Revolutionary Girl Utena

Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya

Utena is the story about a girl who wants to be a prince. One day, a 6(I believe) year old Utena is wandering the streets after her parents have died, contemplating suicide, wondering why we have to go on living if we all have to die someday. After being saved by a prince, telling her to “never lose that strength or nobility, even when you grow up” who then also gives her a ring to remember that day, she decides that she herself wants to be a prince! (but was that really such a good idea?)

Flash forward to present, where Utena is 14 yrs. old and currently attending Ohtori Academy. With the ring given to her by the prince, she is allowed to participate in secret duels that the student council of Ohtori carry out. The winner of the duels are given a prize; a young girl named Anthy Himemiya, who is thought to take you to the castle where eternity dwells, a place where you will be given the power to revolutionize the world.

Take my Revolution?

Revolutionary Girl Utena (Shoujo Kakumei Utena) was originally thought up by Kunihiko Ikuhara (goddamn I love this man) who directed Sailor Moon (some of the series and the Promise of the Rose movie) and he got together a group of 5 people (Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yoji Enokido, Yuichiro Oguro and himself) under the name Be-Papas. Saito worked on the manga (which came out in 1996) while the rest worked on the anime (which came out in 1997).

God bless you, Ikuhara.

My feelings on Utena;

I discovered Utena when I was either 9 or 10 years old. I have always been a little weeb and spent a lot of time getting anime and manga from the library. I saw (in the manga section) the title “Revolutionary Girl Utena” and thought… how cool! What an interesting name! I remember seeing only volume 3 on the shelf and waiting each week to see if volume 1 would come in (why my stupid little self did not ask a librarian.. well, I don’t know lol). but it came in in a short amount of time, and I finally had my hands on the first three volumes of the manga.

Needless to say, I loved it (the anime is my all time favorite along with Tenchi and Miyazaki films, and it’s probably my favorite manga). I had wanted to be an artist since even before this young age (being inspired by anime on Toonami), but the art in Utena… it just blew me away and gave me an even deeper appreciation for manga as an art. Saito-sensei will always have a special place in my heart…

Not just that, I love pretty much everything about Utena. The story, the characters, the music… It’s all this perfect mixture to showcase the story of becoming your own person, living your life the way you want to… outside the box.

Is Saito’s art amazing or what?

Now, on to my thoughts on the connection between Revolutionary Girl Utena and Tenchi Forever! Spoiler tag because… spoilers. Although I have spoiled a decent amount already for some people lol

[spoil]So, as I said, I woke up pretty early today and immediately started thinking on the connection between these two for some reason.

So, some background on Utena. In the series, it’s said that a girl who cannot become a princess is doomed to be a witch (fairy-tale style). There is a rose prince, who goes around saving all the girls of the world and making them princesses. Except one girl… his sister. It’s taboo to be with your sibling in a romantic way, so his sister, Anthy, is a witch. However… it is a mixture of her brother dying (it’s impossible for one man to solve all the problems of every single girl in the world and it’s causing him to die) and her wanting to be a princess, she locks up her brother in a prison, Ohtori Academy. He is safe, and she is finally a “princess” (and yes, they have sex).

There is a movie manga, and in that, we are told about Anthy “Her desire to love was so strong, she became a witch” (She didn’t only want to be a princess, she was the only one in the world who truly cared for her brother, the prince, and didn’t want him to die). In the anime, the episode where we see Anthy looking after her brother, who is suffering, she decides then to lock him away so he will be safe and have him to herself. She tells the people that she’s taken him away where no one else can reach him.

I was thinking, this is exactly what Haruna does with Tenchi. Haruna’s own desire to love and be loved was so strong, she takes him and locks him up. She takes someone she can’t have. Also, in the Utena movie, the brother is already dead. Anthy is trapped by keeping his memory alive and not moving on from him or live her life. Haruna is already dead, but it’s kind of a role reverse. She can’t move on, so she traps Tenchi because she’s hung up on Yosho and wanting love.

None of the other girls can have Tenchi (also, he is a prince too). Much like Anthy taking her brother away from the princesses.

Anthy has magical powers, and although it started from love and jealousy, the world of Ohtori has becomes a power-game for Akio (the brother, formerly known as Dios) manipulating everyone and wanting to control everything. Anthy, who loves him, uses her magic to keep his fantasy going. In Tenchi forever, Haruna controls everything(and it’s her own separate world), but it’s Tenchi’s power that sustains it. Again, role reverse, but a similar idea.

I think that’s it for now lol If I can think of anything else, I will put it here.[/spoil]

The Opening for Utena! One of my favorite OPs, of course

[BBvideo 425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZTIPvkRy0M[/BBvideo]

You can watch Utena on Hulu and if you get into it or want to know more, I recommend the amazing site Empty Movement . Honest to goodness, one of the BEST anime sites I’ve EVER been to. There’s a huge image gallery, information out the wazoo, a forum… tons of other Utena-related things as well.

As I conclude my post, I’d also like to add the only negative reviews I’ve read of Utena so far have been “I didn’t get it”… If that says anything