I have heard many good things about Revolutionary Girl Utena. When I seen the pretty pink case in the store I thought I'd just pick it up to see what all the fuss was about. I had no idea when I bought it that it was the much anticipated Utena Movie...let alone the limited edition pink case w/ the extra Anime Zone DVD! Well, before I watched the actual Utena movie I put in the Anime Zone DVD and watched qutie a few anime previews. One of them began with a beautiful zoom out showing moving buildings and such and I thought, "Wow...that looks really awesome. I wonder what it is and where I can get it." Turned out to be the Utena Movie trailer. Needless to say I immidiately pulled out the previews and put in Utena.
Before I get into this review I should say that I have not seen the Utena tv series. But after viewing this I'm ordering it as I write this review. Anyway, I really don't know the characters, their histories(except what I've read), or any of the story. However, for this movie you really don't need to. It's sort of a re-telling of it with some new things added. Well, let's get down to it.
The first thing you notice about this movie is the stunning artwork. The buildings, the characters, the backgrounds... it's all amazing. Pretty much the whole thing is set at Ohtori Academy. Long narrow staircases lead everywhere. It's so high up, almost nothing is on the ground, even Anthy's huge rose garden. It's so hard to describe this school. Anyone with a fear of hights wouldn't like it though. However the designs are breathtaking. The character design was lovely. One thing that puzzled me a bit at first was Utena and Anthy's hair. When Utena is introduced she has short hair. All the pictures I had seen of her from anywhere she had long hair. Also Anthy's hair is now long! But I guess that's what they do sometimes. There is a really valid explanation for this at Bara no Unmei Rose Destiny Version 2.0 Kage OS. Also at that site is all the information you could possibly want about anything to do with the show. It really would help if you had seen the tv show as there are so many characters who all have their own twisted pasts and how they interact with each other probably has more signifigance than what I read into it from my limited knoladge of the show.
The second thing you will notice is the music. The background music was well done and fit nicely with what was going on. The dueling music was intense and nice, I liked the chanting choir. But the one song that sticks out, and is currently my favorite song, is Toki Ni Ai Wa. The song that was playing for Anthy and Utena's dance in her huge square rose garden in the sky. The animation that was combined with the beautiful song made that my favorite part in the entire movie, I would even go so far as to say my favorite scene from any anime at all. The use of computer and hand drawn animation blended beautifully.
I should probably tell a little bit about the story. The movie begins with Utena's first day at Ohtori Academy. Wakaba, a girl at the academy is showing her around when she see's Touga lurking in the shadows on the other side of the dueling field. She takes off after him and catches up at a small lonely rose garden(not Anthy's big one). She notices a ring and thinks he's engaged, but it's only to signify that he is a qualified dualist. It is the Mark of the Rose. As she looks down at these roses she notices a white bud. It starts to bloom and as it does so a ring identical to Tougas drops into her hand. She is now a dualist too, but she does not know what all that is about. She notices then all the red petals raining from the sky. She goes up these long narrow stairs into a huge square garden so covered with roses you can't see the floor. There she meets Anthy, and Saionji(sp?). There she has her first dual. Things progress on into an increasingly twisted tale where people will do anything to get what they want and Utena will finally face her past that she had either forgotten or forced out of ther memory. A problem that I ran into with this was who is dead and who is alive? When did all of these things take place? Are all these things with Akio flashbacks or were they recent occurances that took place after Utena arrived? Was there ever a real price and if there was who was he? What is the real world? If that wasnt it then where were they? You have to really pay close attention to all the small details.
The extras on this disk are plentiful. There is a quiz game and the fan tribute. There are commentaries by the director (check out his site! Ikuniweb(English Version)), and many other people. Storyboard/Movie comparison and so much more! If you get the Collecters Series (in the pink case) a second disk comes with that has so many anime previews it's unbelievable! Also on the Anime Zone disk is a behind the scenes documentary type thing about the making of the Harlok Saga. If you can get the Pink Case Collecters Edition, it's worth it!
All in all I'm glad that I let my curiosity get the best of me. This movie is worth every penny I paid, and now I'm going to get the tv series because this will leave you wanting to see more if you have not already seen it.
