DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ONE SHOT ActionKishuku Gakkou no Juliet
ANIME ComedyKishuku Gakkou no Juliet
NOVEL ComedyShousetsu Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet
MANGA ComedyKishuku Gakkou no Juliet Koushiki Anthology Comic

REVIEWS

• 

  Gav

  84/100
  Forbidden love, but at what cost?

  SEMI-SPOILER REVIEW

  Boarding School Juliet takes place at Dahlia Academy, home to two distinct factions, the White Cats and the Black Dogs. Romio Inuzuka, leader of the Black Dogs challenges Juliet Persia, leader of the White Cats to a duel. At this very duel, however, Romio unexpectedly confesses his love to Juliet, and her response? The start of a romantic comedy following Romio and Juliet's troubles of expressing their love.

  My initial thoughts of Boarding School Juliet were that it was your typical Romcom with the intriguing racial divide between the Black Dogs and the White Cats. However, while being typical, it becomes atypical, and that's what I started to enjoy as I was reading it. What made the series interesting, as said before, was the tension between the Black Dogs and the White Cats, and Romio and Juliet's struggles to change this racially segregated society.

  Story

  The story is as follows. Romio Inuzuka and Juliet Persia become a forbidden couple to society, with one goal in mind: To change the world. However, changing the world's views is one hefty feat. With this comes the hardships of changing a majority view: How can one gain enough support to change what had been set in stone and drilled in peoples' heads since the day they were born? Romio along with Juliet must take this task head on if they want their love to be accepted.

  Characters

  Boarding School Juliet's cast is filled with so many characters and they each get to show why they're a part of this wonderful cast. However, I want to focus on the two main protagonists for a little bit.

  _Slight spoilers about future characters from here on_

  Juliet Persia, leader of the first-year White Cats, home to the aristocratic Persia household, has fallen in love with Romio Inuzuka, a Black Dog?! Juliet, through interacting with Romio, begins to see what he means by "changing the world." Through donning the alias, "Julio" to be with Romio, Juliet begins to recognize the Black Dogs as people she can be friends with. From there, she begins to see the world in a whole new way. Along with Romio, this Romeo and Juliet story will not end in despair.

  Romio Inuzuka, leader of the first-year Black Dogs, home to the Inuzuka household, who has had feelings ever since childhood, confessed to Juliet Persia, a White Cat?! Romio, throughout the manga, undergoes a lot of change. By the time you reach the end, you'll be wondering "is that the same person?" Romio starts off as a brash and blunt delinquent who could not care less for the White Cats, instigating every fight with them. However, one fateful night, he stops putting up a front and expresses his true feelings to Juliet. From thereon, in a relationship with Juliet, he slowly begins to change and realizes that it's not just Juliet he's fighting for, but the entire academy.

  Spoilers about Inuzuka
  One of my favorite arcs in Boarding School Juliet was the Touwa arc. Here, we get to see the Inuzuka household while finally understanding what Romio is fighting for, and how strong his resolve truly is. Airu Inuzuka, Romio's brother, is the head prefect of the second-years at Dahlia Academy, but has always defeated Romio. This is what Romio has struggled with. "Why can I never beat my brother?" However, Airu, who was already suspicious of Romio's relationship with a White Cat, finds out that "Julio" is actually Juliet. This causes a duel between brothers. Romio fights for their relationship, while Airu fights to protect the Inuzuka name; the result? Airu tastes defeat at the hands of Romio. From this point on, Romio is accepted by his brother and begins to hold his head up high.

  While I could go on and on about the side characters of Boarding School Juliet, I will not. However, the cast of Boarding School Juliet is nothing to scoff at. I personally found it to be one of the most interesting and dynamic, featuring women and men of all types, shapes, and sizes. The character design was superb. Every character felt unique in their own little way while portraying their trope. As you read through the manga, more characters are added to the cast, and overall, are a good addition. Chances are, you will find a character you like out of this cast.

  Art

  While I have not read that many manga to give an objective view on the art for Boarding School Juliet, I will commend the author/artist. The mangaka, Yousuke Kaneda, did an amazing job at making the characters in the series be instantly recognizable and stand out in my opinion. As said above, the character designs are really top-notch and unique. The overall art style continuously kept the pages turning for me. As soon as I knew it, I was just dashing through chapters because I was so captivated by the world and its characters. Once you get in the rhythm, it's hard to put this one down.

  Overall Thoughts

  I was recommended Boarding School Juliet by a friend and put it off for some time, but I'm glad I decided to read it. Compared to Romeo and Juliet, which will leave you in shock, Romio and Juliet will leave you with smiles and laughter instead. However, when the series has its dramatic moments it does not disappoint. Although a little cliche, it does what it sets out to do; make you feel. Would I recommend Boarding School Juliet? Absolutely. If you are in the need for a romcom that is quite unique and refreshing, this is it.

  Till death do us part, Juliet.

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• 

  ZenTea

  75/100
  Fight to change the world in this not-so-ordinary RomCom

  We all know the gist of your typical romcom manga. The female lead bumps into the male lead, their eyes meet and it's love at first glance, they then meet again at school and so on.

  It's a widely used formula which, don't get me wrong, can make for a great story, but usually just ends up in something mid-tier. That's why today I'm here to write about something a little more out of the ordinary.

  Setting:

  Kushuku Gakkou No Juliet, also known as Boarding School Juliet, is set inside of Dahlia Academy, a prestigious school where the students are divided into either one of two factions, the Black Dogs or the White Cats depending on their country of origin. While I did use the term "are divided", that does not get the whole point across, as the two factions actively hate one another and are constantly fighting. This does not only happen inside of the academy. The two countries as a whole also despise eachother, as they have been at war up until recently.

  Story:

  The manga tells its story from the point of view of Inuzuka Romio, the current leader of the Black Dogs. Inuzuka is always ready to fight, and actively does so everyday by picking fights with his arch-nemesis Persia Juliet, the leader of the White Cats. At least that's what he shows to others. The truth is, Persia and Inuzuka are actually a couple, but they cannot afford to let other people know, as they would be marked as traitors.

  The two of them, while lying to the whole school and fighting on through all sorts of hardship, have only one goal in mind. To change the world and the society they live in.

  Characters:

  While the setting and premise of the manga are indeed interesting (at least for a RomCom), while reading it most of the characters did not particularly strike me as interesting. I'm not saying they're not more interesting than your average RomCom characters, but they are not revolutionary either. Let me give you a quick rundown of the main two characters, so that you can judge for yourself.

  Let's start with the male lead. Inuzuka takes more than a few aspects from the mainstream female lead formula. To give you an example, he is really romantic and timid and will often fail at making advances because of that. That does not mean that he doesn't have a fair share of manly characteristics, but his womanly ones usually show up the most.

  Moving on to the femal lead, Persia, ironically enough, would've been a better fit to be the male lead. She is usually the one to cheer Inuzuka up and motivate him. She is the one out of the two who shows her strong side the most, but she does also have her shy moments.

  There are many more characters other than these two, but I'm not going to get into them, to keep this review both short and spoiler-free.

  Thoughts:

  Kushuku Gakkou No Juliet was definetly one hell of a ride. While not being extraordinary, this manga did leave me with a smile on my face every time I closed a chapter to go do something else. Reading this was overall a very pleasant experience and I do recommend it to anyone into RomComs looking for a change.

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• 

  NeroMiFishy

  100/100
  Boarding School Juliet is a generic romcom built to perfection.

  Boarding School Juliet is a typical shounen romcom that's cliched, predictable, but still a fun read overall. And that's why its a masterpiece imo.

  Art - The art is fantastic. It’s visually pleasing to the eye, has a great amount of detail put into it (backgrounds, expressions, etc) and I absolutely love the character designs. Even when the series transitioned from a monthly to a weekly, the art still holds up impressively. The art also captures the tone of certain scenes beautifully ranging from comedic moments, dramatic moments, and action sequences, making you “feel” the vibe each scene plays out. It also has a good amount of fantastic spreads and chapter covers that make feel excited every time I turn the page.

  Story - The story is inspired from the classic tale, Romeo and Juliet, where Romio and Juliet are secret lovers whose goal is to unite and seek peace within their rival cities. I love how the series manages its tones: comedy for laughs, drama for seriousness, action for awesome, and fluffy romance for wholesome goodness. I also love how the story is constantly engaging, as it slowly builds its setting and character relationships, and each arc is constantly moving the plot forward. The payoff each arc has is really satisfying.

  Characters - The BSJ cast is the strongest aspect of the series, and that is due to the various dynamics. The characters have their unique quirks, personalities, and each of them get a chance to shine in the story, even if it is a small part. The character relationships is what shined because I love how they slowly start to grow and influence each other, and I honestly didn't feel there was one character I genuinely did not like. The cast is wonderful, from main, to supporting, and antagonists alike, the author did a good job at putting a lot of care into writing well written characters and giving them a place in the story.

  Enjoyment - I really enjoyed reading BSJ. After giving the series a reread, it definitely deserved to have a spot in my top favorite mangas overall. Its the kind of romcom series that speaks to me and I enjoyed investing my time in it, whether its the art, the story, or the characters! And that is what this manga succeeds at, being really fun!

  Conclusion - So why do I think Boarding School Juliet is a masterpiece? Well, its able to take a generic, predictable, and formulaic romcom and make it really fun and engaging. When it comes to most shounen romcoms, a lot of the criticisms are towards how cliched they can be (love triangles, how long till they get together, overused character tropes, etc). BSJ is no exception in having its fair share of cliched moments, but what makes it stand out to me is how they are written. A lot of BSJ's great moments are engaging and fun to read through, and while some may think its good and nothing special, to me, its amazing in every category.

  If you haven't given Boarding School Juliet a read, I highly recommend it to any romcom reader out there. Its fun, interesting, and awesome to read through. The series also lasted roughly 119 chapters, so if you don't want to read a romcom that's 200+ chapters long, then this series is for you!

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