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Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena Movie FULL LENGTH Reaction! (Patreon)

Published:
2025-04-06 13:00:04
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

 **REVOLUTIONARY HEADPHONE WARNINGS**

So....this was a WILD, BONKERS ride, and it took me a little bit to get a foothold what was going on, but once I did? I was DOWN for the madness!

I won't spoil what the premise is for this one but let me just say that this gave me a lot of what I needed from Anthy and Utena and I have *checks run time* a LOT to say about this movie! So put it on 2X, grab some popcorn, and let's TALK ABOUT THIS!

LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/Zm9p9xrgRgoJandNZJwbpT

Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!

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Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena Movie Reaction! I WAS NOT READY!!

LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/Zm9p9xrgRgoJandNZJwbpT **REVOLUTIONARY HEADPHONE WARNINGS** So....this was a WILD, BONKERS ride, and it took me a little bit to get a foothold what was going on, but once I did? I was DOWN for the madness! I won't spoil what the premise is for this one but let me just say that this gave me a lot of what I needed from Anthy and Utena and I have *checks run time* a LOT to say about this movie! So put it on 2X, grab some popcorn, and let's TALK ABOUT THIS! Thank you for watching with me and for all the support! #romaniablack #revolutionarygirlutena #adolescenceofUtena #RGUmovie Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RomaniaBlack My Anime: https://myanimelist.net/profile/RomaniaBlack Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/RomaniaBlack You can mail me a letter or anything (except food, please) at this address: Romania Black PO Box 768 Harrisburg, IL 62946 USA

Comments

Zeekutar The Immortal

19:00 you mention 2 different writing styles. It reminds me of the gardener vs architect comparison. Often, the more beautiful, compelling, or visceral a world is, the less coherent the fundamental details are. This is usually due to the writer cultivating ideas and letting then grow naturally. Worlds that make more sense with clear, reachable goals can feel colder, more predictable. This is a product of the writer building the story around a much more constrained, concrete goal. Utena seems to garden itself into a corner.

Sorem_x

To me, the movie is not a retelling or an alternate timeline—it is a direct continuation of the series. It is what comes after. While many details seem drastically different from the original show, I see these changes not as inconsistencies, but as deliberate shifts shaped by the characters themselves, especially Anthy. Throughout the series, Anthy has shown the ability to manipulate perception, time, and even memory. She and others like her seem to bend reality—not just the world around them, but the inner worlds of those trapped within the academy. In this version of the story, Anthy has mostly freed herself from Akio. She is no longer the obedient Rose Bride, waiting in silence. She is active, defiant, even theatrical. There is a clear boldness to her now. But even though Akio is no longer physically present, his specter lingers. I interpret the half-built, surreal appearance of Ohtori Academy in the film as a reflection of a world Anthy is now reshaping. Without Akio’s dominating influence, the oppressive perfection of the academy is breaking apart, reforming, and evolving into something new—something uncertain, but freer. The world is no longer complete, and that incompletion is its liberation. Utena herself is changed, too. Even if her memories of what happen in the series were erased after she left the academy. She’s not simply starting over; she’s confronting the consequences of everything she endured. The movie’s hyper-stylized, dreamlike atmosphere isn’t just aesthetic—it’s symbolic of an internal world trying to process trauma, memory, and transformation. These are characters in flux. These are survivors. Toga’s presence in the film especially stands out. In the final episode of the series, there is a reference to a boy drowning in a river. I believe that boy was Toga all along—that he died long ago, and that his presence in both the series and the movie is that of a ghost trying to make peace with his identity and his legacy. In the film, he’s aware of his own non-existence. He’s no longer fighting for control or power; he’s just trying to understand. He is memory trying to let go. Nanami’s absence as a human being is, in my interpretation, not an omission but a reward. She has escaped. She has found a way out. By becoming something non-human—a cow, absurd and symbolic—she’s no longer bound to the rules of the academy. She has transcended the game entirely, her human form left behind like a shell. I choose to believe this means she found a way to exist outside of the cycle, and thus was erased from the narrative, no longer trapped in its loop. Yes, there are things in the movie that contradict the series if taken literally. But Utena has never been about the literal. It’s a story of symbols, of psychological transformation and emotional truth. The movie is messy, contradictory, and surreal—but so is healing. So is growing up. So is breaking free. This is the world after the revolution, still trying to figure out what freedom means. I know there are loopholes to this theory and it may not be that good. But this is what I like to believe. I want my happy ending for the Utena and Anthy in the series.

Lynden

At least when I was in college, this was famously the movie that you told non-anime fans to get high and watch (of course without ever having seen the series or often any other anime first.) Along with EoE, Akira, Perfect Blue, these were all sort of prank movies you would try to trick your normie friends into watching just to see their reaction. So I had seen this movie WAY before I watched the show. For a lot of people, this is the only exposure to Utena that they have. So my feelings of Utena are really based more on this movie, which I love.

L Freya

I was not ready for this movie! The visual upgrades! The HAT! The embrace at the end! The new haircut! I knew I was in for a wild ride with that opening flyby of the staircase, I can't believe how much the movie turned it all around for me, I loved it so much! It's immediately shot up as one of my favorite anime series' movies. So, my Aladdin analogy definitely falls apart when you go deeper, oh well, haha! I wasn't thinking ships, and I even ship Utena + Anthy, so that's on me! And Anthy walking out on her own or not needing to be saved by a wish is definitely better, so it fails there as well. Only on the most basic level it worked! Utena wanted to change the system to help Anthy, much like Aladdin wanted to change the system to help Genie. Both Anthy and Genie expected Utena and Aladdin to conform to the system and ignore their individuality/friendship. I agree it wasn't quite perfect, but thanks for the mention! 😊 This movie! Everything from the car wash on is 10 out of 10. 🏆 "Some of our fans took issue with this car wash scene" hmmm... well nobody is perfect! Utena turning into a car might be the best magical girl transformation sequence ever, possibly only beaten by cheating - using the PMMM Rebellion movie sequence - which combines four transformations into a single sequence, beautifully done across different media. Wakaba being a Jeep was totally unexpected, I would have DIED if we could have gotten Juri saying to Anthy, "We spared no expense." This was 1999, just four little words, it COULD have been done!! Watching this a second time with your reaction made it even better! It felt so good to have Akio run over by Anthy and Utena on motorcycle. Who knew Touga being dead was all we needed to fix this series! ☠️ I think I came around on Nanami not being in it too, like you mentioned, and the SA here didn't need to be here either. Anthy driving herself out at the end and saving Utena is great. Loved hearing all the familiar music brought back in again; the animation is such peak 90s anime style!! Thanks for going over the commentary in the discussion, I felt it really enhanced it all and was glad to get all that extra content! Felt a little like getting The Last Eunuch of China readings again!

Zeekutar The Immortal

30:00 you mention the hair growth and return to short. wi I always saw it as part of the classic battle transformation. Shojo usually sticking to Clothing and accessories, while Utena goes the more Shonen route of "awakening the beast within" similar to Ichigo in bleach getting longer hair in one of his final forms, and of course dbz with the length and color change of their hair. They even brought in mecha transformation in a sense when It came to [@Utena] becoming increasingly more sleek and piercing when more is needed.

Zeekutar The Immortal

1:06:00 girl bathing in roses poster: American Beauty. Had some good parts, but ultimately flawed in a few key ways (not unlike Utena series). Also tarnished by the fact that Kevin Spacey's character does some questionable things that are similar to real life questionable things Spacey was accused of.

romaniablack

Well, yes, you can make that comparison surely! I look at it in a pragmatic sense - we all have specific styles that we admire in narratives - I have no problem with the abstract or plots that just “go wild” like in a garden, but still - it needs to have some sense of cohesion. I feel sometimes fandoms will make excuses for a series they have nostalgia for or don’t want others to criticize, but then if it wasn’t a series they had those feelings for, they’d label it “bad writing.” ;) I’m just keeping it 100 with my thoughts and preferences. ^^

romaniablack

THANK YOU! Ahhh, that was driving me CRAZY - I kept wanting to say something else but knew it wasn’t right. And yeahhh, time sometimes tarnishes things like that, especially when you look back at some of those involved, like you mentioned here.

romaniablack

Right — that is very true - I guess since it’s not established as a “norm” in this series, it’s weird. Again, if you’re going to have an element in the world building - be consistent. It’s bad writing if you just chuck something in and expect your audience to understand or forgive it, or at least, that’s my measurement of good writing. It needs to be something established and since this is one of the only times it’s done in the ENTIRE series, I give it a side eye and say, “oh, you just wanted to do something ‘different’ and expect to get away with it,” hahaha!! But hey, just my thoughts. ^^

romaniablack

HAHAHAHAHAHA That’s hilarious - no, I could see that - in my college days, I think that equivalent was Inception. I don’t smoke, so I wasn’t part of that crowd! But wow, I cannot IMAGINE EoE, Akira, and Perfect Blue under the influence. oof. That’s ROUGH! That’s insane that some people have seen this movie and NOT the anime series! @.@ I cannot imagine! But good to know! Thank you for the comment!

Zeekutar The Immortal

agree 100% with you on the excuses and nostalgia goggles. I was writing a piece about that (i mentioned it in an earlier discussion) yesterday to post here, but I was side tracked. I'll post it soon.

romaniablack

Oh neat! Yeah, that’d be fun to read! That’s cool you’re writing that! :D

Zeekutar The Immortal

agreed. The sad truth with reboots/alternate tellings, is it gives the writer/directors the permission to NOT be consistent. I think that's another reason why reboots rarely work. You have to either capture the exact feel and style of the show, or in the case of a rare few (the battlestar galactica 2000s reboot is a good example) be so completely irreparably different, that you can't help but appreciate it on it's own.

romaniablack

I honestly didn’t think this was bad as a reboot/alternate timeline - I LIKED that about it! It’s just they decided to throw in a weird abstract thing - Utena’s hair changing back and forth - and I thought it was weird. I am sure that Ikuhara was making a reference/adhering to a well-known trope/ or just being weird for weird’s sake because “why not? We have people turning into cars!” It’s okay - in my mind - to like something but also be able to say, “That was maybe not a coherent choice.” Sometimes fandoms get too caught up in feeling the need to explain every weird choice with some kind of reason, rather than just letting it be a decision that audiences can be on board with or not like. I want to just pat people’s shoulders and say, “It’s okay. You can love something and acknowledge it has parts with not the best decisions. Not everything has to be a flawless masterpiece,” despite what some of the YT commentary videos claim. ;)

romaniablack

This movie was a JOURNEY hahaha - the visuals and the hair and costuming were just top tier! The movie really was a treat, wasn’t it? I agree with you so much to that point! I did like your Aladdin Analogy, truly! I was also in a grumbly mood about Utena in general, haha, so I’m glad the movie put me in better spirits! THE CARS oh my gosh. Honestly, I’m here for Utena becoming a car! I was just FLOORED by the climax of this movie! And even Wakaba got to be of help - AHAHAHA if Juri could have said that!? I would have DIED! It wasn’t that far off of Jurassic Park – I MEAN! I love Akio getting run over - and Touga’s death - I didn’t expect it to hit as hard as it did and honestly, Nanami - I miss her, but I’m glad she wasn’t a car. 😛 I love Anthy taking initiative in this and being the one to save her. And the music and that whole sequence definitely was 90’s goodness! Ahhh, thank you for the comment and the kind words! I totally can see what you mean by Last Eunuch vibes!

romaniablack

I…I personally would argue it’s an alternate timeline/reality. Anthy left…so…why would she come back? I feel that in itself would take away from her moment in the animated series were that the case. When you said, “In this version” that immediately implies an alternate timeline and reality. Just my opinion, though, based on those parameters. And the fact that her and Touga have this relationship where Nanami is not present? That is the biggest flag of this being an alternate timeline to me as well. I can see where you’re coming from, I just respectfully don’t see it that way. And even if we take it figuratively, there’s just too much for me to drink the kool-aid and too much that would be ruined to me from the OG series if I were to go into that theory, so I’ll have to say that it’s a cool theory but not one I ascribe to, personally. Thank you for the comment and kind words, though!

Paulfunyun

Regarding your closing thoughts on the series, one thing that bears mentioning is Ikuhara was battling S&P during the show. He was forbidden from showing U+A kissing. Hence why they did it *just* offscreen in ED2 (someone recently dug up the unedited cel, and they be smoochin’) and had them kiss ASAP in the movie.

romaniablack

That is good to mention so thank you for bringing that up! And thank you for the comment and kind words!