#they're just like 'be grateful we even included the english audio.'

[icharchivist]

must be the masochistic bone in me that i think about the Merlin’s ending and i think “wow i need to rewatch Merlin”, why do i like to suffer like that.

[bencutiostan]

I was bored so I made a RetJ tier list

PLEASE keep in mind this is purely my opinion and I honestly love every single retj production and I fully support and respect everyone in the community! I'm just more close to some versions rather than others, and I'll briefly explain my "points" (more like I'm going to share positivity because they're all amazing)

Rómeó és Júlia and Romeo e Giulietta - ama e cambia il mondo are beyond God Tier to me, they occupy such a special place in my heart and I can't rate them objectively. I not only know the lyrics but also the choreography of both of them, and I literally cosplayed half of the Italian version cast. Romeo e Giulietta was the first production I've ever seen and I had the honor to see it live 2 times (in 2013 and in the recent 2018 new tour) and I think it's visually the best version. The costumes, the choreography, the colors, the ACOTRS FJFUGY, the background, everything in this version is just soo pleasing to my eyes. Also the lyrics are just so on point, and since italian is my first language I do understand and catch all the amazing language study behind the adaptations and it's soooOOOO GOOD. They have the best Benvolio (Riccardo owns my heart I'M SORRY) and the second best Mercutio (Luca is amazing and beautiful and so freaking talented). You're probably wondering who's the best Mercutio to me AND HERE STARTS MY RANT ABOUT ROMEO ES JULIA BECAUSE THE BEST QUALITY OF THIS VERSION IS THE ONE, THE ONLY, THE BEAUTIFUL, THE AMAZING BERECZKI ZOLTAN. The man literally owns my soul. I'm truly in love with him sorry not sorry please step on me you beautiful ginger boy. Also the dark aesthetic of the hungarian version is so freaking cool and unique, and the rearrangements of the songs are amazing. The actors are so talented and c U T e and I honestly can't live without the general atmosphere of this production. I can't choose between those two and I won't, they're so different (the Italian being so classy and elegant, while the hungarian is pure DANCE, HYPE, MOVEMENTS AND BERECZKI ZOLTAN) so yeah, god tier.

[big disclaimer idk what my keyboard did here but it's perfection* I know the lyrics by heart*] The original french version and the austrian version are perfect to me. The 2001 version is so elegant, classy, and yet so catchy, funny, original, and the actors generally are maybe the best ones esthetically and considering their voices. I don't have much to say, it's the ORIGINAL ONE everything started thanks to it so OF COURSE IT'S SPECIAL AND BEAUTIFUL and I know literally all the lyrics. As for the Austrian version IDK WHY IT'S SO SPECIAL TO ME since objectively I can't point any particular things I love but it's generally such a beautiful version and I always keep coming back to it. Good job, I know all the lyrics LMAO

I'm going to GO VERY FAST HERE BECAUSE TOO MANY PRODUCTIONS. The 2010 French version is SOO GOOD (also they have John Eyzen who is 200 points) but IN MY OPINION is not AS GOOD as the original one, so I had to put it here. But honestly, I think I re-watched it more than the original, but I tried to be objective on here. The takarazuka version is maybe too over the top for me sometimes BUT I LOVE IT JSHFHFHDH we stan the lesbian romeo and juliet and the shakesperean lyrics. Also the costumes are pure gold. The Korean version is very VERY similar to the french 2010 version but honestly I really love the actors soooo here. The Hebrew version is quite low cost but I really like it, they have probably my favorite Tybalt lmao (sorry Tom, sorry Gianluca, but he slayed it). I honestly love semplicity and elegance, so ironically the lowcost simple Hebrew version is one of my faves LMAO. The Toho version is AMAZING AND I STAN THE BENCUTIO MOMENTS they're whort everything and I'm so grateful that I had the possibility to see it thanks to a friend of mine who had the dvd. The Russian version holds a special place in my heart too since it's one of the very first ones and their mercutio is amazing + I saw an amazing thread about the gay subtext and I sTAN HERE.

From now on I added all the versions I couldn't see but I just listened to the cast recordings... So I couldn't really judge but I decided to include them too cuz I stan. They're generally very good both vocally and on the point of view of the adaptation and I really wish to actually see those one day (so please if you have a bootleg of those versions share those with me I'll give you all my love)

The only version I didn't really like (even though I only listened to the cast recordings). The audio is just so chaotic and I can't really judge the vocals because the musical adaptation is so b a d it confuses me... I still hope to have a decent English version one day to really spread the retj fandom around the world