Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Years ago, a tragic incident befell a young princess when both her parents died. Devastated, it seemed nothing would calm this poor soul. However, a prince traveling through the area came to see the princess, hoping to cheer her up. After wiping her sorrowful tears, the prince gave her a ring carrying a rose emblem and told her as long as she holds onto the ring, they are destined to meet again. The event leaves a deep impression on the girl, Utena Tenjou, leading her to become a prince herself.

Years later, Utena attends Ootori Academy, recognized by the same rose emblem as her precious ring's. There, attracted by the scent of roses, she witnesses Anthy Himemiya tending the flowers, accompanied by the Student Council President Touga Kiryuu and Vice President Kyouichi Saionji, who seem to be arguing over Anthy. While Utena thinks nothing of the occurrence, the Student Council gathers to discuss an important matter.

Subsequently, a misunderstanding leads to Utena being dragged into the world of Duelists—those with rings similar to her own. The Duelists fight for the ownership of the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya, who is said to possess great power. Wanting to prove her capabilities as a prince, and enraged that Anthy is being wronged and objectified, Utena resolves to fight against the Duelists to save her from the cruel fate.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Tenjou, Utena Main

Kawakami, Tomoko Japanese

Himemiya, Anthy Main

Fuchizaki, Yuriko Japanese

Arisugawa, Juri Supporting

Mitsuishi, Kotono Japanese

Kiryuu, Nanami Supporting

Shiratori, Yuri Japanese

Ootori, Akio Supporting

Kosugi, Juurouta Japanese

Kiryuu, Touga Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Mikage, Souji Supporting

Midorikawa, Hikaru Japanese

Chuchu Supporting

Koorogi, Satomi Japanese

Kaoru, Miki Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Takatsuki, Shiori Supporting

Nishihara, Kumiko Japanese

Kobayashi, Noriko Producer

Ikeda, Shinichi Producer

Kawasaki, Tomoko Producer

Ikuhara, Kunihiko Director, Script, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, Original Creator

Reviews

Dec 15, 2025

TrMin228

Recommended

I think this is a truly “subversive” anime. The setup at the beginning, where the protagonist wants to become the prince instead of the one who gets saved, already creates an different. She wants to be strong, yet her idea of strength is based on an “ideal prince.” The more she tries to prove herself, the more she realizes that she, too, longs to be saved.

She is a character trapped in the role of “the hero” imposed on her by society. Meanwhile, Anthy is labeled a witch simply because she resisted violence and tried to protect her brother. She is hated because she is forced ... into the role of “the one who ruins everything,” but if you look closely, she’s merely trying to survive that world.

Utena wants to save Anthy, but Anthy isn’t a princess, she’s someone society has crushed to the point where she can’t trust anyone anymore. Ohtori Academy is like a miniature model of society: everyone is stuck in the role they’re expected to play.

What I like most is that breaking fate doesn’t happen through a typical “rescue the princess” storyline, it happens when Utena abandons the role of the prince altogether.

The series does contain disturbing elements like incest or NTR..., but these are used to critique power structures, emotional and the process of growing up; they are not included for fan service or fetish.

"Only those who dare to leave the stage, to give up their role, can find their true self."
This is timeless value.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Jun 14, 2024

bergars

Mixed Feelings

Oh boy, it's one of those.

A thematic piece of characters with dubious morals, and gray zones of horrible acts. A drama that starts off as a “fight of the week” sort of thing, but slowly evolves, morphs, into a disturbing showcase of traumatic events. A story with no proper explanation, or a straight-to-the-point narrative. I have an idea of what just happened, but I could be legitimately wrong about everything. However, this isn't about a story, but about thematic depth.

Coming of age. School, love, friends, family, sister / brotherhood. Those are all fun things to explore, aren't they? Many slice of life anime ... touch upon those with care, with love, with enough to fill a heart to the brim. The anime was following the themes with a little more spice into it. Infidelity, unrequited love, toxic love. I was getting invested in the relationships, even with the superficial incest that was grinding my gears, until the shift right about episode 24.

Something changed in the writing team, maybe it was the plan from the beginning, but I could not expect those disturbing aspects to take center stage, with proper writing accompanying them. Incest, and the traumatic repercussions and causes. Rape, and the negative effects on one's psyche. True toxic love, and toxic relationships for those you love. Possession, victim blaming, gaslighting, suffering, loneliness, loss of purpose.

“Revolutionary Girl Utena” became a series about how truly messed up coming of age can be for a woman. The gender norms, sexuality, grooming, it didn't stop, and it never let go after grabbing the audience. I wanted to turn it off, to rest from the themes, only for the next, goofy combat to happen. The story was there, but it doesn't matter at some point.

This is an artistic representation of womanhood in its early stages, and how people decide to use it for themselves, or for others. The psychological bonds they can achieve, be it positive or negative. It was a brutal watch, one behind some okay animation, but excellent direction. Visual symbols, the art of the edit, of coverage, and the uses of sound design. It didn't dabble on the usual, visual cocktail that's any other shoujo anime. This one let the silence happen, it let scenes land on their mangled legs, and let us watch as people's egos get demolished in front of us.

I truly just wish it wasn't presented in such a convoluted narrative, with events happening as “one offs”. Episode 23 or 24 didn't just mark the series as a turning point, but as the beginning of the absolute confusion. Powers or situations that occur only once, story beats that don't play out until the very end, and surrealist instances where the meaning feels much more thematic than a tying the story together.

It's a mesh of ideas, ones that work amazingly well if it weren't trying to tell a story in the middle of everything. I don't know if the writers wanted to create discussion about it, but it feels like it was done artificially. They had all the resources to tell a coherent narrative, and they chose not to. I'd wish they went one way, coherent, or thematic, instead of this clash between both that doesn't perfectly land with me.

The combat wasn't particularly interesting. But then, the characters were so well-written that I tolerated all that. Every episode that focused on the psychological landed so much better than the “oh my god, a fight scene”. Should've been cut, but I don't know how. They didn't have much time per episode for a proper fight scene, so why frame the story entirely on those? It's a question for another day.

7/10. Amazing, psychological story about women, and their relationship with life at their coming of age. Brutal, disturbing, but incredibly important for what it tries to say. I just wish they polished, or cut down on the action aspects, to allow a greater story to be told, or the themes to come in at full force, instead of their constant interruptions.

Extra: What in god's name was that cow episode? Up there with the worst episodes I've ever seen, please skip that one.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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May 20, 2025

AgentBishop

Not Recommended

Funny

You’ve probably heard it before:

“A masterpiece that inspired generations of strong female characters. A philosophical giant in anime that challenged gender norms…”

Whenever I see praise that over-the-top, I get suspicious. Usually, good feminist stories get criticized even by feminists for being too real, too messy. But this? This had the glow of untouchable “progressiveness,” which to me is a red flag.

And sure enough, by episode one, I had my doubts confirmed.

Utena shows up in a boys’ uniform (kind of), dunks on the entire male basketball team, and defeats a trained swordsman with a wooden sword — all while winning ownership of ... a mysteriously submissive minority girl who barely talks. The girl literally lives to serve whoever beats her master in combat. Symbolism? Sure. But also pretty damn weird.

If your world is built on the idea that women are oppressed, but then the main character is a woman dominating men left and right, then what oppression are we talking about? How can there be a patriarchy in a setting where the lead girl crushes every man in her path with zero consequences?

Utena wants to be a prince, but… she’s already stronger than every prince around her. The show tries to be deep about this, but it ends up looking more like a contradiction than a subversion.

A better feminist character is someone like Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables, or Judy from Zootopia — characters who face resistance, grow through it, and earn their place. Utena just shows up already elite.

The middle chunk of the series is padded with “duel of the week” episodes — random students challenging Utena to win back the so-called Rose Bride, as if she’s some kind of Pokémon. There’s incest-coded storylines, emotionally unstable characters, and symbolism that often comes at the cost of any believable dialogue or plot logic.

There’s a scene where Utena starts wearing a dress. Her friend asks, “What’s this?” Utena says, “This is normal.” Her friend shouts, “No, baka, this isn’t normal for you!”
And I’m just sitting there like: Was this line written by a Twitter thread?

Later, we find out the prince Utena idolized is kind of trash, and the Rose Bride character flips loyalty the moment Utena loses — which undercuts any emotional bond the show was trying to build. But again, symbolism over substance. It wants to say something, but it forgets to show it in a way that makes sense.

By the final stretch, things go full chaos mode. There’s taboo-breaking content (which I guess was edgy in 1997), awkward relationships, and plot twists that seem more interested in shocking the audience than making a point. Episode 38 tries to wrap it all in some kind of moral about agency and love, but it lands like a brick in a swimming pool.

Final thoughts:
Utena tries to be profound and progressive, but it ends up being clumsy and pretentious. the show wants to be respected for its ideas without actually earning that respect through coherent storytelling. For a series that preaches revolution, it sure feels stuck in its own symbolism.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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