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Uh, wow... Just finished watching about 10 minutes before writing this review. This is easily in my top 5 favorite anime series of all time, maybe even the king of kings.

Basically, in every aspect of anime that I enjoy, this is perfect. It is incredibly hilarious at times, absolutely devastating at other times (in a Clannad After Story kind of way, not a Grave of the Fireflies way). The characters are wonderful, and even though there are a couple that occasionally get on my nerves (Feyris mostly), these characters are wisely given less screen time so that I don't actually get bothered by them. Okabe ... in particular is one of the most fascinating main characters I've come across. He's actually a borderline disturbed individual, but always in a way that makes him quite likeable.

I'm usually skeptical of romance in anime, only because I've seen too many shounens where the romance arc is built up over the entire show so that the viewer might at the end, just maybe, see the two characters admit that they value each other's company. Huh? Yeah, I can't stand that crap either. In more recent years anime seems to be finally growing past that. Without giving away who (and honestly, there are a few possibilities for much of the show), I'll just say that they do a very nice job of it in this one.

The show also features an incredibly complex storyline. It's no spoiler to give away that this show involves time travel, and you will see the story rewritten many times over. In spite of that, understanding is never lost in the shuffle. I never felt like I was lost as far as what had taken place.

In between the comedy and tragedy that are so pervasive in the show, there is also a strong element of sci-fi thriller. The show also excels here, at times it is really intense.

Not sure what else to say. I feel that, while I've rated a number of other series 10 on this website, this one really has everything I want. Completing this series leaves with a sort of awestruck feeling, where you want to just sit and reflect on it. I firmly put it on par with masterpieces like Utena, Legend of Galactic Heroes, Monster, and the remake of FMA.

Gotta say, this is one of the most disappointing series to show up in the MAL top list. On the one hand, I found most of the characters really boring. Especially "Hachiko" who I couldn't sympathize with at all, and found I felt no pity for her at all in her fate. The other Nana was somewhat better, but overall, all of the female characters come across as being incredibly weak people who have nothing else in life to live for but to succumb to their men. Jun strikes me as the only one with any inner strength but alas she's a side character we ... never really get to know well.

As an anime, it's important to also consider the artwork, and in this area the series fails even harder. Obviously anime allows a great deal of freedom in styles, but in all cases it has to "look right". It's not successful art if I'm distracted from the story because the drawings look wrong. There are several angles where the artist clearly cannot draw heads and they look bloated and misshapen. The men are all strange giants with spidery appendages that look like they would break if they bumped into anything. In several scenes, I noted the ratios were ridiculously wrong and it appeared that arms came out of a person's mid-section rather than the shoulder. Again, if I'm noticing these things instead of the nuances of the story, there's a problem in the delivery here. Another point I'd like to mention is that characters that frequently are supposed to look angry appear to be smiling. It looks stupid and completely destroys any semblance of intended drama in the scene.

It's certainly not the worst show I've seen (I can think of plenty of harem series that are worse, for example), but I'd steer clear of this one.

This is the first time I've ever felt compelled to write a review here. Revolutionary Girl Utena is possibly the most beautiful anime experience I've ever seen.

First, the characters are what carry the series. There is quite a cast of characters, but the show uses every episode (save some of the more humorous ones that tend to involve Nanami) to build and build upon each character. Utena and Anthy are two of the most fascinating anime characters I've seen, and the cast of the show delivers some of the most truly human feelings I've seen in this medium.

Second, the show has some of the best ... music I've ever heard in anime. There's the epic main theme used when Utena has to fight. There's the beautiful piano theme that is centered around Miki's story (and which is used in other parts of the show, sometimes in orchestrated form). There's the fact that every single battle has it's own unique, kickass, soundtrack. How they managed to pull that off, I don't know.

Something must also be said about the artwork. The animation quality, obviously, is somewhat dated at the time of writing - the show is about 10 years old, after all. However, the artwork itself is incredibly detailed. In particular, the unique style of the faces shows much more emotion than I've seen in more traditional anime styles. Because of this I give the art a very high rating, despite the somewhat choppy animation and flat colors of the time period.

All in all, this is possibly my favorite anime series ever. I haven't actually finished yet - 6 more to go. This also seems to be a sort of forgotten series that no one talks about. This would go at the top of any recommendation list from me.