#utena manga spoilers

[marcocalvi]

"LA FILLETTE RÉVOLUTIONNAIRE"

🌹Seconda Illustrazione del Capitolo Il ( "Per chi sorride la Rosa")

"Lei è mia... E me la riprenderò. Ti sfido a duello!"

______________________________

🌹Second Illustration of Chapter II ("For Whom the Rose Smiles"

"She's mine... And I'm taking her back. I challenge you to a duel!"

My version of an illustrated novel about Utena's story by Chicho Saitō and Be-papas

[manicpixieyandere]

Gushing Over Magical Girls | Confessions of a Rotten Girl

The Journey of Self Accepting Sexuality and Kink

(Censored a bit because boo Tumblr).

More and more lately we have seen people online going on about how they want no more s*x in media, or at the very least no more pointless s*x in media. But trying to say what should and shouldn't be in a story purely because you deem it pointless completely misses the point. If you pay attention to the stories, you'll see when s*x has a meaning.

Usually it's something like showing how close two characters are, or the lust a certain character feels, and yes sometimes it is just fan service, but there is nothing wrong with that either.

Today we wanted to talk about two semi recent (within the last year) pieces of media that have shown s*x in ways that matter to the story. Those medias would be the manga / anime series: Gushing Over Magical Girls, and the song "Confessions of a Rotten Girl.

Both of these works center on the theme of a school aged girl learning about her own kink and sexual identity and coming to terms with the fact. Their ages are important as middle school to high school is exactly when people tend to start feeling these things (sometimes even younger).

Here is where we are gonna split the works into sections! First up is Gushing Over Magical Girls!

Throughout the story Utena finds out she is a sadist who loves to torture magical girls. At first she is disgusted by herself, thinking she needs to stop.

But the more the series goes on, the more she starts to accept this side of herself.

But the thing is; even though Utena is part of an evil organization and is playing the part, she never fully gives in. She isn't evil. She still supports the magical girls and wants to see them thrive with their La Verità forms. Utena is suspicious of Venalita and plans to work against them if things go south (of course this has yet to be seen as the series is on hiatus).

We think it's really cool to show a character come to terms with their kink and even sexual identity (she only ever plays with girls, just saying) through a story. People get so wrapped up in the "rights" of fictional characters that they forget they are just tools for the writer to tell their story. Both manga and anime are visual mediums, you can't just say what a character is thinking, you need to SHOW it. So the easiest way to do so would be having Utena actually preforming these actions on the magical girls. It also just makes it more interesting and action packed.

On the flip side we have Hatsune Miku from Confessions of a Rotten Girl. With music it isn't a visual medium, and thus the song can get away with sharing the character's thoughts through words and not visuals (although the music video does show the content Miku consumes).

In Miku's case we also have a school aged girl coming to terms with her sexual interests and identity. She also is into bondage but she is really into you guessed it, YAOI. Oh Fujo Miku how we love you.

While Utena's version of demonization is more fictional in the sense of being a villain to the magical girls, Miku's is more grounded in realistic depictions of religious guilt and trauma.

At first Miku is at confession and talks about her interests being temptations and that she is burdened by shame. She even goes as far to say she is eating the forbidden fruit.

As most of you probably know, this refers to Eve in the Garden of Eden eating from The Tree of Knowledge. Christians see this event as a tragedy, the birth of original sin. But look what Miku says:

"Could Eve be our idol? Could she lead us through the light? We'd all be disciples of her lemon driven bite".

This isn't someone upset about the bite, she is PRAISING Eve. To me this reads as a little baby Satanist in the making. If you don't know there are two types of Satanists. The first kind do not believe in Satan but instead see him as a symbol of freedom. The second half share those same beliefs but actually believe in Satan. Satanists do not see Eve eating the fruit as a tragedy, they see it as liberation. They see it as the beginning of free will.

Both Utena and Miku chose to live as their own authentic selves. Neither are really evil, but if people see them that way, then so be it.

[mieowkoid09]

:)

[canapotatoliteraryanalasys]

Something something… the Utena manga is something else… something something

The fact that most of the fandom hasn’t read the manga is a travesty, it’s not as dark or deep or even as weird as the anime, but it’s so funny and cute. According to my interpretation of rgu the manga has two time loops one that closer resembles the anime series(loop two) and one that closer resemble the movie(loop three). Reading the manga like a part of this larger narrative I think helps contextualize the character arcs of the story.

⚠️THIS POST HAS BIG SPOILERS FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA MANGA PLEASE READ THE MANGA BEFORE MY THOUGHTS ON IT!!!⚠️

The reason for my order of time loops mostly has to do with Toga, I think his and Anthys arcs are the most important to the story of rgu. Every time Utena tries to save Anthy, Anthy herself becomes more and more free, until she is able to save herself(movie). In order to over throw a opresive system the oppressors must let go of the power the system promises them and Utena(the oppressed) must let go of the idea of the prince(the fake security the system promises them) we se this in Toga in the second loop as he genuinely cares for Utena and is no longer under Akios influence, but he still up tries to play prince and protect Utena (“I’m a feminist”). But after Toga lets go of being the prince, (the death of Dios, the literal embodiment of the idea of the prince dying might have something to do with it)healing his toxic masculinity the only thing keeping him alive is Utenas obsession with the idea of the prince, which she learns to entirely let go of in the movie(final loop) and I think this is the thing that allows her and Anthy to a world without roads (I definitely need to make an even longer post about Toga)

[os-eclipses-tamen-son-yuri]

Well isn't that something...?

[theriverbeyond]

ok im.reading dungeon meshi and this manga is not as dark as everyone seems to present it as? chimera falin hot necromancy exciting etc but the tonal shift during and after that, in addition to the falin/marcille relationship, are both significantly less emotionally intense (?) and also less emphasized than they were like. advertised to me via tumblr post! i dunno i think i'm experiencing the thing of it all being *too* hyped maybe with regards to fanon (?) extrapolation on themes/tone/etc that are not actually explored in canon, that reading the actual source material becomes disapointing? idk

[sniplizard]

Anthy

[aj-thegreatest]

Me wanting the Dungeon Meshi: Falin Solo Spinoff series knowing damn well that’s never happening

[siflshonen]

Is there anything more consistently beautiful than the togachako confrontation spreads in the whole manga? I’m pretty sure the answer is no

[pinkcatmaid]

Guys, do you remember I wanted to read the utena book series? I'm reading it and I'm loving it :'3

[mieowkoid09]

I hope when Studio Orange/Director Takahiko Kyogoku adapts the prayer scene from Houseki in 10,223+ years, they'll make it look like Anthy's preparing the sword of Dios. cuz omg

It would work so well and who doesn't want your favorite brain food anime referenced in your fav animanga of all time???

[officialspec]

can you pleeeeease post your dm sexuality/gender hcs on here.... 🥺 i don't have a twitter but i wanna know. it's like a pandora's box to me now i'm like scratching at the door. let me in

heres the link 2 the thread (mild spoilers btw) ill post a transcript under the cut for ppl who dont have twitter

first off i think laios relationship to sex is super removed for like 50 reasons without even getting into his actual sexuality

he grew up in a place with very repressed ideas about sex and has a lot of fear about asserting his presence in situations

his special interest takes precedent over any social interactions he has and the level of closeness he feels towards people

he has a hard time figuring out his feelings towards other people both bc hes autistic and bc he has freaky deviantart fetishes that make sex in his mind a very abstract concept <- this one is me projecting mostly

that aside, i feel like gender-wise hes attracted to ppl so infrequently it may as well be entirely case-by-case

the idea of him being gay appeals to me from the 'raised with traditional values he Does Not fit into/hasnt begun to question it yet' perspective, i lauve characters who put a lot of stock into performing a role thats expected of them and fail miserably for unknown (gay) reasons

from his perspective tho i dont think he would ever really label himself anything. hes going to pride parades in the shirt+shorts Ally Fit to clap for his friends

hes also 'cis by indifference' imo... i love tmasc laios hcs it just doesnt mesh w his personal history to me. i do think hes got some kind of therian gender thing going on (not trans or nb but a secret third thing) but i cant see him changing anything abt his appearance/pronouns to accommodate that post-canon. hes just doin his thang

falin is in a similar boat for gender. i LOOVE tfem falin but the village repression thing has been bugging at me so i dont think i subscribe to it anymore (canon purist sorry) BUT if u hold that hc i am clapping and cheering regardless

instead i was propagandised to a while back and i LOVEEE the idea that being fused w a male dragon and the residual traits she has after being revived have given her a type of gender euphoria she didnt realise she was missing. a little boygirl swagger if u will

sexuality-wise i also dont think she would care to label herself, shes a lesbian by virtue of only being interested in One woman and zero other people. without marcille i do think shes still exclusively attracted to women, and i like to imagine she might experiment around a bit during her travels post-canon (pre-relationship). hearing abt it might put marcille on the news though

marcille is very simple That is a transfem lesbian. she cant get pregnant, shes obsessed w being femme and all that combined w her half-tallman struggles to be seen as 'properly feminine' by elf standards reads very transfeminine to Me. also her bookboy crush REEKS of comphet its not subtle

i think a more comfortable marcy might have the space to experiment w being elf butch like her manga boys but thats mainly self indulgence for me. utena could have saved her

senshi is gay his whole thing is abt not being able to perform dwarven masculinity to a proper standard (soft hearted, not as strong or rugged as his peers) which is like gaycoding 101. also hes a bear. homosexuality be damned by boy can work a grill

adding onto this i rly think senshi got some type of euphoria from being an elf in the changeling chapters. he was feeling himself so much i think he was using it as an outlet to have fun being a little fem and fruity without needing to justify it. do u understand

i dont have any particular opinions abt him gender-wise beyond that. his bulge is an essential part of his character design but i also saw a transmasc senshi a couple days ago that made me nod my head thoughtfully so i could go either way

chilchuck is cis and bisexual this is just canon. not even just his old man crush on senshi altho i do think thats very funny but they put his ass on a cover themed like hes in a dating sim with all the men and women in the cast and then slapped it in front of a chapter called "bicorn". i simply cant pass up that kind of overt signaling. its so fucking funny what else is there to say truly

izu to ME is a transmasc aroace lesbian (this one has the least basis in canon i just know it to be true) shes a little genderfluid with it nd uses he/she i think. i like to imagine she consistently uses masculine personal pronouns to refer to herself either way tho (boku, ore)

i think izutsumis gender/sexuality is entirely secondary in priorities to her body dysphoria. she has a lot of learning and acceptance 2 do before that kind of self discovery is on the docket and in my mind eschewing gender on some level is part of that. get sillay

shuro is cishet but at least he feels bad about it. next listen listen to me i dont think he would ever actually examine this but i need u to put on ur tin foil hat with me for one second. i think estrogen could have saved her. i have more thoughts on this but im not gonna propagandise too much on this post just know that im right

kabru is a transmasc bisexual this is also practically text. his whole thing of being treated like a doll by milsiril to put in pretty dresses, plus i think it would be pretty easy for him to stealth in the west since tallmen are seen as inherently more masculine than elves

(i also think changing genders is just more common for elves. theyre androgynous enough that it wouldnt be hard and like who in their right miiiiind would be the same gender for 500 years. dwarves too)

i think he started presenting as male socially in the west but didnt need to consider medical transition until he moved to a more mixed culture where other races might see him as a woman

i dont have to explain the bisexual part. have u seen him

namari is a butch bisexual this is just canon straight up. shes not transmasc but i think the default settings for dwarven women is like 4 years of T regardless. shes a hit at all the local cruising spots despite her renfaire nerdisms i know this

and just bc im thinking abt em kiki and kaka are identical and kiki is tfem :} theyre both attracted to women but kaka is a sub so i forgive him

THATS ALL 4 NOW theres a lot of characters so i cant have thoughts abt all of them at once but i hope this was good. im right about everything forever as per usual

[animefeminist]

Transmasculinity and queer sexuality in the works of Ikeda Riyoko

Content Warning: Discussion of transphobia and suicide

Spoilers for Dear Brother, The Rose of Versailles, and Claudine

Ikeda Riyoko—perhaps the most famous member of the “year 24 group” that played a large part in creating the foundations of the shoujo manga genre—is often credited with laying the groundwork for depictions of queer characters in shoujo, and in particular with creating the archetype of the gender-bending heartthrob heroine, or “girl prince.” Building on earlier representations of butch or transmasculine characters in early shoujo manga such as Princess Knight, and the Takarazuka theater tradition of the otokoyaku male role actor, Ikeda’s enormously popular gender non-conforming heroes—Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles, Rei from Dear Brother, Julius from the Window of Orpheus, and the titular character of Claudine—helped to establish that there was a major mainstream audience excited to cheer for a hotheaded, androgynous tomboy with a heart of gold. Lady Oscar in particular has fingerprints all over the history of anime and manga, from a gender-bending cameo in Pokémon to serving as the inspiration for iconic characters like Tenjou Utena.

When I first read The Rose of Versailles last year, I expected its depictions of queer and transmasculine characters to be somewhat limited—after all, the comic was written for mainstream audiences and a mainstream publisher in the 1970s. But across Ikeda’s work, I was deeply surprised with the level of care and nuance with which Ikeda approaches transmasculine love stories. While there is obviously a lot about Ikeda’s portrayal of transmasculine characters that feels dated to modern audiences (for example, her comics often do fall back on “biological” ideas of women’s weakness and emotionality, and sometimes psychologize her character’s genders in uncomfortable ways), I was surprised by how much of these comics still hit for me today. What makes them work for me is both the extreme pathos with which Ikeda writes transmasculine character’s experiences of rejection—and, at rare moments, gender euphoria —but also the fact that her trans characters are not simply given a one-size fits all born-in-the-wrong-body narrative. Instead, they are each portrayed as unique individuals with varied personal relationships to their gender, their sexuality, and the historical context of the society they live in.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[joyce-stick]

update: she got the gay sex

[chapter 25]

I personally believe that Kiwi, like all 14 year old girls, deserves the lesbian sex of her dreams (hopefully she gets some and it's nice for her)

[purpledemonlilyposting]

Oh look a blatant self asking talking shit.

[Lily's Post]

Lily people tell each other they hope you cover a thing they like as a CURSE. It is a wish of doom upon their fandom. Are you just whining that people tell you to watch FMA: Brotherhood cause it's really good again? You know it's based on award-winning manga drawn and written by a woman right?

And you get your paycheck from tearing down other peoples' creative output, Lily. Can't complain when someone does it to yours. Don't you only review children's fantasy adventure cartoons you hate because you have to "pay your rent"?

The money I get from laughing at you is like 3rd down the list of my income streams.

Way to prove you have never listened to a word I've said about Utena. I'm not the one who focuses on the allusions to Greek myth and esoteric French literature, that's a bit beyond me. Save that for the essayists on Ohtori.nu. I just talk about the plot and the symbolism cause I'm sick and tired of people who have only ever experienced Utena as an aesthetic mood board pretending they know what it's about.

You OUTRIGHT ADMITTED you spoiled the manga out of sheer spite.

You're such a child. You got called out for trashing a show you very evidently didn't even watch and so in retaliation you made a new video in which you spoil the ending of of the manga without any warning. And you had this video labeled as "First Impressions" for a while. Nobody expects ending spoilers of an unfinished anime adaptation in a first impressions video you absolute petty little bitch.

It's not a good anime, Lily. It's a dull moeblob fest the only purpose of which is to get 4 high school girls on a big technical ship. The writing is incredibly lazy, contrived and relies on increasingly improbable coincidences to get the characters from point A to point B.

And it's not like the girls in the show are actually interested in arctic research or science or ship work. Its just let's get 4 ditzy moe joshi kosei on a big ship to appeal to otaku men who like to goon over "pure" teenage girls next to engineering porn. You played yourself.

[bohamod]

Damn it turns out this ultra kinky unabashedly horny series has some fascinating things to say about self acceptance and striving for more! I thought these themes were side plots at first but honestly I'm starting to think them and the horniness are actually co-captains on this ship. Spoilers up to chp 38 in the manga below!

Each character coming to accept who they are makes them more powerful, and seeing others that are more powerful/accepting than them inspires them to be more themselves! Utena becoming more openly horny as the story goes on increases her strength until it overpowers everything else, and then the union of both parts of Utena overcoming yet another barrier in her growth!!! Tres Magia learning to overcome every challenge Baiser throws at them by both working hard and coming to accept who they are (Azure goes from normal to masochist to huge masochist to this weird love thing she's on rn. Sulphur goes from hiding her true self to accepting she loves violence to gay. Magenta goes from standard protagonist to fucking Madoka levels of loving others) and their journeys make me so happy in multiple ways!!

We already got some of Kiwi's development in becoming determined to make Utena fall for her, as well as that crazy chapter where the idol and shadow girl were forced to fuck which unlocked their true potential (???), but I'm still so excited to see what else lies in front of these girls!