Utena
Sat Mar 17, 2007 5:06 am
it was basically a lesbian anime, overly sexual
and i saw it when i was like 10 or somethin...
but i have to admit, it is one of the most unique and powerful anime i have ever seen.
anyone else seen it?
and i saw it when i was like 10 or somethin...
but i have to admit, it is one of the most unique and powerful anime i have ever seen.
anyone else seen it?
Mon Mar 19, 2007 12:27 pm
I haven't seen the anime, but I have read the first volume manga.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:24 pm
the manga and the anime is VERY different
Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:06 pm
I haven't seen it, but judging from your description I might just give it a try 
Tue Mar 20, 2007 12:51 pm
blueZ wrote:the manga and the anime is VERY different
So I hear.
Re: Utena
Sun Apr 06, 2008 3:44 am
I just watched that very recently.
About halfway through I told Scintilla "I thought this was a lesbian anime" and his reaction was along the lines of "Yeah I know...I think a lot of what we heard about it was grossly exaggerated". The imagery is there...like the when Utena and Anthy fall backwards in bed, the holding hands as they converse, the whole Sword of Dios retrieval process, and the off-screen snog during an end credits sequence (which I found a bit gratuitous considering how nothing like that actually occurs in the show) so it's understandable to see it as a shoujo-ai. But if you're hoping to see a significant romance between two women take place within the plot, you're going to be disappointed. My impression was that it was driven by the power of incredibly strong friendship...like "LOTR Frodo-Samwise" friendship. You have a friendship and a love that goes above and beyond our comprehension without actually being romantic. Most of the overly blatant sexual aspects actually surround the male characters. Akio is a very "look out ladies" sexual character. Touga and Saionji are very skilled at having their shirts fly open without any help from their hands (this power is exponentially increased when they are standing in close proximity of each other). The sexual aspects of the female characters are usually more subtle and have to be interpreted as sexual.
The Utena movie on the other hand...that's a very blatant lesbian anime. Nudity, on-screen snogging and other implied stuff. But I don't recommend seeing that until you see the series. It's not a sequel. It's an alternate retelling of the series. But it's pretty bizarre and hard to comprehend if the series isn't acting as a foundation.
But I did like it...a lot. It's got a lot of symbolism and it's the kind of show you can watch over and over and catch something new every time. I don't know how they came up with some of the ideas they had.
About halfway through I told Scintilla "I thought this was a lesbian anime" and his reaction was along the lines of "Yeah I know...I think a lot of what we heard about it was grossly exaggerated". The imagery is there...like the when Utena and Anthy fall backwards in bed, the holding hands as they converse, the whole Sword of Dios retrieval process, and the off-screen snog during an end credits sequence (which I found a bit gratuitous considering how nothing like that actually occurs in the show) so it's understandable to see it as a shoujo-ai. But if you're hoping to see a significant romance between two women take place within the plot, you're going to be disappointed. My impression was that it was driven by the power of incredibly strong friendship...like "LOTR Frodo-Samwise" friendship. You have a friendship and a love that goes above and beyond our comprehension without actually being romantic. Most of the overly blatant sexual aspects actually surround the male characters. Akio is a very "look out ladies" sexual character. Touga and Saionji are very skilled at having their shirts fly open without any help from their hands (this power is exponentially increased when they are standing in close proximity of each other). The sexual aspects of the female characters are usually more subtle and have to be interpreted as sexual.
The Utena movie on the other hand...that's a very blatant lesbian anime. Nudity, on-screen snogging and other implied stuff. But I don't recommend seeing that until you see the series. It's not a sequel. It's an alternate retelling of the series. But it's pretty bizarre and hard to comprehend if the series isn't acting as a foundation.
But I did like it...a lot. It's got a lot of symbolism and it's the kind of show you can watch over and over and catch something new every time. I don't know how they came up with some of the ideas they had.