I made this topic because I wanted to see if anybody here actually has heard of/seen this series. Not very many people around where I am, or even at conventions that I go to, have seen it, or even heard of it, so I thought I'd try here. Utena is my FAVORITE anime series of all time. I just saw the end of it recently, and it really took me for a trip. I have most of the manga, as well.

Anybody else familiar with Utena? Care to discuss? Liked it? Disliked it? Never seen it?

I've seen up through the battle against Ruka, and I've loved every goddamn minute of it. Alas! Utena DVDs are damn near impossible to find, so I've been unable to finish the series. Dx

I've read all the manga, though. It was great, but for some reason I adore the anime so much more. Probably because it's so much more messed up. :D

Are you serious? Shoujo Kakumei Utena is an incredibly popular series both in manga and anime form. I don't think I know of anyone who watches anime and hasn't seen/heard of it.

I've watched the whole series and the movie... I've read some of the manga as well. It's one of my all time favourite series.

I've seen it all, but I haven't read the manga. It's my best friend's favorite series, and it's really an awesome story.

Utena is my favorite XD

Well, that's a relief! X-D I have to say that my favorite character is Anthy/Anshy. It's kinda strange, but I just love her story more than any of the others (although Jury runs a close second).

Originally Posted by Alegretto

I've seen up through the battle against Ruka, and I've loved every goddamn minute of it. Alas! Utena DVDs are damn near impossible to find, so I've been unable to finish the series. Dx

I've read all the manga, though. It was great, but for some reason I adore the anime so much more. Probably because it's so much more messed up. :D

I tend to agree with you, that the manga is great but the anime sucks you in so much more completely. X-D I love the fact that Touga's roles in the manga and in the anime are so different, and yet so alike. It's kinda hard to explain... like a lot of this series is. ^_^'

Hurrah, a topic that I can go all out on!

I love Shoujo Kakumei Utena! My favorite character is Anthy Himemiya (The Rose Bride), second favorite is her brother Akio Ohtori.

I don't want to give spoilers as to why I like Anthy so much, but anyone who seen all the episodes of the anime & the movie will know all the things she put up with for such a long period of time. That's one of the main reasons for my love of her. Her ability to act passive and take everything in stride until the time is right.

As for Akio, I love his car and he is the ultimate pimp. Enough said with that.

I'm going to try searching for the missing volumes of the manga I need at Anime Expo this year. Every bookstore I go to rarely has any copies of the manga other than the Adolescence copy. I have a problem with ordering books online since last time I did with another popular series, they lost half of the order.

Last, me cosplaying as Anthy for Anime Vegas 2005 Convention can be found here and here.

Awwww!!! So cute! X-D I wish Vash would kneel to me and offer me a white rose... ^_^ Your costume looks really good! I've contemplated cosplaying as Anthy from the movie more than once, but it's going to be a lot of work, and I'm scared it won't turn out right. X-P

Yay for cosplay! I cosplayed the manga version of Utena before... I'm not sure where the photos of that went... I might have to retake some...

Thanks! I wish I could do the movie version of Anthy. I'm way too overweight to show off that much leg. xD;;

I just found out today that one of my friends will be cosplaying as Saionji at this year's Anime Vegas, so I get to practice getting bitch-slapped around.

I just have to hope that I can talk one of my friends as cosplaying as Utena. I'm normally the only one that cosplays from that series. :(

Yeah, I know what you mean. Utena cosplayers are extremely rare in my area. It's funny, but at all the cons I've been to, whenever I do see Utena cosplayers, they're always in groups. Except for this one time that I saw a solitary Nanami, and she was managing an art table. X-D I've gotten pictures of every Utena cosplayer I've seen. Most of them are surprisingly very good. I guess since it's not very popular where I am, the only people who cosplay it are actually serious about it, and not just trying to score popularity points by cosplaying a character from, say, Naruto. X-P

• I'm actually really surprised that Utena doesn't have a big following. I liked it when I saw it when it was first released to DVD. Then I saw the movie.
  
  I REALLY wish I could hear what some of you think about the symbolism in the movie. There's so many scenes that I just can't understand on my own. @[email protected];

My somewhat friend does a really awesome Utena cosplay; she did the rose bride dress of Utena's and it's AMAZING.

School Uniform,
Duelist Uniform, and finally the
Rose Bride Dress!

Isn't she awesome?! :shock:

I looooooove Utena. Currently I only have mangas 1, 3, and 5, and I also own the movie as well. I've seen a little bit of the anime show and clips of the live performances on Youtube as well, but I've never seen the complete series. Which reminds me I still need to order #2 & 4 at Barnes & Noble when I can. I did want to cosplay Utena a long time ago, specifically the Rosebride dress that she wears (not Anthy's) but then I realized it was VERY pricey and I'm already doing a different big, expensive dress. Nonetheless I love it. Some people say that it's created by people on an acid trip but I really think it's actually cool to watch/read.

I've seen at least one Utena cosplayer at every con I've ever attended ^.^;

Bu! Now I want to find my Utena cosplay photos!... Oh well...

Originally Posted by ToriKat

• I'm actually really surprised that Utena doesn't have a big following. I liked it when I saw it when it was first released to DVD. Then I saw the movie.
  
  I REALLY wish I could hear what some of you think about the symbolism in the movie. There's so many scenes that I just can't understand on my own. @[email protected];

Oh Lord. X-D The symbolism in the movie can be summed up in a single word: mind-boggling. My friends and I have a running joke that the movie was the result of an Ikuhara crack trip. ^__^

In this next paragraph, some things I say could be considered spoilers, even though I'm trying my darnedest to avoid it, so if you haven't seen the whole series and don't want it spoiled, you may want to skip over this. Hey, I gotta be PC. ^_^' *rolls eyes*

But seriously--I watched the movie before I saw all of the series, and I didn't understand much at the time. Now, though, I get it better, and the symbolism of revolution is indeed apparent. Akio=old regime, Utena=new regime/change, and Anthy is the catalyst. Everyone else are just pawns. That's another thing I love about this series--the plot is treated like a game, or a dance, so much more so than in other series. X-D

On the same train, I once saw an Utena AMV that was largely Akio-themed and set to a techno song called "Particle Dance." If you haven't seen it, it's worth looking for.

I only read one book but I loved it
:D

If you liked it from just the first impression, then I can tell you that Utena won't disappoint you later. It's not one of those series that kinda doesn't impress you at first but later grows on you. ^_^ Either you think it's not that great and don't waste your time on it, or you do what I did, and fall in love with it at first sight. ^__^

I was trying to watch the show on youtube, but the lack of quality
made me quit watching after the first episode.

Maybe I'll download it sometime...

That anime, is old! I've heard of it, and seen part of an episode at my friend's house. I must say, it's pretty awesome, and I'm only procrastinating to go see it on youtube, or veoh, or somewhere that has it. ^^;

Well, I've heard of it, but never got to reading or watching it. I really want to though. But tell me is it any good? o:

We have the entire series and the soundtrack, I liked it until the 180 with the rose princess status with Utena...trying not to spoil here. I love the music mainly the two versions of "The Revelation of Absolute Destiny". The third is actually a karaoke track if you manage to be able to say the lines fast enough. I love the little monkey in the series, it's so cute.

*shivers* Well...I will say that the manga SERIES is pretty good. Has an interesting plot and such but the lil extra thing they have and the Utena movie...scared the crap out of me! It made no sense and even my friend, who's a big fan, agrees with me. But since she gets such a big kick from freaking me out with the movie she brings it over and pops it in the dvd player before I can stop her. ><;;;;

I love Utena, and it's my favorite anime series. I've seen all of the anime and the movie.

I love this I really do but can I get it where I'm no maybe the first book then the second but that's it :(

I'd love to get it all but believe me I've tried.:O