BRACE YER HINDERS!
Sometimes there's failure to establish a premise, and other times you wonder if you're HIGH OFF YOUR ASS.
Oh God, THE COLORSSSSSSSSSSSS...
Also gay. Homosexuality and sexual ambiguity are themes that pop up seemingly at random in anime in general, but some series sexuality almost defines a series and with some they combine the homosexuality and ambiguity into a big ball of mind fuck.
Speaking of which, let's discuss Revolutionary Girl Utena!
(Opening for Utena, catchy music and enticingly attractive visuals act as superb bait for the weirdest fantasy "just friends" romance between ladies you'll ever come across.)
Being a staunch conservative, people assume I'm a gaybashing hater of all things remotely non-masculine or explodey. Yet I'M the guy who keeps having to lend my Utena Boxed set to people both gay & straight! Especially ladies.
What the hell?? Get a job, ya bums!
Just kidding, guys.
... sorta.
Let's just jump right in to the Revolution shall we? Utena at it's core is an endearing and empowering story of a good-natured tomboy pushed into a circumstance that she's been mentally steeling herself for since childhood following the death of her parents as she was inspired and comforted by a charming male stranger with elegance, grace and charisma. Instead of being left swooning, waiting for her prince, the little girl vowed to be her own prince and set out to right wrongs, ride horses and make the ladies weak in the knees.
Awwwwwwwwwww yeah!
TV Series
Utena finds herself in a school (Hogwarts France...?) of impossible architecture populated by pseudo-eurotrash-nobility that wear the most eccentric Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts band outfits as they fight for one single piece of arm candy named Anthy. Utena accidentally gets pulled into their Fight Club for poofters (I am soooooo going to whack your flower!) when she defends a girl named Anthy from what Utena assumes to be her boyfriend. Utena wins the duel claiming the "Rose Bride" and mops the floor with the entire fight club membership repeatedly in both the ring and in their absurdly pretentious social circles.
From there shit gets real and it becomes clear that there is some dark, malevolent presence that has control of their fair school as duels become manipulated in ways even the fight club cannot conceive, which upsets them because they sincerely assumed they had been in control. As more mysterious duelists enter the fray and disappear just as mysteriously the list of suspects narrows to the heights of power within the school and a wild twist of fantasy, love and mind-fucks await.
And while I made a few gay cracks about it so far, I promise it won't get any worse than say.... THIS:
(Utena isn't remotely THIS gay per se, but it's the definitive Yuri battle anthem and darling mascot of anime lesbians everywhere.)
First of all, we need to examine the duels because they are the most integral solution to any dramatic situations in the show.
Granted, there's a genius level of depth buried in the various themes and sub-plots within the show that aren't easy to catch the first time making each duel a unique and important battle based on events occurring within each episode and changing relationships as a result in the overall plot...
BUT the point of their duels, 99.9% of the time, is to cut a rose from their opponent's chest. I understand that if they KILLED each other in the show they'd run out of characters by the twelfth episode, but that's no excuse for making up a piss-poor dueling scenario that drives the show. Even power ranger monsters die. Put some teeth on that fucker because otherwise you're playing the most candy-ass version of Nerf Swordfighting ever. Hell, fighting with Nerf Swords is arguably more dangerous than stepping into the fight club dome with Utena, in spite of the fact that they use REAL swords in the duels.
Might scare some florists though.
After the fifth fight or so, you realize that this is THE GIMMICK to each episode and is meant to be the denouement, the bread, the garnish and the meaty contents of your Utena sandwich. All lines point to Dueling. But they could have gone further with this and they KNOW it! What pushes the excitement of a good sword fight is the addition of story being built up and driving each swing and they try to do precisely that, but they fire off that attempt like a machine gun taking all the thrill out of a duel... and then there's the seriousness of the stakes when you're whacking a flower in order to trade a woman around.
(A familiar duel juggling multiple cinematic elements: Revenge, Revelation, danger, sacrifice and more as each aspect of emotion and story is expressed in their fight making it almost unparalleled as it practically defines why duels carry such cinematic weight.)
Then there's the absurd school setting. Some of this is revealed later, but I was suspicious of this from the start. Where the hell are they? Not which structure are they in, but WHERE are they? France? Nebraska? Japan? Earth? MARS?! WHERE???? Also, what school has this kind of budget for junior high & High school kids? My school could barely keep their football team funded, but these guys can sneak off to a gigantic hidden dome for swordfights and STILL be on campus! Then there's that little mouse monster that hangs out with Anthy... Why does it have an earring?
Granted, they touch on these details later, but they only TOUCH on them. The WHY is never approached directly because Utena goes from a clever story of empowerment to thinking it's Evan-fucking-gelion as it recommends to its passengers to bend over and think of England as they prepare the mind-fuck train.
(A Trailer for the last leg of Utena's lengthy story, If nothing makes sense that only shows that you're paying attention.)
To be fair, there's several satisfying moments of revelation and realization, but much of the show will raise your eyebrows in perplexed surprise, confusion or dismay. Much of the revelation is that everyone and I mean EVERYONE has sex with the same man. EVERYONE!!!! And following each wild ride the victim of his wild and crazy lovin' takes a stab at Utena again, but with some huge upgrade to the drama they bring to the table.
The show is long and you WILL feel its length, especially when they make a play for eccentrically needless dramatic tension to space things out, for instance making constant use of the Greek Chorus of Shadow Girls that deliver story progression via sing-song rumors that they follow up with a cultural joke or gag. Ugh, Japanese wordplay puns...
(Sailor... Utena? A montage of Utena gags starting with a Sailor Moon audio application, a frequent occurance as the two stem from the same genre with similar themes. Although, Utena is darker and vastly more fucked up than Sailor Moon's sugary silliness.)
Utena is uh, Shojo-Ai... I think? That means it's printed as girl comics, because the Japanese need to make that distinction between genres and genders. What that means to actual humans is that it's a style similar to Sailor Moon focusing on romance, friendship and aesthetic detail rather than making action or grit its primary push in the story. Despite the high budget sword fights that threaten flowers. That said, the story setup in the anime is impressively sturdy with much to see and even more that you won't catch on your first 2-3 viewings of the show.
(A trailer for the Utena movie showcasing the jaw-droppingly gorgeous animation that the profits of millions of Japanese girls can buy.)
The Movie
On a side note there was also a feature film that probably commanded more attention than the show itself based solely on the high quality animation utilized in its production. It's a twisted cliff-notes version of the Utena tale where Touga is Utena's dead lover or something, lesbians become race cars and... Hell, I think that's all I need to add. Where else do you NEED to go when you've got lesbian race cars?!?
Brace yourself for some double-dub hatin! CPM had dibs on this as well so its dub is crap, but the visuals are so good you won't even notice if you feel compelled to watch it dubbed. Well, you'll notice. Because it's awful.
Think I'm exagerrating? Observe:
(Utena squares off against Saionji in her inaugural duel defending Anthy's honor, English Dub)
I recommend RENTING the movie so you can opt to watch it at least twice, not so much buying it. The animation is outstanding and it's a great film to simply turn your brain off while watching. They made a point to try and turn it into the same mysterious fantasy story that the TV show and Manga detail, but the movie is so half-assed that the "experience" of seeing the visuals in motion with the right vocal cast and the music permeating every scene make it an anime you MUST watch.
(What is it with Evanescence and anime nerds...?)
I really like Utena. So much that I've purchased the entire series twice and I even snagged the movie. It's visually intoxicating and the story is just as enticing as the beautiful visual style, but I will be the first to come forward and point out that it's an acquired taste. You don't have to be gay or female to appreciate it, but I'd be lying if I said it can't help your appreciation immensely. I'm neither (I swear!) and I have nothing but admiration for it because it's a powerful story coupled with great animation and honestly that all I ask of Santa for Christmas.
To be clear, Santa can rarely deliver. He came through with Utena though. THANKS SANTA!
Anyway, it's a great series and definitely something you should try whether or not its flavor is necessarily to your liking just so you can try it for yourself. I stand behind it entirely, but I have to reiterate that you want to try it before you buy it...
Because I'm not loaning you my copy again!
I'm not!!!
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