Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Adolescence Mokushiroku

All eyes are on Utena Tenjou, a mysterious transfer student to Ohtori Academy. But Utena's eyes seem to be fixed on one familiar face that stands out among the rest—Touga Kiryuu, Utena's childhood friend. Touga knows of Utena's past and possesses knowledge of the Mark of the Rose, a set of unique rings worn by those who compete for the hand of the Rose Bride. The Rose Bride, Himemiya Anthy, belongs to whomever wins her in a duel, and the one that wins all the duels is said to be given the power to bring revolution to the world. Utena is drawn into the duels, but Touga and their complicated history together may end up unraveling everything. Nothing is as it seems in this retelling of the original anime series.

[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

Oikawa, Mitsuhiro Japanese

Kiryuu, Touga Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Chuchu Supporting

Koorogi, Satomi Japanese

Kaoru, Miki Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Saionji, Kyouichi Supporting

Kusao, Takeshi Japanese

Takatsuki, Shiori Supporting

Nishihara, Kumiko Japanese

Matsukura, Yuuji Producer

Moriyama, Atsushi Producer

Ikuhara, Kunihiko Director, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, ADR Director, Creator

Tanaka, Hideyuki Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 10, 2021

Krankastel

Recommended

No matter their genre, whether they are animated or live-action, short or feature, films can serve many purposes:

1. Some merely amuse.
2. Some are opportunities to poke fun at them.
3. Some aim mostly at touching their audience with emotional scenes.
4. Some express social and political ideas.
5. Some bring into question the human condition.

And some don’t seem to make any sense. Might be because of a confusing and hard-to-follow storyline, because the reference material is hardly accessible, or because the creator wants to mess with his audience, or all three and more. Does Adolescence of Utena belong here? I’d say yes and no.

Ikuhara ... can be a trolling creator and a fan-proclaimed madman, but also one of the most social-aware people to grace anime industry. Let’s begin the review, there will be no spoilers.


~~~ [1. Things to keep in mind …] ~~~

a) Adolescence of Utena can be watched standalone, but I don’t recommend doing this. This comes from a person who watched a few episodes of the series, then went for movie, completed the series and then re-watched the movie. Some original series’ elements will fly over the viewer’s head, some parts are affectionate references to iconic and memetic scenes and much character context may be missed. And on top of that, some scenes supplement or build upon certain ones at the series.

b) This movie thrives on visual storytelling, employing imagery themselves as a narrative tool. Although the case with every work directed by Ikuhara, here the usage of metaphors and symbolism is uninhibited, and surrealism reaches extreme heights. There is also bizarre and offbeat humor at parts, that contributes as part of the film’s charm.

Best not to take anything too face value, especially during later parts where any semblance of literal story is drowning in a sea of allegory and madness. I would also recommend against nitpicking details on first watch, but to go with an empty and open mind intuitively absorbing information.

c) Many people recommend approaching this movie as metaphor after metaphor for growing up, and might be fine to direct the viewer and not confuse them too much.

In my opinion though this may also peg down the mind and not liberate it enough to provide for alternate interpretations and explore the thematic richness behind. With enough patience and imagination, one can appreciate more than just a deranged coming-of-age story or yuri romance. One of my favorite interpretations is an intrapersonal one, e.g. bridging and integrating our personality traits no matter if considered more “feminine” or “masculine” by society and tear down delusions that don’t serve us and hold back our potential.

Outside thematic interpretation, I guess the film can be seen as a sequel, a parallel universe, or even a separate microcosm depending on how one views it.


~~~ [2. Briefly on characters…] ~~~

Given it’s a compact retelling of the series not all will be fleshed out, and on top of that understanding some requires the series as a point of reference. Original concepts from the parent series remain present, like the Rose Bride or the duel to drive, as is the prince.

Utena and Anthy are different from their series’ versions, Utena being more masculine-looking, introverted and reserved, whereas Anthy is more assertive, and more openly displays free will and emotions, and boasts a different if still feminine appearance.

Other characters are mostly limited to few but very memorable scenes and their roles are either changed from the original series or “flanderized” to an extreme. Some operate more as symbols; however it is noteworthy that the presence of one of those can probably shed some light into an important character of the series and how he came to be raised this way.


~~~ [3. Closing with technical aspects…] ~~~

a) Visually it’s way much of an upgrade from the series, the most animated Ikuhara work by far and eerily beautiful. Going hand to hand with the extreme surrealism, Ohtori has been transformed from an already atypical school to a Hogwarts-like landscape.

The resulting architecture blurts the line between a sci-fi setting and an almost schizophrenic dreamscape, including among others shifting animated segments and overlapping classroom boards. Colors are more vivid, camerawork is dynamic and fluid, and whatever fencing scenes present truly feel as action scenes, and the car scenes are nothing short of a majestic narcotic.

Unlike in all Ikuhara’s series, there is no repeated sequence made to create a pattern. It goes without question that there will be tons of imagery used as symbols in very creative ways, and Ikuhara’s stage play direction shines only second to Penguindrum’s.

b) On sound, I don’t feel I need to say much. The music is largely choral rock and orchestral pieces, but what makes them distinguishable is sound direction, for they blend better into sequences in comparison to the series.

If I am to distinguish two tracks, it’s a ballad playing during an iconic scene, and a unique insert version of Rinbu Revolution, both sung by Okui Masami.

~~~ Hope you enjoyed my review! ~~~

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 19, 2020

HereLiesWaste

Recommended

In many ways even better than the already great anime it's an adaptation of (and it really should be thought of as an adaptation, or, even better, each as an adaptation of the other), managing to condense 39 episodes of conceptual play into 90 minutes through extremely brave and confidant use of some insane imagery and writing.

Said conceptual play is genuinely radical, in an incredibly contemporary manner, remarkable for its refusal to resort to oh so common 'woke' liberal platitudes that reinforce the already dominant structures under the guise of emancipation. Archetypal notions of active masculine prince, passive female princess and an eternal unchanging justice ... could very easily have been preserved with the movie only adding the liberal caveat that 'anybody can partake either archetype' (ignoring, of course, that this still preserves the relationship of domination between the two). Instead, these static, societally-structuring moral archetypes are whole heartedly destroyed, and instead a movement is undertaken towards a new subjectivity of flux and transformation, free from all old straightjackets. One interesting additional element of note in the film, absent from the show, is an explicit connection made between the subject and technology in that movement.

Really though, it's pointless to question whether this film is 'better' than the original show when they both complement each other so well. Watching this has only made me appreciate the anime more, and I'm sure I appreciate the film more for having seen the anime (this is by no means a prerequisite for enjoying it though, all of the three people I watched with went in blind and loved it). Easily up there with EoE in the realm of best anime films, and one of the pieces that justify the existence of the medium as a whole.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Nov 28, 2023

LuxuriousHeart

Not Recommended

... no.

This movie is much worse than the anime. I think I get what they were going for. This is an anime about Utena likely being in high school. Similar to the old anime, she's trapped in a fairy tale role of trying to be a prince. Though this one is much more insulting.

Characters: the actual worst part about this movie. The only characters who stay good, are Anthy and Utena. The rest of them suffer. Touga is one note good guy. Miki is implied bad, but ultimately ends as one note good. Juri is one ... note good. Saionji is implied bad, but ends as two-note 'good'? Yeah, I still don't even know. I just know that he's way more bland in this one, than in the original anime. You know how in the anime, Akio is a complex villain? Yeah, in this one, he's a pathetic character of nothing. He's so pathetic in this one, that I have to laugh. Shiori in this one was just, sad... Shiori wasn't exactly a good and likable person in the original, but you could at least somewhat see things from her POV. In this one, she's just evil for the sake of evil. It's weird... Like, the characters are much more bland versions of themselves. Touga has some depth in his past, but he ultimately ends up a more boring character.

It's like fans wanted Touga x Utena to be a thing, but they don't realize that this anime is supposed to be Anthy x Utena. Why ruin Touga's character, just to feed scraps to delusional people that don't realize that this is a Yuri anime? Just bad, all around bad.

Though I do put it above the manga, because they actually kiss.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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	Poll: Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 ) gohdan - Sep 14, 2010	74 replies	by MFDOOMED »» May 23, 9:57 AM
	TV series vs movie Wannabiteme - Jul 22, 2015	8 replies	by chriskris91 »» Oct 18, 2022 4:04 PM
	Architecture of Adolescence Apocalypse gaguri - Feb 3, 2009	6 replies	by Etceteral »» Oct 14, 2015 3:04 PM