Revolutionary Girl Utena/Ho Yay



Where does one start with the amount of Les Yay and Ho Yay in Revolutionary Girl Utena? The whole premise of the plot is Utena's desire to be a "Prince" to Anthy's "Rose Bride", and Akio's manipulations to make sure that he milks Utena's dreams for his own benefit.

"Wakaba: If that's how you want it, fine! I'll be the mistress. And I'll just fight the legal wife over you!"
 * Utena is surprised to find herself engaged to Anthy, the Rose Bride, after winning a duel against her previous fiance, Saionji.
 * Utena frequently comes to Anthy's aid whenever she is slapped around by others and wants to save her from her secret pain.
 * Chiho Saito (the mangaka and one of the writers) has said that people should consider Utena and Anthy to﻿ be like a married couple. This becomes especially noteworthy when you consider that Saito had originally been against the idea of Anthy/Utena being a romantic couple.
 * While Saito is heavily maligned by the Utena fandom for her initial stance on Anthy/Utena, her manga still has its share of Les Yay at times. In the third volume, Wakaba starts to become jealous of Utena's closeness to Anthy, so Utena has to reassure her that she still considers her to be a dear friend. Wakaba then asks, "Then what about Anthy Himemiya?!", to which Utena says that she's kind of like family... which doesn't please Wakaba at all, because she thinks that's something married people would say!


 * There's also Wakaba's loud and public crush on Utena, which she mainly expresses by glomping Utena and going for rides on her back later on.
 * And the fact that the titular Utena has a Even the Girls Want Her status. The first episode starts off with a long montage of her being invited to join various sports clubs, and of being swooned over by both sexes, including a horde of fangirls at Ohtori. And she elicits these reactions whether dressed as a boy or wearing the Ohtori female uniform, as proved by the episode coming after her loss at the hands of Touga, which she tried to cope with by acting like a Yamato Nadeshiko. And yes, the other girls were still seriously wet for her.
 * While Juri tends to be lusted over by the fans of the show, regardless of gender. And then there's her secret obsession with Shiori, which consumes her entire life. Nearly all of Juri's angst comes from her poorly concealed lesbianism.
 * And while Utena often claims to be totally straight, she clearly develops some manner of romantic feelings for Anthy by the end of the series; in fact, in the final episode, she tells Anthy that the only time she's even been truly happy was when she was with her.
 * She does share a questionable relationship with Anthy, going so far in the latter episodes to sleep facing each other, hands clasped.
 * The movie is straight-up Yuri with kisses and nakedness, probably because Kunihiko Ikuhara (also responsible for much of the later seasons of Sailor Moon) was given full creative control.
 * In the movie Anthy and Utena end up as partners for an art assignment and have to sketch one another. Anthy convinces the rather shy Utena to disrobe in a scene dripping with subtext, and when Utena asks Anthy to do the same an important plot point in the movie is revealed.
 * Not to mention their romantic dance in the movie.
 * Or how Anthy is much more sexually aggressive toward Utena in the movie, even tackling her and kissing her and while laying in bed with her unzipping Utena's pants.
 * Or at the party in episode 3 where Nanami tries to embarrass Anthy, when Utena rejects Touga and makes a dress for Anthy after her dress dissolves, then dances with her.
 * Utena and Anthy gaze at each other adoringly during the opening credits and have scenes where it almost looks like they're about to kiss. They also hold hands.
 * The offical art of the two together and the second ED are pretty yuri-tastic as well. In fact the official art has plenty of yaoi too and can be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20131009033109/http://ohtori.nu/galerie/main.php
 * There's also when Utena and Anthy draw the sword from one another (people who do this tend to have a sort of relationship with each other) and Utena holds Anthy in her arms.
 * In episode 9 Utena expresses visible concern when she learns Anthy has been kidnapped and goes to find her and wants to save her. When she saves her she screams her name and holds her in her arms until she wakes up. They tenderly say each other's names while looking in each other's eyes and Utena acts relieved to find that Anthy's alright.
 * In episode 10 Anthy tries to keep Nanami from being so angry at Utena but Nanami slaps her. Utena comes to Anthy's aid again.
 * In episode 11 Utena runs to Anthy and Touga telling Touga to get away from Anthy when she sees Touga hitting on Anthy. Also, she vows again to protect Anthy, thinking that she won't give Anthy to the other duelists, not even to her prince. When Utena gets to the dueling arena to duel Touga she also places her hand in Anthy's. Once Utena looses the duel against Touga and Anthy leaves her Utena is shown to fall to pieces and think about all the past moments she spent with Anthy.
 * In episode 12 Utena goes into a bad Heroic BSOD after loosing Anthy and only snaps out of it when Wakaba starts giving Anthy a hard time. Utena also gives Anthy her handkerchief and Anthy stares at it happily later on. Also Anthy imagines Utena sitting across from her at a tea table after Touga leaves. Utena remembers moments with Anthy again and duels Touga again saying she wants to take back something important to her.
 * In episode 37 Utena and Anthy state that they'll still be together in ten years and tenderly intertwine their fingers together. Utena also won't let Anthy commit suicide and tells her "I thought we agreed to have a date with tea and laugh together ten years from now!" Also, Juri comments on how Utena loves Anthy and Utena says its not like Juri's love for Shiori but pure, but she supposes that her love for Shiori is pure too.
 * In episode 38 Utena and Anthy go to meet Akio together and hold hands before doing so. Utena also expresses much concern when Anthy disappears. Upon becoming Akio's princess and being told she will live with Akio forever Utena can only worry and think about Anthy. We also see a flashback where Utena  and Anthy expresses regret that Utena was caught up in the whole business with the Rose Bride.
 * Oh boy, Mamiya and Mikage.
 * Episodes 25-33 take this Up to Eleven, when Alpha Casanova Akio becomes the focus of the duels. This arc is positively rife with subtext, all of it being very clear and blatant. Symbolism be damned; when boys roll around in bed together shirtless, it only means one thing.
 * If even rolling around in bed with open shirts and unzipped pants is too subtle for you, there's always this screenshot, which threatens to go beyond subtext and into outright radar-dodging. The audible sigh in Touga's voice during this scene just seals it all the more.
 * Aside from Utena and Anthy, who toe the line between subtext and actual text, there's Utena and Wakaba, Utena and Juri (like in episode 7), Juri and Shiori, and Anthy and Kozue (episode 26). Oh, and the Shadow Girls, every so often.
 * There's also Touga and Saionji (to the point that Saionji draws Touga's sword in the latter's last fight with Utena — keep in mind that everyone else who's done this has had some kind of relationship with the actual duelist), Akio and Anything That Moves, and also briefly in episode 5, Touga and Miki.
 * It's interesting to note that Touga, a character who spends so much of his time going through women like tissue paper, is involved in the bulk of the show's male/male Ho Yay. Bisexual, much?
 * Chigusa Sanjouin from the Utena Sega Saturn game gets her share of fangirls squeeing over her when she appears in class, and Kozue is even seen dating her at one point.
 * Besides the girls in the academy that fawn over Utena in one episode the girls fawn over Anthy.