Story - 7
The basic premise of Revolutionary Girl Utena is that Utena Tenjou is a girl that wishes to be a prince after a prince is kind to her following the death of her parents. He gives her a rose crest ring that is worn by the student council at the school she attends, Ohtori Academy, who are involved in duelling to win the hand of a fair maiden called Anthy Himemiya, known collectively as the Rose Bride. Inevitably, Utena gets involved in these duels and battles to stay engaged to Anthy to protect her from the mysterious goings on at the academy. Although the anime has a number of different arcs, this common story is present in all of them.
Actually, I rather like this story. I wouldn't say it was one of the best (and admittedly, the further into the anime I got, the less I understood it) but it was always interesting to watch. Especially since a lot of magical girl animes seem to suffer from undeniably bad villains too, it was interesting to see the reasons for people to want to duel Utena - although how getting engaged to a hot Indian chick is met to suddenly solve all your problems is a mystery to me, unless your problem is an abject lack of beautiful women in your life (unlikely, given the girls in this - even the like 9 year old kid was knee deep in pussy).
Really the reason I ranked it only a 7 was probably more my fault than the anime's since the last few arcs just passed me by and flew over my head like it wasn't even there. I couldn't explain the plot of the last two arcs to you even if I could write spoilers here - I just didn't understand it at all. It felt rather complicated for a magical girl anime and the blank gaps of symbolism left me less wondering what these things meant and more what they even were in the first place. I only feel like I'm starting to understand this anime a little more as I look at the fandom now that it's over. Watching Oniisama e (one of the main inspirations for this series) is helping out a lot too.
Art - 8
I wasn't keen on the animation in this at first. The spindly limbs and reused sequences bothered me, but lately I feel like I've come to appreciate the overly bishounen features and quintessentially '90s character designs. I'd definitely say the art here is an acquired taste but it's a taste I've grown to really enjoy. The flowing feminine lines add a great feel to the anime in general, since it's got such strong female leads, and it oddly even seems to fit the men. They do suffer from an odd lack of nipples (despite some of the characters having a tendency to feverishly stroke the spot where they should be as they frolic shirtlessly across the screen) but their glistening pretty boy features scream "I am a snooty posh boy" at the top of their lungs - which the male characters mostly are.
Although I did do a bit of complaining about the symbolism, the art does the symbolism very well. Unlike some animes, it keeps a lot of these recurring themes subtle and it uses the medium well with colour co-ordination. There are a hell of a lot of roses in this anime and those in particular are very beautifully drawn. The clothes worn here are highly questionable throughout but hey, it's the 90s, we can let it pass. At least they weren't wearing bright red velvety dungarees like I was in '97.
Sound - 6
The sound in this anime was pretty average. The score was nice, but not all that breathtaking, and the voice acting was ok. It's worth noting that I watched the English dub (and have never seen it in Japanese) and whilst some of the voices could easily be perceived as annoying (yeah Nanami, looking at you right now) they all felt like they fitted the characters they were representing well. The OP to this anime is really nice too so it's worth taking the time to listen at least once.
Characters - 6
Although I only rated this section a 6, it's a rating that really reflects my average perception of this anime's characters. Apart from a few stand outs, they were all mostly just ok. Utena in particular is someone I just had very average feelings for. She wasn't a bad heroine but I didn't really feel that connected to her, particularly in the later acts with some of the relationships she chooses to pursue. My favourite character was actually Nanami who, although she is mostly comic relief, has rather a fair bit of character development and some really good centric episodes. Actually, I'd go so far as to say that her episodes are the best ones there. Although they're mostly little more than filler, they're incredibly enjoyable and really showcase what a great character she is. Her relationship with her brother was a dynamic I loved to follow too.
Enjoyment - 6
I'd like to say I enjoyed this anime more than I did, since the different aspects of it were rather good, but I just feel like I never really connected to it that much. I didn't feel like it ever drew me in that much and probably would've considered dropping it if I'd watched it alone. In particular, I felt very distant from it at the start. The first couple of episodes almost went as far as to bore me with my disinterest and it wasn't really until Nanami got a larger role that I started to enjoy it at all. The amount of time I spent horrifically confused and unable to follow the story didn't really help. It would probably benefit from a rewatch, but I'm too lazy for things like that.
Overall - 6
Although I myself didn't really get into this anime, I guess I get why people are diehard fans. I don't really understand the whole "masterpiece" title some people give it but it would probably be more fun if I actually understood it more. If you do give this anime a go, make sure you don't skip the filler - it's genuinely hilarious and helped me keep going to the end (well that and all the shirtless men rubbing their naked torsos against car bonnets and silky bed sheets alike).
