Revolutionary Girl Utena: Difference between revisions
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Akio appears to dominate his sister both personally and sexually; their incestuous and power-driven relationship is key to Anthy's behavior in both the anime (where Anthy is, or pretends to be, held in thrall to her brother) and the movie (where events cause the balance of power to shift dramatically). However, one could also argue that in the TV series Anthy does in fact "control" her brother to a large extent. He relies on her to control the duel victors and she is the one that holds the Sword of Dios. |
Akio appears to dominate his sister both personally and sexually; their incestuous and power-driven relationship is key to Anthy's behavior in both the anime (where Anthy is, or pretends to be, held in thrall to her brother) and the movie (where events cause the balance of power to shift dramatically). However, one could also argue that in the TV series Anthy does in fact "control" her brother to a large extent. He relies on her to control the duel victors and she is the one that holds the Sword of Dios. |
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Akio is also a remarkable playboy, with many and varied conquests |
Akio is also a remarkable playboy, with many and varied conquests. The list includes Kanae, Utena, Kozue, Tokiko, Touga, and even Kanae's mother. The series also hints that he may have done something sexual at least once with Saionji and even possibly with young Wakaba. Akio's trademark symbol is his jazzy automobile, in which he invites friends and potential sexual partners to take a midnight ride. Creator Ikuhara has stated that the car, and Akio's general appearance and presentation, are meant to represent the adult world and adult power. |
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=== Student Council members === |
=== Student Council members === |
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Revision as of 22:32, 26 March 2006
| Revolutionary Girl Utena | |
 | |
| Genre | Romance, Drama, Shōjo |
|---|---|
| Created by | Chiho Saito |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Chiho Saito |
| Published by | Shogakukan (JPN) Viz Media (USA) |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Kunihiko Ikuhara |
| Studio | J.C.STAFF |
| Anime | |
| The Adolescence of Utena | |
| Directed by | Kunihiko Ikuhara |
| Studio | J.C. Staff |
Revolutionary Girl Utena (少女革命ウテナ; Shōjo Kakumei Utena) is a manga by Chiho Saito and anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. A movie, "Adolescence of Utena" (Japanese: Adolescence Mokushiroku, literally "Adolescence Apocalypse") was released in theatres in 1999.
The main character of Utena is an androgynous teenage female, Utena Tenjou, who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself, and cross-dresses as a male. She attends Ohtori Academy, where she rooms with a student named Anthy Himemiya, who in turn is in an abusive relationship with another student at the Academy. Utena fights to protect Anthy, and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the Student Council. In these duels, the winner receives Anthy as the prize. All of the Student Council members fight to win Anthy, as she is thought to be the key to a coming revolution, and as such they refer to her as the "Rose Bride".
The series itself is highly unusual, to the point of being outright metaphysical. Though the plot appears relatively straightforward, everyone's motives are obscure (initially, at least), and what is actually going on turns out to be very different than it first appears. The story is allegorical, and wanders away from an easily explained physical reality later in the show. The latter half of the series (and movie) can be somewhat confusing -- especially to Western audiences -- due to what the director admits is a mix of metaphor, borrowed visuals from Takarazuka theater, classic shōjo, Japanese myth and religion, and a large amount of "stuff that just looks really cool."
The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progress in different directions.
Composition
The 39-episode Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series was created by some of the same production staff that made Sailor Moon, including writer and director Kunihiko Ikuhara. However, the creator of Sailor Moon, Naoko Takeuchi, was not responsible for Utena; nor did the Utena manga author Chiho Saito have much control over the anime, though rumor has it she co-wrote the first season's scripts. Ikuhara is perhaps better known for his contributions to many episodes in Sailor Moon's third season, the most serious and arguably best of the series. In particular he is said to have developed much of the characters and relationship of Chibi-Usa and Hotaru Tomoe, many aspects having later been put into the personalities of (and situation between) pink-haired heroine Utena and purple-haired friend and bride Anthy. Many of the surreal aspects he pitched did not make it into Sailor Moon, and after his departure, may have been adapted for the Utena series.
The movie, Adolescence of Utena can be seen as the end of the story initiated by the TV series, although it goes in a very different direction. Its structure is in many ways parallel to that of the series, but the roles of the leads are subtly switched -- Utena remains the duelist, but while Anthy's liberation by Utena is key to the conclusion of the series, in the movie, it is Utena's freedom which is at issue, and Anthy who must free her. If the television series riffs upon themes from theater and mythology, it could be said that the movie riffs upon themes from the series. Many aspects of the movie may be completely incomprehensible without familiarity with the series. It is even more bizarre visually than the series, unusual enough that it earned the good natured nickname among fans of "End Of Utena," after the similarly abstract but infinitely less cheerful The End of Evangelion.
There was also a short-lived Takarazuka-style musical entitled "Shōjo Kakumei Utena, Makai Tensei Mokushiroku hen, Reijin Nirvana Raiga". At Animazement '00 Ikuhara was said to be working on it with the theatrical group Gesshoku Kageki Dan. The second disc of Shoujo Kakumei Utena OST 5, Engage Toi a Mes Contes, contains many of the songs from this musical.
The English manga is published by VIZ Media in the Animerica Extra magazine. Enoki Films holds the American license and called the series Ursula's Kiss. However the American distributor, Central Park Media, chose to use the original title and character names. The same dub was aired in Australia, although it was listed under Enoki Films' title name. [1]
Plot summary
Template:Spoiler The series is divided into three story arcs, in each of which Utena comes into conflict with a different power at Ohtori Academy (Enoki Films calls it "Otori Junior High School"). In all of them, Utena must defend her title as the owner of the Rose Bride, with the intention of protecting Anthy. The duels always occur when the rose champion is challenged by someone with the rose crest ring and no refusal is accepted. The matches occur in the dueling arena, a large, high platform in the academy's outskirts, which is only open to the duelists. They are given badges, roses placed in the breast pockets of their jackets. They then fence, until one duelist wins by knocking away the opponent's rose with his blade.
(The story arc names below link to more details than given here.)
This first part of the series introduces Utena, Anthy, and most of the main characters. It shows how Utena ends up winning the Rose Bride, and her initial duels against the Student Council members. They, in turn, for various reasons insist on fighting in order to win Anthy back from her.
After repelling the Student Council's attempts to take Anthy from her, Utena faces another obstacle, Souji Mikage. Disguised as a counselor, he uses his powers of persuasion and psychology to put people under his control by coaxing them to confide their deepest hostilities and fears. He then sends them, wearing black rose crest rings on their fingers, to fight Utena. This part also introduces Akio Ohtori.
After solving the Mikage situation, Utena must fight each Student Council member one last time. As the conflict escalates, the dark secrets of the duels, and Akio and Anthy's true intentions behind them, are unveiled.
Characters
Names are written in Western order, with the surname after the given name.
Main characters
Utena Tenjou
(天上ウテナ Tenjō Utena) (romanized as Tenjou in the English manga and Tenjo in the English anime)
Enoki Films' name: Ursula
In all versions of the story Utena is a tomboyish, slightly naïve character who lives to emulate the idealized prince figure from her childhood. She is forthright, honest, and friendly, and nearly all the girls in school adore her.
In the manga, her parents died when she was six years old. On that day she was wandering around, lost, and she fell through a hole in a fence that enclosed a river area. Utena nearly drowned but was saved by a mysterious Prince who kissed away her tears and told her that if she did not lose her noble heart, they would meet again. He left with her a rose signet ring. Later on, Utena receives picture cards that give her clues as to where her prince is. By following these clues, she finds herself at Ohtori Academy.
In the anime, the young Utena climbs into a coffin after her parents' deaths. She is rescued by the Prince, who encourages her to save Anthy. She then goes to Ohtori in search of her Prince.
In the movie, Utena traveled to Ohtori Academy after supposedly breaking up with her past boyfriend Touga, whom she sees on her first day on campus. Her hair is cut short, symbolizing her much more quiet and introverted nature, in contrast to movie-Anthy's outgoing personality, but her hair grows longer when she's dueling. After seeing Touga flirting with Anthy, Utena assumes that Touga left her for Anthy; but she discovers that he actually died trying to save a drowning girl (a young Juri) and has recently come back to life. Utena overcomes her anger over losing Touga, and convinces Anthy to leave Ohtori Academy with her. Utena turns into a pink car (which is in fact a symbol for Utena being Anthy's mode of escape from her world) and they kill Akio, escaping the fantasy world of the school once and for all on the remains of the "Utena" Car.
Anthy Himemiya
(姫宮アンシー Himemiya Anshī)
Enoki Films' name: Angie
A mysterious and beautiful dark-skinned girl whose sometimes vapid expression and superficial politeness seem to mask something deeper. Many people project their wants or desires onto her, and she's often the target of their eventual rage or hate. She's often called "less forceful than a doormat." In the movie, she seems more genuinely happy and is much more sexually aggressive towards Utena.
One of her more startling abilities is that she houses the Sword of Dios within her own body. At the beginning of a duel, she slips into a trance and the Sword manifests, protuding from her chest so that the Engaged One may draw it from her. This Sword is said to be a key to reaching the goal of Revolution. As holder of the Sword of Dios, Anthy is known as the "Rose Bride".
Anthy exhibits other unusual abilities as well. When Utena enters the Arena, Anthy magically embellishes her uniform for the duration of the duel. There are times when Anthy seems able to completely alter her appearance, or at least induce others to see her for someone other than who she really is.
According to the Adolescence of Utena manga, Anthy is in fact responsible for the dueling of which she is the prize. When her prince Dios (or Akio) died, she became reborn as the Rose Bride. When she took this role, the Dueling Arena appeared and the "game" was set in motion so another "Prince" could take Akio's place.
Anthy appears to be an Asian Indian, probably Tamil. She is noticeably darker than the other characters and wears a bindi mark or jewel.
Akio Ohtori
(鳳暁生 Ōtori Akio)
Enoki Films' name: Mike
Anthy's older brother, and acting chairman of the academy. Although barely present in the first season of the show, he later plays a pivotal role. His given name derives from the Japanese name for Venus, the Morning Star, which is identified with Lucifer. This is an appropriate name, for Akio is frequently compared to a fallen angel in the series, the angel having been Dios.
In the anime, Akio uses Utena's familiarity with his "better half" to his advantage and becomes her lover. He expresses a desire to see her as his princess and to relieve her of the burden of becoming a prince. In the end, however, he uses her in the same way he uses all the other duellists, and she dislikes the idea of becoming a stereotyped submissive female.
Akio appears to dominate his sister both personally and sexually; their incestuous and power-driven relationship is key to Anthy's behavior in both the anime (where Anthy is, or pretends to be, held in thrall to her brother) and the movie (where events cause the balance of power to shift dramatically). However, one could also argue that in the TV series Anthy does in fact "control" her brother to a large extent. He relies on her to control the duel victors and she is the one that holds the Sword of Dios.
Akio is also a remarkable playboy, with many and varied conquests. The list includes Kanae, Utena, Kozue, Tokiko, Touga, and even Kanae's mother. The series also hints that he may have done something sexual at least once with Saionji and even possibly with young Wakaba. Akio's trademark symbol is his jazzy automobile, in which he invites friends and potential sexual partners to take a midnight ride. Creator Ikuhara has stated that the car, and Akio's general appearance and presentation, are meant to represent the adult world and adult power.
Student Council members
- "If the egg's shell does not break, the chick will die without being born. We are the chick; the egg is the world. If the world's shell does not break, we will die without being born. Break the world's shell! For the sake of revolutionizing the world!"
- — Ohtori Academy's Student Council oath (paraphrased from Hermann Hesse's Demian).
Ohtori Academy's Student Council play a vital role in the series. Moved each one by his or her own personal interests, their great objective is to bring "World Revolution" and in order to obtain it, a true champion must rise from their battles over the Rose Bride's possession. Instructed by letters sent from an entity called "End of the World", each of them possesses a rose signet ring similar to the one Utena received from her prince, allowing them to participate in the duels. Some view Utena only as a threat to their plans, while others develop some sympathy for her. During the duels, each of them fight bringing a rose with the same color of his or her hair.
Juri Arisugawa
- (有栖川樹璃 Arisugawa Juri, also romanized as "Jury Arisugawa")
- Enoki Films' name: Julie
The captain of the academy's fencing team, Juri is one of Ohtori's most highly respected students, and even the teachers appear to be in awe of her. However, behind her aloof, intimidating manner, she is actually very vulnerable as she has been hurt in the past by her friend Shiori (over whom she obsesses continuously). While viewers are at first allowed to believe that Shiori stole Juri's boyfriend from her, it is later revaled that it was in fact Shiori who Juri cared about all along. She wears a locket with Shiori's picture inside, and becomes devastated with grief when Utena destroys it by accident while duelling.
In the manga, Juri is student council treasurer. Her nickname is 'The Beautiful Leopard' and she is the captain of the fencing club, thus, her primary duelling weapon is a rapier. In the manga, there is no Shiori; Juri is in love with Touga instead. Touga, however, is in love with Utena, and so Juri sees Utena as her arch rival. Juri is depicted in both versions as having learned all she knows about swordsmanship from an older student, Ruka Tsuchiya, who figures in small but important subplots.
In Adolescence of Utena, Juri is the president of the Student Council (the Council's members are apparently Miki, Juri and Saionji). Her hair changes drastically from the series and manga, in the movie she has long, un-curled hair, probably to make her look more like an arch-nemesis for Utena.
Miki Kaoru
- (薫幹 Kaoru Miki)
- Enoki Films' name: Mickey
The highly-skilled, polite, effeminate friend of Utena. A piano player par excellence, Miki has fond memories of playing songs with his sister Kozue in his childhood; her refusal to play with him in the present gives Miki a sense of loss. His crush on Anthy in the anime (but on Utena in the manga) develops when he finds she reminds him of his estranged sister. Although he crosses swords with Utena, he always has good intentions and is likely one of the few genuinely nice characters in the series. Also a Student Council member, he appears to be the secretary, as he's always attached to his stopwatch, and is jotting the Council meeting's minutes.
When he has to duel, he uses an épée.
Touga Kiryuu
- (桐生冬芽 Kiryū Tōga)
- Enoki Films' name: Tommy
President of the Student Council. Touga is an arrogant and handsome young man whose desire to be elegant and powerful drives him to cruel and unscrupulous deeds. Although he likely wishes to be more noble, his lack of affection from others doesn't allow him to have much empathy. Toward the end of the series, however, Touga's facade of chivalry is replaced with an apparently truer concern for Utena, to the extent that he very subtly attempts to substitute his head for hers on Akio's chopping block. Arguably, this is also an example of Touga's inability to see Utena as who she really is, rather than in a stereotypical feminine role. His portrayal in the manga and movie are considered more sympathetic throughout, or at least pitiable. His favorite things are women and himself. He also seems to have moral objections to homosexuality, as he lectures Nanami when he mistakenly believes that she has admitted to being a lesbian. Despite this, he seems to have no qualms about "taking a ride" with Akio.
Touga wields a katana in Utena's first duel against him, and a longsword in their last duel.
Nanami Kiryuu
- (桐生七実 Kiryū Nanami)
- Enoki Films' name: Nana
Touga's over-the-top, snob-queen little sister, who is very fond of him; she calls him 'onii-sama' and the phrase "big brother complex" is frequently applied to her. Nanami often makes various malicious attacks on students she deems inferior (or worse, those she suspects Touga is paying attention to). These pranks, however, stem from her own selfish immaturity rather than calculated evil seen in other characters. In duels, Nanami uses a unique (in the context of the series) style of dual blade fencing.
A few episodes in the series are specifically dedicated to Nanami and are usually stand-alone type situations, breaking the convention of a standard Utena episode. Each has a metaphorical theme exploring Nanami's character in a sympathetic light, but are otherwise even more nonsensical than standard episodes.
Interestingly enough, Nanami is not a main character in the manga and is only seen once in a picture with Touga.
In duels, she uses a scimitar as her primary weapon and a dagger as a main-gauche.
Kyouichi Saionji
- (西園寺莢一 Saionji Kyōichi)
- Enoki Films' name: Kevin Simon
Vice-president of the Student Council and captain of the kendo team. Aside from his obsessive rivalry with Touga, some consider him a simpler (less evil) character. He is temperamental, egotistic, prone to angry rages, and often cruel, but not as conniving as other characters. After being thoroughly humiliated in a series of episodes, he was even shown to have the capacity to be nice. He is one of the least featured characters, with a very short part in the Utena movie. Most of the other students call him by his surname.
During the Black Rose Saga, Saionji was taken in by Wakaba Shinohara, and was actually nice to her while staying with her. In gratitude for her taking him in, he made her a leaf shaped hair clip, but instead had to give it to Souji Mikage in order to be placed back in school.
Saionji is also extremely possessive of Anthy and believes that they are destined to be together no matter what; however, Anthy has a different view of him (unless she is currently "engaged" to him).
Saionji is the captain of the Ohtori kendo team and practices a lot, although his only rival in this martial art is Touga. His favourite blade is, thus, a katana.
Ruka Tsuchiya
In a sideplot to the manga, it is revealed that Juri received much of her advanced-level training from an enigmatic older student named Ruka Tsuchiya. A master swordsman, Ruka is former captain of the fencing team and member of the Student Council. Anthy served as his Rose Bride over several occasions. However, he is sickly and can no longer participate in the duels. He teaches Juri all he knows. Later circumstances force him to duel Utena, and the strain causes a relapse of his illness. He is hospitalized and reported dead, but Juri refuses to believe it. The end of the tale is ambiguous, suggesting the writers had plans to bring Ruka back if need be.
In both the manga and anime versions, Ruka appears at the school after a prolonged absence, claiming that he has recovered from his illness (probably a heart condition). His part in the anime is more complicated. He had not been a duelist before leaving school, and seems to have taken on this role solely to free Juri of her obsession with the venomous Shiori. Having attempted this and failed, Ruka returns to the hospital and dies.
Ruka has amassed his own subgroup of Utena fans, who create webpages such as Seraphitus, analysing his character.
Just like Juri's, Ruka's weapon of choice is a rapier.
Black Rose Duelists (Warning: Major Spoilers)
Souji Mikage
Enoki Films' name: Sonny
The pink-haired head of the popular Mikage Seminar at Ohtori Academy. Students come to him for counseling and are initiated as Black Rose Duelists after they reveal their problems and inner turmoil to him, usually in an elevator resembling a confessional. Mikage wishes to kill Anthy and install a boy, Mamiya, as the Rose Bride. Mikage's Black Rose Duelists (except for the first, Kanae Ohtori) pull swords from the Student Council member duelists to fight Utena, but seem to have no memory of their experience after their duels.
The duel Arena for the Black Rose Duelists changes; now the arena is covered with red marks on the floor that looks like collapsed people, probably the bodies of 100 students that died in the fire of the Nemuro Memorial Hall years ago. Also, school desks appear all around the arena with something important and symbolic for the current duelist on them. When the black rose duelist loses, the black rose signet is destroyed, the duelest falls unconscious in the mark of one of the bodies in the arena, and a coffin is cremated at Nemuro Memorial Hall.
Mikage himself fights Utena as the final Black Rose Duelist, with a picture of Tokiko and Mamiya on the school desks. Upon his loss, Akio reveals that Mikage has been used as a tool to push the duels to their next level. Mikage disappears from the school and from everyone's memories.
Kanae Ohtori
(鳳香苗 Ōtori Kanae)
Enoki Films' name: Kate
Akio's fiancee, daughter of the school's Trustee Chairman. She is unnerved by Anthy, who refuses to call Kanae anything informal, thus distancing herself as the future sister-in-law to Kanae. When Kanae enters the Black Rose interview, she reveals that she finds Anthy to be creepy and intolerable. Her distrust for Anthy drives Kanae's hatred during her Black Rose duel with Utena, in which the pattern begins that the Black Rose duelists try to take the Rose Bride's life.
When she duels with Utena there are white flowers in a black vase on the school desks of the arena.
In the Final Saga of Utena Kanae becomes a "Body Without Soul", she doesn't move or speak and is always with Akio who even feeds her.
Kozue Kaoru
(薫梢 Kaoru Kozue)
Enoki Films' name: Chris
Miki's twin sister, who feels overshadowed by his talent and dirtied by comparison with him. Kozue resents Miki's affection for Anthy Himemiya and is prone to "acting out" to grab her brother's attention, most notably by exercising loose sexual morals.
Kozue also seems to have an extreme brother complex. She is very protective of Miki and is the reason that he does not have a girlfriend (despite the endless possibilities). She duels with a sword pulled from her brother and the item on the school desk for her duel was a milkshake like the ones the siblings shared in childhood.
Wakaba Shinohara
(篠原若葉 Shinohara Wakaba)
Enoki Films' name: Wanda
Utena's Number #1 extremely affectionate fangirl and close friend. Wakaba's cheerful personality hides an enormous inferiority complex, and she attaches herself to Utena and other people -- sometimes literally -- to feel important. During the Black Rose Saga, it is revealed that she was harboring Saionji after his expulsion from school. Saionji was surprisingly very nice to her and even made her a hair clip shaped like a leaf. However, Mikage offered to help him back into school in exchange for one thing: the hair clip. Wakaba, after seeing it on Anthy, is distraught and runs to seek counsel from Mikage, where he makes her a Black Rose duelist. She pulls her dueling sword from Saionji and the same hair clip was on the school desks of the arena.
Note: The duel with Wakaba was the only duel in which Utena had the Rose Bride, but didn’t use the Sword of Dios to fight.
Shiori Takatsuki
(高槻枝織 Takatsuki Shiori)
Enoki Films' name: Sally
Juri's childhood friend. Shiori left the school after stealing the man she believed to be Juri's boyfriend, leaving Juri devastated. Later, Shiori discovers that Juri has actually been in love with her all along. Shiori is in many ways an innocent character, in denial of her true feelings of admiration and love for Juri. Perhaps because of this, her attitude towards Juri is often downright sadistic. Her schemes are often designed to hurt Juri for no reason other than to see her suffer. At the same time, she is masochistic; every time she hurts Juri, she is also hurting herself. Upon discovering Juri's love for her, Shiori becomes a Black Rose Duelist and pulls her dueling sword from Juri. On the school desks of the arena are birds sitting on perches.
Mitsuru Tsuwabuki
Enoki Films' name: Mitch
Nanami's most devoted lackey. He is only a fourth grader but is obsessed with serving Nanami and wishes he could be her adored "big brother". He duels Utena with the sword and the dagger pulled from Nanami, and on the school desks of the arena there are clay figures holding partially-eaten chocolate bars. As with all the Black Rose Duelists, he seems to have no memory of the experience afterwards. But then he appears to be somewhat healthier, spending some of his time with children his own age instead of Nanami.
Keiko Sonoda
Enoki Films' name: Kate
Keiko is one of Nanami's sidekicks. She has a secret obsession for Touga, Nanami's brother, like many other girls in the school. But she knows that it is impossible to even approach him. On a rainy day, Keiko finds Touga out in the heavy rain without shelter. She offers him her orange umbrella. But Nanami finds out, and makes everyone reject her in vengence. Accusing Nanami of being a pest, Keiko becomes a Black Rose Duelist. On the school desks of the Arena are orange umbrellas like the one she gave to Touga.
Minor characters
Chuchu
Same name for Enoki Films' naming
Anthy's pet (whom she will only refer to as friend, but may be more properly described as a familiar). A small, comical, rather ugly, bowtie-wearing marmoset who tends to thaw out some dry scenes, often with the help of a large frog. However, he seems to be aware of things other characters aren't, often giving the viewers (and, occasionally, Utena) some warning as to the true nature of certain schemes. He is constantly being abused by Saionji. It is somewhat hinted at times that he may be linked to Dios - a small physical creation designed to keep Anthy company in her time of solitude.
Dios
Same name for Enoki Films' naming
The enigmatic "prince" from Utena's childhood. Dios's name, which means "God" in Spanish, as well as his presentation in the anime, suggest that he is to be considered Utena's guardian angel. Dios is a central figure in the anime in spite of his limited screen time. The sword with which Utena fights most of her duels is called the Sword of Dios; the audience is led to believe that Dios's essence is somehow contained within the sword, and in many of the duels his spirit is shown entering Utena's body and semi-possessing her, helping her to win. Dios is confounded with Akio, however, complicating this interpretation. Dios and Akio seem at various times to be two distinct persons, or a single person whose dual nature has embodied itself as two people. His possession of Utena can been seen as his only method of protecting her; his essence has been weakened greatly, and Akio is all that is left of him in the corporeal world.
Nanami's sidekicks
Three girls who usually hang with Nanami and help her in her pranks. Later is discovered that the real reason they act friendly with her is not only that she is one of the richest girls in the school, but also that it allows them to get closer to her brother. During the black rose arc, one of them, Keiko Sonoda (Enoki Films: Kate), unable to bear her unrequited love for Touga, after asking for counsel in the Mikage seminar, transforms into the black rose duelist who pulls a sword from him, with an umbrella as her symbol on the desks. By the time of Nanami's last duel with Utena, rumors about her not being Touga's sister start to spread, and believing it could be truth, the trio start to despise her and to tell her what they really think about her, a situation that Nanami resoved easily by beating down all of them.
Shadow Girls
(Kage Shōjo). Three girls (known as A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko) seen only in silhouette who spend about thirty seconds per episode energetically commentating on its events in symbolic allegory. Their antics provide comic relief along with meaningful insight into the show's plot. Some think Shadow Girls are Utena's homage to kabuki (and later bunraku) theater; they are also much like a Greek chorus, in keeping with Utena's Western themes, but also strongly reminiscent of Balinese wayang shadow puppets. It is later suggested that they may be real girls from the school's drama club, but even then, they retain hints of the supernatural as their faces are never seen and Wakaba seems surprised that their school has a drama club. Like much in Utena, the metaphor retains a degree of ambiguity.
The movie introduces two new Shadow Girls, E-Ko and F-Ko, and reuses C-Ko. The movie also introduced "Shadow Girl Central" (whose computers use KageOS) where dozens of Shadow Girls play announcers and help monitor the final race.
Themes
A visual influence by Gnosticism can be found in both the anime and movie, with Ohtori Academy as the illusory world and Akio or (more likely) Anthy as the Demiurge. By its plays on such archetypal figures as the Prince, the Princess, or the Witch, and by the literary symbolic role carried out by such plot elements as coffins, thorns, or castles, Utena can be seen as the quintessence of the Postmodernist fairy tale.
It should be noted that the series addresses sexual themes quite often, including yuri (lesbian) and yaoi (gay male) elements—as well as other sexual matters such as incestuous desire, actual incest, and sexual abuse. The show does not dwell upon these themes morbidly or lewdly; the mischievous director often chooses to leave such matters to the imagination. There is somewhat more explicit sexual imagery in the motion picture, although it is not pornographic by most viewers' standards. Fans have commented that Utena contains all the romantic combinations and fetishes seen in anime, with the possible exception of H anime (often called hentai by North American anime fans). Another very important theme is about gender roles (freely chosen or socially imposed), which play a large part in the series. The omnipresence of phallic symbols, such as swords, towers, cars, and poles, and the sexual connotations of flowers contributes to these sexual themes.
Chief among the romantic relationships in Utena is that between Utena and Anthy. It is more ambiguous in the TV series than the movie—the director has a dislike of the strong shipper tendency in fandom and even complained about Sailor Moon's leads' idealized relationship. However, they are considered a couple, and at present are likely the most famous lesbian couple in anime. They are considered a good example of the lack of strong uke/seme concept in yuri fandom. While Utena (especially in the movie) is boyish, strong, and physically aggressive ("masculine" traits), she is more emotional and innocent than the wearily experienced Anthy. Fans enjoy the feeling of ambiguity that comes with the blurring of gender roles.
The movie is more blunt in its representations of themes like self-discovery, carving one's own path despite uncertainty, rejecting set paths, and, most important, sticking to one's childhood dreams as opposed to growing up to bitter adulthood. The theme of resistance against a society that will crush your dreams, and only declare you an "adult" when you have accepted defeat and all you have left is sad regrets, is illustrated with extreme visual imagery. Many fans point to the phrase "that closed world, where you can be dead while living" as key to the entire story. Due to Anthy and Utena's more overt relationship in the film, it has been read as a "coming out" film by some fans.
Although the title of the show has been translated as 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' the Japanese title actually means 'Girl Revolution Utena'. This is important because one of the more subtle, rarely noticed themes of Utena is reinterpreting classical themes and motifs of Shōjo manga. For one, Utena rejects many stereotypes connected to women, that appear often in shoujo manga and anime (such as Akio and Touga failing at being "Prince Charming", Utena refusing to become a princess, and revealing Anthy's real character as not an innocent damsel in distress but a witch who manipulates men and women alike). Two, Utena takes the typically shoujo posing and dramatic effects intended to heighten the mood or tension of important scenes, and exaggerates them, often to the point of being (deliberately) comedic, such as characters framed with spinning roses, or a dramatic scene accentuated with a baseball match in the background.
Visual motifs
Repeated motifs feature strongly and powerfully in Utena. Many scenes are reused—exactly or almost so—in several episodes. This may have been a practical consideration on the animators' part to reduce production costs, but it also lends a ritualistic sense to many of the repeated scenes—such as the Student Council's ascent, or Utena's entry to the dueling platform.
The use of color in the series alternates between serene and striking, while the world feels angular and modern, from the faces of the characters to the design of the Academy. The dominant motif of the entire series is the rose, which fills the decor and landscape of the Academy as well as the ritual accoutrements of the Duelists. Highly stylized, they are reminiscent of Charles Rennie Mackintosh's. Another curious one is elevators, which seem to be used as places of transition or transformation—the Council's elevator, Akio's, the Black Rose group's where the confessions take place, and the one installed in the dueling platform in the later episodes. By the end of the series, cars—particularly Akio's—become an overwhelming motif representing loss of innocence and control.
Inspirations
Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles and Oniisama e are established sources of inspiration for Utena, visually for the first and thematically for the second. Osamu Tezuka's Belladonna of Sadness and Ribon no Kishi (the story of a young princess cross-dressing as a knight) may be other strong ones.
Another major inspiration, evident in the use of Gnostic themes, is Hermann Hesse's Demian. The Student Council's oath is paraphrased from the book, as well. The music for the Student Council is strongly reminiscent of the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach, and thus of the Phantom of the Opera with its themes of identity and ambiguous motivations.
During the duel preparation sequences, Utena's outfit changes slightly in what is perhaps a friendly parody of the magical girl genre. Likewise elevator scenes have a transformation aspect to them.
Ikuhara cites prolific playwright, poet, and director Terayama Shuji as a major influence. Terayama was a long time collaborator with J.A. Seazer, who wrote the music for his plays. Ikuhara said that working with Seazer was the greatest part of his Utena experience. The music for the anime series alternates between almost stereotyped instrumentals portraying the misleadingly normal appearance of the school and its students, and intense fortissimo orchestration featuring a choir chanting rapid-fire lyrics which are often simply emotionally-charged words strung together in a seemingly meaningless way to connote the turbulent feelings of adolescence. Some websites offer interpretations of the lyrics.
Music
The series' musical score -- with lyrics largely written by Ikuhara himself, and scored by J.A. Seazer -- is considered exceptional by many fans and is among its most memorable features. While each episode opens with an energetic J-pop song performed by Masami Okui, "Rinbu Revolution" (Round Dance Revolution), Utena's signature song is undoubtedly "Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku" (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse), which plays each time Utena makes her arduous way to the dueling arena. This song, along with those played during the duels themselves, are composed in a style which may best be described as choral rock; they are quite intense and feature richly-textured polyphonic melodies. While the lyrics of the choral rock pieces often appear to be little more than themed gibberish, a careful examination often reveals hidden meaning pertinent to the theme of the episode and of the series as a whole.
The non-vocal background music was composed by Shinkichi Mitsumune, and is largely orchestral in character, though with significant jazz influences. Notable songs include "Aphrodite of Death", a forelorn strings piece that often accompanies Juri, and "The Sunlit Garden," a recurring duet piano piece whose ubiquity within the series makes it a symbol in its own right. Mitsumune also handled the arrangement of the first 8 duel choruses.
Other notable songs from the series include "Truth," which concludes first- and second-season episodes, "Virtual Star Hasseigaku," the ending song in later episodes (also famous because of the strong lesbian imagery in the Utena/Anthy scenes that show as this song plays).
The pieces from Adolescence Utena are of similar quality and do not disappoint fans addicted to Absolute Destiny Apocalypse. Masami Okui's contribution, the J-pop ballad "Toki ni Ai wa" (At Times Love is...) enjoys considerable popularity among fans.
See also
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