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Your Favorite Anime Couple

@Cryssoberyl

At the risk of derailing the conversation too much, as far as the tv series is concerned, whether one sees Utena and Anthy as a romantic couple or just friends depends on how the viewer interprets it.

things are too complex to be able to come up with clear cut interpretations.

I notice on your post, Cryssoberyl, that you seem to be saying that people who do not think that Anthy and Utena are a romantic pairing missed the point.

I consider the movie Adolescence of Utena as a very different animal.

@Cryssoberyl

First of all, I had no idea the creators had publicly acknowledged their intentions with Utena. It is not that I don't believe it, but I find it very unusual for artists to straight up say what their art is about.

To Gabriella Ekens,

As an old-school Utena fan, thank you. I came here fearing the re-enactment of a very ancient battle. Ever since Utena's release, there has been a consistent conflict between those who acknowledge the (explicitly creator-intended) romance in Utena and Anthy's relationship, and the "they're just friends" deniers. In fact, for many years the deniers held sway.

If there has ever been a sign to me that some things about the world really have improved as I've grown older, it is that today, people are much more willing to accept and celebrate what we always knew. The story of Utena is, on its most basic level, a love story of two women - but of course, it is also so much more ambitious and sophisticated than what we have been trained to expect when the phrase "love story" is invoked.

With that in mind, I also wish to commend your general reading of the show as being very astute and on the level. I've witnessed and participated in Utena discussion and analysis for many years, and - as with any complex and multilayered subject - it is astounding how often, and in how many ways, people can miss the point or wander into interpretive dead-ends. With Utena in particular, there are many such pitfalls.

~Post Removed~.

First of all, I had no idea the creators had publicly acknowledged their intentions with Utena. It is not that I don't believe it, but I find it very unusual for artists to straight up say what their art is about.

And so, because Ikuhara and company have told us what their art is saying, we are not allowed to interpret their work any other way? That is no fun.

While there's definitely a story about "love" there within the series, it's relatively minor in the symbolic richness of what is shown, let alone minor within the actual plot. Utena may be a postmodern story about love; but it's not "a love story about minority group XYZ." Simply put: that's too simplistic.

It's clear that Ikuhara is trying to make some kind of point there.