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Revolutionary Girl Utena: Difference between revisions
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''Utena'' lovingly includes, describes, averts, inverts, and subverts a large number of anime tropes, the most notable of which are [[Stock Footage]] (Utena's [[Once an Episode]] [[Transformation Sequence]]) and [[Clip Show]] episodes (two of the three contain major plot twists essential to the story). The series is known for its striking visual design -- influenced by Takurazuka, Noh theater plays, fairy tale imagery, and classic shoujo manga -- pieced together by director Kunihiko Ikuhara. It's also known for the lush soundtrack by J. A. Seazer, which mixes classical orchestral themes with outre choral harmonies and surrealist rock.
The show features commentary on (and references to) existing works, including -- but not limited to -- ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', [[Carl Jung]], [[Sigmund Freud]], the House of Borgia, ''[[
''Utena'' is neither explicit nor gratuitous, although some viewers may find certain implications of the plot to be [[Squick|distasteful]] (as an example: incest is a major theme, and it is explored from numerous perspectives). The story's core is based on a friendship turning into a [[Girls Love|romance between two girls]] who never expected it; the canonicity of what you see on the screen is debatable, but the [[Word of God]] statements by director Ikuhara on the subject are ''not''.
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* [[Alpha Bitch]]: Nanami for most of the series. Juri in the manga.
* [[Alternate Continuity]]: The Movie.
* [[And the Adventure Continues...]]: {{spoiler|The anime ends with Anthy departing on a quest to find the missing Utena.}}
* [[Animals Hate Him|Animals Hate Her]]: Nanami.
* [[Animation Bump]]: The [[Stock Footage]] is stock footage, yes, but it's all ''very'' well-animated.
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* [[Ascended Extra]]: Nanami, a major secondary character in the anime, only appears in a photo in the manga, where Juri more or less takes her place. By that association, because Juri has some of Nanami's traits in the manga, Shiori as an ascension in the anime also counts.
* [[Ascended Fridge Horror]]: A good rule of thumb with this series is that if something, especially a relationship, seems a little fucked up at first glance odds are it's not only exactly as bad as you think it is, but ''worse''.
* [[Ascend to
* [[Author Avatar]]: Chu-Chu. This ''is'' Ikuni.
* [[Autobots Rock Out]]: With [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] to boot. Try not to enjoy the Black Rose Arc songs.
* [[Back for
* [[Backstory]]: [[Character Development|Everyone has one.]]
* [[Badass]]:
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* [[Book Ends]]: The very last episode features a montage of "everyday" scenes paralleling events that happened to Utena and the other characters throughout the last year. As Anthy points out, the ending is not as [[Bittersweet Ending|bittersweet]] as it initially appears -- {{spoiler|the character dynamics that Utena changed are things that can't be undone}}.
* [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick]]: More or less literally -- the asparagus sandwich may never be the same.
* [[Break the Cutie]]: [[Everything's Better
* [[Break the Haughty]]: Everyone's haughty to some degree, but no matter how it seems from the outside, Akio does ''not'' live a happy life.
* [[Brick Joke]]:
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* [[Character Development]]: Everyone gets some over the course of the series.
* [[Chronic Hero Syndrome]]: You don't want to know what it did to Dios and Anthy...
* [[Cinderella (
* [[Clingy Jealous Girl]]: Nanami, Kozue, Shiori, and tragically {{spoiler|Anthy}}. Each person is Deconstructed.
* [[Clip Show]]: Episodes 13 and 33 summarize the first and third arcs, respectively, while surrounding the clips with intrigue, surrealism, and plot twists. Episode 24 is a humorous version, and compiles all of Nanami's [[Butt Monkey]] moments as [[Framing Device|diary entries written by Tsuwabuki.]]
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* [[Conspicuously Light Patch]]: Utena's locker in the Black Rose arc.
* [[Continuity Nod]]: The shadow play girls talk about a monkey-catching robot in episode 22. It makes later appearances in episodes 24 and 31.
* [[Cry for
* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]]: The series really toys with this trope. There's the deity Dios, a literal prince on a white horse, who occasionally comes down from the heavens to give Utena his strength. The antagonist is {{spoiler|Akio ("Morning Star", as in, Satan)}}, who clearly defines himself as Dios' evil counterpart. It turns out {{spoiler|they were once the same person, who was worshiped as a god in a medieval society, but unable to listen to everyone's prayers and fulfill his duties as a deity. His sister Anthy took the blame and was symbolically crucified as a Jesus-figure, still to this day feeling the pain of her punishment, but absolving the people of their sins}}.
* [[Custom Uniform]]: Utena claims to wear a uniform approved for boys at her school, not that ''any'' boy we ever see has clothes that vaguely resemble hers.
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* [[Deconstructor Fleet]]: Name ''one'' episode where no subversion occurs!
* [[Depraved Bisexual]]: {{spoiler|Akio}}. It could be argued, however, that he is not bisexual, but is simply a depraved creep who will seduce [[Anything That Moves]] as long as it will help his cause.
* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: [[Crapsack World|''Everyone will suffer'']]. Only some will [[Ten
* [[Discretion Shot]]: We are mercifully spared seeing Nanami wearing a nose ring.
* [[Disposable Fiancee]]: Kanae is either a hilarious invocation or an inhumanly cruel straight example of the trope, depending on how you watch the show.
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** The entire Black Rose Arc. [[Love Hurts|Especially for Wakaba]].
* [[Driven to Suicide]]: Seems to be the case with {{spoiler|Akio}} in the movie and the movie manga. {{spoiler|Anthy}} also attempts this in the series.
* [[Dropped a Bridge
* [[Dude, She's Like, in
** Miki does this to Utena in the manga.
* [[Duels Decide Everything]]: But like everything else, it's brutally subverted.
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* [[Extreme Doormat]]: Anthy. {{spoiler|Subverted when we find out that her [[Emotionless Girl|emotionless personality]] is just a cover for her collusion with her brother, [[Double Subversion|double subverted]] when she actually ''is'' an [[Extreme Doormat]] to ''him'', though she passive-aggressively rebels every step of the way. In any case, she's ''far'' from emotionless to the point where [[Alternate Character Interpretation|some fans consider her worse than Akio.]] She theoretically ''can'' rebel against her destiny as a fallen princess / [[Wicked Witch]], but has to choose between eternal torture and returning to the outside world which brought about her torture into the first place.}}
** {{spoiler|The manga plays this fairly straight.}}
* [[Everything's Better
* [[Evil Laugh]]: Saionji does this a few times. His English voice actor makes it [[Dissonant Serenity|rather crazy]].
* [[Face Heel Turn]]: Look at all the entries on this page, then guess who...
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* [[The Ghost]]: "End of the World", at least at first.
* [[Giant Poofy Sleeves]]: The female student uniforms of Ohtori Academy.
* [[Girl in
{{quote| {{spoiler|Scene''s''.}}}}
* [[Girl Posse]]: Nanami's three-girl clique.
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** It's implied that {{spoiler|neither Miki nor Juri have much interest in the End of the World}} since, after their personal problems are resolved, they stop being antagonistic to Utena (and in {{spoiler|Miki}}'s case, they're overtly friendly). Even {{spoiler|Saionji}} is not really evil, just an easily manipulable jerk. Only Akio and [[The Dragon|Touga]] {{spoiler|in the anime}} remain villainous until the end, {{spoiler|though Touga has his reasons...}}
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: {{spoiler|A battered, exhausted, and freshly-stabbed Utena saves Anthy's soul by opening the Rose Gate with her bare hands, but ends up getting the stabbing from the Million Swords in Anthy's place; Utena's willingness to do everything possible to help her friend is ultimately the key to helping Anthy break free of her relationship with Akio and leave Ohtori.}}
* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: Central Park Media's voice overs, A.K.A. the [[4Kids! Entertainment|4Kids]] voiceovers. For example [[Pokémon|Rachael Lillis]] does Utena's voice. And [[Yu-Gi-Oh!|Dan Green]] is Mikage! Not to mention [[Crispin Freeman]] in one of his earlier roles as Touga.
* [[Hot for Student]]: Do you really wanna know how many students Akio sleeps with? Does anybody really know?
* [[Human Resources]]: {{spoiler|The Black Rose Circle's plot is apparently powered by the corpses of the 100 boys who died in a fire at Nemuro Memorial Hall.}}
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* [[I Just Want to Be Special]]: Saionji, Wakaba.
* [[I Kiss Your Foot]] ... [[Subverted Trope|So I Can Sinisterly Manipulate You Into Submitting To My Every Whim!]]
* [[Impaled
* [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]]: Everybody, but especially the Rose Bride outfit. Utena's is famous for its visuals. Averted somewhat with Utena herself, as she has a perfectly reasonable outfit underneath the jacket -- a tank top and bicycle shorts. It's just the jacket that makes cosplay very hard.
** [http://hawkesdesign.com/NimueCatalog/Products/Costumes/military_jacket.htm Yes,] it is made out of [[Fetish Fuel|Latex]].
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* [[Implausible Fencing Powers]]: Utena tends to do this during the duels, particularly with the Soul of Dios powering her up.
* [[In the Back]]
* [[In the Name of
* [[Intertwined Fingers]]: Utena and Anthy do this quite a bit. Used at the end of the series for dramatic effect. {{spoiler|It's the final frame of the anime.}}
* [[It Got Worse]]: [[Ironic Hell|A million swords]].
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* [[Madonna-Whore Complex]]: Deconstructed. {{spoiler|"Women who cannot become princesses have no choice but to become witches."}}
* [[Magical Girl]]: {{spoiler|[[Defied Trope|Hugely defied]]. The defining trait of all [[Super Sentai]] [[Magical Girl]] series is that [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|altruism and unconditional love will always save the world]], but the biggest prince in the story ends up as the series' [[Big Bad]], and all of Utena's strength and purity can't even save one [[Damsel in Distress]] if said [[Damsel in Distress]] won't break away from centuries of habits to save herself.}} Also, Utena is more of a Magical Warrior than a conventional [[Magical Girl]].
* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: In the movie, {{spoiler|the castle. It's actually all [[Base
* [[Man of Wealth and Taste]]: {{spoiler|Akio}}
* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Akio, also a [[Magnificent Bastard]]. Touga aspires to be like him, Ruka tries to be like him for {{spoiler|moral}} reasons, and Mikage believes himself to be one and succeeds for the entire second arc.
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* [[One Dialogue, Two Conversations]]: In the episode "Nanami’s Egg", Nanami and Touga have a conversation where she asks him if he would prefer a boy or a girl. Nanami talks about a kid (which she thinks will get hatched from an egg she got...ItMakesSenseInContext); Touga thinks she's talking about boyfriends and girlfriends, so when she says she would like a girl, Touga ends up thinking she's a lesbian.
** Really, that entire episode is [[One Dialogue, Two Conversations]] between Nanami and everyone she talks to.
* [["On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase]]: "The absolute destiny, apocalypse."
* [[Ontological Mystery]]: In a loose sense.
* [[Orphan's Plot Trinket]]: Utena's ring.
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* [[Primal Scene]]: Nanami walks in on {{spoiler|[[Brother-Sister Incest|Akio and Anthy]]}}.
* [[Pun-Based Title]]: The [[Freaky Friday Flip]] episode is titled in Japanese as "Curry-''naru'' High Trip"; the "curry-''naru''" ("''karē-naru''") is a play on "''karei-naru''" ("magnificent").
** The [[Author Appeal|curry episode]] of Ikuhara's recent series ''[[
* [[Rape
* [[Rape
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Delivered [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|quite satisfyingly]] {{spoiler|from Anthy to Akio}} in the finale.
{{quote| {{spoiler|By all means, stay in this cozy coffin of yours and continue to play prince. But I have to go now. She isn't gone at all, she's merely vanished from your world.}}}}
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* [[Schoolgirl Lesbians]]: Juri; possibly Anthy and Utena in the series, though it's canon in the movie. Tons of girls also fawn over Utena and in one episode (and only one episode), Anthy.
* [[School Play]]: The Shadow Girls' rendition of the Tale of the Rose.
* [[Sex
* [[Sexophone]]: ''Akio Car''. Very yes.
* [[Shadow Archetype]]:
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* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: Utena several times per arc.
* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Miki and Kozue.
* [[Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for
* [[Single-Stroke Battle]]: Some Duels.
* [[Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism]]: The series plants itself in the middle of the spectrum, refuses to budge, and lets the characters and plot (and audience) fight over it to whatever extremes they please.
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* [[Snot Bubble]]: An exaggerated version by Chu-Chu.
* [[Spikes of Villainy]]: Game antagonist Chigusa's shoulders in her dueling uniform, and the pommel of her sword.
* [[Start of Darkness]]: [[Deconstruction|How does one completely corrupt]] the [[The Messiah|strongest]] and [[Wide
* [[Stepford Smiler]]: {{spoiler|Anthy.}}
* [[Stock Footage]]: Utena climbing to the arena (and several of her signature moves), Akio's highway scenes, and many others -- it may hard to believe, but Utena's budget wasn't that much higher than [[Evangelion]]'s.
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* [[Surprise Creepy]]: To the point that the first company to license the show marketed the first batch of episodes as a bog-standard [[Magical Girl]] series... they wisely changed their approach from the second arc on.
* [[Swiss Army Tears]]
* [[Sympathy for
* [[Take My Hand]]: The ending.
* [[Take Our Word for It]]: Steadily less of the action of the fights are actually shown during the third arc.
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** Virtually every [[Breather Episode|Nanami episode]] will have this to some extent.
* [[What Might Have Been]]: the re-release booklet features art of a scrapped ending sequence that heavily featured Chu-Chu.
* [[What the Hell, Townspeople?]]: Sure, townspeople! Go ahead and {{spoiler|[[Cold-Blooded Torture|stab your Messiah with a million swords]] just because he [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|worked himself sick trying to help you ungrateful bastards]]! What, he's hidden away? No worries! Just stab his sister with the million swords instead!}} Arguably, that means us. Think about that.
* [[White-Haired Pretty Girl]]: Chigusa Sanjouin, though it's more of an extremely pale blue.
* [[White Prince]]: Series Metatrope: The Prince is the term given to the ''Utena'' [[Knight in Shining Armor]] equivalent. He ''always'' has to save the day; he has to be perfect. If not...
* [[Wicked Witch]]: Series Metatrope - {{spoiler|Anthy is implied to be either a [[Wicked Witch]] or a [[Damsel in Distress]].}}
* [[Wide
* [[Wooden Katanas Are Even Better]]: The bamboo training sword Utena uses to win her first rose duel.
* [[Word Salad Lyrics]]: The soundtrack has a bit of a problem with this.
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* [[Xanatos Roulette]]: Avoided. The Myth of the Prince and Rose Bride is shown to have existed in a time where swords were the main weapons, implying that Akio has been trying for centuries to achieve his goals and is not just relying on some one-shot, throwaway gamble.
* [[X Meets Y]]: ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' meets ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
** Or [[Sailor Moon]] meets [[
* [[Yandere]]: Nanami towards Touga, Anthy towards Akio, Kozue, Shiori etc.
* [[Yaoi Guys]]: Touga, Saionji, and Akio. Some scenes imply Miki and some fanfics do more. Not all interactions are lovey-dovey.
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