Turns out you might now have to wait for Romeo X Juliet to get your Japanized Shakespeare! UK based publisher Metro Media has gathered ‘leading UK manga artists’ in a project to create manga novels based on Shakespeare’s classic plays. The project, adequately, although plain, titled Manga Shakespeare aims to get the younger crowd interested in classic literature by presenting it in a medium they will care to read. The first two titles Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet have already been released.

The endeavor of making Shakespeare cool doesn’t come without its toll of modifications. Take the Romeo and Juliet manga for example:

Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s most famous love story, unfurls in a dramatic manga setting, in which Verona becomes a street in the highly fashionable Shibuya district of Tokyo. The star-crossed lovers, touching in their youth and innocence, are caught up in a bitter feud between two Yakuza families (Japan’s ‘mafia’) whose rivalry erupts into violence and killing on the streets. Romeo, a rock star, is a Montague who falls in love with Juliet, a Capulet. They defy their parents and consummate their passion in secret. This is a story of love, revenge, violence and tragedy.

And they probably meet at a cosplay gala in Akihabara!

[SelfMadeHero / Via Tokyomango]