"Shôjo kakumei Utena" (1997) TV series

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Kunihiko Ikuhara

Writers:

Yoji Enokido (writer)
Kunihiko Ikuhara (writer)

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

2 April 1997 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

Plot:

A tomboyish schoolgirl finds herself forced into repeated duels for another girl who has a role in a world revolution.

Plot Keywords:

Duel | Girl | Revolution | School | Prince

Cast

Leah Applebaum	...	Nanami Kiryuu (1 episode)
Sharon Becker	...	Anthy Himemiya (1 episode)
Roxanne Beck	...	Wakaba Shinohara (1 episode)
Mandy Bonhomme	...	Female Teacher / ... (1 episode)
Crispin Freeman	...	Dios / ... (1 episode)
Yuriko Fuchizaki	...	Anthy Himemiya (1 episode)
Aya Hisakawa	...	Miki Kaoru (1 episode)
Yuka Imai	...	Touga's mother / ... (1 episode)
Tomoko Kawakami	...	Utena Tenjô (1 episode)
Satomi Koorogi	...	Chuchu / ... (1 episode)
Takehito Koyasu	...	Touga Kiryuu (1 episode)
Takeshi Kusao	...	Kyôichi Saionji (1 episode)
Rachael Lillis	...	Chu-Chu / ... (1 episode)
Kotono Mitsuishi	...	Jury Arisugawa (1 episode)
Yuri Shiratori	...	Nanami Kiryû (1 episode)
Jack Taylor	...	Kyôichi Saionji (1 episode)
Jimmy Zoppi	...	Miki Kaoru (1 episode)

Also Known As:

"Girl Revolution Utena" (USA)
"Revolutionary Girl Utena"
"Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection" (USA) (DVD title)

Runtime:

24 min (39 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16

Trivia:

The Student Council's oath, more commonly known as "the chick speech", is a variation of, "The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born first must destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas" from Herman Hesse's Demian. It is a direct tie into the multiple Gnostic themes of the show.

Goofs:

Continuity: In episode 8, the thick white stripe on the bottom of Nanami's skirt disappears when she is hugging Touga. It re-appears in the other scenes.

Quotes:

Anthy Himemiya: [after Utena wins her hand] Cheer up, Saionji, my schoolmate.

Movie Connections:

Followed by Shôjo kakumei Utena: Adolescence mokushiroku (1999)

a fairy tale gone horribly wrong

I absolutely love utena and I've been a fan of it for almost two years running. When I first started watching the series, I thought it was sweet, girly, and fun. Then I got a hold of summaries for episodes 14-39 (14-23 will finally be released later this year) and my opinion completely changed. Utena starts out with the childish dream that you can be a prince and make anything happen, but as the show goes from fantasy to reality (as deeply expressed in the last episode), it's all a bunch of lies and nothing comes easy. This is a show that isn't really for kiddies or the closed minded, but if you're willing to let a few braincells fry while trying to figure out if it's Anthy or Akio that's the evil one, then go for it. Another aspect of the show I like are the designs of the character's outfits (I'll be honest. The manga outfits and Utena's rose colored uniform appealed more), plus the opera/punk (yes, such a genre is possible) songs that play during the duels. There are few technical inaccuracies in the duels (many of the moves the characters use in their fights could get them yellow carded) and Utena seems to be helped by Dios a little too much instead of winning them on her own, but it's worth it anyway.