The narrative revolves around the titular Utena who aspires to become a prince after a life-altering chance encounter with one as a child. It begins with her inadvertently becoming involved in a series of clandestine duels over the possession of an enigmatic girl known as the Rose Bride, who is said to have the potential to “revolutionize the world”. She subsequently decides to protect this girl, Anthy, from those vying to take her as their own by partaking in said duels and, as the series progresses, truths about the setting and characters are gradually revealed.
A massive part of what makes this series work as well as it does would be its complex, multifaceted cast of characters. A lesser show would pit Utena against one dimensional duelists who simply want Anthy’s power for themselves but the show wonderfully sidesteps this by creating intricate backstories for all of them, while having them partake in the duels for reasons the viewer can easily understand and empathise with. Even the biggest scumbags among them have complex and well thought out reasons for acting the way they do throughout the narrative.
While these aforementioned characters are undeniably remarkable, it’s the titular heroine who truly steals the show. Good natured and empowered but brash and somewhat narrow-minded, she is similarly multifaceted and has a regal, powerful presence in spite of her personal flaws. Couple this with a thought provoking, subversive backstory which informs her actions and worldview and you’ve got yourself one of the most memorable and endearing anime protagonists of all time.
Serving as Utena’s foil is Anthy, the meek and submissive Rose Bride. Her conventional, conservative feminine nature counteracts the significantly less passive Utena and this dichotomy is instrumental in conveying the show’s themes pertaining to gender roles, especially within fairy tales. That being said, one could criticize such a character as being dull and one-note but it’s made apparent early on that there’s more to Anthy’s character as we’re initially led to believe before we’re eventually treated to a powerful and shocking set of revelations bookended by a wonderful character arc.
The subversive, unconventional nature of the show’s character writing is likewise exemplified in its narrative world. Revolutionary Girl Utena is set in a bizarre, surreal landscape where seemingly anything could happen as everyday logic is given a brutal beating before being thrown out the window. This gives way to some evocative, often head-scratchingly confusing imagery which ofttimes calls to mind the works of Alejandro Jodorowsky and David Lynch. This often entails placing objects in places where they normally wouldn’t belong, and this is used as a means of not only evoking a surreal atmosphere, but likewise communicating ideas to the viewer about the themes of the narrative and for some genuinely hilarious sight gags.
This idiosyncratic directorial decision likewise aids in masking the show’s most noticeable flaw, namely its limited animation. JC Staff were a relatively new studio at the time and thus they weren’t exactly given an Akira-esque budget to work with. In spite of this, the show does manage to remain visually stunning due to its eye-catching and stylish direction. Lighting, colour, framing and editing are all utilized in imaginative ways in order to both convey thematically relevant ideas to the viewer and amplify the emotional impact of certain scenes. The backgrounds are also highly impressive due to the sheer amount of detail they are imbued with. They also aid in giving the show a fairy tale-esque, almost dreamlike atmosphere due to the use of watercolours and this complements the surreal, often beautiful imagery excellently.
The soundtrack is similarly effective with heavy guitars and choirs being used to imbue the duels with an almost apocalyptic sense of gravitas and with piano and brass-based tracks being peppered throughout the rest of the series, fitting their respective scenes to a tee.
Revolutionary Girl Utena is a strange show. It’s brimming with absurd concepts and visuals that some could potentially find alienating but, for those who can appreciate its eccentricity, it's simply one of the most powerful statements regarding adolescence, sexuality and identity in animated form.
