FOR THE REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD!
April 2, 2017 12:50 AM   Subscribe

Twenty years ago today, the first episode of Shōjo Kakumei Utena was shown on TV Tokyo.

The main character is Utena Tenjou, a tomboyish teenage girl who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself, expressed in her manner of dress and personality. She attends Ohtori Academy, where she meets a student named Anthy Himemiya, a girl who is in an abusive relationship with another student. Utena fights to protect Anthy and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the members of the Student Council.*

The anime series was produced by the Japanese animation studio J.C.Staff and created by some of the same production staff responsible for Sailor Moon, including writer and director Kunihiko Ikuhara. The series aired between April 2, 1997 and December 24, 1997 and spanned 39 episodes.

"Riding the tides of change, Ikuhara became a paramount figure in revolutionizing shoujo and magical girl anime in the late 90s. Along with manga artist Chiho Saito, scriptwriter Yoji Enokido, and character designer Shinya Hasegawa, Ikuhara formed the studio BE-PAPAS to create one of the most monumental anime series of all time, Shoujo Kakumei Utena."

Links with episode commentary and analysis(may contain spoilers):
The Consulting Analyst – An Introduction to Revolutionary Girl Utena.
The Josei next door Utena Watch party.
Mark Watches Revolutionary Girl Utena.

*From wikipedia
posted by Pendragon (29 comments total) 52 users marked this as a favorite
 
Forgot a link to a podcast from Anime Feminist: Chatty AF 2: Revolutionary Girl Utena Retrospective (spoilers)
posted by Pendragon at 12:54 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]




I think there's a dent in my phone's screen from how hard I favorited this.

It would be remiss of me not to point out the series's many fabulous duel songs written by my namesake, the avant-garde theater composer J.A. Seazer.
posted by J.K. Seazer at 5:51 AM on April 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


SKU is amazingly fun and if you're the right person at the right time of life (female, just aged out of Sailor Moon) it is probably The Best Thing Ever. Still pretty darned fun for a solidly middle-aged woman. (My anime group did a rewatch not terribly long ago.)
posted by which_chick at 6:02 AM on April 2, 2017


I first encountered Utena during finals week my first semester at college. Three of us were sleep-deprived and punch-drunk from studying, and decided to pull out a DVD to watch before calling it a night. That DVD was the Utena movie. I remain convinced that there is no better introduction to the franchise than watching those 80 minutes of brillaint, beautiful nonsense completely free of context.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:06 AM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


I had never watched Sailor Moon or any other shujo anime (and very little other anime) before my girlfriend (now wife) sat me down and ran through Utena with me fairly early into our relationship. That was a hell of a thing.

As for the Utena movie, I decided the best description for it was that it was the skit done at the cast party after the series wrapped.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:11 AM on April 2, 2017


Oh, the Utena movie is insane!!
posted by Pendragon at 6:11 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Also, the "Nanami and egg" episode perfectly nails that adolescent experience of "wait, what if EVERYONE ELSE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON EXCEPT ME?"
posted by rmd1023 at 6:14 AM on April 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


And also has the nightmare ending of "Actually, all those weird things happening to your body are just a capricious, all-powerful being screwing with you because she hates you. Nobody else is experiencing any of this."
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 6:19 AM on April 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I like the Utena movie because it is perfectly normal and no weird stuff happens in it ever.
posted by demiurge at 6:37 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


My partner loves Utena. Which means she gets all the references to it in Steven Universe that go over my head.
posted by thecjm at 6:53 AM on April 2, 2017 [4 favorites]


As for the Utena movie, I decided the best description for it was that it was the skit done at the cast party after the series wrapped.

I don't know. I like the idea travelling through a thousand thousand worlds until she finally finds the one with "her" Utena in it and then bringing her back to herself out of the haze of either reincarnation or Lethe.
posted by pan at 7:08 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


the references to it in Steven Universe

Don't beat yourself up about that; most of the purported references in that video are just bog-standard shoujo tropes that the series happen to share. If you want to actually reference Utena you have to be more specific—say, have someone spend an episode slowly turning into a cow.
posted by fifthrider at 7:23 AM on April 2, 2017 [5 favorites]


The Pearl vs. Holo-Pearl fight might as well have had a J.A. Seazer soundtrack, though.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:26 AM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Oh my god, this series. I just have no words. Teenage me (and my friends) were utterly obsessed and would stay up all night with a Bible and books from philosophy class trying to interpret everything.

I still use "himemiya" as my handle in games. I absolutely adore Anshii.
posted by olinerd at 7:46 AM on April 2, 2017


Oh wow, good links. I'm not sure there's anything I needed more today than Utena recaps with commentary.
posted by asperity at 7:53 AM on April 2, 2017


Still waiting on the announced Blu-Ray set :-(
posted by Pendragon at 8:24 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


I first watching the Utena series in theater, courtesy of the anime club at my university (circa 98-00). It was an exhilarating experience to watch this for the first time, on the big screen, in the company of anime fans.

The only other club showings with comparable crowd reactions (that I personally experienced) were Kare Kano, Cowboy Bebop, and the Rurouni Kenshin OVA. Giant Robo, Hellsing, and Trigun came close. Those were the times.

Kare Kano is from the same studio as Utena; both are my favorite high-school anime of all time (despite the former getting abandoned halfway through... still bitter about that).
posted by fatehunter at 10:06 AM on April 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Correcting to be polite: Utena was J.C.Staff, Kare Kano by Gainax.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:55 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


Utena is one of those shows that is very fun to watch with new viewers because they kind of lose their minds. "What the hell is happening here?!" they will cry. I watched the movie with a roommate whose favorite film was Santa Sangre, and even he was baffled and a bit angry at the dream-logic-not-logic of the whole thing. I never finished the second season, though. I'd like to go back and watch the whole thing again to see how well it holds up in my memory.

Sadly, while I could play my old VHS tapes, I am missing the first one, which I loaned to a Geosciences student for the amazing first fight song, and she never returned it because she is a bad person who no doubt works against the Revolution of the World!. Or, possibly, merely careless with others' belongings, but what are the chances of that?
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:11 AM on April 2, 2017


I thought the Student Council Arc was aces! It set up this weird, other-worldly landscape, peopled by princes (male and female), duelists and fairy tale architecture. Unfortunately, I think the series suffered from Lost syndrome; having established the mysteries, they had no way to explain them. But even at its worst, the series was always full of surprises.
posted by SPrintF at 11:34 AM on April 2, 2017 [1 favorite]


My favorite anime? Or at least the one that's the most important to me even if there's one or two I've enjoyed more in total. The subtitled version of the full run of the show is up on youtube, though I think it's region-locked to the US. Here's the playlist.
posted by sparkletone at 11:58 AM on April 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


I still maintain that the Utena movie makes perfect sense, it's just that everything is a metaphor for something else and is on five layers of symbolism and you kinda need to be obsessed with the show, watch the movie ten times, pause a lot, and kinda be in the right headspace at the time to actually get what's happening.

I'll grant you that it is unreasonably obtuse and there's no way anyone should be expected to make sense of it. But I do love it, and I think it can be pieced together with enough work.
posted by kafziel at 12:36 PM on April 2, 2017


Well I just watched and enjoyed episode one thanks to this post. I've heard the name for years but had never seen it. This show looks pretty great and I'm adding this right into my current watchings. Thanks!
posted by glonous keming at 3:44 PM on April 2, 2017 [3 favorites]


Utena was J.C.Staff, Kare Kano by Gainax.

Kare Kano was co-produced by J.C.Staff and Gainax; but yeah, more credit to Gainax, which provided the directors, including the legendary Hideaki Anno. I kind of figured that Gainax was responsible for the anime getting cut short and J.C.Staff could have made a complete series by themselves, but that's a moot point. /derail
posted by fatehunter at 5:55 PM on April 2, 2017


Once upon a time somewhere on the web was a quiz about "which utena character are you". It had a funny line about sleeping with Akio.

But today there are apparently a large number of notverygood quizzes purporting to identify your Utena character.

In conclusion, I miss the early 2000s, evidently. And I have a sad about the lack of boxed set too.
posted by nat at 7:30 PM on April 2, 2017


Just back from ep 2 and I want to say: I love this show. <3
posted by glonous keming at 8:35 PM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]


Just remembered this post from "Utena: Texts From Last Night", which about sums up my feelings about this show. (other posts have spoilers)
posted by J.K. Seazer at 10:43 PM on April 2, 2017 [2 favorites]




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