GO AWAY ROMEO, PLEASE GO AWAY
Growing up, I was never a real fan of Shakespeare. But the school curriculum sure was and all us poor students had to suffer for it. I don't care about the symbolism of the dagger in Macbeth and I don't care what is to be or not to be. Are you seriously expecting me to think for myself? That's not what school is for! However despite my disinterest in cryptic metaphors and Elizabethan men in shorts, I have always had somewhat of an attachment to the story of Romeo and Juliet. I mean, it's his most famous work for a reason. Nowadays people are quick to judge it for its melodramatic scenes and flat characters, but it's still worth remembering in my opinion. Although even I'll admit that it's pretty stupid...
I'm someone who also enjoys a good comic on Webtoon from time to time and while there's a lot of toxic insufferable trash on that website there's still of good comics (I'd recommend Trash Belongs in the Trashcan and Cursed Princess Club). However during my journey of gawking at hot anime men on the covers and searching for my newest obsession, I stumbled upon this one webtoon called 'Go Away Romeo' (https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/go-away-romeo/list?title_no=5066) and it's a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with the main character being Rosaline. Curiously I decided to read it. And...it's not that good...
Okay well that's not entirely fair. For what it is it's pretty okay. Also I really am one to talk about good writing. It's pretty inoffensive (but that's not entirely a good thing since literally nothing happens) I just wasn't personally vibing with it. And I'll tell you why in this 3 hour long video essay on this VERY important matter...
Go Away Romeo is a retelling of the classic story of Romeo and Juliet featuring the character Rosaline as the protagonist. The story starts off with her and Romeo being in love until Romeo leaves her to pursue her cousin Juliet. She is heartbroken but even more heartbroken when she hears that both of them are dead. But whaaaat it turns out that they're NOT dead and then they go into hiding. Turns out that Romeo has achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a deadbeat dad and Rosaline gives birth to their son, Mino. But oh no one day Romeo and Juliet reappear and Romeo has some evil masterplan that will ruin everything! (Cue dramatic music) Right off the bat you can tell that this doesn't really follow the original story. Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Paris and Mercutio are all alive in this version, Rosaline and Romeo have a child and it turns out that Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, Benvolio and Mercutio (and maybe Tybalt) are all EVIL. There's also Paris who is Rosaline's love interest. I originally found this concept quite interesting but you'll notice the first major problem I have with this webtoon: It's BORING
I think the main reason why the story is sort of boring is because the characters are boring. None of them have any unique characteristics, memorable moments or motives that make sense. First of all let's start off with Rosaline. She's an intelligent and independent woman who don't need no man and cares a lot about her son Mino. She also has a tragic backstory of how she felt so betrayed after Romeo left her. That in itself is not a bad concept for a character but...that's kinda it. Her only memorable personality trait is that she's iNdEPenDenT but so what? There are hundreds of independent female characters so what makes Rosaline so special. We're also supposed to feel sympathetic for her due to her backstory but I just personally consider that lazy writing. Again, there are hundreds of characters with sad backstories. What makes us in the present day root for her? Also Mino is a plot device and you can't convince me otherwise. He doesn't feel a character and he doesn't even show up that much which is weird considering the fact that he's the reason this story is exists in the first place. Also I don't care so sue me...Mino isn't even that cute. Yeah I said it! I've seen WAY cuter kids in comics that him! But back to Rosaline, she just feels so uninspired and falls in the shadow of much better written characters that fit her archetype. And then there's Paris...what about him? He's THAT forgettable
Now there's Romeo. Romeo was a little bit of a sleazeball in the original story so it was kinda natural to make him the villain. Buuut...he's kinda pathetic ngl. He's supposed to be all menacing and stuff but I can't help but think he's trying way too hard (we do love a little edge lord though XD). Usually villains are engaging because they are really hilarious or super scary or even have some interesting redemption potential but Romeo isn't any of those. I mean you need a personality first if you want that. Another thing I picked up about Romeo is that he doesn't actually do bad things (okay well that's a lie he has done and said a couple of villainous things) but the author relies too much on telling instead of showing. They're telling us not to like Romeo but why? My dude is here just trying to live his best deadbeat womanizer life for all I know. SHOW us how he's a bad person and SHOW us him doing some really awful things. Also I HATE how they handled the other characters (except the Friar, I never liked that geezer). I was so excited to see what they would do with Mercutio, Benvolio and Tybalt since they were my favourite characters but...they're just kinda there. They do a little bit of dirty work for Romeo but that's pretty much it. Also I'm about to go on a rant here: Don't do my boy Benvolio dirty like that. My man was the sweet cinnamon roll with a heart of gold and a desire for peace but now you relegate him to the sidelines being nothing more than a insignificant henchman?! For shame! Thou has placed a curse upon my bode! Now thou shalt no longer see the light of day! Be gone, fiend (sorry I let my inner Elizabethan shine through for a second). Maybe they'll doing something with him in the future but for now I am NOT satisfied
I will say though. I do think the art is well made. However I don't think the art style really suits the setting of this story. You have this historically accurate Elizabethan wardrobe but then you got the head of an anime character. Idk it looks like they're about to put on a school play or something. Would have preferred something a little more stylized. However I don't mind since any art that doesn't make me want to rip my eyes out is a win in my books
And that's it for my review of Go Away Romeo. It really isn't that bad and if you're into this type of stuff I would definitely would recommend. Although don't go into it thinking it's going to be faithful to the original. Or that they're going to treat Benvolio with the respect he deserves (seriously we need more Benvolio content) Um, I don't know how to end this so...go away
(Not really a Romeo and Juliet meme. Still thought it was pretty funny)