Summary: A young child is given a ring so then someday she can meet her prince... so that's how the story goes. Utena (protagonist) wants to become a prince so that she can be like the one she met and be as noble and kind and so on. Getting to the point... It's basically about a bunch of academy students (the student counsil) who duel for possesion of the Rose Bride (Anthy Himemia) in order to gain the power to revolutionaze the world. Utena falls into all of this by accident but not by coincidence. When her friend Wakaba is humiliate by Saionji (the current dueling champion, but she does know that) Utena challenges him to a duel for Wakaba's honor. Well, she wins but doesn't count on having to take care of Anthy now that Utena has possesion of her. Believing it's just a momentary thing, Utena then finds herself having to duel all of the student counsil and eventually new duelist.... even her friend Wakaba. In the end Utena is faced with the worst duel of all called Revolution.
Total Episodes: 39
Movie: 1
Personal Opinion: In refering to Shoujo anime, this is one of the best story lines that has come out since The Rose of Versailles. The problem people have with Utena is the lack of giving the series a chance in the first place. Not to mention the storyline is rather complicated but not as complicated as Neon Genesis Evangelion. Utena starts out rather rosy (not as bad as Sailor Moon though) or better yet innocent looking. The first 13 episodes create the scenario and can be comical. By the 14th episode there is a total turn from innocent into dark and the creepy effect of the music.From here on the story becomes more complicated and there are a lot of suggested themes that have nothing to do with innocence. Towards the end we find out that the reason Utena wants to be a prince has nothing to do with the story that is presented in the first episode and that Anthy is not all that innocent. It's a very good intense series, unfortunatly the Movie I found to be rather disappointing, great animation and all, but it kills the series and should be viewed seperately.
RANKING: Makes prince charming look like a whimp! Beware of your brother and sister if they look at you strangely... YIKES! 5 of 5 |
