By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

Directorial Vision  
Hakase and Ayu is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is set in 
modern-day Sendai, Japan, and follows two high schoolers, Hakase Tokugawa 
and Ayu Misogi, who come from contrasting families. Many aspects of the 
genesis text have been changed or removed to better fit the setting and cultural 
values of Japan.  
 
e movie opens on two high school aged girls walking to class, discussing a 
recent double suicide at a nearby school. As they walk, the camera pans along 
with them and then licks to a group of people behind them, talking about the 
same thing. A news program discussing the same issue is shown. e camera 
lickers between people talking about the event, their voices overlapping then 
crescendoing until the screen goes black. “One week earlier” fades onto the 
screen and Ayu’s and Hakase’s tale begins. 
 
Our vision for the play is to take Romeo and Juliet and adapt it to a context that 
Western audiences could relate to more but still keep the occurences relatively 
detached, as though audiences are watching the events unfold through glass. 
us, we adjusted the play to modern Japan, where fundamentally society is 
similar, but cultural values and language are di ferent. rough detachment 
and especially the first and last scenes, we aim to challenge the audiences to 
connect to and truly feel sorrow for people in a situation they aren’t really 
involved in. We also wanted to show audiences how much of a tragedy Romeo 
and Juliet actually is, as changing cultural values have made it the subject of 
much ridicule today. 
 
is film is mostly informed by context. It uses modern language, loosely tied 
to the play in terms of subject material. e only highly evident links to 
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet will be in the story. Actors will speak and write in 
Japanese with English subtitles. is adaptation, being uniquely Japanese 
however targeted to a western audience, will feature music with characteristics 
of traditional Japanese music, to emphasise the setting and its cultural 
di ferences. 
 

 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

Added subtexts include whether something that is generally accepted by society 

is “alright” or not (in this case, Makoto, our version of Paris, and Ayu’s omiai or 
“Matchmaking”). We attempt to convey to viewers the importance of balancing 
cherishing your family and respecting their decisions whilst following your 
own wishes. e subtext of common modern corruption (for example, yakuza 
violence and drugs) is also addressed in this adaptation. 
 
Costuming for Hakase and Ayu is based on context. In the majority of scenes, 
protagonists are in school uniform. Filming at homes will have modern, casual 
costuming, with the exception of Hakase’s family who wear more traditional 
Japanese clothing fitting to their yakuza a filiations. Similarly, setting for the 
adaptation is mainly school based. Additional scenes will be filmed around the 
city or Sendai and at Hakase and Ayu’s homes.  
 
Ending the film is a short scene featuring the two girls from the beginning. 
ey converse more about the suicide before one of them says “ at’s a shame. I 
feel bad for them”. e camera films their backs as they walk away, having 
moved onto a new topic and the shot fades to black.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

 
 
Storyboard 

 
First Meeting Scene (Act 1, Scene 5): 
e two catch sight of each other during an exam. e camera is positioned mainly at 
eye level to capture both of their faces. 
- Set: An examination hall filled with students. At the front is written “国語試
験 ”(Japanese Exam). Ayu and Hakase are sitting in close proximity. 
- Props: Each student has a test paper and pens. 
- Costuming: Mostly school uniform. Teachers wear semi-formal dress. 
- Lighting: Moderately bright, typical of an examination hall. As Ayu and Hakase 
see each other, they are more brightly illuminated than the background. 
- Sound: Only diegetic sounds (pens scratching, etc.) until the two catch sight of 
each other. So t, romantic vocal music plays while they exchange answers. 
- Special E fects: When they gaze at each other, a ray of light seems to shine 
between them. 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

 
The Balcony (Window) Scene (Act 2, Scene 2): 
Having asked for a toilet break at her coaching college, Ayu instead goes to an empty 
classroom’s window and monologues about how she wishes Hakase wasn’t a Yakuza. 
Hakase hears and hides. e camera should be positioned more le t so as to capture 
both of their faces, and make Ayu’s monologuing more apparent. Mostly high-and 
low-angle shots from both perspectives. As Hakase nears the window, the camera 
zooms out, cutting to close up when they begin conversing. 
- Set: A building with an approximately metre-wide open window, and 
shrubbery including trees outside.  
- Costuming: Having just le t school, they wear uniforms. 
- Lighting: It has already turned dark, however there are lights on the outside of 
the building to illuminate Ayu’s face as she speaks. Hakase very dim to 
emphasise his concealment. 
- Sound: Sad violin as Hakase arrives, swelling to happy music as they confess. 
Hakase’s movements in the grass below to be amplified. 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

 
Hakase and Ayu get married (Act 2, Scene 5): 
e day a ter they meet on the balcony, Hakase pleaded his kumicho(yakuza boss) to 
help get him and Ayu married. He agrees, and the two are married the day a ter at the 
Yakuza compound. e camera consistently follows the couple from the side in a dolly 
motion. ey look at each other the whole journey down the path, and at the end the 
camera circles around them as they embrace. 
- Set: A small path just wide enough for Hakase and Ayu. It lays in a traditional 
Japanese garden with sakura trees blooming around them. 
- Costuming: As per tradition, the two are dressed in Japanese wedding kimono 
from the Yakuza compound. 
- Lighting: e scene is dim, with bright light shining upon the couple and 
Hakase’s kumicho, almost like a spotlight. 
- Sound: Romantic music plays quietly in the background as well as ambient 
sound, with the music swelling and escalating as they reach the end of the 
path. Once they kiss, the music hits a climax with full orchestra drains out 
every other sound. 
- Special E fects - While they walk together, sakura lowers rain down across the 
screen, signifying that their love has the power to shake nature. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hamigaki(Tybalt) Dies (Act 3, Scene 1): 
Hakase is walking home from school when he is confronted by Hamigaki, Ayu’s 
cousin, who has just discovered she was married to a Yakuza. He and his friends 
confront Hakase angrily, and the two fight. e brawl culminates with Hakase 
accidentally pushing Hamigaki o f of the pavement and onto the train tracks below. 
- Set: A bridge, overlooking some railway lines. Street lamps dimly illuminate 
the scene. e railing is weak and gives way easily. 
- Costuming: All wear their uniforms. 
- Lighting: It is night, however it is still possible to see their facial expressions 
- Sounds: Dark and foreboding atonal tune, becoming fast paced as they begin 
fighting. Only a heartbeat can be heard as Hamigaki is pushed o f the bridge, 
despite Hamigaki visibly shouting. 
- Special E fects: Hamigaki falls in slow motion, facing upwards towards 
Hakase and the camera. e angry and surprised expression on his face is 
highlighted. 
 
 

 
 
 
By Elyxa Dino and Chen Zhao, 9U 

 
Ayu and Hakase Commit Suicide (Act 5, Scene 3) 
Hakase, who has been expelled from school and is under a lot of stress, is confronted 
by one of Hamagaki’s friends who blames him for Hamagaki’s hospitalisation and 
Ayu’s supposed suicide. He runs to the hospital at this news where he finds Ayu under 
the in luence of drugs and thinks she is dead. Distraught and panicking, he 
overdoses on his antidepressants and dies. Hours later, Ayu finds her dead lover and 
a ter a heartbreaking speech, holds his hand and kills herself with his pen knife. Ayu 
and Hakase’s families decide that, despite them having died already, their marriage 
connects the families eternally, and they repair their relations. 
- Set: A bleak, hospital room. Ayu lays on a bed in the centre and Hakase sits on 
the bed’s side. 
- Costuming: Ayu is dressed in hospital clothes, whilst Hakase wears casual 
clothes. 
- Lighting: Very bright to match the room. A ter the two die, the lighting 
intensifies into a blinding white to symbolise their purity. 
- Sounds: Only diegetic sounds are heard, especially during the bird’s eye view 
scene, where only the wail of the heartbeat machine can be heard signifying 
Ayu’s death. 
- Special E fects: Hakase runs into the hospital ward slow motion, with a 
panicky look on his face.  
- Camera: Close up of the two holding hands as Ayu kills herself, blood dripping 
onto their hands. Once they both have died, the camera is at a bird’s eye view, 
and is spinning slowly as it pulls further away