W Juliet (W ジュリエット Daboru Jurietto?) is a shōjo romantic comedy manga series by Emura. It was published by Hakusensha in Hana to Yume between 1997 and 2002 and collected in 14 bound volumes. It is about the friendship between a tomboy named Ito Miura, and Makoto Amano, a mysterious ladylike transfer student. The contrasts between their personalities, and their common dream ("To be an actor!") make them almost instant friends. It is licensed in English by Viz Media. A sequel series, W Juliet II, is ongoing in Za Hana to Yume, and collected in two volumes as of March 2008.
The title W Juliet comes from the Japanese adoption of the letter "W" as a character meaning "double", so the title W Juliet means "Two Juliets". Two Juliets is the theme and conflict in the first chapter, during which the drama club puts on a production of Romeo and Juliet with Ito and Makoto in the title roles.
Plot
The first chapter begins when Ito Miura meets the beautiful transfer student Makoto Amano and they become almost instant friends. Their personalities are completely different (Makoto is calm, quiet, and beautifully feminine; Ito acts, dresses, and behaves like a man), but they share the same dream (becoming an actor). As soon as she gets up on stage, it is clear that Makoto has some great talent, enough to possibly get the role of Juliet in the up coming performance of Romeo and Juliet–with Romeo being played by none other than Ito. However, Makoto has a rival: Tsugumi Nomura, Makoto's senior who's more than a little obsessed with Ito. And as if that weren't enough, Ito discovers that Makoto has a secret that, if it were revealed, would bring down Makoto's dream for good. His secret: Makoto is actually a man. Makoto's strict father wants him to inherit the family's dojo, while Makoto wishes to become an actor. Makoto and his father made a bet that if Makoto could successfully demonstrate his acting skills by posing as a woman for his last two years of high school he would be free to do as he wishes. However, if anyone were to discover his gender he would be forced to come home and bend to his father's will. Ito agrees to keep Makoto's secret so that he could continue with his dream.
The following chapters follow Ito and Makoto during their last two years of high school, as they work to improve their acting and keep Makoto's secret. They start out just as friends, but continue as boyfriend and girlfriend. One of the obstacles they must face is keeping their relationship a secret from their family and friends, as well as protecting Makoto's secret and worrying about Makoto's jealous arranged fiancé, Takayo, and her brother, who has a strong sister complex, and Ito's various suitors. All the while, The drama club must perform various plays, some of which are essential in persuading Makoto's father to let him do as he pleases, and the people all around the two grow and learn to fall in love.
Characters
The Japanese long 'o' and long 'u' are transliterated as 'ô' and 'û' in the Viz Media English language release.
Main characters
Ito Miura (三浦 糸 Miura Ito?)
A 17-year-old tomboy,[1] Ito is the only girl in a male-dominated family, with three brothers and her father. She started wearing boys clothes, as well as adopting a boyish haircut, when she was in first grade and after her mother was killed in a car accident. It is revealed in vol. 10 that part of the reason she chose to do so was because of the teasing in elementary school of a boy named Jôtaro Kai, who always bullied her, especially whenever her older brothers tried to protect her. Since then, she consistently wears masculine clothing, even to school, to the irritation of most of her teachers. Most of the girls at school idolize her and she is known for being mobbed every Valentine's day.
When Ito finds out that Makoto is a guy, she decides to help him and eventually falls in love with him. Throughout the series, Ito starts to become more feminine, because she wants to be the perfect girl for Makoto, at first unconsciously then with more intent.
Ito has various admirers such as Toki-sempai, two years ahead of Ito, who wants Ito to be much more feminine, become his girlfriend and go to college with him. Also Tsugumi-sempai, one year ahead of Ito, has an obsession with Ito, especially as a male figure, going so far as to call her "Ito-kun," a primarily male suffix. Finally there is Sakamoto, a "masochist" that likes both Ito and Makoto, after "running into" Ito during a class trip to
As an actor, Ito relies on her raw charisma and physical ability rather than actual technical skills. She receives average grades in school though she appears to be abysmal at math. Her cooking skills are lacking, though the author has noted that Ito is good at "cooking for a crowd." She also is rather headstrong and doesn't think through situations before barging in, leading to some precarious moments with her admirers.
Ito's name (糸) means "thread," resulting from her father's wish for a name that is "slender and pretty" and her mother's wish for a name that "can be used to make something." Though Makoto's father considers her name a bad omen, as "a breaking thread," she considers it a blessing and as symbol of her creativity.
Makoto Narita (成田 真 Narita Makoto?) / Makoto Amano (天野 真琴 Amano Makoto?)
Seventeen-year-old Makoto Narita made a deal with his father: in order to pursue his own future dreams, Makoto would have to go through two years of high school as a girl, which would require his acting skills to pull it off. If he was found out, Makoto would have to inherit his father's dojo, as Makoto is his father's only son. With his acting skills and the help of his sister, Akane, Makoto transforms himself into a girl before transferring to a new school as Makoto Amano. There, he meets and quickly befriends Ito because of their opposite personalities and their love of the theater. When Ito finds out that Makoto is really a male, she decides to help him keep his secret, which comes in handy when Tsugumi-senpai and her two friends try to unveil Makoto's true gender.
At the beginning, Makoto tries to hide his feelings towards Ito but eventually he starts showing how much he loves her. Makoto is the heir to the family, and he had had an omiai years ago with a girl named Takayo Iizuka. Makoto makes it clear that, though he respects and likes Takayo, he only loves Ito and plans on abandoning his family as soon as he graduates as a girl. That way he will win the bet he made with his father.
Makoto has greater technical skill as an actor than Ito and is more than a match for her in physical strength. He is a typical Renaissance man, able to cook, clean, do makeup and choose out clothes with admirable skill, along with the ability to pick up skills quickly, such as juggling. Also, he is more subtle and observant, able to handle delicate situations with more tact and skill than the gung-ho Ito. However, he is more introverted and prone to holding grudges, especially against his father and his oldest sister.
It is noted that Makoto is the only blonde in his family, as a result of his English grandmother.
Friends
Yoshirô Ozaki (尾崎 与四郎 Ozaki Yoshirō?)
He is the drama club's male president with Ito being his counterpart as the female president. His parts have included both male and female roles, such as the King in
Misaki Ichikawa (市川 美咲 Ichikawa Misaki?)
A member of the Drama Club, some parts she has played are Lady-In-Waiting in
Nobuko Kataoka (片岡 伸子 Kataoka Nobuko?)
A member of the Drama Club, some parts she has played include Lady-In-Waiting in Swan Princess and the Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet (during the Cultural Festival), though she typically writes most of the adaptations of the plays the Drama Club performs. She's a great writer and it is stated that she has a book published, that she wrote that includes her friend Misaki, and Yoshirô. Also, she, Yoshirô, and Misaki are originally from another manga, called Mokugekisha ("Eyewitness"). In the 12th book of the series, Nobuko claims to think of Toki-Senpai to be like a father to her. He also shows a lot of care and worry for Nobuko (in this volume and previously in volume 5, when she was taken away during the joint assembly) when a group of thieves take her hostage. In the rest of the series, it is implied that the two have probably gotten together, especially when Nobuko disarms Toki-senpai with ease during a rather hostile confrontation with Makoto.
Miura Family
Gorô (三浦 悟郎 Miura Gorō?)
Father to Ito and her three brothers, and husband to Satsuki (deceased). He is the eldest son of Mitsuko Miura, and was heir to the family until he withdrew from the family to marry Satsuki. He cares deeply for his family, and is especially fond of Ito since she is the only girl. He is an otherwise easygoing, if sometimes absent and eccentric, parent but is particularly hard on his children's choices for marriage. He wants their mates to have "good eyes" and to be able to meet his gaze, as a sign of sincerity, integrity and a strong will. In spite of friction resulting from his strong views and overprotectiveness, he has been supportive of his children's choices, allowing them to live freely as he and his wife wanted them to. Although he tends to let his stubbornness and foolishness get in the way, overall he is a wise and understanding person.
Satsuki (三浦 皐月 Miura Satsuki?)
A very strong, very attractive woman, Satsuki was a dedicated wife and mother, though with a ferocious temper. She was particularly close to Yûto while alive, teaching him how to cook, though she also had a very close relationship with her only daughter. Satsuki was killed by a car while crossing the street when Ito was six years old, about ten years before the manga's storyline. Satsuki was very supportive of Ito's tomboyish tendencies. The reason being that Satsuki herself was very much like Ito in her youth. Her maiden name was Satsuki Aiba. Her mother disappeared when she was 12, and her father died when she was 15. Satsuki was taken in by Mitsuko Miura, because the two families were close, and that was how Satsuki and Gorô met and fell in love before eloping. On the day she died, Ito cut her hair for the first time; and the last thing she told Ito was to "live freely, and become the woman she wants to be when she finds the one will move her heart."
Ryûya (三浦 竜矢 Miura Ryūya?)
Ryûya, who is 23, is Ito's eldest brother, and the twin brother to Yûto. He is also the heir of the Miura family. He seems to have inherit his father's overly dramatic personality (especially when angered), much like Ito. After their mother's death, he was the one who taught Martial Arts to Ito. Also, he seems to be the one that is the most protective of Ito. Being the eldest makes him the one in charge most, if not all the time, considering that his Dad works at the dojo often or writing his novels. When Ryûya went to college, he met a foreign exchange student from
Yûto (三浦 悠斗 Miura Yūto?)
Yûto is the second eldest son in the Miura family, and Ryûya's twin. He is the one that does all the cooking around the house, thanks to his mother's lessons. Because of that, it's not surprising to find out that he works as a cook at a restaurant in the Maria Prince Hotel in Y City. He's pretty much the opposite of his twin, except his dedication to his younger sister is just as strong as his twin's. Although he is a bit more level headed then his father and brother, he is also a little more introverted. Because of his mother's death, he would keep from meeting new people due to his fear of losing them in the future. Yûto ends up meeting and dating Akane, Makoto's sister. Gradually the relationship becomes deeper as the story continues, despite Yûto's somewhat withdrawn nature.
Tatsuyoshi (三浦 竜良 Miura Tatsuyoshi?)
Tatsuyoshi is Ito's 15-year-old brother, who always wears sunglasses on his head which he calls being cool. A typical teenage boy who loves to hang out with his friends and play at the arcade. Being the youngest means that he gets stuck with a lot of the work. The rule in the Miura family is "absolute obedience to anyone older." Although he may not show it as much as his older brothers, he cares a lot about Ito, and defends her when necessary. He is part of the student council, and shows a strong interest in one of the members named Rie-chan. Even though he's said he wanted a girl that was the opposite of Ito, Rie-chan's personality and demeanor are identical to his older sister's.
Mitsuko (三浦 光子 Miura Mitsuko?)
The matriarch of the Miura family, she is a small but crafty old woman who is stronger than she looks. She originally brought Satsuki to the Miura house and later helped her and Gorô elope. She has a bizarre fascination with different fashions, using her grandchildren and any other friends they bring as her "victims." Her particular fondness seems to be for historical fashion, mostly Japanese. Despite her benign nature, she also has a ruthless side, tied in to her desire for a stable heir to the Miura family. Her wish for that makes her go as far as to kidnap Ito and challenge her brothers into fighting to keep her.
Tomoe (三浦 巴 Miura Tomoe?)
The son of Gorô's sister Setsuko and the presumptive heir to the family's ancestral home and dojo. He is three years younger than Ito. He infuriates his very strict mother by crossdressing twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The only woman he claims to have an interest in is Ito, leading to Mitsuko offering her a place in the Miura family house as the matriarch.
Narita Family
Masumi Narita (成田 真澄 Narita Masumi?)
Makoto's father is a strict disciplinarian who runs a kenpo martial arts dojo. He is a man of tradition, who feels that absolute respect from his family is very important. After his oldest child, Sakura, eloped to escape the arranged marriage that he had set up to preserve the dojo, he took drastic measures to keep them from ever disobeying him—focusing especially Makoto, his only son and prospective heir to the dojo. For a couple years after Sakura elopment, Masumi trained Makoto strictly, rarely letting him out of the house. Shortly before the series start, after Masumi settled down, Makoto offered a proposition: if he could disguise himself as a girl for the rest of high school, to show how serious he is, Masumi would allow him to become an actor. Masumi frequently sends spies to check up on Makoto, though he eventually calls them off for a while when he sends another challenge to Makoto. Though he is strict with most of his family, he is not with his wife, Risa, who can match him in ferocity, and he dotes on his second daughter, Tsubaki, whom he sees as the most obedient of his children. Masumi particularly enjoys eating his wife's homemade caramel flan five times a day.
Risa Narita (成田 理紗 Narita Risa?)
Risa, a frail middle-aged woman, is Makoto's mother. Risa's mother was English, from whom Makoto got his blond hair, and her maiden name was Amano, which Makoto uses for his alias at school. Unlike her husband, she wants her children to make their own choices, however she rarely intercedes for her children. When she learned of Makoto's proposition to his father, she fainted from shock at the idea of her son dressing like a girl and that her chronic illness is a result of this. Despite her frailty and mild demeanor, she is able to cow her husband with a single look, and during the series, she violently forces her husband to reconcile with their oldest daughter, Sakura.
Sakura Sugiyama (杉山 桜 Sugiyama Sakura?)
Sakura is Makoto's oldest sister, aged 25 years. A few years before the series start, she eloped with her boyfriend to escape an arranged marriage. Angered by this, her father took out his frustration on his other children, especially Makoto. She is on estranged from her father and her sister Tsubaki, but secretly maintains contact with her other sister Akane and Makoto. However, when they meet, Makoto stands silently behind Akane, never speaking to Sakura. When, later in the series, Sakura meets Makoto and Ito during a class trip, she is pleased to see that Makoto has softened up in Ito's presence. She feels that because of Ito, Makoto can be more himself, especially after being stifled under his father's influence. With Ito's help, Makoto and Sakura finally are able to make amends after six years of silence.
Sakura's husband is a fairly successful artist, and they have a young son, Satoshi. As the result of an exhibition of her husband's work, and some scheming by Ito, Sakura reconciles with her father, although her mother has to forcibly make father and daughter behave. Sakura is the opposite of her younger sister Tsubaki, in that she has an obsession with pretty girls, going as far as to give Ito a makeover after one encounter. Sakura's name (桜) means "cherry blossom," a flower like her sisters.
Tsubaki Narita (成田 椿 Narita Tsubaki?)
Tsubaki is Makoto's second eldest sister, aged 24 years. Tsubaki is a biology teacher who, under her father's orders, that comes to work at Makoto's school to spy on him. She feels that, unlike her other siblings, she does all that their father asks, and she resents Sakura because she was left to ease their father's temper after Sakura eloped. Despite her submissive attitude towards her father, Tsubaki has a firm personality with a frightening ability to lead, demonstrated when she trains her class to be ultimate athletes to win a inter-class athletic tournament. She is obsessed with Makoto, and has pictures of him all over the walls of her room, and as his older sister believes she knows what is best for him. Although she disapproves of the deal Makoto made with their father, she occasionally gives Makoto frilly dresses to wear as a girl. Tsubaki is the opposite of her older sister Sakura in that she has an obsession with pretty boys, with something of a shota complex, and she is disappointed when she realizes Ito is a girl.
When Tsubaki learns that Ito knows Makoto's true identity, she orders Makoto to come home on the grounds that he lost his deal with his father, but relents when Makoto pleads with her, on the condition that Ito and Makoto's class wins an inter-class athletic competition, which they narrowly lose. However, with Akane's help, they recreate a scene from Beauty and the Beast for Tsubaki and so persuade her that Makoto's passion for his acting is real. Tsubaki finally promises not to tell their father and eventually leaves the school. Tsubaki's name (椿) means "camellia," a flower like her sisters.
Akane Narita (成田 茜 Narita Akane?)
Akane is one of Makoto's three older sisters and a make-up artist, though still technically a student. She's 22 years old and the first one to know about Makoto's secret relationship with Ito. Akane is very nice and helps them out whenever she can. She appears to like Ito a lot, and she looks almost exactly like Makoto (though she cut her hair about halfway through the first volume). Out of his entire family, Akane seems to be the most supportive of Makoto's decision to become an actor, and she also helps him a lot when he's in trouble (i.e: brings him clothes, make-up, or costumes when he needs it and helps him pick out girl clothes). It was in fact Akane who inspired Makoto to become an actor when she snuck him out of the house after a frustrating argument with his father to see a local play. Thanks to her talents Makoto can easily pass as a girl all through high school; she even taught him how to do his makeup and everything without her. Although she is a quiet and naturally formal type of person, she is also observant and wise. Eventually she meets Ito's brother Yûto, and the two hit it off very well.
Akane's name (茜) means "madder," a flower like her sisters.
Takayo Iizuka (飯塚 隆世 Iizuka Takayo?)
Makoto's sickly fiancée, who was imposed on Makoto by his father, but was never acknowledged as more than a friend by Makoto, much to her dismay. She has a poor immune system, and acts very respectable and demure in front of elders, and Makoto, showing her true side to Ito on occasion. Takayo is actually something of a devil, intent on destroying Ito, but still respectable enough to never outwardly reveal Makoto's secret, which would effectively return him to the Narita house. She transfers into his school to be closer to him, and to watch and make sure that he is holding to the rules of his bargain, but due to her poor health, is absent much of the time. Her family is very rich, and she has a few bodyguards and spies at her disposal. Her elder brother has a "little sister complex" and will do anything for her. Her begging him not to is the only reason he hasn't revealed Makoto. He feels his sister is truly noble, and would do anything for her, and is often moved to tears by the smallest acts on her part. According to an author's note, originally she was conceived as a much nastier character with a "persecution complex".[2]
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