Shoujo Kakumei Utena

Yes, but Akio was already grown up and sowing the seeds for the duels by the time that Utena met Dios.

Again, not in the manga. ^_^; It's rather a different beast in a lot of ways. See, there, Dios sorta fell to Earth and entrusted his half of the power of miracles to Utena in the form of the ring, so that Akio couldn't get it. The duels are Akio's attempt to entice Utena into the craziness of Ohtori so he can get the ring back.

edited 27th Apr '11 12:52:24 PM by FurikoMaru

I haven't read it yet, even though it's only five volumes. I'm lazy about stuff like that.

I thought it was pretty clever how they named the pure prince God, and the fallen prince Lucifer(semantics aside).

edited 27th Apr '11 1:05:55 PM by ElderAtropos

I just recently watched this series after learning that Star Driver, which I really enjoyed, was written by the same guy. It also helped to prepare me for the abundance of stock footage in Utena.

But I'd say Utena is now my favorite anime, out of the relative few I've seen, and what really struck me was that it is the most literary piece of animation I've ever seen. The surrealism is one thing, but there are so many historical and cultural references it's seems like the kind of thing you would need to see in a college class to fully grasp.

Because I'm not so familiar with the Shoujo genre, was Utena's deconstruction of the Fairy Tale that I found really fascinating, especially once you get to the end. Utena failed to save Anthy, since girls can't become princes. But instead she caused a revolution, and what do revolutions tend to do? Topple the notion princes and princesses altogether, resulting in Anthy finding her independence. Maybe I'm just pointing out the obvious, but it was a major bit of Fridge Brilliance for me.

Oh, and the music kicks all kinds of ass.

And on a completely different note, I think I found the real life equivalent of the Akio Car speedway: the Pont de l’île de Ré◊ in France, mostly because it's long, curved and has a ton of◊ street lamps◊.

edited 27th Apr '11 2:11:00 PM by Eschaton

I never equated the 'revolution'='toppling old government'='removing princes/princesses from power'. That's pretty cool, Eschaton.

It was kinda what I first thought of the second I saw the art for Utena, actually; her dueling uniform with the epaulets and such is so Mirabeau.

I would have preferred reading the manga since I generally dislike how old (before like, 2000) anime is colored, there's just something about it that makes it seem dull, but I heard the anime was the "original story" so...

I actually prefer the flat colouring style; makes characters seem more grounded, even when they're doing fantastic things. It makes them easier for me to connect to. Modern anime folk it takes me a while to like for certain; they're so shiny and unreal.

Well regardless of if it is more fitting to the setting I generally just prefer more visually pleasing things. >_>

edited 27th Apr '11 8:42:34 PM by Edmania

'Aesthetics' does not mean what you think it means.

Thanks, Elder Atropos!

The only part of the art syle that I had to adjust to was everyone's eyes. They're all just so big, round, shiny and monochromatic.

I think Utena left me with a fondness for the Noodle People style in anime. It's stylised and unrealistic, but I like the look of it.

Has anyone else noticed how ridiculously tall Akio is in the first ED?

Most of the adults in the series are about that tall, but most of the focus throughout the series is on the teenaged characters, so it looks weird.

Actually i'm talking about how he's like, 11 heads tall (I already know people in this anime in general are tall) when the minimum for "adult-sized" is like 6 heads.

Hmm now that I think about it...I never did actually measure how tall the teenagers (male) are in heads anyway.

I looked at the ending again...holy crap, he is tall. It's mostly his legs, though.

As a reply to the guy above who suggested Akio was a Last Man...I don't like that comparison, not least because I hate seeing Nietzche shoehorned in where it shouldn't be, but also because it doesn't really work. To be a Last Man, you need to have an Ubermensch to contrast with, and there's no character that fits the mold well enough.

Farewell, sweet prince. Utena's voice actress has passed away, far too young at forty-one, due to complications from ovarian cancer.

• cries at the above post* T_____T

I won't cry. I won't cry. I won't...

• blubbering*

Because we haven't seen any activity in months.

I watched the movie recently. Amazing. Very emotional. From one of the most disturbing scenes ever - Touga's flashback- to the most heartrending ever - the elevator scene - in less than an hour. God.

Thankfully, the CPM release featured a commentary track from Ikuni. Great insight there.

But I felt it had one major flaw: it was far too short. In general, it felt like it was half as long as it was meant to be. Two duels? And neither has Miki? Wow. And Akio seemed more like a plot device than a character. Thankfully, great characterization for most of the other characters made it a great experience.

Now, on to the manga...

There are those who claim RGU is supposed to be the shoujo version of NGE . . .

Having watched both shows, i can say that RGU is not the shoujo equivalent of anything.

There are far too many differences in genre, demographics and overall general atmosphere to be equated to EVA.

Thank you for your time.

edited 5th Jul '12 9:47:46 PM by RG

I think they mostly made that comparison based on their impact on their respective genres rather than their content.

edited 5th Jul '12 7:22:19 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

Well, I'm finally gonna get off my lazy butt and watch this show. Anything I should know about it beforehand?

Not particularly, just that it might need a little patience since the first arc is mostly (mostly) normal cheese and pastel goodness.