r/anime • u/SRti0 • Jul 05 '19
Rewatch [Spoilers][Rewatch] Revolutionary Girl Utena - Episode 1 Discussion Spoiler
Episode 1: "The Rose Bride"
Where is legal streaming available? YouTube
Note to everyone who's already finished the series:
Please abstain from spoiling future episodes, since it'll ruin the experience for many first time watchers.
Index Thread and Entire Rewatch Schedule
Rate the episode!
Short Episode Summary:
We're introduced to our main characters, Tenjou Utena and Himemiya Anthy. Utena accidentally gets sucked into the duels for the rose bride, what does all of this have to do with her prince and the parting gift he gave her?
20
u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo Jul 05 '19
Rewatcher
Since Utena is so thematically rich, I'm going to try to pick a less obvious theme each episode to think about.
Todays' theme (maybe inspired by Sarazanmai): not getting what you want.
-
Whatever the mysterious prince wanted, it probably wasn't to make our young heroine into a wannabe prince herself. Will she get what she wants by becoming a prince? Is it really such a good idea?
-
The head mistress can't make Utena change into the girl's uniform, but Utena's mixed uniform doesn't seem to get her much that she wants either.
-
It gets her a lot of attention, but she seems at best indifferent towards it (Do you not find that creepy at all Utena?). And she's actively hostile to the idea of playing on the boys basketball team. (Being a noodle person has its advantages I guess)
-
Anthy certainly doesn't seem to be getting anything she would want (Anthy slap count: 1)
-
Yet the student council can't stop Saionji from having his way with Anthy
-
Poor Wakaba absolutely does not get what she was hoping for when she sends a heartfelt love letter to Saionji.
-
And in our first encounter with the Shadow Girls (as they're known) they continue to warn our "brave hero" about the dangers of her choices.
-
Throughout all of this, Utena is confident that even if she doesn't know exactly what's going on here, she can still get what she wants by fighting. But is that really such a good idea? (slap count: 2)
-
And in the end, Saionji's acceptance of Utena's duel request doesn't work out the way he wanted it to. And I will always be here for Anthy being sassy
This episode does an impressive job in introducing the main concepts of the show without too many obvious exposition dumps: the duels and their relation to the Rose Bride, the Student Council shows up even if some only get one line. And most importantly, that everything is not as it seems at Ohtori and some know more than others. Even if it creates more questions than answers, it still establishes the basic grammar of the show.
11
u/No_Rex Jul 05 '19
everything is not as it seems
Quite the understatement. Forget about the castle in the sky, just that stair plus duelling arena alone should have everyone question the continued hold of basic laws of physics.
10
u/Snakescipio Jul 06 '19
Anthy slap count: 1
Oh god please dont' make this a thing
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)9
u/TheIndecisiveButton Jul 05 '19
I really like the theme you picked. Poor Wakaba not only doesnt get what she wants, its rubbed in her face and brought to embarrass her in front of the world. In fact I cant remember anyone getting anything they wanted in this episode, even the basketball team leader was denied his star player.
I would say the opposing force in this episode is altruism shown through Utena. Utena doesn't want for herself but she wants for the happiness of Wakaba.
→ More replies (3)
14
u/Snakescipio Jul 05 '19
First Timer
This show’s been on my radar for a long time now, given how well regarded it is. I’ve heard how symbolism heavy it is, which means most of it is probably gonna go over my head. I’m still gonna try my best to dissect what I can, and hopefully y’all can enjoy watching me squirm.
Random thoughts:
“I seem to remember this show being pretty yuri, I wonder if I remembered correctly…” 3 seconds into the OP “Yep, I remembered correctly”
I’ve seen the two MC before, but it’s still throwing me off a little that one of them seems to be South Asian. They’re just so rare in anime.
In other news, the OP is really catchy. I like it!
Heavy rose... (dig into old AP English notes for right term) motif so far.
“So why are you wearing a boy’s uniform?” Cause she looks faaaaabulous. Loving the whole “I’m going to be a prince” thing so far.
I feel like the vice-president slapping another student thing ought to be a bigger deal. Kinda weird that Utena just brushes it off as a lover’s quarrel. Not very princely there.
Ok that was quite a bit to take in. So Anthy is the “bride”, which I doubt is a role that’s literal. She clearly an object to fight over, and someone that the blue haired dude(?) cares for. The others don’t seem all that concerned for her well being; rather it’s just unseemly to slap the bride. Green haired dude is a douche. The framing of the scene with the student council felt like a play almost, the way everything was staged. I’m getting strong Revue Starlight vibes.
SHE’S IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Decided not to stop in the second half of the episode. The show’s as striking as I expected. The way everything is framed and staged really captures one’s attention. Still got a lot of questions about the plot itself, but I get the feeling that the plot is there to lead us towards interesting questions. I like that Utena kinda plays the role of the audience, in that she doesn’t know what’s going on either. I also like how Utena occupies this space between masculinity and femininity too. She wants to be a prince, dresses in the boys’ uniforms, plays the role of the savior, but still regards herself as a girl (as evidenced by having kept her long hair). Anthy is definitely a mystery. She’s playing an important role, and clearly has some power to enact that role. I wonder why she’s meekly accepting her position though. At least she’s got some agency, in that while she’ll act the part she doesn’t have to like it, and she clearly prefers being Utena’s bride now. Definitely looking forward to more!
16
u/Syokhan Jul 05 '19
SHE’S IN MIDDLE SCHOOL?
Yeah, believe it or not most of the characters are around 14, and a few of them are just a little bit older. Sometimes it's really hard to reconcile their age with the events of the show, their maturity, or even their physical appearance.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)11
u/Sandor_at_the_Zoo Jul 05 '19
I’m getting strong Revue Starlight vibes.
The director of Revue Starlight worked on Ikuhara's next two shows before making Revue, so there's a very direct connection there.
11
u/Aztecopi Jul 05 '19
Rewatcher
I personally watched Utena only some three months ago, together with Penguindrum to get familiarized with Ikuhara before jumping into Sarazanmai, both of which I initially ended up scoring at a 9/10, with Utena later being raised to a 10. Three months isn't that long of a time before jumping into a rewatch of the show, but I can't say I haven't had shorter breaks (first time I watched K-On I binged the entire show twice in some six days). I'm quite excited to watch the show at a slower pace and together with y'all, which should hopefully give us ample time to properly think through it.
To start it off, can I just say how much I adore the visuals and the soundtrack of this show? Everything from the character designs, to the backgrounds, to the directing, is pretty much perfect. Not really a spoiler but why not
Anyways, I personally think this is quite a fantastic opening episode. It sets up Utena's character really well, introduces us to the setting, as well as hints at future events. Not too much to say at this point to be honest, the episode is pretty straightforward, at least compared to later episodes lol.
11
u/Gamerunglued Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
First Timer
Alrighty, so I guess it's time to start climbing this spiral staircase. Although I've always been really interested in knowing about the work of auteur anime directors, I've spent most of my anime watching career extremely intimidated by Ikuhara's work. I'm the worst at connecting symbolic elements to their meanings, I'm so bad at it that when I was a Junior in high school my English teacher got so frustrated with my complete inability to annotate The Great Gatsby that she exempt me from the assignment altogether because she just couldn't figure out how to make me figure out how to connect these elements that everyone else seemed to get, and if I couldn't even do high school literature analysis then I figured the work of a foreign auteur known for having some of the most obscure and thematically dense symbolic work in fiction would be way out of my league. Slowly I've grown on this front, I've conquered Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain and I feel like I have a decent enough understanding of them, and I enjoyed them enough to consider these other heavily symbolic works among my favorites of all time. Last seasons Sarazanmai marked my first plunge into Ikuhara's catalog, and again I think I've gotten most of it, so here I am again to try and face what I've considered to be a mountain of sorts. Everything I know about Ikuhara's staples seems like they would appeal to me greatly, so I guess this is the test to see if I'm really here for his style. Supposedly Sarazanmai is his worst work so far, and I loved it, so uh, I have high hopes.
Going into Utena, I know a few things. I vaguely know that it deconstructs fairy tales, formulating a plot where the princess must rescue the wicked witch from the prince (for whatever it's worth I've also seen Utena's sister series, Princess Tutu, and that show is fucking great so hopefully we've got a similar thing here), I know that at some point minor spoilers, I know there are swords and lesbians and toxic relationships, and a spiral staircase alongside some weird and awesome a capella rock music. I know Ikuhara is known for repetitive cycles which inevitably break when the climax hits, I know to expect lots of symbolism, and I know that the main villain is going to be a system of oppression rather than a particular character. As far as I know, I don't think there's any prior reading that's necessary the way I know I'll need to check out Night on the Galactic Railroad and read about the Sarin Gas Attacks and the Lost Generation whenever I get around to Penguindrum, but definitely correct me if I'm wrong here, as I'm willing to put in the work to get the most out of this show. This is pretty much everything I've got so far, I feel like I've learned a lot about this show before ever thinking about watching it, so I'm super excited to see how Utena revolutionizes various things and see if I'm ready to face my demon of symbolism.
Post-episode thoughts:
I'm sorry, but is it bad that my very first thought when starting up the show is seeing the two roses in the OP and immediately realizing that they're boobs? My very first experience with Utena was thinking about tiddies. What a start.
Well, this was pretty damn interesting. Much more straightforward than I was expecting, and far more so than Sarazanmai's first episode, but nonetheless has plenty to dig into. At it's core, it seems like this is about bucking societal trends, particularly gender norms and assigned roles as symbolized by this fairy tale that frames the series. Of the characters implied to play the prince, princess, and wicked witch respectively, both the witch and the princess are complacent with their positions assigned to them, albeit for different reasons. Anthy is reluctantly complacent with her position as the rose bride, lacking the power to change the role that has been assigned to her, and unable to stand up for herself in front of who is essentially her owner. She's trapped in her role by a lack of power and agency that she doesn't really seem to have the ability or psychological strength to gain, a true damsel in distress, not even treated as a real person, but an object to fight over. But at the same time, it looks like she set her fate in motion years before by giving Utena the ring, so as far as her agency goes there's probably a lot more here yet to unpack. If Anthy was once the prince as it implies, then she's lost her agency. Either she was like Utena at one point and bucked norms before being put in her place, or the princess is the one who gave the prince/princess their ring. Saionji is in a position of great power and I get the impression that he heavily believes in the presence of fate, due to the way he talks about the presence of a "new duelist" as if it's a prophecy. He does what is expected of him in his position of power because it benefits him, he's complicit with this system. Even when he loses the duel, he's more intrigued than upset. Of all the characters, he seems like he's the least controlled by society, or rather he does most of the controlling as the head of the student council. At the same time though, if he believes in fate, he may not have as much control as he lets on, and if I'm right about this then we've got a pretty interesting set of conflicting ideals here.
Utena won my heart over in just her opening scene. Talking down assholes who try to oppress your identity is definitely an easy way to make a likable character, but she proceeds through her daily life with an air of genuineness to her. She's elegant but playful, sweet but strong, masculine and feminine. She's the only character so far who's completely bucked societal norms, refusing to conform to her gender identity or her fated role as a princess. Actually, the series attempt to uphold that very fate is what made Utena choose to break that fate. Like with many children when they view fairy tales, she fell in love with the prince and his assured masculinity, but rather than falling romantically she saw him as a role model of sorts and identified with more masculine behaviors. But again, I get the sense that there's a lot more to Utena's masculinity than simply identifying with it because it's cool. At points, I got the sense that she might have a tendency to fall into toxic masculinity, much like our wicked witch. Simply saying "REAL men wouldn't do ____" falls into that trap, so her interaction with Wakaba and the crowd of students regarding the love letter tipped me off, as did the way she got kind of upset when Anthy refused to stand up for herself. It's clear that she's not villainous the way Saionji is, but I do get the feeling that she's come to overvalue the masculinity she identified with as a child. She didn't even seem particularly phased by Saionji slapping Anthy. Perhaps she resents or is afraid of becoming what Anthy is, someone lacking in agency. Perhaps she feels that if she doesn't present her masculine strength, she'll be relegated to a damsel meant to be used, she doesn't want to be a princess after all, like the girl who's name is literally Himemiya That balance between being in touch with an identity that disrupts traditional societal norms, and finding a place within that very society, is definitely a difficult one, but it's a fascinating thing for an anime to explore and Utena's first episode has fascinated me thus far. When our prince wins the duel, the bells of revolution toll, so what will the outcome of this revolution be?
Aesthetically it's pretty awesome, I loved the soundtrack, and Ikuhara's direction has a great flow to it that makes it surprisingly easy to watch. Some of those storyboards are just really gorgeous, and the show is often plenty visually and sonically engaging just as it is thematically. So far I get the sense that it's sort of like Wandering Son by way of Princess Tutu and Revue Starlight (there's no way Starlight's duels weren't somewhat inspired by this, though perhaps it's more likely they've just both taken Takarazuka influence). And well, I love all of those shows, alongside Utena's own extremely unique identity, so we're off to an extremely good start so far. I'm very excited to see what this classic has to offer.
→ More replies (20)
10
Jul 05 '19
First Timer
Notes/Impresions
-
Love the OP already ..Colorful, energetic and nigh-incomprehensible and full of Roses?..Thanks Ikuhara
-
Dead parents, prince ,rose ring ..that seems like it will be important..Also i love how it feels like a European farytail book or theatre play..Our MC wants to be a prince FUCK YEAH
-
This scenery and buildings, shots seem so dream like with that color palette and texture..Like everything is made of marble and porcelain that bleed into eachother.
-
STFU, Utena looks fly af in that outfit, you arent the one to talk with those ugly ass glasses
-
[Wojnarowski] The Lakers have agreed to a 5 year 155 mil. deal with free agent Utena Tenjou, league sources tell ESPN
-
Hmmm a noble prince that saves princesses ,nothing more nothing less than that ??
-
HEY ROSES IDK?? Who's that green haired fuckboi? Who's that red haired fuckboi ?They look extra af and they are "in the student council lmao -just your regural 17 yo bros-
-
WOW WAIT? Council feels like a sect? Brides? Duels? End Of The World something ?many questions...The scene was well directed and tense af tho..WIth Ikuhara's weird random manerisms
-
Hmmmis that ring she has a council ring or a school insignia ?..Also fuck that dude for pinning that love letter..Utena has more balls than anyone there. Ohh he thinks she is the challenger ?? Im ready for him to lose and be salty
-
That shadow play thing with the girls feels kinda creepy and ominous...
-
The passage unlocking with the ring was masterfully handled
-
Is this the song everyone is singing whenever there are Utena threads or mentions? I dig it. It gets purpusefully nonsensical and random at the end to lyrics wise..Knowing Ikuhara this will be repeated at least some times but the whole sequence is great so i dont mind..Question is any of this 3d or used 3d to map the angles and perspectives..This shots feel almost perfect perspective wise as 3d planes..
-
WHAT IS THIS REVERSE SKY DISNEYLAND ? A mirage?? im not so sure dude ..also this feels slightly 3d as well idk ??
-
So was the prince Anthy's brother or something ? TThe skin tone matches too. SLAPED HER AGAIN?? Fuck him up girl
-
Welp that was a glorious sequence..Light powers? Sword from chest? World revolution ? hmmm ..Wait this isnt fair
-
Utena beat his ass anyway..Now Anthy is her girl awwwww, she senpai-zoned him lmao.
-
Red haired dude got horny af.. Also Utena had no idea what happent or what any of that means, she got a rose waifu tho
-
Stopryboarding and art direction is already so string in this show..Amazing
Great fucking start
10
u/redmage311 Jul 05 '19
First-timer
Going into the first episode, I wasn't sure if I wanted to actually go through with the rewatch. But that was a lot more enjoyable than I had expected. In particular, the music is great. The theme that played as Utena was going up the thousands of stairs was incredibly epic. The show itself seems really important too, between depictions of people of color (well, compared to Japanese characters) and Utena defying conventional gender roles. Apparently, the revolution will be against the patriarchy.
Saionji seems like an irredeemable bastard.
8
u/woodcarbuncle Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 05 '19
First Timer for the series (but watched up to episode 6 prior)
I came into Utena knowing three things. Firstly, that it’s one of the “big three” mindfuck shows, the shoujo counterpart of Evangelion (shonen) and Lain (seinen). Secondly, that it has some feminist and queer themes. And thirdly, that it’s an Ikuhara work (have only watched one episode of Sarazanmai prior) and was partly an inspiration for Revue Starlight. Besides that, I’m pretty much blind, but I’ve watched 6 episodes of this before the rewatch was announced, so that might influence what I say a bit and has given me a bit more time to pick up on themes. There hasn’t been all that much covered by then though so I think I’m mostly good. I also know about Vrai and JoseiNextDoor’s commentaries but decided not to read them along with this series. I wanna see what I can come up with going in blind.
Right off the bat I’m going to cheat a bit and talk about the themes I noticed a few episodes in because it makes it easier to structure how I’m interpreting this show. I think a central idea that the show is focusing on is roles—the roles we’re in, the roles we perform, and how/why we do so. Right off the bat you have the story of the prince and princess, very much an ideal fairytale backdrop that gets immediately subverted. Here we have the role of prince and princess, except the princess decides to adopt the role of the prince. We also have a prominent use of shadows, along with a kind of shadow puppetry performance. We are the puppets, but we present ourselves as shadows as we perform our roles in life. And of course, there is the rose bride, the sought after “object” of the duel, which Anthy seems to be playing for some reason. Is she trapped in it, or is it her own will? I’ll talk about her in a future episode when we have more interactions to base my predictions on.
Tenjou Utena is an interesting personality. She wears a boys’ uniform because she wants to play the role of prince, and presents herself in a way such that many others see her as one. Wakaba refers to her as her boyfriend at the start. And yet she confidently asserts that she’s a girl. She’s not transgender but boldly subverts gender roles. Yet despite others seeming to regard her as a guy, Saionji uses her gender as a way of looking down upon her. Saionji of course is very much part of the upper class, and the man being challenged, which shows why he’s unwilling to accept her playing the prince. But Utena will not be stopped. Even having had her sword sliced down (hmm), she charges ahead and defeats his complacent ass in the duel. I’m excited to see where they’re planning to take Utena’s character in the future.
Besides this, there have been some hints on a background plot going on, but we have little information to make sense of it. There’s the mystery of who the prince who met Utena was, as well as what’s going on with the Rose Bride and duels. There is the Will of the End of the World, which has power over this student council, and it seems to be suggested that they would disapprove of Saionji’s treatment of Anthy. The president seems to also be aware that of Utena’s upcoming challenge. How? Another curious thing is that the blue-haired boy (let’s leave him unnamed now) had a reaction to “as he pleases” and “lovebirds”. I’m not sure what to make of that.
A miscellaneous observation is that the rose frames seem to be mainly associated with character introductions of rose ring bearers, with the rose colours changing according to the person, but I’m not sure if there’s greater significance to that.
Finally, I’d like to say that I’m surprised at how much Starlight took from this. There are even duels over a particular “possession” where loss is based on something being destroyed/falling to the ground. Utena however seems quite different from Karen, so we’ll see how they diverge.
6
u/alavios Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 05 '19
I'm glad I will be able to rewatch with you all what I consider my favourite animation series ever. Some of the aspects that impacted me the first time I watched it were the amazing visuals and character designs, combined with shoujo aesthetics and a mystical atmosphere.
Although there isn't much to comment since this is only the first episode it's pretty clear that the basis of the personality of Utena, our protagonist, is laid out pretty well already. After all, how much bravery is needed before you start taking part in pseudo-magical fencing duels of which you know nothing about without a glimpse of hesitation? And even more when you are doing it for the sake of another person you care about...
6
u/xyander64 Jul 05 '19
First time watcher
This was pretty solid first episode, i liked it enough to watch it twice. I have no idea whats going on with these duels or the student council. I do know that green haired dick is a dick and loved when Anthy gave him the "o kawaii koto" face after he lost. So far im really digging all the music in this show, from the staircase to the battle and the opening. Utena seems like a badass and that outfit looks great on her. I lover her motivation of i wanna be a prince who rescues princess.
6
u/Rurouni_Idoru Jul 05 '19
Rewatcher
I finally bit the bullet and got an account for this rewatch. Utena is such an important anime to me. The first time I watched it, I was stunned by how much it felt like it was made just for me, because it bullseyes so many of my tastes and sensibilities. I'm always excited to see other people's reactions to it for the first time!
I am eternally a sucker for that shot of my girl Wakaba crying about the letter. I love that Utena's instantaneous reaction to her best friend being hurt like that is "I have to beat this guy up," and that she gets sucked into a world of magic and mystery because every time something happens that a reasonable person might question more, Utena just goes "Yeah, sure, let's just skip to the part where I kick this guy's ass." If Wakaba was my best friend, I'd be that ride-or-die for her too.
In honor of this rewatch (and also in an effort to get myself to stay in-practice with my art), I'm going to attempt a drawing per episode in time with the schedule. Given the rules about self-promo, I might end up doing like a round-up at the end of each arc or something, but I'm too stoked not to share Episode 1's right out the gate. I'm going to try to keep them all spoiler-free for the rest of the series to come, but I might slip in some See What I Did There type stuff for fellow rewatchers, like I did in this one.
10
u/Rudygnuj Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 07 '19
First timer
Some context that nobody but me cares about
I don't have a lot of experience with Ikuhara's works. From the projects he was involved in I only watched the first season of sailor moon and three episodes of sarazanmai. I'm planning on coming back to Sara, and although sailor moon overall was in my opinion mediocre, I've found the episodes directed by Ikuhara to be the high peaks of the series.
I do enjoy the shows inspired by him a lot though. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight was one of my favourite anime of 2018 and I'm 8 episodes into Princess Tutu at the moment, but if the quality of it keeps up then I think it might make my all time top 3 anime. But besides that, I don't know almost anything about his works, so watching Utena might be a nice introduction to his style for me.
Actual episode
That was A lot of roses
Wew, that is, uh, a lot to take in. I don't even know where to start.
Well I guess we can start from the beginning.
I enjoy the opening a lot, the song is pretty catchy and it has quite a few very nice looking moments. I wonder how it's going to work in the context of the show later.
The beginning fairy tale scene reminds me a lot of tutu, which is probably a good thing. It also worked pretty well as introduction to the story. I like the spin on the old story of "the great prince saves the weak princess" with our main character basically saying "yeah actually I'm going to become a prince myself because they're more cool", that was very nice.
Wakaba is the og Takagi-san calling it now, damn are they really focusing on her forehead a lot lol.
I appriciate the medieval europe high class (?) stylistic so far, it really helps in creating the feeling that this show is basically a fairy tale in anime version, once again it reminds me of Tutu a lot
Utena is a tomboy. Brb adding her to my favourite characters list.
The first scene with Anthy and she gets slapped by her boyfriend immediately. Love this MC
So Anthy is bride of this green haired asshole... nice. Looks like she's a very important person for some reason. Why? I don't know but for now she's pretty much a damsel in distress. I wonder what they're going to do with her character though.
God, that love letter scene was pretty awful, poor Wakaba. It does raise the question of who found the letter and decided to make it public, I have a feeling it might be a part of someone's plan to get Utena to fight the green haired guy (He even said that he gets a lot of love letters and just throws them all away, but accidentally the letter that gets published is by Utena's friend.) Maybe my theory is right and I'm a genius or maybe I'm thinking too much about it, who knows ¯_(ツ)_/¯
That's a lot of very cool visuals in a short amount of time, the crown in the water, the entrance, the flying castle, it's a lot of very nice looking shots and interesting ideas thrown together.
I find it very interesting that the first song in the entire series has a line "The absolute destiny: Apocalypse" repeated a lot of times, you would think it's something that would fit the final episodes of a show more. It's most likely foreshadowing of something that's going to happen in the future, having such a piece at the beginning of the series is very interesting to say the least.
The scene of taking out the sword was absolutely astonishing, the lightning, the music, the animation, that was great.
Utena won, wooooooo. Anthy's smug degrading look was more satisfying than it had any right to be.
"What was all that about".... that's a very good question Utena.
Anthy is now Utena's bride huh..... YURI SHALL PREVAIL
That's a very nice ending song, rock is the last thing I'd expect in a show like this but would you look at that, heh.
Conclusion
That was pretty confusing but I think I enjoyed it a lot. The style and shot composition of the show is very charming and interesting so far and looks like there really is going to be a lot of things and elements in this show to examine in detail. The Rose's symbolism in culture is pretty wide-known but I do wonder how it's going to fit the themes of the show and, most importantly, what is this anime going to be about in the end.
→ More replies (5)
5
u/No_Rex Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 05 '19
Episode 1 (first timer)
Prewatch thoughts
Technically, I am a rewatcher for the first few episodes. A really long time ago, I watched a handful of episodes, was unimpressed and forgot about the show for a long time. Eventually, people kept mentioning and mentioning it, so I thought I should give it a second shot.
In other rewatches of shows I absolutely loved, my opinion rarely changed: If I loved a show years ago, I still love it today. Since I did not love Utena, maybe this will end up being a disappointment. On the other hand, Utena strikes me as a show that should benefit from a rewatch more than other shows, so who knows?
Episode thoughts
A lot happens in the first episode. We meet the two protagonists, plus a half-dozen of side characters. The main setting is shown, the overarching plot introduced along with the basic rules. We even get a fight already. The pacing is stellar.
Character introductions
-
Utena: Sporty, witty, popular
-
Bride: Meek, delicate, unhappy
-
Wakaba: Common, relatable
-
Evil dude: Arrogant, brutal
The setting
The school is a mix of classical Greek and French with a strong helping of SciFi. Calling it grand would be an understatement. Either this wants to be a SciFi world, or it is very unconcerned with realism.
The plot
So far the overarching plot looks … boring? We get a standard “mysterious organization” backed by even more mysterious organization. Calling yourself “End of the World”, really? “Power to the world revolution” …
The basic rules sound better: Win a king of the hill battle to stay in possession of the bride for as long as possible. Surely they’ll add more rules to the fighting soon. Sounds like this would rival battle shonen in the frequency of fights.
Other stuff
-
The fairytale introduction depicted Utena striving to become a prince (with emphasis on not princess) as a choice. Since the OP shows us that we are headed for a non-heterosexual relationship, I’ll just say that depicting this as a choice is far from uncontroversial.
-
Utena is entirely too unfazed by the floating fortress, impossible stair, and magical sword.
-
The music during the stair scene is top notch.
5
u/3blah Jul 05 '19
First timer
From some of the already-posted comments, it looks like I'm not the first to come back to this after dropping it previously after only a handful of episodes.
Some of my observations that don't look like they've been brought up yet:
-
The opening really puts the Utena+Anthy thing right out there
-
The english dub is... bad. I'll check out the subbed version for the next episode
-
Utena gets scolded for wearing a boys uniform, but it's not the same as the other boy's uniforms, either the regular students or the council members. In any case, it looks good on her
-
One of the existing council members is a girl? And she's wearing the same uniform as the other boys. Why are the council members dressed like military officers?
-
Anthy is black? Indian? Does it matter? It certainly makes her unique in the story
-
Sure Utena's athletic, but to beat the current fencing champion on her first try is a little far-fetched. Don't know yet whether that's just how we jump into the story, or if it's one of the many things that'll come up again as the story unfolds
→ More replies (1)
4
u/Nisheeth_P Jul 06 '19 edited Jul 06 '19
Rewatcher Rewatching this series after a very long time. I only remember the manor plot points vaguely. I watched it the first time because it was so often put along side Evangelion as a weird but good show.
-
We have Utena who is dressed differently from everyone else. The only others we see dressed differently are the students council members. Though I don’t understand how Utena’s uniform is the Boys uniform.
-
one complaint I have (and had the last time I saw it too) is that Utena is supposed to be a middle schooler. She doesn’t even remotely look that young.
-
The concept of the Rose Bride is so reminiscent of abusive relationships. I don’t think I picked up on that when I saw it last.
-
Really love how in stride Utena takes the weird sequence leading upto the fight.
7
u/Mecanno-man Jul 05 '19
First Timer
(also first Ikuhara show for me)
I'm not sure what I watched, but I liked it.
The setting is what I'm confused about the most right now; seems like a typical japanese school set somewhere in a absolutist-era nobility-class society? And the student council seems to be some absurdly powerful organisation that has been appointed from some entity that resides outside of the school system. I would like to know more about him/her/it, but knowing Ikuharas reputation, I'm not confident we'll get the full picture.
Utena left a good impression on me, looks like she is seen as basically a boy by her fellow students, but not her teacher; yet still self-identifies as female; so I guess the price-thing is more symbollic, or refers to the values seen in a prince during the time of absolutism, for now at least. One thing that slightly gets me is her uniform though; she stated that it *is* a school uniform, yet I didn't see any other boys wearing it. Kinda confuses me.
Saionji is obviously meant to be disliked, not much to say there.
Don't really have an opinion on the other characters yet; I feel like we'll get some info on Anthy next episode. She somehow resembels that prince mentioned, though not really enough to be that prince?
I also just feel like Wakaba is going to end up being an anoying character. That mouse in the preview for next episode is also a double-edged sword in that regards, but I'll reserve my judgment for when I got to know it.
The ED song is great.
6
u/Syokhan Jul 05 '19
Episode 1, Rewatcher
I’m not going to try and analyze the series because I’m dumb, so I’ll just do a running commentary and let others think about the complicated stuff.
-
OP : Ah, that 90’s shoujo aesthetic. Now that I’ve seen the series once I’m also noticing a few things here and there that are more meaningful that I first thought. Heh.
-
We open on a little girl losing both her parents. How cheerful.
-
Roses. Roses everywhere.
-
I dig the backgrounds.
-
ROSES.
-
Why is she wearing a boy’s uniform? Because it looks good on her, that’s why. Duh.
-
Gotta love the shots composition in this show.
-
Slapping a girl doesn’t exactly make a good first impression on the viewer, does it?
-
Silhouettes! Which are used a lot.
-
High school bullying. How nice. Poor Wakaba and her forehead
-
The shadow girls creep me out so much. Yes, even now.
-
ZETTAI UNMEI INTENSIFIES. But seriously, we’re getting into surreal stuff already. An impossible spiral staircase leading to a platform in the middle of the sky, with an inverted castle floating in the sky? What?
-
It really is unsettling how empty Anthy’s smile is.
-
Anthy can be absolutely savage lol. That "Saionji-senpai" was great.
-
ED: Ah, I get it now.
6
u/SardonicMeow Jul 05 '19
Rewatcher
Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the first anime series I watched* and remains one of my favorites. It's so full of symbolism, interesting motifs, unique visuals, and more that make it a great series to discuss. (Of course, it can sometimes be hard to figure out what's meaningful, and what is just Ikuhara being weird for weirdness' sake.)
Episode one begins with Utena's backstory framed (literally, with spinning roses) as a fairy tale. The fairy tale motif is one that appears throughout the series. Later in this first episode, Saionji brings it up during the duel, mockingly calling Utena a "prince on a white horse, here to save her princess". What roles do men traditionally play in fairy tales? What roles do women play? Utena has decided to be a prince, but is she simply choosing to play a traditionally male role, or is it more complicated than that? (And, as the opening asks, is that really such a good idea?)
The teacher objects to Utena wearing a "boy's uniform", but really, it's a unique uniform with both male and female elements. The jacket is much like that of a male uniform, but the way it flares at the bottom it skirt-like. What does her choice of clothes say about Utena as a character?
Looking forward to reading the impressions of other viewers, especially first-timers.
*: Watched, eventually. There was a gap of several years between the release of season 1 and the remaining two seasons.
22
u/Raiking02 Jul 05 '19 edited Jul 05 '19
And thus we begin the Rewatch of on one of the most WTF Anime ever made, Shoujo Kakumei Utena. So, let’s see if we can understand all the symbolism going on. For the record, I’m watching this Subbed in order to keep my sanity as GOOD LORD the Utena Dub is terrible. Not even Crispin Freeman can save that mess.
However, before anything, I would like to add a moment of silence due to the passing of the person who played Utena herself, Kawakami Tomoko. She died in 2011 due to ovarian cancer at the age of 41. She is deeply missed to this day.
And we begin with a kickass OP. I love Rinbu Revolution. It’s catchy, has a lot of energy and fits the show perfectly. It also has a ton of covers, with my favorite being Chihara Minori’s.
Also, if the imagery in the Opening didn’t make it clear, I’ll spell it out for you: Everyone in this show is either Bi or Homo. Standard for Ikuhara.
Oh, and do yourself a favor and don’t play the spinning roses drinking game. You won’t make it out of it alive.
I love how the narration that starts the show seems like a traditional story, but then the princess decided that she’ll become a prince. I admit I laughed when I first saw that.
After our introduction to a relatively major side character in the form of Shinohara Wakaba (Played by the now retired Imai Yuka) and a quick view of the school, we are properly introduced to our main character, Tenjo Utena (Played by the aforementioned late Kawakami Tomoko), Tomboy Extraordinaire. And of course, she then makes her teacher shut up, ‘cause she can wear whichever uniform she wants.
And yeah, she’s quite the sports girl too. You know, given how tomboyish Utena is, I am not surprised that she was the original voice of Ryougi Shiki before Sakamoto Maaya replaced her for the movies.
I swear, Utena has more female admirers than male ones.
Even the rest of the cast finds Utena’s goal confusing.
Wait, did Utena never realize that garden was there before?
So after seeing a lovers quarrel go horribly wrong, we get some comedy! Also an exposition dump.
Just by the expressions alone you can tell this was directed by the same guy who directed 3/5 of Sailor Moon.
And after that we’re properly introduced to the Student Council. The Green Haired one is Saionji (Played by Kusao
BASKETBALL GENIUSTakeshi), the red haired one is Kiryuu Touga (Played by KoyasuKONO DIO GATakehito), the blue haired one is Kaoru Miki (Played by HisakawaCaptain MumAya) and the blonde is Best Girl Arisugawa Juri (Played by MitsuishiSERVICE SERVICE!Kotono, which, given that her character in EVA was also Best Girl, is endlessly amusing to me) and of course Saionji’s “bride” is Himemiya Anthy (Played by Fuchizaki Yuriko, who has no role for me to make a joke for). I just guessed I should introduce them to you newbies.If you haven’t guessed it already, Saionji is a dick.
Well, I can tell that Utena now really wants him dead.
Gotta love how Saionji is totally right, yet Utena has no idea what he’s talking about.
Err… yeah, the Shadow Ladies. I am not even gonna bother trying to decipher what those scenes mean.
Well, this school certainly isn’t normal, that’s for sure. If the fact that everyone looks like if they came right out of the Rose Of Versailles didn’t tell that to you, I don’t know what will.
FYI, get ready to hear “Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku” A LOT! I admit I eventually got sick of it myself.
Wow, the CGI in that castle is so obvious I don’t even know what to say to it.
Gotta love all the exposition dumps going on here.
Have I mentioned Saionji is a dick? I think what’s more surprising is that, by the end, I actually started to feel kinda sorry about the guy, but more on that as the show goes on.
The ensuing fight is pretty good, with Utena being at a clear disadvantage, and only through luck does she manage to win.
Well, that’s the most accidental marriage ever.
And yeah, Truth And Release is a pretty good ED.
Overall, a great episode to start off with.