© Emura 1997/HAKUSENSHA, Inc.
W Juliet is another entry in the favorite shoujo subcategory of cross-dressing romantic comedies.
This time, the protagonists are Ito Miura, a tomboy actress, and Makoto Amano, a young man who must “pass” as a girl to win freedom from his family obligations and pursue his dream of becoming an actor. Naturally, the two meet in drama club, she discovers his secret, they fall for each other, and hijinks ensue.
It’s fun for the most part, and the connection between the two leads is palpable and believable.
Unlike other notable shoujo of this type, including Hana-Kimi and Ouran High School Host Club, attempts to develop the supporting characters in the series’ first half fall flat. Emura eventually makes the more organic choice of focusing on the protagonists’ families, which goes a long way toward giving the leads more depth and emphasizing why they make the choices they do.
Unfortunately, the author also introduces weird monkey-wrench plots out of nowhere. (An armed kidnapping is what threatens an important club performance?)
It’s as if she doesn’t trust that the prospect of Ito and Makoto being separated is compelling enough.
This is a shame because her lead characters – and the care she’s taken to develop them – are the main reason to check out this series.