Title: W Juliet
Author: Emura
Volumes Reviewed: 14 (complete)
Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: November 9, 2004 - January 9, 2007
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Content Rating: Older Teen (sensuality, violence, kidnapping, sexual harassment)
Format Read: Paperback
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Summary (for Volume 1):
Sixteen-year-old tomboy Ito Miura has been chosen to play Romeo in Romeo and Juliet! The problem? She doesn't want the male role! So, who will be Juliet? The favorite for the part, beautiful and vain Tsugumi, must compete with the cute new transfer student, Makoto Amano. But Makoto has a secret, and if rival Tsugumi, or anyone in the school, finds out, it could ruin Makoto's life, dragging Ito down as well!
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W Juliet is the story of a boy who will do anything to be an actor, the girl who helps him, and the romance that develops between them as they both pursue their thespian dreams. Heir to the family dojo but determined to act instead, male Makoto accepts his father's challenge to secretly spend the last two years of high school as a girl to be able to control his own future. When tomboy Ito accidentally discovers Makoto's secret, she helps him maintain his female cover and the two fall for each other despite strong oppositions and many, many obstacles.
As can happen with a series based on a one-shot, Ito and Mako rather unbelievably fall hard for each other in the first chapter, but they ultimately take the series to grow closer and truly fall in love. Other interested parties naturally try to come between them, but through perseverance and a lot of running they find ways to deepen their relationship and follow their dreams. The 14 volumes cover many common Japanese teen contemporary situations including school festivals, club trips and summer training camps, holiday celebrations, family meetings, and secret dates, as well as a few fantastical plots involving kidnapping ghosts, mermaids, and violent bank robbers. As can happen with a long contemporary manga series a school year is blatantly repeated to stretch time, but the story does conclude with their eventual graduation and first steps into adulthood.
This was originally a favorite series of mine years ago, but with this re-read I found myself quickly becoming bored with the constant threat of discovery and repetitive plots it created. After only a few volumes I had to push myself to continue, dreading how long the series was, and only because I was determined to review it did I eventually finish. It wasn't until the last two volumes that I rediscovered why I had loved it so much, the ridiculous subplots falling away to allow for a more realistic conclusion as all the characters worked hard to create happy futures. While I feel the series dragged on way too long for such a simple premise, I did enjoy following Ito and Mako's sweet (and slightly steamy) romance as well as their familial interactions, especially with the other's siblings and parents.
A Note on Story Content: While most of the situations were warmhearted if fraught with revealing mishaps and close calls, there were also some unpleasant arcs involving several twisted individuals who tried to force their love onto Ito. This included an overzealous female sempai, a womanizing male sempai, and a masochistic fellow student, all of which continuously kidnapped Ito, caused her emotional and physical pain, never took no for an answer, and one even attempted to force himself on her. These chapters were a little disturbing for me, especially how easily their actions were brushed off and not reported to adults as clear sexual harassment and abuse. Although I understand that many elements of this series are blown out of normal proportion for entertainment purposes, that doesn't forgive the kind of permission it might be seen to give a younger audience in treating others.
Conclusion: While Mako's determination to follow his dream was admirable and his romance with Ito was sweet, most of the situations the couple found themselves in were repetitively dull or way too fantastical for me to fully invest in the long series. Some of the "normal" arcs could be relatively fun and many of the secondary characters were pleasant additions, but I found the harassing characters and their arcs discomforting. I am glad I re-read the whole series though, and the end was uplifting and better than I'd anticipated. I would recommend for true romantics who enjoy their love stories with a lot of hardship and kidnappings.
Scribble Rating:
3.5 of 5 Scribbles
