Ghibli Tavern - Revolutionary Girl Utena

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Another stunning Anthy-related AMV. Once again, don't watch until you've seen the whole show (in other words, this one's for you, Arren). Might be the most perfectly put-together I've come across. Really artistic editing and good song choice, though it's not quite as powerful as the Cosmic Love one.

As much as I love Utena (and believe me, I really love Utena), Anthy might be my favorite character in the whole show. She is probably the character who reminds me the most of myself.

Yeah, I'm . . . not really sure what to make of that.

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11.03.2013, 09:23 PM

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That one is good! It's not as complex as the previous one, but I think they chose good clips, and it worked very well. I should really have a look on Youtube to find some AMVs myself...

I find Anthy very interesting but it's always hard to know what to make of her, even having seen the whole thing. Utena is definitely my favourite still, and I also really like Wakaba, who doesn't get enough love.

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11.03.2013, 09:36 PM

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Wakaba is a nice addition to the cast because throughout the show, she is basically Utena's one tie to normalcy. We see some indications in the first episode that she has a normal school life, and that's about it. From there on out, it's all forbidden forests and upside-down castles and dueling crazy people with unusual hair colors by pulling swords out of people's chests. Wakaba is a much-needed grounding presence.

Man it's only been like two days of inactivity and I'm already missing our discussions in this thread!

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11.07.2013, 06:20 AM

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I'm up to ep.20 but taking a short break. I am still finding it more like work to watch this rather than enjoyment. I may have to admit to myself in the end that its just not my kind of anime.

The Black Rose series of duels is definitely more interesting than the first series but I still feel that the point the director/storyteller is making could be made with far fewer episodes.

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11.07.2013, 08:04 AM

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Well, if it's any consolation you are only three episodes away from the end of the Black Rose Saga, the last two episodes of which break away significantly from the episodic mold (so you're really only one episode away from some major changes). Then a bunch of other major changes take place in the series formula and there's a lot more storytelling momentum built up from episode to episode as the show nears its conclusion. I'm just curious to see if your reaction to the earlier episodes changes at all once you've seen the ending. There's a lot going on in earlier episodes that I didn't notice the first time around, either because I dismissed it as "anime being anime" or simply wasn't paying close attention. But almost every detail in the show is worth paying attention to, and a lot of the substance of the show is in those details, not so much in the outcome of the duels (spoiler: Utena wins).

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11.07.2013, 08:37 AM

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SPOILERS EP.23

Hm, I'm up to the end of ep.23 and I have to say the last 2 eps were really perplexing and in a good way. I am totally not certain what's going on but it feels important!

The show seems incredibly complex and obtuse - more obtuse than anything thats gone before, I think with so much that could be just unimportant but made to seem important and other things dropped in there just to trip you up and confuse.

The shadow puppets seemed to be a waste of 2 or 3 minutes per show originally but in the last few episodes some of what they've said seems significant.

I'm struggling to unravel what on the screen is inside people's heads and is their distorted view of the world and what is actually real.

Also Tokiko=Utena and Mamiya=Anthy seems obvious to me, maybe too obvious.

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11.07.2013, 04:40 PM

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SPOILERS EPS. 22-23

Yep, I had to watch the last two episodes of the Black Rose arc, um, three times? Before I had any idea what was going on. Both episodes are incredibly dense.

If you rewatch them, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself:

1. Has Mikage really been in control throughout the Black Rose Saga? Or has he been manipulated by someone else?

2. A big theme of the arc, and the show, is the way our memories can deceive us. (Just one example that springs to mind: Miki and his distorted memory of his sister's piano playing.) Whose memories are interfering with reality throughout these episodes, or rather, imposing themselves on reality?

3. Why does Mamiya change from a little boy who looks exactly like Anthy to a little boy who looks nothing like Anthy?

4. Who really sets the fire that burns down Nemuro Hall?

5. How long ago did this Nemuro Hall stuff happen, anyway??

6. And finally, how much of this episode, if any, is purely within Mikage's head?

Hopefully that's not giving away too much, as half the fun is putting all the pieces together yourself. I'm still not sure I completely understand what was going on, but I do feel like I have a much more solid grasp on it now than I did when I first watched those episodes.

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Post last edited by Orphic Okapi on 11.07.2013, 06:26 PM.

11.07.2013, 06:04 PM

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SPOILERS BLACK ROSE ARC

Another questions is - how much of any of it happen at all? You'll notice at the end the main characters act as if nothing ever happened, and this is why there are some fans who don't like the Black Rose arc - because afterwards it seems like it was a waste of time.

Honestly I don't have an answer myself, because it confused me a lot too. I think sometimes you just have to take it in your stride, make some wild guesswork, and at least appreciate how things contribute to the overall themes.

It's truly a strange series, and I hope you'll enjoy it more now that you're getting on to the home stretch, as it were.

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11.07.2013, 08:34 PM

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I've certainly heard the Black Rose arc accused of being filler before, but to me it seems like a fairly necessary bridge between the relatively straightforward, lighthearted beginning of the show and the very dark and bizarre later episodes. Plus a lot of character development takes place, and you also learn more about the long history of the duels at Ohtori Academy. And I admit that I'm totally in love with the mindscrew ending. If you're interested, there are lots of articles that attempt to explain the purpose of the Black Rose arc in the context of the show as a whole, but don't read them until you've finished it.

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11.07.2013, 11:41 PM

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Oooh, I am very interested. I'll check out what people have had to say about it! I should also rewatch the series one day, but it's quite a big time investment so I'll wait a little longer.

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11.08.2013, 07:04 AM

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I had to read a couple of blog posts on the Black Rose series after I'd watched it and while I had missed some big things I had managed to pick up a few, like Akio's role in all that and the Tokiko-Mamiya thing and who of that pair Mikage showed interest in.

In a way all of the duels in that series are not that important, the revelation of ep.23 is the thing.

Also, hm, elevators. Going up in the first series and down in the second. Freud would have a field day.

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11.08.2013, 07:26 AM

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He might have also appreciated the giant penis-shaped tower, the Rose Gate shaped like a female pelvis (which actually releases a "flood" when opened, my goodness), and the fact that all the duels revolve around stabbing yonic roses with phallic swords. The entire show is a giant sexual metaphor.

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Post last edited by Orphic Okapi on 11.08.2013, 08:21 AM.

11.08.2013, 08:17 AM

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As an aside, I thought this fanart was pretty nice:

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11.10.2013, 04:56 AM

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SPOILERS EP.24

Ep.24 was hilarious. First time round I thought the curry episode and the boxing kangaroo were juvenile but this time they seemed incredibly humorous for some reson. Tsuwabuki running all over the Indian sub-continent after them just to put entries into his stalker diary made it even funnier.

Loved Utena's line "Nanami calm down, if you get excited you'll turn into a cow again."

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Post last edited by Saddletank on 11.11.2013, 09:45 AM.

11.10.2013, 07:32 PM

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Just you wait. My absolute favorite Nanami episode is coming up soon. Not only is it hilarious, it's one of the most intensely analyzed episodes in the whole show. All the attempts to find deeper meaning in it are ludicrous, of course, but it's still fun to try.

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11.10.2013, 08:37 PM

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I don't think Nanami's Egg was entirely ridiculous. Some of what people come up with is certainly a stretch, but I think it's fairly reasonable to say it has to do with puberty in some fashion.

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11.10.2013, 11:08 PM

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SPOILERS EP 27

Yeah, I should have clarified. I think the episode is actually a pretty obvious metaphor for the onset of menstruation. That interpretation isn't ridiculous. It's more when people start to question the true origins of the egg, how much of the episode is a dream, how much of it is a prank devised by Anthy, what the egg has to do with Chu Chu (some people think Chu Chu dies and is reincarnated in the episode), etc. that it starts to get ridiculous. For an overview of some of the more out-there theories, this article is a good place to start.

Only in Utena can a comedy filler episode have so many possible interpretations and layers of meaning.

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11.11.2013, 12:50 AM

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HUGE HUGE SPOILERS EP.26

Oh boy this series gets weirder and weirder, we have that scene with Miki and his sister talking about their father and stepmother who they don't get on with... they are on the telephone with him and the stepmotheer walks briefly into shot... and its Anthy.

At this point I've decided that Anthy cannot be a person and has to be a symbol, probably of love, or maybe different people's interpretation of companionship.

Also the sexual symbolism is ramping up in eps.25 and 26.

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Post last edited by Saddletank on 11.12.2013, 07:20 PM.

11.12.2013, 07:18 PM

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I think you're definitely on to something. It may be more useful at this point to ask "What does Anthy symbolize to this particular character?" rather than just "What does Anthy symbolize?" The show is too complex, I think, to be read as a straight allegory, with each character representing a specific concept. However, because Anthy is so mysterious and reveals so little of her true feelings, she becomes something of a blank slate for other characters to project their own desires onto. They make her into a symbol of what they want.

An important part of the show is the way that everyone takes on multiple roles, or else blurs the line between two seemingly contradictory ones. Keep that in mind as you watch the remaining episodes.

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11.12.2013, 11:44 PM