(Untitled)

[baranohanayome]

I rewatched "Revolutionary Girl Utena" tonight with the explicit intention of actually paying attention to more than just the awesome art and the neat swordfights, and suddenly I realize exactly how fucked up everything in this series is. I mean, I was always aware that it was full of questionable content, but it is at times truly disturbing

Comments

[jyuufish]

Yeah, Utena series is extremely fucked up.. I mean wow, just wow. It's all so macabre if you think about it. All the bright colours and the badassery leads one into a false sense of security.

[baranohanayome]

I think the part that disturbs me the most is Anthy herself. On the surface she appears to be totally powerless, but when you actually sit back and think about it, she holds all the power in Ohtori. Akio can't do anything without her compliance; he couldn't even beat a 14 year old girl in a sword fight without Anthy there to stab her in the back! We know that she comes to care about Utena in ways that she has probably never cared about any of the other duelists that Akio has used up and discarded in the past, and yet she still goes along with all of Akio's plans without question. Why? Why would she willingly surrender her free will to someone that holds such malice for her and everyone else around him? It's unsettling to me in ways I can't quite articulate.

[jyuufish]

Yeah, Anthy is an enigma to be sure. I think that alot of the series is not really about Utena's power to change herself.. she's very consistant.. it's the changing of everyone in that series that really pushes it home. You are right though, it's something I couldn't understand too much back when I first watched it.. it definitely requires more watch throughs.

[baranohanayome]

Utena does have a powerful force of personality that has a significant impact on everyone around her. It's hard to describe, really, since for some characters (like Juri) the effect is almost imperceptible, but for characters like Touga it's really profound. I really like her as a character; her personal growth is very subtle, it's nothing that radically changes her personality or her role in the story, but I enjoyed watching her come to fully understand the ramifications of what she wanted and accept the responsibilities and pitfalls that came with it. The final duel was heartwrenching, watching her struggle on even after being mortally wounded so that she could save her friend, even after Anthy had betrayed her, just because she promised she would. It was handled very well, I think.