"Revolutionary Girl Utena" (Anime)

[pkristen]

All 13 eps (Season 1) of the TV Series. Temporary review 11/13/01

Summary
Orphaned as a child, little girl Utena is befriended by a traveling prince who cheers her up and gives her a rose seal ring. She takes this meeting as a sign that she too must become a prince. Now a teenager, she attends school in a hybrid boy/girl uniform, plays boy sports, and has dozens of girls swooning over her (including a “girlfriend” Wakaba.) Through circumstances, she ends up participating in a secretive round of duels among the student council members to “possess” Anthy the Rose Bride in order to get the power to “revolutionize the world.”

Review
Cute, slim girl on cover with a sword was a signal to me to buy both available DVDs. I honestly had no real idea what to expect.

When I watched the series the first time, I admit it was hard for me to get into the show, though admittedly I wasn’t given it my full attention at the time, and I was distracted by some the illogical physical things that were going on. But as I started watching it and realizing just how richly layered the story telling was, I admit I became hooked. I love the type of stories that can reveal more and more every time you view or read it and “Utena” is one of those.

However, describing this show to someone proved challenging, especially since I wholeheartedly recommended it to anyone I knew. Then I finally realized it’s a modern fairytale, where the laws of physics are not necessarily applicable if the point must be made. Blatant and subtle symbolism is every where in the story, leaving many things open to personal interpretation, forcing you to draw your own logical conclusion rather than stating things out in the open.

So yes, this is a classic all the way around.

No guns, no cool explosions and no babes with big boobs.

Lesbian Analysis
Ummm, I wrote most of it but have since misplaced my notes… looking, looking, looking… You don’t want me to write down the wrong thing about Juri, of all people, now would you?… still looking…