Revolutionary Girl Utena

Summary: >

As a young girl, Utena had to come to terms with the death of her parents. She cried and cried and cried. One day a prince appeared before her, with kind words he dried her tears and gave her hope. He leaves her a ring, saying they'll meet again one day. Utena being a modern minded girl, decides she'll seek her prince, but sees him as an ideal to become. Now in her teens, Utena dresses as a boy, but is quite popular all the same.

At her new school, Utena wins a sword duel to claim the devotion of the Rose Bride Anthy. Anthy is more than a prize, she's the key to a revolution which will change the world. Will Utena hold her position and change the world?

Thoughts: >

Revolutionary Girl Utena is like shoujo-zilla running amok, blasting everything with rose petal eye beams. Gah! Eez Shoujo-zirra! *Fwoosh* This isn't a complete review, as I only got about 20ish episodes in.

I fell in love with the decor if nothing else. Revolution Girl Utena is soaked with a rose theme in interesting ways. Neither animation nor artwork are at the zenith of the industry, but this anime still has a ton of style to it. The story is a bit crazy, but kind of cool at the same time.

Meanwhile as she lustfully stares at him, he grabs her waist and pulls her close. As her bust presses against his chest, she feels his hot breath. She struggles just enough to seem proper, but not enough to to say she doesn't want it. Do you ever wonder if the moon landing was faked? he asks. We can't do this it's not right she protests. Alright, how about we have tea?. She excitedly clasps her hands together. Yes. lets! He ponders for a moment. What kind do you want? Why can't I see anything? Oh, that's the problem. It's this storm of rose petals blinding me. *Fwooosh!*

Revolution Girl Utena can be a lot like that. Random weird stuff often thrown that doesn't seem to connect to anything. It's just there. Sometimes I could grasp at the intended purpose, but much of the time I couldn't and it felt like tiring filler. Many of the characters didn't appeal to me either. I liked the vibrant Utena, Anthy? Not so much. In fact I probably got a bit too much pleasure in how often she gets slapped around. The other characters just didn't seem to engage me either. Also, Chu-chu the monkey: hate.

Progression of this show slows to a crawl after a few episodes. Eventually I tired of it and never picked it back up. Fans of the show say it gets better later on, so perhaps it's worth hanging in there for. Give it a try and see if it sticks. The style and approach make it quirky enough to pick up

Screen Caps: >