W Juliet

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W Juliet

Wジュリエット (W Juliet)
Genre	Shōjo
Manga: W Juliet
Authored by	Emura
Publisher	Hakusensha Pika Édition Carlsen Comics Panini Manga VIZ Media
Serialized in	Hana to Yume
Original run	–
No. of volumes	14

W Juliet is a shōjo manga series by Emura. It is published in English by VIZ Media, and in French by Pika Édition. Recently, W Juliet it is published in Spanish by Panini Manga

W Juliet is about the friendship between a 16 year-old 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.

The first chapter concerns the drama club's production of Romeo and Juliet. Ito Miura has been asked to be Romeo for the play, although she does not want the part (as she is sick of being chosen for male roles due to her looks). The part of Juliet is being contested for by two girls, Makoto Amano and the vain Tsugumi. Tsugumi is favored for the part, but Makoto Amano demonstrates that she can be a competent Juliet. However, if Tsugumi - or anybody else - discovers Makoto's secret, it can bring down both Ito and Makoto.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Makoto's secret is that she is really a boy - his father wanted Makoto to inherit the martial arts dojo when he came of age, however Makoto wanted to become an actor. Makoto's father made a deal with Makoto that if he could act as a girl for the last two years of high school and not get found out, then Makoto would be free to pursue his dream.

Ito finds out that Makoto is a boy and vows to help him to keep his secret - they later become boyfriend and girlfriend.

They are faced with many obstacles such as hiding their romantic relationship from their families. They must also fend off the advances of other suitors, especially Makoto's arranged fiancee. Later on, Makoto and Ito's relationship becomes much stronger and they vow to one day become actors and get married.

[edit] Main Characters

[edit] Ito Miura

A tomboyish girl. The only girl in a male-dominated family, with three brothers and her father. She started wearing guys clothes when she was in first grade and after her mother was killed in a car accident. She also became boyish thanks to the teasing of a boy named Jotaro Kai, who always bullied her. When Ito finds out that Makoto is a guy, she decides to help him and falls in love with him. She is ready to help Makoto in his dream to become an actor. Ito starts to be become more feminine, because she wants to be the perfect girl for Makoto. Her mother had told her that it was ok to become more feminine for the man you loved.

Ito has various admirers such as Toki-senpai, who wants Ito to be much more feminine, become his girlfriend and go to college with him. Also Tsugumi-senpai, a third year female student, seems to be in love with Ito, and finally Sakamoto; a "masochist" that likes both Ito and Makoto. Later on in volume 10, Ito is reunited with Jotaro and he confesses that he teased her because he liked her. Ito is surprised; she remembers that she used to like him too, but she rejects him telling him that she is already in love with someone else.

[edit] Makoto Narita

Makoto made a deal with his father: in order to pursue his own future dreams, Makoto would have to go through two years of highschool 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. Makoto transfers to a new school as Makoto Amano, and he becomes friends with Ito. 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 is forced to have an Omiai with a girl named Takayo Iizuka. Makoto makes it clear that 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.

[edit] Minor Characters

[edit] Friends

[edit] Yoshiro Ozaki

He is the Drama Club's Male President with Ito being his counterpart as the female one. His parts have included both male and female parts, such as the King in Swan Lake and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet(during the Cultural Festival). Yoshiro and Ito have been friends since they met in Eighth Grade. Even though they are a boy-girls friendship, it has never gone past them being just buddies. Yoshiro is in love with someone, since he was in the Tenth Grade he's been secretly in love with Misaki another Drama Club member. Also, he, Misaki, and Nobuko are originally from another manga, called Mokugekisha (Eyewitness).

[edit] Misaki Ichikawa

A member of the Drama Club, some parts she has played are Lady-In-Waiting in Swan Lake and the Prince in Romeo and Juliet (during the Cultural Festival). She is in love with Yoshiro and best friends with Nobuko. Also, she, Yoshiro, and Nobuko are originally from another manga, called Mokugekisha (Eyewitness).

[edit] Nobuko Kataoka

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). She's a great writer and it is stated that she has a book published, that she wrote that includes her friend Misaki, and Yoshiro. Also, she, Yoshiro, and Misaki are originally from another manga, called Mokugekisha (Eyewitness).

[edit] Families

[edit] Miura Family

[edit] Goro(Father)

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 withdrawed 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 very 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 stubborness and foolishness get in the way, overall he is a wise and understanding person.

[edit] Satsuki (Mother, deceased)

From what the past indicates she is a strong woman, and like her son Ryuya she will go to any lengths when angered. Ito's mother who was killed from being hit while crossing the street when Ito was 6 years old. 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, because the two families were close. 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."

[edit] Ryuya (First Brother)

Ryuya is Ito's eldest brother, the heir, and the twin brother to Yuto. He seems to have inherit his father's overly dramatic personality (esp. 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 Ryuya use to go to college, he met a foreign exchange student from America,Christina. Eventually, after a bizarre year of being with her, he and Chris fall in love. For a while he and his father had a debate over him being with her, but they were able to make amends thanks to Chris's "victory".

[edit] Yuto (Second Brother)

Yuto is the second eldest son in the Miura family, and Ryuya's twin. He is the one that does all the cooking around the house. 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. 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. Yuto ends up meeting and dating Akane, Makoto's sister. Gradually the relationship becomes more deeper as the story continues.

[edit] Tatsuyoshi (Third Brother)

Tatsuyoshi is Ito's younger 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 sad he wanted a girl opposite of Ito, her persona and face are identical to Her.

[edit] Narita Family

[edit] Masumi (Father)

A strict disciplinarian who also runs a dojo of primarily kenpo martial arts. Makoto's father is a man of tradition, who feels that absolute respect from his family is very important. But when his oldest child, Sakura, eloped to escape the arranged marriage that he had set up to preserve the dojo, he developed a disatissfaction for rebellion. To make sure that the other children did not repeat this, he took drastic measures to keep them from ever disobeying him. Especially Makoto, his only son who would be heir to the dojo. Masumi would put Makoto through extreme training, almost never letting him out of the house. Eventually he was able to settle down, but not for long when Makoto approached him with a proposition. Rather than allowing him the freedom to live his way of life, Masumi offered him the challenge of disguising himself for his final years of high school in order to prove how serious he was. Masumi often sends spies in order to see if Makoto is keeping his word or not, eventually calling them off for a while when he sends another challenge to Makoto. Though he is more rigid with most of his kids, he is actually more benign with his wife and second oldest, Tsubaki. Tsubaki is probably the most obedient to her father. He also enjoys eating his wife's homemade caramel flan, five times a day.

[edit] Risa (Mother)

Risa is Makoto's mother. She's one-half English and one-half Japanese (Makoto got his blond hair from his English grandmother). 45 years old. Her maiden name was Amano, which is the surname Makoto uses for his alias outside of home. Unlike her husband, she wants her children to make their own choices. Though she feels this way, she humbly allows him to do as he wishes. She's also quite wise, and has the cold glare like her husband when she is angered. When she heard the challenge between Makoto and his father, she had fainted from shock at the idea of her son dressing like a girl for the rest of his high school years.

[edit] Sugiyama Sakura (First Sister)

Sakura is Makoto's eldest sister, and she's 25 years old. She left home with her boyfriend so that they could elope, and escape from the Omiai her father had set up. Angered by her actions, he took out his frustration on his other children, mostly Makoto. Every once and a while she, Akane, and Makoto would meet. Her second oldest sister Tsubaki and her were not on good terms yet. Then again neither was she and Makoto. Whenever she would meet them, Makoto stood silently behind Akane, never speaking to her. Later in the series she runs into Makoto and Ito, and is thoroughly pleased to see Makoto soften up from Ito's presence. She feels that because of Ito Mako can be more himself. And because of her, Makoto and her were able to make amends after six years of silence. Her second influence to open up Makoto was her son, Satoshi; whom she's had for over a year or two now.

[edit] Tsubaki (Second Sister)

Tsubaki is Makoto's second eldest sister, and she's 24 years old. She's a a biology teacher that comes to work at Makoto's and Ito's school under her father's orders to spy on him. Of all her other siblings, she does as her father asks. She was the one who was able to ease his influence on the house when Sakura had left, and thus also holding a bit of a grudge towards her. Tsubaki is obsessed with Makoto (she has pictures of him all over her room walls, the same as one might do with their favorite rock star!), and so she too wants to bring him back home. During the hard times he was very close to her, calling her "Tsubaki-chan". She is very fond of him, the way Ito's father is to her being the only girl. She's normally a firm and straitforward type person, but can become totally different when it comes to Makoto. She has a bit of a shouta complex, (likes younger boys Like Mutsuki from Haunted Junction! But not as bad), and was disappointed when she found out Ito was a girl.

[edit] Akane (Third Sister)

Akane is one of Makoto's 3 older sisters and a make-up artist (well...she's a student, but she's very good according to Makoto). She's 22 years old. The only one to know about Makoto's secret, and his relationship with Ito. (Eventually a few other people like Tsubaki find out.)She's 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). Thanks to her talents Makoto can easily pass as a girl all throughout high school; she even taught him how to do his makeup and everything without her. Although she is a quiet and naturally formal-speaking type of person, she is also observant and wise. Eventually she meets Ito's brother Yuto, and the two hit it off very well.