#i think akio is the most obvious change though. everybody gets new designs and backstories but akio gets a whole new voice actor too

[transmascutena]

i think one of the most interesting ways to look at the differences between the series and the movie, is that the first is mostly from utena's and/or akio's perspective, while the latter is mostly from anthy's. and i like how this explains the drastic change in akio's character between the two. in the show he is more charismatic, more powerful, has a larger role in the story, because this is how he presents himself both to us as the audience and to utena. but anthy knows him and how pathetic he really is, and so when we see him in her narrative instead of his own, it becomes incredibly obvious. he can't drive his car, he doesn't have any real control over all the things he pretends to, he panics and kills himself the moment there's even the threat of consequences for what he does. it works doubly well if you read the movie as a sequel, because that's when anthy has truly lost all faith in him and the idea of the prince. he's dead the entire time because he's dead to her.