Summary: >

As a young girl, Utena had to come to terms with the death of her parents. She cried and cried and cried. But one day a prince appeared before her. His kind words dried her tears and gave her hope. He gives her a ring and tells her that they'll meet again one day. So of course Utena waits in a castle for her prince... As if! What kind of modern girl has the time for crap like that? Instead Utena decides she'll seek her prince, but as an ideal by becomming one herself. Now in her teens, Utena is quite popular at school. Dressing as a boy is one way to attract attention, but besides that there's an air of sophistication that makes Utena hard to ignore.

At her new school Utena will face challenges unlike she's ever had to deal with before. After winning a duel, she wins the devotion of the Rose Bride named Anthy. However Anthy is more than a prize given to the winner of the duel in the forest, she's also the key to a revolution which will change the world. While Utena is victorious at first, she isn't simply left alone as the winner. She is continuously challenged in more duels, and even more dangerously entangled in plots against her created by the student council.

Thoughts: >

Some shoujo series are definable by melodrama, but Revolutionary Girl Utena does so by style, like shoujo-zilla running amok while shooting beams of rose petals on everything. Gah! Eez Shoujo-zirra! *Fwoosh* This review will be a bit incomplete since I haven't exactly watched the series all the way through. I'll get through the entire thing... someday.

I fell in love with the decor of the series. The rose theme that this series is soaked with just really struck a chord with me. Animation may not be at the zenith of the industry, nor is the artwork, but Utena does have a hell of a lot of style. Likewise the story from outward appearances has a lot going for it. It's abstract, and a bit odd in a way, but also a sort of cool concept at the same time. Utena I also found to be a pretty likable character. I also found the music to be really cool.

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. After a passionate kiss he asks, "Do you ever wonder if the moon landing was faked?" "We can't do this it's not right" she protests, ignoring his thoughts. "Alright, how about we have tea?". She clasps her hands together in joy. "Yes. lets!". He pauses in thought. "Hmm... what kind do you want? I can't 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. Just random stuff thrown in quite often 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 just felt like tiring filler. Another problem I had was that I just wasn't connecting with some of the characters. While I like the vibrant Utena, I didn't so much like Anthy. 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.

But this is of course the problem because if you should know one thing about this series, it's that it develops slowly. And by slow I mean at the start it drags a lot. That's unfortunately as far as I got. Just about every fan of the series cites how it gets better and better as things go on. But I just couldn't hang in there. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't give it a try. Revolution Girl Utena has an uniqueness that is unusual even in anime. If you seek something a bit out of the ordinary, this is a good title to give a shot. Keep in mind though, that you're going to have to hang in there for the long haul to get much out of it.