The 'Romeo and Juliet' as a never ending story

Classical Literature Adaptations in Manga and Anime

     The play Romeo and Juliet is a renowned classical work by William Shakespeare, in this turbulent era most readers converted to digital media and other hobbies the written works almost fell to a decline. The so-called Classical literature still has relevance. With the relative interest in the new booming technology and teen-manga and anime most have been converted to this fascination. The play has been converted into a modern love story with rifle, clan intrigues and sacrifice, the audience tearing up and taking the story to their young minds. In the case of anime most fans are teenagers and adults who have developed an interest in anime and manga’s from their childhood.

    The difference between anime and manga lies in its representation, anime genre of Japanese style 2D animation while manga specifically refers to Japanese Style graphic novels. Romeo and Juliet in anime portrays the blooming love, transcending boundaries, flower meadow scenes, fighting and ending up giving their life. Animated adaptation of Romeo and Juliet is a Japanese anime television series, the story set in the floating island of Neo Verona. It was produced by Gonzo and Fumitoshi Oizaki and was aired in Japan in 2007. The protagonists in the anime are Juliet Fiammata Asto Capulet, Romeo Candorebanto Montague, and others like Tybal Volumnia De Montague, Lord Laertes Montague and Cordelia.

    The character designs are a blend of classical and fantasy elements, it evokes emotions with its songs and the setting is richly detailed with the grandeur of Neo Verona consisting of Renaissance architecture. The image of the floating island and flying horses adds to its beauty. Other interesting scenes are the sword fights and other dynamic scenes. The anime Romeo and Juliet has a vibrant color palette, the colder tones of Montague the ruling party and Juliet in the revolutionary part ‘Red Whirlwind is a warm red color.

    The original play has no detailed description of the background setting of the second balcony meeting while the manga has details. According to chronological order there are three manga with different cultural settings such as the America, Japan and Tokyo. Thus the anime and manga have variations in its representation. For instance, in Britain 2007, as part of the fourteen-volume Manga Shakespeare collection published by SelfMadeHero Publishing House. The plot was abridged to fit the collection format and standard (about 200 pages) by Richard Appignanesi, a linguistically resourceful editor and Shakespeare scholar, while the illustrations were provided by artist Sonia Leong.The difference from other two versions is the ―dramatis personae‖ section, which shows colourful representations of the characters, accompanied by a representative line from the plot. For instance, both Romeo and Juliet are presented in separate frames on the same page. “Romeo is a blond rock star, wearing a tight turtle-neck and a leather jacket, and singing with a passionate sadness into a microphone ―Did my heart love till now?‖ On the other hand, a fashionable pink-dressed Juliet with dark eyes and hair is half sitting half lounging, a look of longing on her face, while she is listening to Romeo singing on TV behind her; her line reads ―My true love passion…‖”.

The American version from 2008, belonging to the sevenvolume Manga Edition collection, edited by Adam Sexton and drawn by Yali Lin. For example, “the first act is represented by a medium-sized frame showing Romeo‘s face in close-up, just as he realizes Juliet is his father‘s enemy‘s daughter. The fact that he is drawn as if leaning towards the viewer‘s right, as if out of balance, together with his befuddled expression (mouth agape, eyes wide open and eyebrows raised), create a powerful representation of shock. The speech bubble accompanying the frame reads: ―Is she…a Capulet? O dear account! My life is my foe‘s debt.‖ (Sexton and Lin 5)”.

The third and final version discuss a Japanese spin-off adaptation by artist COM, which was released in 2010, following the success of an anime (animated film) version entitled Romeo X Juliet. This plot strays from the original in terms of details, like the Juliet turning into the tree Escalus that will forever support the floating island of Neo Verona. The message this manga conveys is that, “the lovers‘ death actually reunites them in the afterlife, or they earn the right to an eternal ever after ―Because they saved us all…‖ (COM 368)”. In terms of structure the Japanese manga version also includes a few colourful pages introducing the most important. Altogether the manga and anime inculcate the theme of life, death, love and rebirth. Thus they have an important role to play in creating the play Romeo and Juliet into a memorable one. The great classics has been introduced through different media they are continuously in discourse. Therefore the story of Romeo and Juliet, a never ending tale.

P. Riya, Assistant Professor of English, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Kizhattoor, Perinthalmanna