call her Char) are always there to help shape up each counterpart's emotions and feelings about each other, and confront each other as to deal with countless situations with the slightest damage possible. The most frightening are always the top brass, or model counsellors such as Inuzuka's own older brother Airu (which he despises greatly), twin sisters Kochou and Teria from the Black Dogs and Persia's relentless leaders Cait Sith, Anne Sieber and Rex from the White Cats to name a few. And of course, the White Cats rebel faction of Aby Ssinia, along with his supporter-cum-crush Somali and few others. Their depiction in the anime is just as frightening as in the manga, so great pointers for showing their cruelness. Overall, all characters were done as well as how they were in the manga. From here on, really no problems at all. Liden Film's art and animation, bright, clean, fluid and showcasing some of the most simple but bad-ass animations when it comes to the serious stuff (e.g. scenes of action). That, I can go along with it. Same goes with the music too. I was concerned about FripSide's songs as the quality of songs they were pumping out in the modern times were average or didn't sound very good (as per the case of Dances With The Dragons). But, once that OP played, I was rest assured, this OP was fantastic and great, along with Riho Ilda's ED (which I should listen to her songs more) which was icing on the cake. If there is the minimum fault I could lament with, was that the storytelling was quite slow, but once I compared that to the flow of the manga, it allayed most of the fears I had about pushing quantity for quality, and am glad that the slow storytelling compensated for most of the enjoyment I had for this anime. Heck, I'd even say this anime adaptation surpasses the manga in every way. It's a great one I tell you. If you're a fan of the Romeo X Juliet archetype, this anime is a must recommended watch. It puts a smile on my face, and so should inflict on you as well.

Krunchyman★ 3

“There’s no sexual harassment in a match” — Four-eyed sex offender Oh…in that case. I haven’t seen Romeo and Juliet butchered this horribly since Baz Luhrmann decided to cast Leonardo DiCaprio in a modernized version of the Bard’s classic with its original dialogue intact. At Dahlia Academy Boarding School, the “White Cats” and the “Black Dogs” operate on the assumption that the only way to resolve their differences, is through a school yard battle royal where anything goes. Faces get punched. Hair gets pulled. Even more faces get punched. Girls clothes get stripped off (you know, standard middle school happenings). Butamidst all the chaos and lifelong brain damage, our main character, Romio Inuzuka, reveals his affection towards his Juliet and thus begins an awkward series of events where the two must conceal their relationship from the prying eyes of their compatriots. Romio is your typical too-cool-for-school badass, which makes sense because he’s almost never shown in the classroom, as he’s too busy courting Juliet or pounding her head in (he should have been pounding something else). He’s not particularly smart, but his fiery passion and general oaf-ness make him somewhat entertaining. I genuinely spat my coffee out when he lunged himself into that mirror. But slapstick comedy only works for a limited time, as it becomes redundant rather quickly. Nine out of ten jokes fell flat on their face, rendering much of the show as a tedious waste of time. Juliet, Romio’s love interest, is a trite Tsundere with little-to-no value in the comedic department. Her main hook includes getting infuriated with Romio’s inane comments, followed by screaming at him and/or clobbering him (it gets old fast). While staying focused on her goals of changing the world, she also exhibits moments of foolishness when she leaves a spoon in the microwave (not funny bro, that shit kills people). In addition, due to her petite stature, Juliet looks three-to-four years younger than Romio, making their tender encounters seem a bit awkward. Boarding School Juliet, lamentably, is a show without a clear direction, nor is it consistent enough to entertain the viewer with its abundance of unavailing situational comedy. Romantic situations between Romio and Juliet are surface level fluff, routinely devolving into lewd, hackneyed circumstances with little comedic value. On the other hand, the “love square” — Romio loves Juliet; Hasuki loves Romio; Weslia loves Juliet — creates an interesting dynamic between the characters, particularly because the love that is accessible is not the one Romio or Juliet desire. Boarding School Juliet does flesh out the relationship between Weslia and Juliet as children, but it leaves much to be desired. Also, the dynamics of such a relationship are bromidic, especially when little-to-no nuance is added to differentiate itself from its — numerous — predecessor’s. The colorful artwork is so diversified that it hypnotizes the viewer into thinking they are looking into a kaleidoscope; unfortunately, this pristine look is impeccable beyond belief. There is a thing as being too “perfect.” Sometimes a sprinkling of “imperfection” can go a long way in creating an “authentic” environment. Why the producers of the show decided to emulate the story of Romeo and Juliet, when the characters and thematic elements are antithetical to the Bard’s classic is beyond any reasonable person’s rationalization. So instead of concocting a convoluted reason as to why this happened (**cough**a lure to draw in more viewers**cough**), I decided to write a humorous poem to encapsulate my thoughts on the series. “Thou must have reckoned himself quite capable of tackling the Bard’s masterwork, But it was a far cry from a tear jerk; verily, it was an incomplete patchwork; Methinks’ the comedy soured the mind, combined with the unkind bitch who Considered herself refined; Although she rode Romio similar to an equestrian, It was obvious she wanted to ride someone else, due to her being a lesbian; Love interests come and love interest go, but instead of Juliet I would have chosen The ho; If you dare question which ho I presuppose, any which one will do as long As she takes off her clothes; Watching this show became a terrible chore, and the Vibrant colors elicited a pronounced eyesore; I mustn’t allow myself to become Remarkably incredulous, lest I wish to hasten my exodus via leaping from a large Edifice; let it be known that this anime is no gem, as it was quite fortunate to Receive a three out of ten.” — Krunchyman