|
PAN-CHAN'S REVIEWS
REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA
(entire series - episodes 1-39)
RAMBLING
Stuff Happens
It really is impossible to write a summary of Utena and do it any justice. The basic story revolves around a girl named Utena. Her parents died when she was young, but her life changed the day she met a prince. She was so taken by the prince that she decided to become a prince herself. The prince gave her a ring, which lead her to Ohtori Academy.
Ohtori Academy's student council duels for the possession of the Rose Bride at a dueling arena hidden above the forbidden forest and under an up-side down floating castle. And that's not even the weird part of the series.
In the first episode, Utena sees Anthy (the Rose Bride) being treated badly by Saionji and duels him. Utena wins and gains the Rose Bride, and the story goes on from there. The series is broken into a few distinguishing arcs.
In the Student Council Arc, the main characters are introduced and the style of progression of the show is laid out. The Black Rose Arc that follows it is the most irrelevant part of the series. Based on very little of the manga, this arc serves as pretty filler. The arc regarding Ohtori Akio introduces Anthy's brother and the plot twists therein. This arc is known for its use of cars and a shirtless Touga. The final arc, the Apocalypse Arc, ties in every element of the series up to this point and brings it together to create an unforgettable, yet fitting ending.
Shiny Artwork
Being cell animated, this series is surprisingly impressive to look at. Utena didn't have a huge budget, but they made it work. Utena also gets points because the artwork is consistent. You can tell every episode had care put into it. The series also uses lots of optical illusions. This not only makes many of the scenes unique, it allows them to reuse footage without it getting boring. I watched Utena's "transformation" sequence I don't know how many times, but I still like it. Moreover, the stylized character designs and costuming blended really well with the rest of the artwork to create a series that looks like no other. Utena is remarkable just to look at.
My Brain Hurts
I knew that Utena was weird, but I had no idea it was this weird. The entire series is comprised of stylized artwork and metaphors to tell a story. It takes awhile to get used to, but it's worth it.
I watched Utena during the summer with a friend of mine. We watched the show in less than a week during the hours we should have been sleeping (Yay for anime marathons at 5am!). I'm not sure if this helped us understand it or not, but to our credit, we understood much of what the series was saying.
It was fun to name all the metaphors at the beginning, but once you start to realize that the entire show is metaphors wrapped in more metaphors, which connect to other metaphors, your brains starts to hurt -- especially if you can spot every single one of them.
Ironically, this is what I adored about the series. It expected its viewers to think about what they were watching. It also shoved little things in the background for anyone willing to pay attention. Virtually every scene has something in it that ties neatly into another plot point. From the caterpillar that turns into a butterfly in the elevator, to the talking shadows and their social commentary, to the use of roses... this show blew me away.
A lot of people can't stand Utena because of this metaphorical quality, but I adored it. It's the first intelligent show I've come across in a long long time.
The show is weird. I cannot stress this enough. It also gets really... almost creepy... by the end. It keeps throwing twists at you that make your brain shatter into itsy bitsy pieces. And for the record, despite what many people think, Utena isn't really a yuri series. If anything, almost every coupling involves incest. o____O;
The series does have its unique style of comic relief. Certain episodes are completely and utterly random and make very little sense. Since these episodes are presented in the same way as the serious episodes, it takes awhile to grasp the sense of humor the series displays. But once you get it, episodes that involve boxing kangaroos, cow bells and elephants (I love the elephants!) will entertain you to no end.
Characters
Utena has a wonderful cast. Utena herself is a powerful female figure who stands up for herself and does what she believes in. I really liked her, which says a lot since I have a tendency to dislike female characters. Anthy wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be. I never liked her, but I definitely didn't hate her.
I adored Miki, but didn't care much for characters like Saionji, Juri, Mikage, Akio, and Nanami. Saionji made my brain hurt since he's voiced by the same seiyuu who played Trunks in DragonBall Z, and the only thing good about Mikage was that he was voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa. Akio was just scary (although entertaining around Touga) and Nanami was humorous, but so very very freighting (and I can't forgive her for the kitten thing). For some reason, I really liked Dios even though he appears very rarely and explaining him is a spoiler. ^^;
My favorite character, without a doubt, is Touga. Beside being voiced by Takehito Koyasu (he is Koyasu, dammit!), he's intelligent, manipulative, and oh so very amusing. Plus, it's fun to chant "Touga! Touga! Touga!" when he appears on screen. ^^;
Final Thoughts
The series is one that stays with you. It's powerful, chilling, frightening, but compelling and beautiful at the same time. Lots of people hate the ending, but it fit the series and everything really did lead up to it, even if it was a bit of a twist. I don't want to give anything away, but after my friend and I finished the series, we looked at each other with the look of "you saw that too, right?", and then we made Kraft Dinner at 4am to make ourselves feel better.
Err... in conclusion, Utena might not be the greatest series for those that enjoy watching an anime without thinking about it. But if you're interested in seeing an intelligent series that'll stay with you for a long time, then check it out. There's a reason why Utena's already considered a classic.
RATING
On the plus side: It'll blow you away.
On the down side: It might make your brain explode in the process.
|
