Girl Revolution Utena (1997– )
"Shôjo kakumei Utena" (original title)

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

Stars:

Leah Applebaum, Roxanne Beck, Sharon Becker

Cast

Series cast summary:
Leah Applebaum	...	Nanami Kiryuu (1 episode)
Roxanne Beck	...	Wakaba Shinohara (1 episode)
Sharon Becker	...	Anthy Himemiya (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)

Storyline

This series is about a girl called Utena who was helped in a difficult time by a handsome prince. She was so impressed with him that she vowed to become a prince herself. She is attending a boarding school where she stands out with her gender bending ways and boy's uniform and makes friends with other students in school, most notably a bizarrely submissive Indian girl called Anthy. When one of her friends is publically humiliated by her crush, Utena protests and is called out on a duel by the boy at a bizarre arena. With some difficulty, she wins and finds that Anthy is now "engaged" to her as the "Rose Bride" that is the key to a world revolution. Now, she finds herself forced to fight repeated challengers for Anthy, face similar rivalries in her personal life and tries to help Anthy gain some will of her own. All the while, the duels she must fight are leading her to a goal of world revolution that has implications she is not yet aware of.

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Plot Keywords:

revolution | duel | school | prince | rose | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

2 April 1997 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min 24 min (39 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Brows Held High: Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie (2011)

User Reviews

A Revolution In Anime

As a child, Utena Tenjou's parents died, leaving their daughter as an orphan. A prince appeared and gave Utena a rose crested ring. He promised that they would meet again one day. From then on, Utena destined to be a savior, or a prince. Now as a 14-year old girl, Utena attends Ohtori Academy and is friends with Wakaba. After setting a challenge with one of the Student Council's members, Kyouichi, the two meet in the arena behind the school. (The other 3 members are playboy Touga, intelligent Miki, and the mature yet beautiful Juri.) There, the two commence in a sword duel over the master of the powerful Rose Bride, fellow student Anthy Himemiya. Whoever wins the duel will control the power, capable of revolutionizing the world, within her. Utena wins, only starting her strange journey into the world of the Student Council & their odd mission to change our existence as we know it... THIS IS A GREAT ANIME SERIES FOR ALL SHOUJO FANS! IT IS NOT A LESBIAN ANIME OR A GIRLY ONE EITHER! CHECK IT OUT IF YOU LIKE ANIME WITH PLOTS UNLIKE DRAGON BALL AND POKEMON FARCES.