YMMV / Adolescence of Utena

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The Monty Python-esque "Nanami Cow" segment in the film. The film itself even comments on how out of left field it was before the plot keeps going via the Shadow Girls wondering what the hell they just watched.
  E-Ko: Was that really your "scandalacious video?"
  F-Ko: My mistake.
• Epileptic Trees: While the movie is an Alternative Continuity, fans have theorized that the movie is a straight-up sequel of the anime. With the Ohtori present here being the heaven Utena was transported to after dying in the final episode with Anthy locating her there and wanting to take her back to the world where they come from. The fact that Utena is the prince that she wants to be at the beginning of the series (for the first half of the movie anyway) and Anthy is more assertive and is missing her glasses adds in to the theory.
• Fan Nickname: The movie is sometimes called "The End of Utena" after The End of Evangelion, another infamous Mind Screw movie of a popular anime. Meanwhile, others call it "Mad Max, Yuri Road".
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Anthy and Utena's kiss at the end of the film.
  • Their dance scene in the film.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The scene where Anthy convinces Utena to let her sketch her in the nude actually came out the same year as Titanic (1997), which had the same infamous scene ("Draw me like one of your French girls").
• It Was His Sled: Utena turning into a car for the climax of the film is easily the most well-known part of the movie. What's odd is that this wasn't an actual plot twist, rather it was an inexplicable/metaphorical contrivance to turn the finale into a chase sequence.
• Memetic Mutation: The car scene's status as a scene that makes no sense whatsoever, even within a series that takes place in a World of Symbolism, has made it one of the biggest memes in the entire fandom.
• Moment of Awesome:
  • Utena fighting against Saionji with a broom while he has a real katana after he slaps Anthy quickly established that this was not the TV series Utena. It was reckless, sure, but awesome.
  • Five words: Car chase. With Anthy driving. And the music makes the scene. The whole car chase is full of suspenseful music and then when the castle appears and Anthy grows more resolute, Rinbu-revolution triumphantly plays. It's enough to make the audience start cheering.
  • The dance between Utena and Anthy in the movie is the best dancing scene between two people in any medium. Close second is at the party where Nanami tries to embarrass Anthy, when Utena rejects Touga and makes a toga for Anthy after her dress dissolves, then dances with her.
  • Everything about the end of the film, particularly Anthy's speech to Akio.
    • When Juri, Miki, and Saionji manage to save Anthy and Utena from being crushed by the locust cars, take note of the name on the front of the car Juri's driving. It's Wakaba. Like Utena transformed into the vehicle Anthy needed to escape Ohtori, Wakaba transformed into the vehicle the Student Council could use to reach and help Utena and Anthy's escape. Wakaba truly was the best friend Utena ever had.
    • The notion that the Shadow Girls went from secondary characters who relate the moral of each episode through bizarre shadow plays to the reveal that there is an entire news studio full of them working to help Utena and Anthy reach the outside world.
    • As Akio tries to crush Anthy and Utena in the compactor before they can escape, you can see he's visibly straining to keep a grip as Anthy pushes the Utena car forward despite all the damage she's taking. Until finally:
      Anthy: Grant me the power...!
      (From outside, the compactor is steadily demolished as Anthy draws closer to Akio, until finally, Anthy and Utena, who is human again, burst through Akio in a storm of rose petals and destroy him)
      Anthy and Utena: TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE WORLD!
• Signature Scene:
  • Utena and Anthy's dance in the rose garden.
  • Utena and Anthy's Big Damn Kiss in the ending.
  • Utena being turned into a car.
• Take That, Scrappy!:
  • Shiori has even fewer redeeming qualities than in the series, being even more manipulative, petty and spiteful—with much less reason. ( Her boyfriend died when saving Juri, but it's not as if Juri could control that.) It's very satisfying near the end when Anthy causes Shiori-Car to crash and explode while she's in the middle of Evil Gloating.
  • For Nanami detractors, she gets only a brief scene as a cow. Where she's still the Butt-Monkey. Same goes for those who were never fans of Chu-Chu, who shares the scene with her.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!:
  • Akio's "makeover" for the film was not well received, to say the least. There's some Fridge Brilliance in his more pathetic portrayal, but try telling that to the rabid Akio fans...
  • Anthy's redesign has also gotten some flack, including accusations of whitewashing due to the changes in her hair and skintone (though she's still clearly not white or Japanese; her slightly paler skin is an unfortunate side effect of the altered color palette, and her straight hair contrasts with Utena's wavy hair as an indication of their subtle role reversal).
  • Though the issues surrounding her skin might lie more on the fact that a clearly darker skinned character—in the series—being lightened quite a few shades more to fit a type of palette insinuates the fact that dark skin couldn't fit the color scheme of the film and for many, finding dark skinned women characters shown in a positive light in media is already difficult is as, making the flack pretty understandable.
  • The film itself gets this, too. While there are plenty of legitimate criticisms, a lot of reasons for Utena fans hating it can be summed up as "it's not a carbon copy of the series".
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The film in general is gorgeous, but this trope is why everyone remembers the dancing scene (besides the yuri).
• The Woobie: Touga, whose life is one long tragedy. He's sold into sexual slavery before dying trying to rescue a drowning Juri. His spirit stays on in Ohtori before passing on when Utena remembers his death. His love for Utena is likely the one bright spot in his life. Movie Touga is also given Adaptational Heroism — he has hints of darkness but is generally a good person handed a very raw deal.

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