The major problem I had with this anime is its pacing. The first episode set up this incredible tale of action and drama with a lingering mystery as to Utena's backstory and the identities of her prince, the mysterious End of The World character and the Rose Bride as well as their relationships with one another. However subsequent episodes instead stopped this focus on the main characters and instead introduce and shifted the focus onto the side characters and their arcs, which are also split in between several other filler episodes. While I did enjoy Juri's and Nanami's story arcs, they weren't enough to redeem the boredom and mediocrity of the other character arcs (Wakaba, that kid whose name I forgot, Miki and etc etc). Since none of these side characters play a huge role in the overall story between Utena, Anthy and Akio, the pacing is very messy. Basically, the pacing grinds to a complete halt after the beginning of a new story arc for the filler side character stories to take the spotlight, only to accelerate completely once the show remembers Utena is the main character of the series. It makes watching the series difficult and keeping track of the story becomes a chore.
The series can get very formulaic, especially for the episodes that do not focus completely on Utena. Side character, let's call him José , has problem, José angsts, José consults untrustworthy person, José challenges Utena to a duel for some reason (occasionally they don't have one), Utena kicks their ass with the power of stock footage, José get better until the next José-focused arc. It's a chore to grind through these episodes, especially if you don't particularly like the side character currently under the spotlight. Honestly, the series would have benefited greatly if it trimmed out all the fat and just focused solely on the Utena episodes with maybe a few episodes introducing the side characters and giving them some development.
As I said previously, not all the characters are engaging as they are. Juri and Nanami are standouts for me thanks to the character development they went through, and most of the student council is fairly likable, and Akio is fabulous as all hell, but I couldn't care less for the plight Utena and Anthy went through. While a good deal of this comes from the schizophrenic structure of the series, Utena herself isn't an engaging character to begin with, and her character development isn't anything to write about. Anthy is a bit better as she constantly has a mysterious aura around her, but the payoff comes so late into the plot, and the fact that she's a complete doormat failed to garner even the slightest bit of interest in her.
Shoujo Kakumei Utena does a few things right though, and while I may seem like I hate the series, I actually like several moments from the series. The Shadow Girls were an excellent addition to the series, providing some nice breaks in the episodes and giving a nice plot synopsis for the times I slept through the episodes. The animation is brilliant, mixing familiar real-world elements with abstract, surreal imagery, and the male characters are absolutely fabulous.
Is Utena worth watching? It all depends on your tolerance for filler episodes. Otherwise, watch the first and last episodes of each story arc (1,9,12,14,22,23,25,32, and 34 onwards).
5/10
