is a Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series created by Be-Papas, a production group formed by director Kunihiko Ikuhara and composed of himself, Chiho Saito, Shinya Hasegawa, Yōji Enokido and Yūichirō Oguro. The series was produced by J.C.Staff and originally aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.sword dueling tournament to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious girl known as the "Rose Bride" who possesses the "power to revolutionize the world". Ikuhara was a director on the anime adaptation of ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters (later reorganized into ...

'' at

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

in the 1990s; after growing frustrated by the lack of creative control in directing an adapted work, he departed the company in 1996 to create an original series. While he initially conceived of ''Utena'' as a mainstream (girls' anime and

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

) series aimed at capitalizing on the commercial success of ''Sailor Moon'', the direction of the series shifted dramatically during production towards an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

and

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

tone. The series has been described as a deconstruction and subversion of fairy tales and the

magical girl is a Genre#Subgenre, subgenre of primarily Japanese fantasy media (including anime, manga, light novels, and live-action media) centered on young girls who possess magical abilities, which they typically use through an ideal alter ego into wh ...

genre of manga, making heavy use of allegory and symbolism to comment on themes of gender, sexuality, and coming-of-age. Its visual and narrative style is characterized by a sense of theatrical presentation and staging, drawing inspiration from the all-female Japanese theater troupe the Takarazuka Revue, as well as the experimental theater of Shūji Terayama, whose frequent collaborator J. A. Seazer created the songs featured in the series. ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' has been the subject of worldwide critical acclaim, and has received many accolades. It has been praised for its treatment of

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

themes and subject material, and has influenced subsequent animated works. A manga adaptation of ''Utena'' written and illustrated by Saito was developed contemporaneously with the anime series, and was serialized in the manga magazine '' Ciao'' beginning in 1996. In 1999, Be-Papas produced the film '' Adolescence of Utena'' as a follow-up to the television anime series. The series has had several iterations of physical release, including a remaster overseen by Ikuhara in 2008. In North America, ''Utena'' was initially distributed by Central Park Media starting in 1998; the license for the series has been held by

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation. The service primarily distributes fi ...

since its 2023 acquisition of Right Stuf and its subsidiary Nozomi Entertainment, which acquired the license for ''Utena'' in 2010.

Plot

''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' is divided into three story arcs: the "Student Council Saga" (episodes 1–12), the "Black Rose Saga" (episodes 13–24), and the "Apocalypse Saga" (episodes 25–39). As a child, Utena Tenjou was given a rose-engraved signet ring by a traveling prince, who promised her that they would one day meet again. Inspired by the encounter, Utena vowed to one day "become a prince" herself. Years later, a teenaged Utena is a student at Ohtori Academy, an exclusive

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

. She finds herself drawn into a sword dueling tournament with the school's Student Council, whose members wear signet rings identical to her own. The duelists compete to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, a mysterious student known as the "Rose Bride" who is said to possess the "power to revolutionize the world". Utena emerges victorious in her first duel; obliged to defend her position as the Rose Bride's fiancée, she remains in the tournament to protect Anthy from those who seek the power of the Rose Bride for themselves. After dueling and achieving victory over the council, Utena is confronted by Souji Mikage, a student prodigy who uses his powers of persuasion and knowledge of psychology to manipulate others into becoming duelists. Mikage aims to kill Anthy to install Mamiya Chida, a terminally ill boy, as the Rose Bride. Utena defeats each of Mikage's duelists, and ultimately Mikage himself. Following his defeat, Mikage vanishes from Ohtori Academy, and the denizens of the school seemingly forget that he ever existed. It transpires that Akio Ohtori, the school's chairman and Anthy's brother, was using Mikage as part of a plot to obtain the "power of eternity". Mamiya was in truth a disguised Anthy, who assisted Akio in his manipulation of Mikage. Akio appears before each of the Student Council members, and takes them to a place he refers to as "the end of the world". Following their encounters with Akio, each of the Council members face Utena in rematches. Utena defeats the Council members once more, and is called to the dueling arena to meet the prince from her past. She discovers that the prince was Akio, and that he intends to use her and Anthy to gain the power of eternity for himself. Utena duels Akio to free Anthy from his influence; Anthy, complicit in her brother's scheme, intervenes and stabs Utena through the back. Akio attempts and fails to open the sealed gate that holds the power; a gravely injured Utena pries the gate open, where she discovers Anthy inside. Utena reaches out to her, and they briefly join hands as the dueling arena crumbles around them. Utena vanishes from Ohtori Academy, and all save for Akio and Anthy begin to forget her existence. Akio comments that Utena failed to bring about a revolution, and that he intends to begin a new attempt to attain the power of eternity; Anthy responds that Utena has merely left Ohtori Academy, and that she intends to do the same. Anthy solemnly vows to find Utena, and departs from Akio and the school.

Characters

Most of the characters in ''Utena'' are school-aged adolescents whose character arcs focus on their psychological and moral growth into adulthood, in the tradition of a ''

bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

'' or

coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or interna ...

. Series writer Yōji Enokido identified characters who reckon with the transition from youth to maturity by attempting to regress and "take back what they can't ever return" as a major theme for the series, and director Kunihiko Ikuhara stated that he developed the cast of ''Utena'' using the self-described rule to "never give a character only one personality". The character designs for the series were created by Chiho Saito based on direction from Ikuhara, which were then adapted for use in the television

series by Shinya Hasegawa. Hasegawa stated that he was attracted to ''Utena'' as a project because of Saito's art style, distinguished by characters with slender bodies, long limbs, pointed chins, and large eyes, as well as by a stylized focus on the dramatized body movement of characters. He commented that Saito's style deviated from the "anime-like" art that was popular in

of the era, and thus presented a compelling challenge to adapt into anime. The title character of the series is Utena Tenjou, a middle school-aged girl who seeks to emulate the noble disposition of the prince she encountered in her youth. She is courageous, forthright, and kind, if somewhat naïve and impulsive. Utena is distinguished by her tomboyish demeanor and manner of dress, particularly her insistence on wearing a boys'

school uniform A school uniform is a uniform worn by students primarily for a school or otherwise an educational institution. They are common in primary school, primary and secondary schools in various countries and are generally widespread in Africa, Asia, O ...

. Ikuhara has characterized Utena as embodying the traits of both a romance heroine and a romanticist hero, describing her in this regard as someone "who has at the same time both the romance of a girl and the romance of a boy." The magazine ''

Animage is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine published by Tokuma Shoten since July 1978. Notable works serialized in the magazine include Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli a ...

'' noted Tomoko Kawakami's role of Utena as playing against type for the actress, having previously voiced "boisterous -type characters". She was cast partially because she did not read the character description before auditioning and thus spoke naturally, contrasting other actresses who put on a masculine voice. According to Kawakami, she desired to communicate Utena's "friendly, good nature and how admirable she is to everyone, while not overdoing the boyishness" in her performance. After Utena is drawn into the dueling tournament with the school's Student Council – president Touga Kiryuu, his sister Nanami Kiryuu, vice president Kyouichi Saionji, fencing team captain Juri Arisugawa, and boy genius Miki Kaoru – she is introduced to Anthy Himemiya, the mysterious "Rose Bride" at the center of the duels. As the Rose Bride, Anthy is submissive to the personality and disposition of whoever is the current champion of the tournament, and possesses seemingly no free will or independent identity of her own. Though at first glance Anthy resembles a stereotypical damsel in distress defined by her passivity and demureness, as the series progresses, she is revealed to occupy a central role in controlling the duels and the school itself with her brother Akio Ohtori. In early development, Ikuhara conceived of Utena and Anthy as a single character: a girl "who wants to be a prince, but at the same time also wanted to remain a princess". He ultimately split the character in two, Anthy becoming "another Utena" who by contrast wishes to "remain a princess". Ikuhara stated that he consciously crafted the plot and visuals of ''Utena'' to create a strong impression on the viewer that the series would climax with Utena saving Anthy, but the lingering question of "but what does she save Anthy ''from''?" becomes, per Ikuhara, the "central issue" of the series.

Development

Context

Kunihiko Ikuhara was a director at

on the animated television adaptation of ''

'' in the 1990s, co-directing '' Sailor Moon R'' with Junichi Sato, and serving as the sole director of '' Sailor Moon S'', '' Sailor Moon SuperS'', and the animated film '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie''. Frustrated by the lack of creative control in producing a series adapted from an existing work, Ikuhara departed Toei in 1996 to create an original series. To this end, Ikuhara assembled Be-Papas, a group of creative professionals from the anime and manga industry. Its membership consisted of Ikuhara, manga artist Chiho Saito, animator and character designer Shinya Hasegawa, scriptwriter Yōji Enokido, and planner Yūichirō Oguro. Several of the Be-Papas members had previously worked together: Hasegawa and Enokido had previously worked with Ikuhara on ''Sailor Moon'', where Enokido wrote many of the episodes featuring Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune; Hasegawa and Enokido had also both worked on the anime series '' Neon Genesis Evangelion''. Saito was an established manga artist who had not previously worked with the members of Be-Papas, or in anime; Ikuhara decided to base the visuals of the series on her artwork and recruited her to Be-Papas after seeing an illustration from her manga series '' Magnolia Waltz'' on the cover of a magazine.

Planning

Initially, Ikuhara envisioned ''Utena'' as a mainstream (girls' anime and manga) series aimed at capitalizing on the commercial success of ''Sailor Moon''; Saito characterized the earliest discussions on ''Utena'' as focused on creating a series "that people will like and illbe profitable". The earliest concepts for ''Utena'' deviated significantly from what became the final series: an initial pitch to project financers was titled ''Revolutionary Girl Utena Kiss'', and focused on a group of female warriors called the "Neo Elegansar" who battled "the end of the world". Per Oguro, a basic series concept of "a romantic action show starring a pretty girl who wears boys' clothes" that had a " Takarazuka style" was eventually settled on. A school setting was also determined in this early concept phase, though other concepts such as the duels and the "Rose Bride" would not be formulated until later in development. Although the concept for ''Utena'' originated from Ikuhara, the series as a whole was developed collectively by Be-Papas. The group entered a six-month planning period after Saito joined Be-Papas, which focused on fleshing out the story and setting, as well as determining how Saito's visual style could best be imported into anime. Saito also began to contemporaneously write and illustrate a manga adaptation of ''Utena'' while contributing to the development of the anime series. ''Utena'' draws inspiration from several sources – ''Animage'' described the series as "influenced by kuhara'sidiosyncrasies" – including the Takarazuka Revue, the artwork of Jun'ichi Nakahara, Hermann Hesse's novel '' Demian'', and the experimental theater of Shūji Terayama. Saito cited the manga series and the 1973 film adaptation of ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' () is a French historical adventure novel written and published in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is the first of the author's three d'Artagnan Romances. As with some of his other works, he wrote it in col ...

'' as among the influences that informed her contributions to ''Utena''. Ikuhara has stated that although he "wouldn't be able to avoid it being said" that ''Utena'' was influenced by '' Princess Knight'' and '' The Rose of Versailles'' – two manga series famous for their cross-dressing, sword-fighting heroines – throughout the development of ''Utena'', he was possessed of an "immense fear" that the series would be seen merely as a parody of those works. Saito stated that she was hired to join the otherwise all-male Be-Papas in part because they were concerned that without a female perspective they would create a parody of manga, which was not their intention.

Production

Shortly after Saito's manga adaptation of ''Utena'' began serialization in 1996, negotiations for the broadcast of the ''Utena'' television anime were settled, and production began. Be-Papas served as the primary production staff for ''Utena'', with animation production completed by the animation studio J.C.Staff. Ikuhara's ambitions for ''Utena'' shifted dramatically after the series commenced production. Believing that the series required "a unique individuality" if it was to find an audience, he abandoned his previous goal of a mass-market hit in favor of more non-commercial aspirations. To this end, he began to incorporate a variety of avant-garde elements into the series, such as theatrical-inspired layouts, a recurring shadow play segment that allegorically comments on the events of each episode, and the experimental choral music of composer J. A. Seazer. Enokido characterized the production of ''Utena'' as marked by "an agreeable sense of tension" between the members of Be-Papas. As the direction of the series shifted away from its original commercial focus, production became what Oguro described as a "tug-of-war" between Saito and Ikuhara, as Saito advocated for the original romantic concept for the series over Ikuhara's new, more esoteric vision. Ikuhara and Saito particularly quarreled over whether the series should depict the relationship between Utena and Anthy as a romance, and at one point during production did not speak to each other for a period of three months. Saito was initially opposed, not out of an ideological opposition to depicting a same-sex romance, but because she believed the mainstream audience the series was ostensibly attempting to court would respond poorly to anything other than a male-female romance. Ikuhara would conceal the extent to which he intended to present Utena and Anthy's relationship as a romance from Saito throughout production; Saito ultimately expressed support for how the series presented the relationship between the characters. Key individuals involved in the production of ''Utena'' beyond the membership of Be-Papas included Shingo Kaneko and Tōru Takahashi, who served under Ikuhara as

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

s. Kaneko described incorporating a "cinematic sensibility" for ''Utena'' that actively incorporated twists and tricks; Takahashi was initially recruited to the project as an animator by Hasegawa, as they were attending the same vocational school, but was made a director after he expressed his aspiration to do so to Ikuhara. Hiroshi Nagahama was the conceptual designer for the series, designing the dueling area and the Ohtori Academy school buildings. Nagahama compared the design process for ''Utena'' to creating a stage set, with a focus only on what is seen by the audience. Background art was created by , based on initial designs by Nagahama, and Mamoru Hosoda and Takuya Igarashi were among the

storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mar ...

s for the series.

Style

''Utena'' is characterized by a high degree of stylization that integrates

and expressionist elements to communicate mood and convey allegorical meaning. Enokido described a sense of "theatrical staging and presentation" as one of the core elements of ''Utena'', while Ikuhara has stated that he wanted from the early stages of development for the series to be "operatic". The series makes use of multiple stylistic flourishes, including the marking of character introductions and other significant plot moments with a decorative black frame anchored by spinning roses, which staff on the series referred to as an "attention mark". Certain recurring segments such as Utena's entry to the dueling arena make use of long segments of animation and music that are identical (or nearly identical) from episode to episode, as analogous to the recurring transformation scenes from ''Sailor Moon''. The duels are themselves heavily stylized, in a manner that scholar and critic Susan J. Napier notes is reminiscent of the ritualized performance style of Noh theater. Narratively, the series has been described by critics as a deconstruction of

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

narratives and a subversion of the

genre of manga. Napier notes how the series uses the narrative and visual aesthetics of these categories, such as princes, castles, romance, beautiful boys, and beautiful girls, to "critique the illusions they offer". Ikuhara has described directing certain early episodes of the series such as "On the Night of the Ball" specifically to be "uncomfortably stereotypical y" to "strongly impress upon the audience that this was a ' manga anime and establish the tropes that the series intended to subvert. In discussing his aspirations for ''Utena'' in regards to manga, Ikuhara stated that he wished to create the series as a , an "anime that rounded up all the manga into one" and which expressed all of the broader themes of the genre in a single work.

Releases

''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' was originally broadcast weekly on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

. The series has had several iterations of physical releases in Japan, including a VHS and

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

release beginning in 1997, and a DVD release beginning in 1999. A remastering of the series overseen by Ikuhara was published as two boxed DVD sets released in 2008 and 2009, and as two boxed Blu-Ray sets released in 2013. A limited edition boxed set collecting the entire series on Blu-Ray was released in 2017 in commemoration of the series' 20th anniversary. In North America, licensing for ''Utena'' was overseen by Enoki Films USA; the company produced a proof of concept for potential distributors that localized ''Utena'' for Western audiences, giving the characters English names and re-titling the series ''Ursula's Kiss''. North American distribution rights were first acquired by Central Park Media, which released both English dubbed and subtitled editions of the series that preserved the original series title and character names. Central Park released the first thirteen episodes of the series on VHS beginning in 1998; due to licensing issues, the company did not release the series in full until its DVD release beginning in 2002. Central Park's licenses were liquidated after the company declared bankruptcy in 2009, and the North American license to ''Utena'' was acquired by Right Stuf under its Nozomi Entertainment label in 2010. The company released the series on DVD in 2011, the remastered edition of the series on Blu-Ray in 2017, and its own 20th anniversary series boxed set in 2018. In June 2011, Utena's voice actress Tomoko Kawakami died of ovarian cancer. Right Stuf dedicated the Apocalypse Saga's DVD release to her. Right Stuf and its subsidiaries were acquired by

in 2023. Outside of North America, ''Utena'' is licensed by Anime Limited in the United Kingdom and Hanabee in Australia. International broadcast and streaming rights for ''Utena'' have alternately been acquired by a variety of channels and streaming services, including FUNimation Channel in 2007,

Anime Network Anime Network was an American video on demand (VOD) network dedicated to anime owned by AMC Networks. History The network was launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi system operators (MSOs) as both a free and subscr ...

in 2009, Neon Alley in 2013,

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

in 2020, and

in 2021.

Related media

Manga

Contemporaneous with the development of the anime series, Chiho Saito wrote and illustrated a manga adaptation of ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'', which was serialized by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

in the ''shōjo'' manga anthology '' Ciao'' beginning in 1996. Saito also published a one-shot in ''Ciao'' titled ''The Rose Seal'' which depicts Utena before to her transfer to Ohtori Academy, as well as a manga adaptation of the film ''Adolescence of Utena'' in '' Bessatsu Shōjo Comic Special''. An English-language translation of the manga has been published by

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

, which also serialized the ''Utena'' manga in its manga anthology '' Animerica Extra''. Unlike most of the manga series that are adapted either into or from an anime, the plots of the ''Utena'' manga and anime deviate significantly from each other. These differences in plot, such as the manga's increased focus on the relationship between Utena and Touga, were in part a function of the fact that Saito began to write and illustrate the manga before the anime series went into production. She attempted to incorporate as much material as possible from the scripts Enokido had completed, but was frequently required to use her own judgement in rendering aspects of the story that the anime would ultimately depict in an entirely different manner. '' Animerica'' described the production of the manga adaptation as "one that got its inspiration largely through aito'sown confusion about what exactly she was supposed to show, and Ikuhara's own vague answers to her questions." Saito changed editors five times during the manga's year-and-a-half long serialization as a result of the confusion around its production. A sequel to the ''Utena'' manga series, ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution'', was announced in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the series. Written and illustrated by Saito, the three-chapter series depicts the lives of the primary cast following their departure from Ohtori Academy, and was serialized in the ''Josei'' manga anthology '' Flowers'' from July 2017 to March 2018.

Soundtrack and music

Shinkichi Mitsumune scored ''Utena'', and the songs in the series are Mitsumune's rearrangements of songs by composer J. A. Seazer. Each episode typically features two songs that play as incidental music: "" ( "Absolute Destiny Apocalypse"), which appears as a recurring theme as Utena enters the dueling arena, and a song unique to each episode that plays during the duel itself. The duel songs function similarly to a Greek chorus, commenting on the motivations of the duelists through allegorical lyrics that feature references to religious, scientific, and arcane subjects. The songs are performed by a choir; Ikuhara and Mitsumune participate on some choruses. Seazer originally produced the songs featured in the series as part of his experimental theater company ( 'Experimental Laboratory of Theatre: Universal Gravitation'). Ikuhara was significantly influenced by Seazer and , an experimental theater company established by dramatist Shūji Terayama where Seazer served as co-director and composer; following Terayama's death, Seazer founded as its successor. Ikuhara had long sought to work with Seazer, describing the experience as "fulfill ngthe dream I had from my teenage years", but noted that the financers for ''Utena'' were strongly opposed to using Seazer's music, owing to its highly avant-garde style. Seazer agreed to participate in ''Utena'' in part because he was a fan of ''Sailor Moon''. The series' theme song is " Rondo-Revolution", written and performed by Masami Okui, and composed and arranged by Toshiro Yabuki. Ikuhara told Okui to "think of this as a song that will play during the story's last scene" when writing "Rondo-Revolution", though at the time he had not yet decided what the last scene would be beyond a vague concept of two people parting from each other. Ikuhara sent several key phrases to Okui use as lyrics, including "sunlit garden", "revolutionize", "lose everything", "strip down to nothing at all", and "change the world". The series uses two ending themes: episodes 1 to 24 use "Truth", performed by with lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi; episodes 25 to 38 use "Virtual Star Embryology", performed by Maki Kamiya with lyrics by Seazer. The final episode uses a scat version of "Rondo-Revolution" performed by Okui as its ending theme.

Film

Shortly after the conclusion of the ''Utena'' anime television series, Be-Papas announced plans to release a feature film follow-up to the series. The film, titled '' Adolescence of Utena'', was released in theaters in Japan on August 14, 1999. The film occupies an ambiguous place in the broader ''Utena'' canon, and has been alternately interpreted as a stand-alone adaptation that exists in its own continuity, and as a sequel that is contiguous with the events of the anime series.

Stage musicals

Several musical adaptations of ''Utena'' have been produced, beginning with ''Comedie Musicale Utena: La Fillette Révolutionnaire'' in December 1997. The musical was directed by Yūji Mitsuya, staged at the Hakuhinkan Theater in Tokyo, and featured an all-female Takarazuka-inspired cast. This was followed by ''Revolutionary Girl Utena Hell Rebirth Apocalypse: Advent of the Nirvanic Beauty'' in 1999 by director Ei Takatori, and ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Choros Imaginary Living Body'' in 2000. A series of 2.5D musical adaptations were announced in 2017 as part of a commemoration project to mark the 20th anniversary of the ''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' anime. The first musical, ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Bud of the White Rose'', was staged in 2018 and adapts the Student Council Saga from the original anime. A sequel adapting the Black Rose Saga, ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Blooming Rose of Deepest Black'', was staged in 2019, with the cast and director of ''Bud of the White Rose'' reprising their roles. Ikuhara has discussed the early stage adaptations of ''Utena'' in ambivalent terms, stating that "it looks extremely cheesy" when the theatrical visuals of ''Utena'' are rendered as literal theater. He served as a supervisor on the 2018 and 2019 musicals, noting that he had previously refused multiple offers to adapt ''Utena'' into a 2.5D musical, but relented after a producer convinced him that it would be a good way to introduce the series to a younger generation.

Other media

Two light novels written by Ichirō Ōkouchi with illustrations by Chiho Saito, titled and , were published by

in 1997 and 1998, respectively. A

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

, , was developed and published by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

for the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

in 1998. A

visual novel A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...

with dating sim elements, the game tells an original story about the player character (voiced by Kaoru Fujino), a transfer student at Ohtori Academy. The voice cast of the anime series reprise their roles for the game.

Themes and analysis

Gender

Utena's desire to "become a prince" does not refer to a literal desire to become royalty or change her gender, but rather to her desire to exhibit qualities of courage, compassion, and strength that represent an ideal of princeliness. "Being a prince" thus constitutes a body of ideas connoting a sense of heroic agency, rather than a reflection of Utena's gender identity or presentation. The series contrasts the notion of the "prince" to that of the "princess", represented by the passive, helpless, and objectified Anthy. Although the simple juxtaposition of prince and princess archetypes could suggest that ''Utena'' is a straightforward "feminist fairy tale", Napier argues that the series "is not simply a work of female empowerment". Napier and other critics argue that ''Utena'' uses the prince/princess dichotomy to examine how gender roles restrict the development of both women and men, how the victims of this system come to enforce these restrictions on other victims, and ultimately suggests that being a "prince" is as limiting as being a "princess", as both originate from the same restrictive system. This expression reaches its apex at the climax of the series, when Utena loses her final duel against Akio; though Utena ostensibly fails in her princely attempt to "save" Anthy, her actions cause Anthy to "question the rules governing her own performance as princess", and provokes her departure from Ohtori to a world where "the categories of prince and princess have been deconstructed and do not matter". In considering depictions of gender in ''Utena'', critic Mari Kotani cites the character of Utena as an example of a ( 'battling beauty'), a character archetype originated by psychologist and critic Tamaki Saitō. Kotani argues that Utena is a as her character design "satisfies the lustful eyes of the male voyeur who reads manga for eroticized images of girls", but that any efforts to objectify Utena are complicated by her crossdressing and role as an active protagonist. She argues that the success of ''Utena'' lies in its blending of elements of (through its focus on combat) and (through its focus on romance) vis-à-vis the character of Utena, and how this blending "deftly exposes the structure of sexuality implicit in manga for girls".

Coming-of-age

Adolescence and its attendant struggles of personal growth and development are a common theme in Ikuhara's works, with a frequent focus on teenaged characters who seek personal change yet are bound to their pasts in ways they are not consciously aware of. This focus on the transition from adolescence implicates ''Utena'' in the ''

'' genre; the Student Council's repeated mantra in which they entreat each other to "crack the world's shell" is a modified passage from Hermann Hesse's 1919 novel '' Demian'', a major work of the ''bildungsroman'' genre. Typically, characters in Ikuhara's works seek a MacGuffin-like device that purports to solve their struggles by accelerating the process of change; in ''Utena'', this is represented as the "end of the world". The device is ultimately revealed to be either unreal or lacking the power that is ascribed to it, but serves to symbolically represent how the characters are constrained by broader systems of power and coercion. The actual meaning of the "end of the world" is never strictly defined by the series itself, though Ikuhara has discussed the concept in terms of adolescent psychology, connoting the sense of despair one feels upon reaching adulthood and becoming aware of social realities that disillusion an idealized child-like conception of the world. The "end of the world" is contrasted against the "power to revolutionize the world" and the "power of eternity", also defined only in vague terms within the series, though Ikuhara has described "revolution" in the context of the series as connoting "the power to imagine the future", and "eternity" as "the power to create an enjoyable future". Enokido has noted how each of the characters in ''Utena'' seek their own version of "eternity", which he describes as representing the "desire to vicariously re-experience times past", but which ultimately symbolizes the danger of humans being "ruled by sentimentality".

Sexuality

''Utena'' depicts multiple gay and lesbian couplings, all of which are treated as legitimate and normal within the world of the series itself. Ikuhara has stated that he wished for the series to have "a sense of diversity" in this regard, and that the series' normalized depiction of same-sex couples serves to reinforce the core series message of freedom of the self. The series' depiction of sexuality has been considered in relation to its subversion of fairy tale and magical girl tropes, as the trials Utena faces often occur in the context of efforts to pressure her into the "heroic heterosexuality and monogamy" typical of those genres. Napier argues that although ''Utena''s depiction of same-sex couplings can be interpreted as indicating that "homoerotic relationships can be part of liberation", the relationship between Utena and Anthy can also be interpreted as a metaphor for "the need for integration of two sides of the self". Utena's chivalrous desire to "save" Anthy gives her a blinkered perspective that is only resolved through an archetypically feminine understanding of and empathy for Anthy's situation; Anthy's regressive domesticity is ameliorated after she gains "a dose of masculine assertiveness". Napier notes that while Akio's relationship with Anthy is clearly toxic, the series depicts Utena's overt effort to "save" Anthy as itself cloying and overwhelming, and that it is only when Anthy makes the choice herself to leave Ohtori Academy that she begins on the path to develop "a more integrated personality".

Reception and influence

''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' has been the subject of worldwide praise, and has received many accolades. In 1997, the series won the Animation Kobe award in the "Best Television" category. In 2017, Japanese broadcaster

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

conducted a national poll to determine the one hundred greatest anime in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the medium, in which ''Utena'' placed 30th. ''Utena'' was listed as one of the ten "best anime ever" by '' Anime Insider'' and ranked fourth on '' Paste''s list of the best anime of all time. ''

Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...

''s ranking of the 100 greatest anime films of all time placed ''Adolescence of Utena'' in eighth; in his review, writer Mike Toole called the television series "the most important anime of the 1990s". The series has received particular praise for its treatment of

themes and subject material; reflecting on the series in this regard in 2020, Ikuhara stated that there "are a lot of anime that deal superficially with female-female or male-male relationships, but I think the sense of freedom and of diversity that ''Utena'' had is one of the reasons that it has such a big fan base even now." Critics and creators have cited ''Utenas influence on subsequent animated works, including '' Revue Starlight'', '' Princess Tutu'', '' Puella Magi Madoka Magica'', '' Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury'', ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who lives with the Crys ...

'', and '' She-Ra and the Princesses of Power''. The series has also been credited with prompting a revival in popularity for the music of J. A. Seazer. Anime and manga scholar Susan J. Napier notes that Japanese critics frequently compared ''Utena'' to the 1996 anime series '' Neon Genesis Evangelion'', given their similar focus on themes of coming-of-age and apocalypse; ''Adolescence of Utena'' is sometimes referred to by fans as ''The End of Utena'', referencing the 1997 film '' The End of Evangelion''. Although Napier considers that ''Evangelion'' depicts a "pathological apocalypse" where the stakes are the entire world, she characterizes ''Utena'' as a "

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

apocalypse, one of adolescent emotion where everything is larger than life, identity is at its most problematic, and life itself is lived in the extremes." Critic Mari Kotani notes the common comparison of ''Utena'' to ''Evangelion'', but states that she regards ''Utena'' as more directly comparable to early manga, specifically citing the works of Jun'ichi Nakahara and Macoto Takahashi published in the magazine '.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Official websites

''Revolutionary Girl Utena''
— J.C.Staff official ''Utena'' page
''Revolutionary Girl Utena''
— King Records official ''Utena'' page
''Revolutionary Girl Utena''
— 2018 stage musical official website

Articles and information

* * *
''Empty Movement''
– a comprehensive fan website {{Authority control 1990s LGBTQ literature 1990s LGBTQ-related television series 1996 manga 1997 anime television series debuts Anime series based on manga Bisexuality-related television series Central Park Media Cross-dressing in anime and manga Existentialist anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Feminism in anime and manga J.C.Staff Japan-exclusive video games Japanese LGBTQ-related animated television series LGBTQ-related anime and manga LGBTQ speculative fiction television series Madman Entertainment anime Manga adapted into films Romance anime and manga Anime and manga set in schools Magical girl anime and manga Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga Josei manga TV Tokyo original programming Viz Media manga Postmodern works Magical girl television series