When she was a young girl, Utena Tenjou met a handsome
Prince who comforted her in a time of great need. Inspired by his kindness, Utena has aspired
to be a Prince, not a Princess, when she grows up. This brings a now teenage Utena to the Ohtori
Academy. It is here that she meets Anthy
Himemiya, a meek girl who is being abused by her boyfriend in the Student
Council. When Utena steps in to defend
her, she doesn’t realize the road that opens up to her. What is the Student Council and what
mysterious force do they answer to? And
with Anthy free from her abusive relationship, what destiny will unfold when
she becomes Utena’s new charge?
This is a title I had been told I should watch numerous
times. I’ll admit, I tried once and I
came in at about the mid point of the series, watched an episode or two…and
stopped cause I was super confused.
Revolutionary Girl Utena definitely feels like a series that needs to be
viewed from the beginning for anything to make sense. Just watching the first episode though, there
is that sense that youre not just watching any ordinary Anime. And im not just talking about the girl who
wants a position normally taken by a man (though seriously is anyone
complaining about how Utena fills out the boys uniform? Pink hair, legs for
days, just saying).
Utena is billed as an action series in many
respects. You’ve got duels, sabers and
magical powers. Still, there’s a heavy
intellectual air about the plot and the artistry. The rose covered picture frame shots seemed
more like they belonged in an English Dub recap session than a normal Anime,
but theyre there for a reason im sure.
Same with the really creepy doll theater where two girls talk about
gossip and events about to transpire.
This series can be a potential mind frak with all of it’s storytelling
devices. That also keeps it unique in
many ways.
What of the titular Utena herself? Well besides being a gorgeous heroine, she’s
got the strength and mind to back up her good looks. She’s got the heart of a hero, jumping in without
a second thought to try and defend Anthy from harm. She could care less about what a teacher
thinks of her choice of wardrobe (her looking through the hand book to tell her
there’s no rule against it was pretty funny).
I can see why Ms. Tenjou is one of the most beloved and recognized
female heroines in the Anime universe.
Cudos to her sword game too.
There was no doubt in my mind she’d kick green hair guys ass.
The world Utena lives in…is going to take some getting
used to. This prim and proper and highly
aristocratic setting contains a ton of people I’d personally want to punch for
being so smug and elitist. Utena’s green
haired opponent in the first episode (yes he has a name but I don’t remember
it), slaps Anthy without a care. I was
ready for a beating to come to him when Anthy wished Utena good luck in her
duel. Now if this were Ryuko Matoi in
this duel, she’d tear this student council pretty boy a really bad new one then
burn the school to the ground…but how Utena handles her battles with honor and
grace befits her goals to become a Prince.
As for Anthy…I hope she is more than a damsel Utena needs to rescue
(even if Utena’s ok with doing that as a would be Prince). After seeing a great number of strong female
leads, Anthy’s kind of a step back for me.
But who knows, that could change.
Will I continue with this legendary classic? I’m not sure.
My nitpicks with the characters aside and not understanding some of the
pacing and storytelling decisions, it’s not a bad show from first glance. It is strange I choose two back to back shows
with beautiful, pink hair lead characters.
I don’t know, if I can find a copy of the series I’ll give it a watch in
full. Until, I’ll file this under the
‘Maybe’ category. Though I will say if
Utena does become a Prince, she’d still have my sword, bow and axe at her
disposal.
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