Revolutionary Girl Utena

[catwoman]

The short anime series "Revolutionary Girl Utena" has been dubbed into English, but has not aired on American television. WHY???

This is a great show and deserves a wider audience. It's also got a great following. Does anyone plan to buy the air rights to it?

Speaking of great anime: what about Perfect Blue? That'd be great for the SciFi network.

[JustJack]

LOL! Are you crazy? On NETWORK TV?? There is no way Utena will EVER be on TV in America...ever. Why? Well..if you like the series so much, that must mean you've seen it..so..why do you think it could ever be on USA TV? haha..

now, I shall explain...

First of all, Utena has a very complex story line, which most people(I am absolutely positive on this) wouldn't get at all. Its very artistic, very obscure. It takes some thinking to watch it. I had to watch it two or three times till I actually got a lot of the messages. Not only that, but I'm sure parents would see way to many "lesbian" messages.(Which, really, there aren't ANY, but there are way to many perv. fanboy's out there. But, there aren't any lesbian messages in it, and I can explain that to any numb-brains out there, who argue ;) :p ) Also, I'm sure they'de have to change a lot of the story material around, just so it will be suitable for American TV.

Oh yeah, and Akio sleeps with every character in the show...including his sister(and, lets face it...if they cut that out of the series..it just wouldn't have the same effect that it does now).

Anyway...since I've already seen the entire series, & movies..I dont wanna see it on U.S. TV. They'de just mess it up. :D

[Matt Hazuda]

While I haven't seen the show yet, I recently read the first TPB, and must say I was truly imprssed with this series. Being it was from the creator of Sailor Moon, I was expecting another Villian of the week kind of series, but it is surprisingly emotional and excellent. I can't wait to see if Utena ever hooks up with Dios and is able to reshape the world.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Utena is more similar to Sailor Moon than many think. Sailor Moon, particularly the 3rd season, was a breeding ground of ideas and themes for Utena. SM was also a known influence on Evangelion, particularly in the way the characters were constructed and the ambiguities concerning the personalities. Hideaki Anno was a Sailor Moon fan, and there are elements in Eva that show. Funny thing is, Utena lifts certain ideas from Evangelion as well, so basically one guy lifted from a guy who originally lifted from him. ;) (BTW---Utena was more of joint effort between the director of Sailor Moon--for 3 seasons--and a manga artist.)

Also...Utena is *sometimes* more repetitive than Sailor Moon.

BTW--JustJack...there *are* lesbians in the show. One of the major subplots concerns a lesbian love...of rather, an unrequited lesbian love. And I'm not talking about Utena and Anthy.

IMO, Utena does belong in the "avant garde" category of anime. In fact, after watching Utena, I rewatched the seasons he directed in Sailor Moon and it was like a lightbulb turned on. I finally totally "got" Sailor Moon after watching Utena.

[Lachesis]

::facefaults at Larry's avatar::

Repetitive, yes, but used to very good effect. I always think of "Utena" like a peice of music or poetry in that it has a very set structure to it that actually contributes to the show's effectiveness. The order of the duels never changes, for instance, so half the fun is in the knowing that this week we'll see a Black Rose episode involving Nanami or that Juri's going to wind up in Akio's convertible next. Even when it doesn't follow structure, we still get the distinct feeling that it should.

And now I wanna see Sailor Moon. . .

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by Lachesis
::facefaults at Larry's avatar::

Repetitive, yes, but used to very good effect. I always think of "Utena" like a peice of music or poetry in that it has a very set structure to it that actually contributes to the show's effectiveness. The order of the duels never changes, for instance, so half the fun is in the knowing that this week we'll see a Black Rose episode involving Nanami or that Juri's going to wind up in Akio's convertible next. Even when it doesn't follow structure, we still get the distinct feeling that it should.

And now I wanna see Sailor Moon. . .

Utena is more "ritualistic" than anything else...it's fun to just marvel at the strangeness of it all. IMO, the setting is probably the biggest star of the series. :)

As for Sailor Moon...it depends which seasons you go for. IMO, there is one specific season in the series where you can start to see that Ikuhara had been starting to draw out a rough copy for Utena.

[JustJack]

Originally posted by Leaping Larry Jojo
BTW--JustJack...there *are* lesbians in the show. One of the major subplots concerns a lesbian love...of rather, an unrequited lesbian love. And I'm not talking about Utena and Anthy.


Not quite. Sorry to burst your bubble, really. Lemmi see..which ones could you be talking about?
Wakaba? Well...not really. Shes Utena's best friend. But, she likes BOYS...that's one problem...& her "thing" for Utena can't be...she just jokes around with Utena since Utena is such a tomboy & her best friend..so she acts like "I'm gonna marry her", just for fun. Really..its true..

Or, are you talking about Juri? HAHAHA!! Fanboy mentality. Here's the actual story, which has been backed up by Utena's creator...
Juri was best friends with Shiori. But, her feelings for her were simply VERY STRONG. Like, no matter what else happens in the world, I still have her...my best friend. She loved her more like a sister. But, Shiori thought Juri liked a certain boy. In the end, Shiori ended up going with this boy, thinking she'd 'backstab' Juri...and it gets complicated from there. But, Juri was simply meant to have strong feelings for her...like "the one and only true friend I ever had.....before she stabbed me in the back". But, it's not meant to be a lesbian relationship...just appears that way....
Besides..that blue haired guy who shows up later on, with Akio is supposed to be Juri's "original love"...but, he was her only "real competition".

And THAT...is the truth! :D

[catwoman]

Or, are you talking about Juri? HAHAHA!! Fanboy mentality. Here's the actual story, which has been backed up by Utena's creator...
Juri was best friends with Shiori. But, her feelings for her were simply VERY STRONG. Like, no matter what else happens in the world, I still have her...my best friend. She loved her more like a sister. But, Shiori thought Juri liked a certain boy. In the end, Shiori ended up going with this boy, thinking she'd 'backstab' Juri...and it gets complicated from there. But, Juri was simply meant to have strong feelings for her...like "the one and only true friend I ever had.....before she stabbed me in the back". But, it's not meant to be a lesbian relationship...just appears that way....
Besides..that blue haired guy who shows up later on, with Akio is supposed to be Juri's "original love"...but, he was her only "real competition".

And THAT...is the truth! :D

Wo, that makes a lot of sense, but if you ever saw the Utena movie, lesbian themes. Any movie that flirts with gender roles like Utena, would logically deal with homosexual themes.

My two cents. ;)

[JustJack]

Originally posted by catwoman


Wo, that makes a lot of sense, but if you ever saw the Utena movie, lesbian themes. Any movie that flirts with gender roles like Utena, would logically deal with homosexual themes.

My two cents. ;)

Yeah, the movie wasn't made by all the same people as the actual series. There was a lot of "sex sells" mentallity with the 'newbies' who were hired to 'remake' the Utena story into a Movie. So, they decided to take the Lesbian themes to the "next extreme"(although, for anyone who wants to see it, it's nothing real bad, untill the very last sequence..which is about...5-10 seconds long.)

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Originally posted by JustJack


Not quite. Sorry to burst your bubble, really. Lemmi see..which ones could you be talking about?
Wakaba? Well...not really. Shes Utena's best friend. But, she likes BOYS...that's one problem...& her "thing" for Utena can't be...she just jokes around with Utena since Utena is such a tomboy & her best friend..so she acts like "I'm gonna marry her", just for fun. Really..its true..

Or, are you talking about Juri? HAHAHA!! Fanboy mentality. Here's the actual story, which has been backed up by Utena's creator...
Juri was best friends with Shiori. But, her feelings for her were simply VERY STRONG. Like, no matter what else happens in the world, I still have her...my best friend. She loved her more like a sister. But, Shiori thought Juri liked a certain boy. In the end, Shiori ended up going with this boy, thinking she'd 'backstab' Juri...and it gets complicated from there. But, Juri was simply meant to have strong feelings for her...like "the one and only true friend I ever had.....before she stabbed me in the back". But, it's not meant to be a lesbian relationship...just appears that way....
Besides..that blue haired guy who shows up later on, with Akio is supposed to be Juri's "original love"...but, he was her only "real competition".

And THAT...is the truth! :D

Could you post your source?

I'd like to use some of your post to ask around about it. I won't include your name, I'm just gonna copy a bit of your post, okay?

[Lachesis]

Re: Jack

I'd like to know too. Considering Shiori's reactions in the later episodes of the series, once she finds out, to say nothing of Ruka's motivations, I'm pretty damn sure Juri was what she was implied to be.

The director of the movie was the same guy who did the series. Hardly a newbie.