Oh my god! IT'S ALIVE! Heehee. Celebration of first official post- yay! I wanted to start out with Rose of Versailles, but since I haven’t finished the series yet and I need to re-watch the first half, I’m going to start with Utena, another of my all time favorites. Utena is probably the most quintessential of all feminist anime, or at least, the most recognizable. Although most shojo titles involve gender bending confusion, Utena takes the theme to a whole new level, turning the whole stereotypical idea of fairytales on its head and asking the question, ‘Why can’t a girl be a prince?’
Utena has four different versions, yet all retain the original concept at heart: the manga, the anime, the movie manga, and the movie. Since I realized I couldn’t review each individually without comparing it to the other versions, I decided to do a basic overall review of the major themes introduced by the story and then I can go into greater detail of each retelling.
The premise of Utena is this: Utena Tenjou, a tomboy who dresses “like a boy” – although I don’t think you’d find a guy wearing the hot pants she sports ;) – and does “boy” stuff like play sports. As a young girl she was inspired by her “prince,” a man who rescued her from certain death (yet the identity of the prince is different depending on the retelling). In his memory, she wishes to become ‘strong’ and ‘noble’ like him.
Circumstances bring her to Ohtori Academy, a strange isolated school with even stranger customs. Utena is an instant hit with the girls – they even develop homoerotic crushes on her. Life is relatively normal (as normal as you can get as Utena!), until Utena meets Anthy, a very emotionless and apathetic girl, who allows her ‘boyfriend,’ Saionji, a member of the mysterious student council, to (literally) slap her around. Of course Utena does not stand for Saionji’s disrespectful treatment of women and challenges Saionji to a ‘duel.’ However, Utena has bitten off more than she can chew, when she realizes that this duel involves real swords and Anthy is in fact The Rose Bride, a prize to be won and a gateway to the Power of Dios (and the power to revolutionize the world). However, Utena’s inner strength allows her to wins against Saionji. As the current champion, Anthy is now ‘engaged’ to Utena and Utena must continue fighting duels against the mysterious student council to keep Anthy safe. The winner of the duels not only ‘possesses’ Anthy, but obtains the power to “revolutionize the world” (whatever that means!).
I think I hit the basics without going too much into one or the other (if I do tend to teeter a bit, I probably lean towards the manga/series side – that’s what I know better and feel more comfortable with). Utena right off the bat is different from all the other girls at Ohtori Academy – she stands out. She wears the ‘boy’s’ uniform (or at least a modified version of it). Utena is not completely gendered male – she shows off her legs by wearing short shorts – so she still embraces her womanhood at the same time. Utena is not either ‘male’ or ‘female,’ but a hybrid of each, crossing gender lines in both directions. Utena stands on the edge as a protester against stereotypical gender roles. Compared to the other girls at the Academy who wear the most heinous school uniform I have seen and drool over the student council members, Utena stands apart. Her power comes from her individuality, not from being the average girl picked out of hundreds by some amazing guy (*cough*cough*Twilight*cough*). Maybe originally she was, but she decides to live up to the role that has been assigned to her, not just simply continue being some stupid bimbo (I really have a vendetta against the Twilight series). The only other character who is comparable to Utena is Juri, the only female student council member, who also wears a “male” uniform and fights in duels as well, but she appears more mature and cynical compared to Utena’s wide-eyed innocence and idealism. One could say Juri is a foil for Utena- an example of what happens when hope and idealism is lost. Juri is different in each adaptation and is just as fascinating a character as Utena.
Anthy stands in direct contrast to both Utena and Juri; she is merely a prize to be won within the duels and a pawn of “End of the World,” the mysterious puppet master behind Ohtori. The Rose Bride’s only duty and purpose appears to be as a servant of the current champion. Her rough treatment by Saionji and the other student council members only intensifies her submissiveness and implies sexual servitude as well. However, Anthy is the drive behind the story, the cause of all the events! Anthy’s passivity is what keeps Utena in the duels, as Utena tries to help her friend become more assertive and…well, normal.
Overall, Utena plays with the idea of the stereotypical gendered fairy-tale: in which a prince rescues the princess, his damsel-in-distress, and takes her off to marry her and produce nine million babies (or at least that’s the implication of ‘happily ever after’). But what if a girl wants to be a prince? What if she wants to do the rescuing, not wait for some guy? Utena raises these questions and more, eventually revealing the concept of ‘princehood’ is not a specifically male role, but in fact transcends gender and has to do more with the person’s honor, strength, and nobility than their sex.
Nobility is a key word in Utena, not the old-fashioned aristocratic definition, but the more modern ideological approach. What is nobility and what compromises it? – is one of the many questions asked within the story. Utena is so full of rich symbolism and beautiful images that I could go on for days! However, (since this is supposed to be a review…whoops) there are many essays written by fans about the series, some of the most insightful and best can be found at the following sites. There is also plenty of information about the different adaptations.
http://ohtori.nu/ - THE Utena site. The gallery of epic proportions is a must see. There are also analysis essays, shrines, a forum, and many more goodies!.
http://utena.alexiel.net/ - a beautiful site that is made up of shrines of all *the best* : D characters of Utena. Her wallpapers and icons are amazing.
http://www.broomstick.org/utena/ - feminist literary discussion on Utena? Hell yeah! Someone beat me to it. *pout*
http://www.ming-ling.net/utena/ - the site for information on the movie, Adolescent Apocalypse (you know a movie with that kind of title has to be awesome)
Of course there are plenty more wonderful sites, but these are good ones to get the ball rolling.
Probably as a warning I need to say that I will try not to be biased, but I do have my favorite (and least favorite) retelling. I’m probably one of the few who likes the manga the best (most likely because I can relate to Utena the best in this version) and my least favorite retelling is the movie (although I have to say, I am awed every time by how visually stunning it is, but I just can’t wrap my head around the whole ‘car’ scene at the end – it just appears…stupid and hilarious, not awe inspiring as the other ending were). I’m telling you this just in case my prejudices shine through, so you can yell at me to be more objective. Each and every version is dear to me and I love each and every one for different reasons, but I’m a human (and a very opinionated one – I am a feminist after all!), so I can’t help but have my favorites. Also, another quick note (and this goes beyond Utena), I don’t read Japanese, so for the most part I will be relying on English translations of the manga. I have started studying Japanese, so my knowledge of the spoken language is slim to none, so once again, I’ll probably rely heavily on the sub/dub. I know many things get lost in translation and translators also put their own spin on things, so I may not be entirely accurate to the Japanese original. This site is as much of a critique of the English translations as it is for the series themselves. What little I do know I will try to apply. Hopefully as I gain more knowledge of the Japanese language, I can give a more accurate review of the series itself without relying too heavily on translations. For the most part I will be using the licensed versions, unless the series themselves have not been licensed – then I will rely on fansubs and scanlations. I will provide the info for any who are interested after each post.
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