Revolutionary Girl Utena/YMMV: Difference between revisions

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* [[Adaptation Displacement]]:

** Many people have only seen the (very wildly alternate universe) film version, partly because it's easier to find on torrent sites and partly because it was the only version released in places like the UK (and, okay, it's known for its [[Fan Service]] as well). It's also been shown at some LGBT film festivals, giving it exposure outside the anime fandom.

** The series was partly based on the novel ''Demian'' by [[Hermann Hesse]], which most anime fans wouldn't know because it's never mentioned ANYWHERE EVER. Particularly, the egg speech is a direct reference... expect anything else which references the egg speech to be assumed to be referencing Utena.

* [[Fan Wank]]: There's a small group of people who think ''every single thing {{spoiler|that Anthy}} does in the series'' is manipulative and for ulterior motives. {{spoiler|Yes, even getting (re-)stabbed with a million swords in the last episode. Yes, even when Anthy disappears behind the coffin and reaches out for Utena's hand. All this is supposed to be an act to make Utena feel sorry for her so Anthy can have a prince to manipulate forever so the Rose Bride can finally leave Ohtori}}. {{spoiler|While Anthy}} is very manipulative and much of her actions in the series are malicious, the above interpretation contains several logic bombs: 1.) If {{spoiler|Anthy}} wants a prince to save her from Ohtori, she could've {{spoiler|refused to betray Utena in the penultimate episode because Utena was ''already doing everything in her power to help Anthy get out of Ohtori''. Anthy's actions make no sense unless you interpret Anthy as being hesitant about leaving}}. 2.) As the series points out, it's not {{spoiler|a lack of a prince or any inherent magic which prevents the Rose Bride from leaving Ohtori; ''it's the Rose Bride's own personal choice to stay''. Utena's feelings for Anthy, or Anthy's lack of a prince, have nothing to do with magically binding her to the duels}}.

** Don't forget the speculation that {{spoiler|young Anthy rapes young Dios in flashblack, simply due to the fact that the two of them take shelter in a barn (as per the English double-entendre "rolling in the hay"). Supporters of this particular [[Epileptic Trees|Tree]] insist that Anthy was waiting for the "perfect moment" to "taint" her brother and "claim him for herself", forgetting that this is the same Anthy who took thousands of stab wounds to keep him, and neglecting to explain at all why anyone (much less a small girl) would stop to rape their older brother when being chased by a sword-wielding mob}}.

* [[Faux Symbolism]]: Various weird visual cues, the most common being rotating stylized roses, which don't appear to have any particular meaning. Ikuhara doesn't help either: he gives vague, non sequitur comments like saying the Shadow Girls are aliens (which ''would'' explain the repeated flying saucer imagery in their performances...). On the other hand, the pointing fingers in episode 22 seem to stand for [[Ship Tease]].

* [[Freud Was Right]]: Lots. Take Akio's car for example. Or his tower, or his projector, or... let's just say Akio provides the majority of this.

** We also dare you to ever insinuate you don't ship Utena/Anthy. The Utena/Anthy rabid fans will tear you alive and accuse you of being an homophobe, regardless of your stance on LGBT rights on [[Real Life]]. On the other hand, referring to ''Utena'' as a yuri series can be controversial in itself, depending on which corner of the fandom you're looking at.

** Speaking of LGBT matters, discussing the characters' sexual orientations can be a messy affair. (Is Utena straight, bisexual or lesbian? Is Touga straight or bi? Could Shiori ever reciprocate Juri's feelings for her? And so on.) Wherever you stand, blood is gonna fly.

** If you say you like ''[[Mawaru Penguindrum]]'' better than ''Utena'', you shall be marked for a painful death.

* [[Iron Woobie]]: Utena. She gets hit with a lot of manipulation and betrayal over the course of the series, but still manages to rise up again every time.

** Nanami's Egg episode... the whole thing.

* [[Older Than They Think]]: ''Utena'' makes heavy use of tropes and visual elements from classic shoujo series such as ''[[Rose of Versailles]]'', most of which were not familiar to American audiences before the popularity of this series.

* [[Ron the Death Eater]]: Shiori Takatsuki gets this a lot. While even her fans would agree that she is a ''heavily'' flawed person, her haters often make her out to be a [[Complete Monster]], some even calling her worse than ''Akio''. The fanbase, especially Juri and Ruka fans, often ignore that Shiori isn't just a monster who torments Juri [[For the Evulz]], and that Juri contributes just as much to their broken relationship as she does. In fact, Shiori actually tries to make amends when she returns, only for ''Juri'' to refuse to listen out of bitterness. She also gets called a monster for what she did as a Black Rose Duelist (ignoring that she was no different than Kozue and Wakaba) and some even say she ''deserved'' being humiliated by Ruka.

* [[The Scrappy]]: Shiori is easily one of the most hated characters in the fandom, to the point where even ''members of staff'' disliked her. Nanami is also rather unpopular in her own right. Ironically, they're two of Ikuhara's personal favourites.

** Wakaba's {{spoiler|Black Rose duel}} Just... Wakaba's {{spoiler|duel}}.

** Oh, ''everyone''.