#rgu rewatch

[maggiecheungs]

REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA 🌹 EP 37: THE ONE TO REVOLUTIONISE THE WORLD

[michiikooo]

Intertwined sewn together

[arielluva]

never drawn their movie designs before :3

[nyarasss]

Look I know pride month ended today but it's pride month year round 'round these parts

[mothidocandart]

i need every media I like to feel like a fever dream actually. If I don’t watch it/read it/listen to it and go “what the fuck was that” then it’s not my favorite media

[sol-shines]

my favorite thing about revolutionary girl utena is that finishing it changes you fundamentally as a person and both you and the characters will be haunted by the narrative and its impact forever. my second favorite thing about revolutionary girl utena is that one episode where nanami nearly gets her shit rocked by a renegade boxing kangaroo on school property

[looking-for-wisdom]

one of the aspects of rgu that can get overlooked, I think, once you finish that first watchthrough and start looking at the story in a new light, is that anthy — at the very least — has already started caring for utena by the time she loses her duel to touga.

which, in fairness, is the natural and arguably correct response. because when you learn anthy has been all but omniscient the whole time, and that each act by utena to “save” her is just another diminishment of anthy’s autonomy, you begin to understand that in those early episodes, utena is a tool to her. an object of disdain or pity, maybe, if you’re going to argue that anthy thinks anything of her at all. utena is a means to an end.

and somehow, that has to coexist with the fact that anthy missed utena when she’s touga’s bride.

anthy is a tough character to read, but I think the simplest break down of her relationship with utena is that the more emotion she shows, positive or negative, the stronger their bond in anthy’s eyes. poisoning her cookies is an act of care. stabbing a sword through her chest is a love confession. because for a character like anthy, who’s natural state is ambivalence, any deviation is an expression of affection the only way she knows to express it.

And the easy to grasp, natural progression, is that she starts at zero on the scale of caring utena exists, and moves towards the other end of the spectrum as the show continues, coming to a head in the finale.

but it doesn’t work that way. by all accounts, anthy shouldn’t be missing utena by the end of the first arc. utena has steamrolled her the entire time, deciding what she needs without consulting what anthy wants. it’s not dissimilar to any other duelist.

it’s fascinating that their interactions during that arc meant something to anthy. it’s necessary, of course, for utena to realize she cares for anthy but it didn’t have to be reciprocated.

but it is, and in that we find fantastic juxtaposition: anthy does not care about utena as much as utena cares for her — not at this point. she’s not even really at a point that she’s frustrated with utena. if she feels guilt over how upset utena was after the duel, she doesn’t show it. and knowing what we know about the rest of the show, we can’t really blame her. utena is another cog in the system and anthy sees right through it.

and, at the same time, she’s grown to care for utena. she’s become accustomed to her presence and when it’s gone, she misses it. she’s never missed a duelist before. so, somewhere in all of utena’s misguided actions and sometimes outright disregard for what anthy wants, anthy sees something.

It’s not as simple as anthy not liking or caring about utena at the start and then they come to understand each other over time. there are interruptions in the pattern — moments of connection that occur regardless of where they are on the path to mutual understanding. and that’s what makes it so complicated and so interesting. there are no absolutes. there’s no saying that utena’s aim to be a prince and save anthy was hopeless, because somewhere in the midst of all that they were bonded together. perhaps in spite of it, perhaps because of it, perhaps a bit of both — that’s the sticking point.

their relationship is a melting pot of contradictions, but none of them can be removed and still lead to the same ending.

there is no pinpointing the moment anthy began to care for utena. she always does, in a fractured sort of way. you see it throughout, in bits and pieces.

[velvet-ii]

"so pretty... i loved the look in your eyes when i hurt you."

[septembermorningbells]

like yeah exactly for the role of the Prince to exist women have to constantly be endangered and you have to break the system instead of feeding into it but they are literally not ready for this conversation yet LMAO

[burning-kanso]

— Day and night turning in on each other

— A time-gilded lost paradise ⚔️

[maggiecheungs]

REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA 🌹 EP 17: THE THORNS OF DEATH

[oh2bloved]

Marcanne, but make it utena

[arielluva]

[rosebridal]

narrative foil antagonism at its best

[visismu]

trapped in the Fabergé egg

alternative version:

[rose-reads-visualnovels]

the great thing about the revolutionary girl utena finale people don’t usually talk about is that one scene where all the council members promise they’ll get out of ohtori - and thus their coffins - when they’re ready. it’s great because it gives us the viewers hope for ourselves.

it’s easy to come out of utena realizing a few internalized hang ups you never grew out of. it’s a whole other thing to actually do something about it. these obsessive vices are so comfortable in their routine, even when it’s obviously unhealthy to keep going. being stuck in a rut of your own making fully aware of what you’re doing.

but utena never really scolds you too harshly about it in the end. it tells you, take your time. one day you’ll be strong enough to stand up and leave. people may help you get there, but you will leave with your own two feet.

it ends, not with every issue resolved and all the characters fully developed, but it ends with the promise that they will. and the camera is nice enough not to stalk them through it as they work out the kinks