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This Week in Anime
Utena's Revolution
by Coop Bicknell & Steve Jones,
Coop and Steve experience the ultimate destiny apocalypse with Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network. Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.
CONTENT WARNING: This edition of This Week in Anime features allusions to sexual violence, domestic violence, animal abuse, and other potentially upsetting subject matter. Reader discretion is advised.
Revolutionary Girl Utena is streaming on YouTube.
Adolescence of Utena is streaming on RetroCrush.
Pastoral: To Die in the Country isn't available to stream.
By which I mean, yes, it's one of my favorite anime/TV shows/life experiences of all time. And now you're stuck with me yapping about it for the rest of the column.
It's probably a good thing considering I've just wrapped up my first viewing of the series! It's been a long time since I've felt this way about a show. The last time was roughly 12 years ago when I'd just finished a little show called The Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Comparing this to Macross, I know it's one of a kind. That's not a comparison I make lightly.
I might have favorites, but Utena stands in a league of its own alongside Macross. It's one of the best stories I've ever seen put to screen.
Utena is a lot of things. It's a relic of a bygone era of anime. It's a ridiculous nexus of talent whose influence on the animators who worked on it can be felt today. It's a symbol-ridden love letter to experimental theater, a psychological labyrinth populated by kids with brain problems. It's feminist, queer, and has surfing elephants. There's simply nothing else like it.
Despite being so many things at once, I've rarely seen a series so masterfully tied all those elements together. Even if it's a seemingly one-episode gag like those elephants, you better believe it'll come up again... Hell, it might be integral to a later arc. If any character, symbol, or gag is put on-screen, it's for a calculated reason.
Before we get carried away exploring the dark corners of Ohtori Academy, what's Utena all about for folks just hearing of this classic for the first time?
If you haven't watched it yet, I strongly encourage you to stop reading this column and do so. That's a much better use of your time. But if you want a synopsis, it's about a tomboy named Utena who gets wrapped up in a series of secret sword duels at her school, in which she and other students vie for the privilege of engagement to the "Rose Bride," another student named Anthy. Episodes are largely rhythmic, detailing a particular cast member's problems before pitting them against Utena in a climactic duel in the second half of the episode. The narrative leans heavily on abstraction and allegory. It uses its rhythm to connect and complicate its growing web of meaning and conspiracy. Sometimes the student council president boxes a kangaroo. It's all part of the experience.
Personally, Coop, I'd like to ask what spurred you to watch it!
Oddly enough, I can't help but compare it with my first experience with the original Macross again, Steve! For the last few years, I've had more than a few friends telling me to watch Utena and it quickly became a title that shot up my watchlist. Long before that, I remember watching Jacob Chapman's review in which he made it clear that a certain chairman is bad news. I didn't retain anything about it other than that.
Despite my curiosity about Utena in recent years, I've had more than a few false starts with the series. It wasn't until I bit the bullet and nabbed the first Blu-ray set (The Student Council Saga) last December. Not long after I threw that disc in my PS5, Utena finally started clicking with me. It was probably the sense of unease that struck me in Episode 5—when I got my first big hint that something unsavory was going on just off-screen.
Touga saying "Just ask your sister, Miki" made me sit straight.
Utena's network of toxic hookups and pining would put many soap operas to shame. The show constantly asks the audience to dig beneath the surface of what's happening to its characters. If you only pay attention to the surface, you're likely to wildly miss or misinterpret the show's intentions. Perhaps paradoxically, Utena is also quite upfront about itself. One of the first things it asks you is if Utena has the right idea about things. This will be important to remember, because Utena is thick as a plank.
My jaw was on the floor while nabbing screenshots for this column. There are so many minute elements that'll punch you in the teeth once you're aware of what they're foreshadowing. That alone almost made me want to watch it again right away.
Knowing that you've seen Utena more than a few times, how did you first happen upon it, Steve?
I came home late one night in high school (might have been after orchestra practice?), put on the International Channel, and happened to catch Adolescence of Utena about five minutes into its runtime. I'd never heard of the show, let alone the movie, but it was just so left-field of anything I'd seen. I didn't know what was happening, yet I was transfixed by the time the first duel with Saionji started. As soon as it ended, I looked up when it would air next so I could record the full movie on VHS.
For better or worse, I don't think this is how people find anime anymore. It was a complete coincidence I encountered Utena this way. It feels more powerful to me because of that. As if it found me.
I get that feeling, anime isn't something you randomly find out in the wild anymore—especially on television. Call me sappy, Steve, but that's a beautiful story. The only experiences I'd have to compare to that are discovering Macross Plus on Sci-Fi or randomly coming across the original Patlabor OVA series on ImaginAsian's cable channel. They're both favorites, but I wouldn't say those series are as close to my heart as Utena is to yours. Stumbling upon your absolute favorite like that is a sensation like nothing else. Thank you so much for sharing.
For the record, most people would not recommend watching the movie before the series. Adolescence is a retelling/pseudo-sequel that's borderline unintelligible without context from the show. But the vibes are immaculate.
And I think Utena's abstruseness lends itself to the show's surprising cultural longevity. Everybody inevitably interprets things a little differently, and thus they end up with a deeply personal and unique relationship with the series. We don't get nearly enough anime that encourage, engage, and trust their audience to that degree.
I agree, especially because I find Utena to be a series that is best-savored. Whether the audience is aware of it or not, every episode throws so much at you that you'll be overwhelmed while trying to binge it. Outside of the final arc's (The Apocalypse Saga) conclusion, I made a point of only watching a few episodes at a time.
On a similar note, I'm thankful that Utena has the occasional gag episode to lighten the mood because it gets heavy. Not to mention the expertly executed clip shows, which bring forgetful viewers up to speed while moving the story forward at the same time. I love that none of these clip show episodes are normal.
Kunihiko Ikuhara is a devious director. He has roots in gag anime (e.g. Goldfish Warning), and his love of funny little animals persists throughout his works. He's an expert at using comedy to disarm his audience. Nanami, for instance, goes from the butt of many of the show's jokes to one of the narrative's most sympathetic characters. And the clip shows are practically narrative lynchpins. He introduces Utena's main villain in a clip show! Ikuhara's a madman.
One of the best things about Utena is that every main cast member sucks distinctly and interestingly. Nothing but problematic kings and queens as far as the eye can see. And I love them all. Even/especially Shiori.
It's funny you mention Shiori, because Juri's arc is probably my favorite in the series. She has a pragmatic and refreshingly frank attitude about the Rose Bride business at first, but she eventually arrives at an impasse and doesn't care one bit about these duels. For Juri, it's all about the relationship she does or doesn't have with Shiori.
The entire arc can be summed up with this little song I've heard all over the radio...
It's important that Juri's arc and struggles fly over Utena's head most of the time. Like, in a "normal" version of this anime, the duel would symbolize the resolution to the conflict presented earlier in the episode. But Utena's duels don't solve anything. They are, by design, a sham, and that also extends to Utena's princely ambitions.
There's a particularly great scene after Shiori's Black Rose duel where Utena's ignorance frustrates Anthy enough to make her momentarily shed her facade and lay down some knowledge.
She might be seemingly all smiles, but Anthy has a sharper tongue than most people would assume...and for good reason. This exchange makes me think a lot about the progression of the core relationship between Utena and Anthy. The wannabe prince is just another duelist to Anthy at first, but she slowly warms up to Utena.
I think the biggest reason for that shift is because Utena treats her like an actual person, and not an object to be won. But over time I feel Anthy's frustration with Utena boils over occasionally because she's walking into a trap. Our pink-haired heroine is still a kid and is largely oblivious to those off-screen horrors—especially the ones going on in the chairman's house.
One of the reasons Utena demands a rewatch is that it contains an incredible New Game Plus mode where you fully realize the extent to which Anthy has always been its richest character.
Oh boy, you're talking me into a rewatch soon... It just might happen. That reminds me, we should probably mention what it might be like getting your hands on the series right now. I have a feeling that Utena is in something of an in-between period when it comes to home video and streaming. As an example, it's so hard to get your hands on RightStuf's now out-of-print 2017 Blu-ray release of The Apocalypse Saga, I was lucky when I found a decently priced copy of the 2011 DVD set.
Photo by Coop Bicknell
The Student Council Saga seems still readily available, but The Black Rose Saga is going fast. You REALLY DO NOT want to look at those aftermarket prices. If you're not looking to spend an arm and a leg on these, your best bet might be nabbing Anime Limited's 2022 Region B Blu-rays and repurposing an old game console.
If I remember correctly, Utena was one of the big titles people were going out of their way to buy after RightStuf ceased to be in 2023.
Back in the day, before I even had my own credit card, I used to search eBay for a boxset I could pick up. I imagine most of those were bootlegs, so it's probably a good thing I never got one. Instead, I jumped on both of Nozomi's sets, the DVDs and the Blu-rays, as soon as they were available. And I feel incredibly lucky. They're some of the nicest collections I own. They came with a ton of supplemental material, the Blu-rays look crisp, and they even collaborated with the expert Utena fan community at ohtori.nu to ensure accuracy and thoroughness in the subs and beyond.
Fortunately, the full series is still up on Nozomi's YouTube channel. It's not in HD, but it's better than nothing. Although I'm a little hesitant to link this, lest somebody up the chain realize they should have taken it down already.
The booklets that come with those DVDs are so good... I'm honestly tempted to grab the other 2011 set at some point for those alone. I'm there with you on the Utena's current streaming situation, especially with the series' departure from Crunchyroll in the past year or so. Adolescence of Utena (or its very metal original Japanese title, Adolescence Apocalypse) is currently on RetroCrush.
It's all a little disappointing because Utena is such an important title—one that deserves to be easily available at all times. However, that's not exactly a realistic take given that licenses can float around to different companies every so often. Fingers crossed that Utena floats its way to a new North American home sooner rather than later.
I admit that these end-of-disc credits always hit me like a ton of bricks. We say it a lot, but you're truly missed, RightStuf.
If Utena is all about the pursuit of something eternal, they're not going to find it in our domestic anime industry.
I'm pleased to hear you're already stricken with the rewatch bug. Soon, you'll be looking up Shuji Terayama and listening to J.A. Seazer's albums from the '70s. Seriously, so much of Utena is stylistically indebted to a very specific experimental theater scene that Ikuhara happened to be a fan of. Seazer's duel choruses alone are at least 25% of the reason why I hold Utena in such lofty regard.
If you watch some of Terayama's films, you can see where Ikuhara might have gotten a few of his visual predilections, especially as they exist in Utena.
I was already a black box theatre kid, to begin with, but you've sold me. Though it didn't take too much to sell me, Utena already did most of the heavy lifting. Talking about Seazer's contributions, I love how the iconic track, "Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku," is remixed and reimagined into a bespoke version for each saga.
The Black Rose Saga's industrial rendition is probably my favorite, but each version really sets a tone for its specific arc.
I'm a fan of the original arrangement, but they're all great and fitting. Along those lines, I love how Utena utilizes repetition. I know some viewers grow frustrated with the amount of stock footage shared between episodes, but I think that gives Utena an almost ritualistic quality. It's a cost-saving measure, but that doesn't stop it from being an artistically holistic compromise.
I believe that established routine sings later on as it provides something for the audience (and Utena's cast) to anchor themselves with once things go off the rails...or into a little red Corvette.
I just remembered that Anthy visits him on Saturday night... I wouldn't be surprised if that's a lyrical reference, too.
By the way, my love of all Utena characters also extends to Akio. He's a fantastic villain. Bone-chilling and detestable, but also deeply pathetic once you realize the narrow scope of his ambitions. This is a guy who fancies himself a scholar and a playboy, yet he spends all his effort exerting his power over a bunch of misfit schoolkids. Akio's the biggest loser of them all.
Without getting into the specifics, it sure was sweet to see Akio get his just desserts.
He's just such a sadly familiar archetype of a guy! You see him everywhere on the internet nowadays. That might also be a reason why Utena has stayed relevant for almost three decades.
He's the ultimate avatar of patriarchy as a repressed and oppressive kneejerk reaction against a world he thought was owed to him. That's also why it's so powerful that Utena, fundamentally, is about two queer women fighting against that system (and themselves) to save each other from its abuses.
As you alluded, Revolutionary Girl Utena's characters and world continue to be relevant because they shine a light on serious systemic issues, both external and internalized. Instead of just pushing the uncomfortable truth to the side, it's important to face it as best you can. As hard as it can be sometimes, just cracking open the door and taking that first step is so important.
The word is right there in the title: revolution. Sometimes, you have no choice but to overthrow the system and find what lies beyond. And through that darkness and uncertainty, you might find a place to shine again.
You've said it better (and with more clever references) than I ever could.
As you might've been able to tell given our rather spirited conversation, Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of a kind and most assuredly worth your time.
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