Ranked #1076

Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse

Knowing the TV series isn't required to watch this movie, but it definitely helps a lot to catch some references and to understand part of the relationships better, even though, there are lots of changes in characteristics. If you haven't seen the series, be prepared to be blown away by some of the most bizarre moments in anime history.

The basic storyline doesn't give too much hints of what tragedies will be revealed. Utena is at first believed to be a boy, a little glimpse on the problematic gender roles. Don't just watch this, because somebody told you there'd be girl kissage, there's so much more to Utena and Anthy. As opposed to the more devote Rose Bride in the series this Anthy has a mind of her own and doesn't act like a mere puppet. She and Utena are equal central characters and the audience gets as little information as necessary about everybody else. That's why characterwise I give 'only' a 9 instead of the full 10. Still, you can hardly put any more depth to the heroines of this piece, because their fates are similar and yet work on very different levels.

Comparing the animation, the design, the colors of the movie and the series almost hurts my eyes. Where the series seems to favor pastel shades the movie shows everything in full bloom. An ocean of red roses, hair colors bathed in warm light, the building moving around as if it's breathing and rich backgrounds full of detail. Smooth movements of the characters, wether they wield a sword or just touch glass, you can almost feel it yourself.
The heavy symbolism makes it hard to follow at times (and yes, there is relevance and even a certain amount of logic to the infamous car chase), but at least the art should satisfy your senses. Okay, a minor deduction regarding the sound. Even though the songs "Rinbu Revolution" and "Zettai Unmei Mokoshiroku" are there and there's a really beautiful dance sequence with a wonderful ballad ("Toki ni ai wa"), I really miss the powerful atmosphere of music overall.

Most important word of this movie has to be "oji-sama" - the Prince and his many incarnations. Everybody is linked to a prince and realizing who this prince is and why this link has to be broken is essentially the growing up process the title refers to. Watching this movie for the first time was highly confusing, but this turned into pure enjoyment for me. For about an hour and a half I can dive into a fascinating world of high goals and two girls struggling for freedom and peace. read more

Adolescence of Utena is a feature-length movie that was produced and directed by the same persons who were responsible for the TV series. It premiered in 1999, and has been licensed Stateside by Central Park Media, which is now defunct. Let's just say it's been out for a long time Stateside.

Adolescence of Utena is best described as the TV series retold in two hours or less with different plot elements bought up or discarded, with some characters absent, and lots and lots of symbolism and, some would argue, a heavy dose of crack.

I would highly suggest watching the series going into this. I watched this first, then watched the series, and then watched this, and I found that the series helped me understand it more, which is what the creators intended with this. And then the movie, in turn, helped me understand elements of the series that I didn't before, which in turn helped me understand the movie more, which helped me understand the series... it's a cycle of positive feedback. And it's amazing.

The art for this is a lot smoother than it was in the series, though it is still heavily stylized. A definite improvement.

The music has a lot of the same themes, subtly reworked for the movie, which gives it a whole new feel. There are also some new vocal pieces that don't have to do with the duelling songs, and they're quite addictive.

Most of the vocal cast was able to return for this, except for Akio's seiyuu, which just adds a nice touch to this.

An amazing movie, and one of my favorite anime movies to date. read more