Anime Review: Revolutionary Girl Utena

Review Revolutionary Girl Utena Written by Warpshadow Rating Excellent

Some shows are not only good but out of simple artistic creativity and iconic presence just needs to be watched. Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of those shows.

When she was just a little girl Utena was very sad because her parents had died. A prince appeared and gave her a ring. Utena was very impressed by all of this and vowed to become a prince herself one day. Later when she is in high school Utena still wears the ring along with a boy's school uniform. One day she sees her friend being tormented by a member of the student council and in a fit of righteous rage she challenges him to a duel. The duel is to fight is no ordinary duel and the secret behind it will change her life and possibly the world.

Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the most innovative anime shows that I have ever seen. First off the main character, Utena, is different than the protagonists in most shojo anime. The other characters are interesting as well. The plot is superficially similar to those in magical girl shows but handles the fighting better in terms of tying it to the rest of the show. While the animation isn't that great in the technical aspect the symbolism and the directing make the show fun to watch in the visual aspect. Also the music is very well done and includes fight songs which are practically a genre to themselves. As you can probably tell I really like this show and I recommend that you at least see some of it to broaden your horizons.