#wakaba's icon is from:

[rikabauer]

[folkbreeze]

hiya! I did check if you had a resource page but couldn't find one (sorry if I missed it!) I was wondering what re/gshade preset your using? Also how did you make your weather/task templates for gameplay like here (post/736165530204028928/completed-task-swim-for-1-hour-in-wakabas) I wouldn't even know where to start in photoshop lol Thank you!

hello, hello!! I don't have a resource page yet so don't worry! l'm using a personal, sorry.

how i make my templates under the cuts (reminder that english is not my first language and that i have photoshop in spanish so i don't know the actual name of things in english)

we'll be creating the simple one from here:

Now, for the templates, it depends on what i want to do, but i usually try to keep them simple, so I use mainly 2 photoshop tools: as you can see here, the weather template I made has (1) a rectangle layer, (2) an image and (3) text layers.

keeping this in mind, let's create a thing (a bank notification) together so I can show you the steps I follow:

(0) Create a new file

There's no size I ALWAYS use, but i usually choose a bigger size since i can always resize it down later when I use it (if it's too small and you have to resize it to be bigger, it might end up looking pixelated). You can also open one of your screenies in the size you usually edit them, and deciding how big your template has to be.

(0.1)

I recommend creating a group (using the little folder icon) where you will drop all the layers of the template so you can move it around and all that

(1) Shapes

This is the first thing I always do for this type of templates, just create a base shape that will contain all the other stuff on top. In this case i created a rectangle with rounded corners.

you can use those circles in the corners to round them or make them pointy. If you press alt while doing it, you can round corners individually.

I added a parallel shadow so it integrates better with the whole screenie, but that's a personal preference.

(2) Now, if you want to have icons/images/etc. I recommend creating another shape (in another color, just so you can see it), and positioning it where you want your image to go.

Now you want to transform that shape to an intelligent object (right click the layer and click that option). This way, if you double click the layer image, it will open in another tab: you can add your image/icon there, click save, and when you go back to the other tab, it will be there. Much easier to edit it! An intelligent object layer will look like this:

(2) Text is literally what MAKES most of templates. When you're creating templates, i recommend looking for inspo AND getting fitting fonts for it. Let's say I want to create a netflix template: i'd do a quick google search to find what fonts does netflix use. Sometimes fonts are not free, but try looking for similar ones.

I'm using manrope for this one because it's simple and easy to read, but when i'm doing this kind of phone notifications i also use fonts that are usually called something UI.

Now you only have to move things around until you like it. Then save it as a .psd so you can edit it and use it whenever you want and that's it!

(4) This is how it looks like

you can now edit it as you want, lower the base rectangle opacity, add more shadow, change the colors...

From this simple thing, i created another version using... you guessed it: another shape, another icon and another text layer. Here you can see the final templates being used in a screenie:

Honestly, don't let the big amount of tools and options photoshop scare you! As you can see, you don't need much to create something like this

Hope this was helpful enough! Let me know if you have questions 🧡

[theartisticintrovert]

Commission Me! (Regular | Furry)

based on a post i made a while back about a persona 5 swap au, but instead of akechi and akira swapping, it was akechi and futaba swapping.

the basic idea is that futaba, rather than being taken in by sojiro after her mom's death, instead cycled through relatives and various foster homes. she grew bitter and jaded from the abuse she went through, before eventually learning who actually ordered the hit on her mother: shido. consumed by a need for revenge, she starts trying to take him down through any means necessary, creating the medjed persona to hide behind as she doxxes, blackmails, and exposes his supporters, all the while gathering evidence on shido that she eventually intends to release once she's sure it won't be ignored. including his use of a teenage hitman.

as for goro, he wasn't able to stomach killing people on shido's orders after wakaba's death. he realized after killing her that his revenge wasn't worth this, and he ended up turning himself in. one plea deal later, he was able to be released into a rehab house. sojiro discovered him through his contacts in the government, and was basically assigned as his parole officer. goro completed his parole, went back to school, and slowly became a shut-in, growing a palace and losing access to his persona (in this case, loki is his original persona that he loses). he isn't full hikikkomori like futaba in canon, but he only really leaves out of a sense of guilt and obligation when sojiro asks him to.

design notes wise, i based futaba's outfit on tech/streetwear fashion, as well as her alibaba icon (mask + ears). she has several piercings that she did herself, for the same reasons as miyamura from horimiya (iykyk). shes a lot more emo/goth in this au than canon, and her hair is dyed (og color is dark brown). as for goro, he likes comfortable, baggy clothing, bc he mostly just hangs out inside all day. he's partial to the kind of lounge clothing that passes for regular clothes, since he wants to seem like he has his shit together in the event he's asked to leave the house/come to leblanc.

[demento-mori]

18, 12, and 11 for the ask game?

18. how did you first hear about the show, and what made you want to watch it?

Ok so this story genuinely makes my blood boil because I was robbed. lied to. swindled even. So the first time id heard about the show was around 2017 i think? It was in some video about like, queer animation and the history of queer rep, that kinda stuff. I had also seen a few video thumbnails about the show that looked really interesting (like, there was this one called understanding utena or smth similar that used the art from the dvd covers, and I remember thinking how beautiful and visually distinct it looked) so it was on my radar and I planned to check it out at some point. BUT THEN.... I was watching some unrelated video and they brought up rgu in it... but the way they described the show was completely fucking misleading. Like, they basically described the show as "a slice-of-life high school fantasy yuri anime that has incest in it" WHICH IS A COMPLETE LIE BUT WHATEVER, but yeah since that description sounded so boring and generic it pretty much killed my interest in the show for a good while.

I only ended up getting into the show like a year or two ago. I saw a clip of the swords of hatred scene completely out of context and something about it was just so striking. Like, the black silhouettes against the stark red background, the way you can see the pain of each sword impact in the way she writhes and flinches, the lack of sound silencing her screams, the haunting, mournful music. You can feel her pain so viscerally. It left a really profound impact on me. I searched up and listened to the translyrics for missing link afterwards and that was equally as upsetting, hearing this girl wonder why she was even born if she only exists to suffer. So yeah, that was what finally convinced me to watch the show! Because I needed to find out what the fuck all that was about, and if that poor girl was okay.

So yeah, I probably wouldve watched it a lot earlier if it wasnt for some guy literally just lying about what the show was about.........

12. favorite black rose duelist

This is a complicated one because do I choose the black rose duelist who I enjoy the most overall as a character (which would be kozue, underrated icon and one of the most fascinating characters in the show in terms of her parallels with other characters and the ideas she embodies within the narrative, such as the sunlit garden), or do I choose the black rose duelist who I enjoy the most specifically as a black rose duelist (which would be wakaba, who has one of the most emotionally charged and violent duels in the entire series, literally breaks the duel format, and probably comes the closest to actually killing anthy). The answer is that its my blog and I can do what I want, so im choosing both!

11. favorite and/or most interesting relationship (doesn't have to be romantic)

Answered this one fully here, but Anthy and Utena's relationship is so so special to me and is one of my favourite aspects of the show. Bonus answer is the hypothetical kozue and nanami relationship that exists almost entirely in my head!

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

The narrative didn't doom me, it just ditched me

Warning: There will be mentions of upsetting content like sexual abuse, bullying, xenophobia and manipulation. It won't get graphic and it won't be discussed in-depth but it will be mentioned.

I've been thinking a lot about my attachment to Jeyne Poole and I think I cracked the code or at least I’m cracking the code.

So, requirements to become a "The narrative didn't doom me, it just ditched me" character:

Involve some sort of metanarrative irony, can be intentional or accidental

Being archetypal to a secondary or tertiary character, but written with depth or relevance to the story

Becoming obsolete. Be it by an adaptation, the narrative, or the fandom's perception. This person doesn't matter.

I listed four examples under the readmore

Wakaba Shinohara

(look at me, a non-practicing pseudo-intellectual talking about RGU)

Mother of all mothers! She is the blueprint!

She is the only secondary character who doesn’t appear on the opening of the show. She is average looking to the point you could pass her as a background character compared to all the other prominent characters in the story, as a student she is average, she has no special abilities or talents and the nicest and most personal compliment she gets is Utena (Wakaba's best friend, but not a feeling that is reciprocated) telling her she'd make a good housewife.

She has an entire episode dedicated to the Angst of being a satellite character and even after that episode which shows the tragedy of her story being a sideline, she remains in that sideline.

Wakaba's only sense of self value comes from her being close to the people the narrative deems as more special and since Utena has been distancing herself a little from her because she is growing closer to Anthy, being suddenly able to keep bad boy renegade (actually cringe fail loser) Saionji dependant on her transforms her into a protagonist. Suddenly she is the one being called pretty by Utena, she is getting better grades, she is being above average. She has something that makes her special!

The saddest thing is that she had already been pivotal to Utena's narrative development. During episode 12 she is the one who triggers Utena into reclaiming her Princehood and duelling Touga, but she is not capable of seeing that as something she can call her own.

And then during the masterpiece that is "Wakaba Flourishing" we see her confronting those insecurities and feelings of inferiority once she realises Saionji will leave her too and discard her!

She duels Utena, intends to kill Anthy, who se believes is the one behind her losing Utena and Saionji's attentions, loses to the protagonist who loves her, but not enough to make her become special too...and then....

Wakaba goes back to her dorm room, now empty of Saionji who no longer needs to live at her place, and we viewers are destroyed.

She returns to her cheery, poppy, apparently happy-go-lucky self, but we know what lurks inside her.

It's funny because the narrative likes playing with her. On the one hand she is special! She is the one who gets Utena out of her depression in episode 12 and she is the one who saves Utena & Anthy at their escape in the movie. But then again, there is only one episode centred on her, right? And that episode ends once Saionji leaves her. She loses the spotlight as soon as a more relevant character distances themselves from her.

The fact she hasn't appeared in any of the post-show/movie mangas, while other show-only characters have, is heartbreaking and hilarious.

Sorry Wakaba, you are lovely but you don't make the cut, go listen to some Penelope Scott, her lyrics are a bit curt, but still, it couldn't hurt.

Heather Matarazzo in her iconic role as Dawn Wiener

Beloved...

Dawn Wiener is the main character of Todd Solondz “Welcome to the Dollhouse”, although if compared to most coming-of-age protagonists, she is quite depressing.

At school she is bullied, at home she is neglected, she has no friends, talents, or self esteem and the few times she stands up for herself things backfire. She is not always loveable either. Dawn feels dangerously envious to her little sister Missy, who is everything Dawn is not; beloved and beautiful.

As we see her grow up in the movie, we come to the realisation that, it doesn’t matter how much she tries, things won’t get better for her.

Dawn Wiener ends her introduction movie as a perpetual loser who has somewhat decided to conform to her place as an underdog who will never find acceptance among her family or peers, partially because of her looks, which are seen by most as ugly. It's more one of the first scenes in the movie has a young girl bullying Dawn in the bathroom and when Dawns asks her why, the girls responds "Because you are ugly."

In the spin off movie "Palindromes" it is revealed that her adulthood wasn't much more different. She went to college, gained weight and acne and killed herself after becoming pregnant by date rape.

The entire motif of Solondz cinema can be explained within the lines spoken by one of his characters at the end of the movie:

"No one ever changes. They think that they do, but they don't. If you are the depressed type now, that's the way you'll always be. If you're the mindless happy type now, that's the way you'll be when you grow up."

Surprisingly in another spin-off of "Welcome to the Dollhouse", "Wiener Dog", Dawn finds a happy ending. She has a stable and enjoyable job as a veterinary and is rekindling a relationship with her love interest from "Welcome to the Dollhouse", Brandon. Their last scene shows them happily talking about their future while holding hands.

So it probably sounds weird whenever I say this is a much sadder and depressing ending than the one where she commits suicide.

And I stand by that, because there is a fundamental change in "Wiener Dog".

Dawn's actress, Heather Matarazzo, has been recast by a more conventional-looking actress who is much more fitting into the female ideas of beauty Dawn was told she could never become. If anything, her new actress looks more similar to Dawn's little sister.

The fact that Matarazzo wasn't informed of this, and only came to find out that her most iconic character was now being portrayed by conventionally attractive and successful Greta Gerwig through Twitter, while she was struggling to find roles that actually allowed her to act instead of just being cast as a insulting comedic archetype, like the abhorrent admirer, is the final gut punch. She felt deeply hurt.

Also, just wanna add, the entire movie (Welcome to the Dollhouse) is on YouTube for free but it’s a VERY upsetting movie. It’s hyperbolic in its dark comedy without being edgy, and it is uncomfortable because somehow it still manages to be cruelly realistic in its themes of bullying and abuse. I’ve only watched it two times and, now that my depression has gotten stronger than ever, I sure won’t watch it again.

Jeyne Poole

♪ A terrible mistaaaaaaake was made... ♫ I love that song for her because it fits her in and outside the story.

On a meta-level, I think she is the most tragic because it's accidental. The two former examples were written and portrayed with the intention of making us feel their tragedy. This is not poor Jeyne Poole's case. I genuinely get anxious when thinking about her or how she is treated by fandom because her case is real. She is one of those things that make me worry Solondz might be right in his cynical views of the world.

She is a book character so I can't put pictures of her without stealing art but also this entire thing is about characters being treated like shit by the narrative in order to drive a point, so hahah Jeyne! You don't get a picture! (But you get links because I love some people's art (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) and I'd feel too bad about being mean to her)

The show played a lot with my hopes involving her. She appears in one episode only and has no lines. Later on she is mentioned by name by Sansa Stark, a main/POV character who is a friend of hers and who she considers to be more beautiful. After that we never hear of her again.

This could have worked, had the show stayed loyal to the source material.

In the fifth book of the series, it is revealed to the readers that she is being passed off as the daughter of an important House, Arya Stark, so she can marry the future lord Paramount who is a sadistic monster. Her new husband abuses her terribly and while there are a few political factions opposing her husband, who intend on liberating her, this is only because they think she is Arya Stark, since no one would care for her misfortune if they knew who she truly is.

Jeyne Poole, a character who is deemed as "not important of risking your life for" gets someone to risk his life and, more importantly, his skin in order to save her! Not Arya, Jeyne! Theon, former childhood co-habitant now turned into co-victim co-perpetrator, saves her. The show adaptation decided she was not important enough to appear in the story, and replaced her with Sansa Stark, a main character the audience already felt attached to, who was from a nobler house and considered to be more beautiful. Jeyne's plot was given to the girl she sees herself as inferior to in the books. Her plot was deemed important, her impact was deemed important, but Jeyne herself was not.

She is tragic, there is a reason she is here too, but at least in the story she still has a chance at happiness. In the fandom though...yeah, she lost the war, even worst there wasn't a war. Look at the number of fanworks tagged as ASOIAF involving the Sansa-Theon-Ramsay constellation, compare it to the number of fanworks tagged as ASOIAF involving the Jeyne-Theon-Ramsay constellation and you'll find evidence to that. It gets even funnier when the show constellation and plot line stays intact in fanfics, but she is still added in order to transform her back into Sansa's token best friend with no political relevance and no connection to Theon or Ramsay.

The books' author, GRRM, spoke about being upset by the change done on the show, but in truth I don't have many hopes for Jeyne Poole and considering how he is a slow writer and I am very ill person, I doubt I'll get to witness Jeyne P managing to escape this list.

Sorry Jeyne, you weren't doomed, just ditched. Sucks to be you I guess.

Areida

The least tragic in story and development, but still someone who (sadly) deserves to be here.

She is a book character and given how this book doesn't have much of a fandom there isn't any official art of her, but I like these: (1) (2)

Similarly to Jeyne, she suffered in the adaptation, but then again, who doesn't?

Her book counterpart was given a more in depth characterisation. She was an immigrant, came from a poor background, spoke with a strong accent and was described in a manner resembling someone of African ancestry (dark skin, box braids). In the movie it is implied she might be from another country or ethnia, she is played by an Indian actress, but her accent is gone, her hair is straight and we don't get any characterisation or background on her. Her friendship with Ella is downplayed and Ella only starts her quest after being forced to tell her she can't be friends with her anymore and making a xenophobic comment. In the book, Ella parts on her quest so as not to have to obey and break their friendship and that conversation doesn't take place. In the books, Areida's pain matters and it is Ella's unwillingness to hurt her that sends her to search for Lucinda, the fairy who gave her the gift of obedience, so she can remove the curse and won't be forced to ruin her friendship with Areida and cause her more distress. She runs away from finishing school before she can break Areida's heart. And even after their separation, Ella still thinks of Areida with an endearing fondness and tells her future love interest, Prince Char, about her.

In the movie, there is an emphasis in showing Ella's pain and their reconciliation isn't shown, but we are supposed to assume they did have a reconciliation because Areida is seen at Ella and Char's wedding. Areida is reduced to become an unconditional sidekick whose feelings aren't important in the grand scheme of things. We don't see her break down crying after hearing her supposed best friend make a xenophobic comment about her, not how lonely she must have felt afterwards, nor how their conversation once reunited went. She is only Ella's friend, not her own character.

The irony, Ella's quest being triggered by Areida's feelings is turned into Ella's quest being triggered by Ella's feelings because neither the audience, nor the narrative, nor the people making the movie care about Areida's feelings, something the novel has been trying to portray as wrong multiple times.

The adaptation of Ella Enchanted (which I only watched two days ago because of curiosity and oh god why did they whitewash Char??? WHY IS LUCINDA A RACIAL STEREOTYPE???? No wonder my parents didn't let me watch Disney movies! they suck!) was so different from the book that talking about them as one almost feels wrong. Had they gone to claim the book was the inspiration behind this movie, that would have been alright, but as an adaptation, it's quite horrendous. I can understand why they made the changes they made, but given how the movie has overshadowed the book in popular culture, and thus it is Movie!Areida who people might remember, I still have to let her stay here.

So, yeah...I think this is it. It's the irony and the pain behind the irony. Yeah...

[sepyana]

Some thoughts about RGU: Blooming Rose of Deepest Black

I've been an Utena fan for a while but I just watched the musicals and I love them, I need to talk to people about it I'm gonna explode

All my thoughts are under the cut. We'll go character by character analysing the differences between their TV and Musical counterparts.

Utena

She and Anthy take the backseat a lil bit. She is great as always though.

Ami Noujo is quite popular, I can definitely see why. She is funny, incredibly charming and sweet. She was recast from the last musical like all the others.

She tries to set up Anthy and Miki together. Miki is less creepy about his crush so it does come off as kinda wholesome.

I absolutely adore the cheesy ass friendship song she has with Wakaba.

Her most iconic scene is definitely the one at the very end where she hugs Anthy in an almost possessive manner, saying she is here for her. And Anthy just looks like she is dying inside haha. The ominous bells and Akio in the back don't really help things either.

Not really much to say about her, she is the same as her show self.

Anthy

Yuka Yamauchi is, again, great. Anthy is somewhat different from her show version. Not worse, just different.

Musical Anthy is generally nicer(i think.??). Whenever Show Anthy is alone with Utena, she seems disinterested in the people around her. Musical Anthy compliments Miki on his piano skills, for example.

She comforts Juri during the Shiori duel. I genuinely can't tell if this is wholesome or eerie.

In the show, she doesn't care about the black rose duelists (other than telling Mikage he is cruel for making Tsuwabuki duel.) She feels guilt about the whole situation here.

She still has her laugh from the first musical! Giving her this almost condescending laugh is a fun take on her character. She almost dies of laughter when Utena asks if the projector is her brother. I love her so much it's unreal. I will talk about her a lot more if I do a white bud post.

Akio

Speaking of her brother, Akio is also here.

Yu Yoshioka is definitely a standout. His mannerisms and posture show Akio's character brilliantly. It's pretty exaggerated, that's expected from a stage play. I think he is my favourite in the musical.

Akio acts really disinterested in what's happening. He has an air of superiority around him. He carries this vibe for the whole musical.

He is always slouching a bit. He walks slowly, he has one of his hands at his pocket at all times. It really gives him this aloof vibe. There is more but. Someone else can analyze Akio's body language way better than I can.

One thing he does is push people in and out of scenes. Mikage and Mamiya also do this. It shows them being "puppeteers" really well. The most unsettling one is after the first song, as characters are leaving, when he forcefully holds Utena's arm so she can start her scene.

He holds Tokiko's head almost forcefully has he kisses her. Really unsettling.

He also always seems to be standing a bit too close. His scenes with Utena are the best examples of this. Anthy (and Mamiya) also has some scenes like that.

This Akio is less friendly then the one we know. They also toned down the incest stuff. Interesting changes for sure. This musical is mostly for people who have already watched the show, so they have decided to show Akio's actual nature earlier.

Akio sometimes says a character's line with them. It's a cool way to show how he is the puppet master of the story.

Wakaba

Yume Takeuchi absolutely crushed it in the first musical. She continues to be amazing here. I cannot stress enough how much I love Wakaba in this.

She seems sadder in the musical. Almost like she knows her moment od being special will not last long...

Her black rose duel is absolutely heart wrenching. The student council and the school body taunting her during the battle is horrible. My girl doesn't deserve this. Crying and shaking.

Her after the duel scenes are expanded upon. After the battle she goes missing for a few days. During that time, she was making stew for Utena but couldn't perfect it so she took a few days off. I'm sure she is really tired (both mentally and physically) even though she doesn't remember what happened.

And then they have this cheesy song I mentioned before. You could argue it doesn't fit Utena but I enjoyed it. Wakaba even makes Anthy join in too.

It's a minor scene but, I find it absolutely hilarious how she screams upon seeing the exam schedule so hard Utena thinks something happened to her. If I saw English and Math were in the same day I'd scream too. This is right after Mamiya stabs Kozue btw.

They have the prince giving Utena the rose ring and Saionji giving Wakaba the hair clip at the same time. Wow they really did that.

Her elevator scene is my favourite. She is letting it all out. Screaming and crying and the venom in her voice whilte talking about Anthy and Saionji. It's so much.

Saionji

The most pathetic cringefail man in all of Ohtori. I like Tsubasa Yoshizawa's performance overall.

I didn't pay much attention to him. They don't really change anything about his scenes. (Except for the Wakaba duel)

I will give him this, he is pretty funny. His scenes are funny but also seeing saionjeans dancing in ensambles is just. so fucking hilarious to me.

Kozue

Marina Tanoue's acting was okay. Good stuff.

She comes off as a bit more awkward here. Which makes a lot of sense imo. She is messing around with boys a lot but she is only 13. Her awkwardness show up in her hookup scenes too. The boys are a lot more touchy with her.

They toned down the incest in favor of Kozue just wanting to protect Miki. Incest is still there but their relationship is not the same.

She is our first black rose duelist instead of Kanae. Kanae is not that well written in the show so this was for the best.

Miki

Bit of an unpopular opinion, I liked Natsuki Osaki's performance in the first musical. Yuta Higuchi's performance is better but I also like the first Miki too. I am not the biggest Miki fan but the musical definitely made me warm up to him more.

Wow the pedo teacher is so much more creepy here. Seeing real people play these scenes makes them feel even worse. He is a lot more touchy here and Miki actually reacts to him.

I like the part where he is playing music on the side during Nanami's song it's kinda cute.

Nanami

I can't believe they casted the actual Nanami Kiryuu to play herself. Ok fr real tho, Arisa Suzuki is amazing in this.

I'm gonna get burned at the stake for this but I don't like most of the Nanami episodes. I actually really like Nanami being the comic relief, the jokes just don't land for me... But I did actually like the cowbell song she has. She has a cowbell song. She has a co-

I personally found her talking to Juri and Miki part more funny.

There is a scene where she takes Miki's watch and accidentally stops all three of them in time so Wakaba can have her part talking to Saionji. Laughed out loud at that part.

She is exclusively comic relief here. There isn't much she can do outside of that anyways. Touga is not in this and her story line so dependent on him.

Juri

Riona Tatemichi please take my hand in marriage thank you

Juri is the same personality wise as her TV version, other than being slightly gayer. This is a musical after all.

There is a scene where is imagining dancing with Shiori (Shiori also has a scene similar to this).

Juri and Shiori actually kiss??!? It's pretty brief because Utena and Dios slashes their kneecaps. Oh, yeah, during the duels whoever's sword the duelist is using shows up.

I love that instead of working together they end up knocking off each other's roses. That's so in character for them. Also hilarious.

Shiori

Fuyuna Asakura. She might be the best actor in the musical. Because wow, wow. She is a sickeningly sweet type of character. One that turns out to be horrible.

She is way more cartoonish but I don't think that's a bad thing! It's so fun watching her on the stage do her thing. People who didn't like TV Shiori might like this version more. Shiori is one of my faves, I was already primed to like this version of her too.

Each black rose duelist has a scene where they are stabbed by the black rose. Strangely, Shiori is the only person to not scream during it. It just goes to show how little of a push she needed.

She is a lot more shocked about learning she is Juri's crush. The whole situation feels even more tense than the TV version.

My favourite moments of Shiori are in the Akio arc. I don't like Ruka's character, I think he made Juri's story line worse... Buuut I liked watching his dynamic with Shiori. Hopefully we'll get to see Fuyuna Asakura again if another musical happens.

I loved how they handled the Juri/Shiori story line. It's one of my favourite side plots.

And that leaves us with the boys of the black rose. I am gonna talk about them the longest:

Mamiya

I think Mamiya is underrated as hell in this. I haven't heard people talk about the musical but when they do they don't mention him all that much. Yohdi Kondo works so well as him.

He is a lot more active compared to his TV counterpart, If that's the right way to put it. We see him do stuff. He stabs the black rose duelists. He and Mikage work together to make plans more compared to the anime. He is the one responsible for putting Juri's locket in the vase. I appreciate them being more like a duo.

He comes off as a lot more intimidating here too. Him not looking like a 13yo plays a big part, but his mannerisms play a role too. The Kozue scene shows this really well.

What I most like about him though, is how they show Anthy and Mamiya being the same person. They replace each other from scene to scene constantly. My favourite example is when he takes her place when she is playing the piano. Mamiya is behind her when they're both on stage. They circle around each other at the start too.

He moves around in a similar way to Anthy. He is a lil bit scary in the same way Anthy is. Anthy is my favourite character so i definitely enjoy this a lot.

Also have I mentioned the fact that Akio and Tokiko fuck on his bed. While Mamiya is talking to Mikage in the rose garden, we see the shadows of Akio and Tokiko in a loving embrace on top of his bed. I hope that is not literal. Because if they actually fucked on that bed that would be insane. There are a few ways to interpret this.

There is a theory about how Mikage seeing those two is preceded by Mamiya's death. I think it's true because it doesn't make sense to me how that was enough for Mikage go set the fire. We know Mamiya is dead by this point. He is completely codependent on those two emotionally, he would not take seeing Tokiko with a man right after (maybe a month? Who knows) Mamiya's death well. Merging the imagery together makes a lot of sense.

I didn't think of this at all before but the "Imagine me & Utena" podcast (It's a pretty good podcast!) pointed this out: this is suppose to hint at Mikage and Mamiya's relationship. The sexual/romantic side of their relationship is sort of hinted in the anime and the musical. I could see this being true. This is a really important moment for Mikage. In the anime, we see the cursor point at the leaf during it. You can't have that in the musical. You could have this though.

I also found it funny how Akio's shadow wakes up Mamiya lol.

Mikage

He is the closest thing the musical has to a protagonist. He is in most of the scenes, directly or indirectly. So we spend a lot of time with Hidenori Tokuyama, and I am really torn on him. I'm not really sure if it's his fault either. Mikage is a really subtle character, it's always the little things with this guy. That kind of personality is hard to translate onto stage. You can't see his change in expression when he sees Tokiko and Mamiya talk. You can't see he has a picture of Mamiya on his desk etc etc.

He gets better as we get to the end. Mikage gets a lot more unhinged towards the end, less "subtle" if you get what I mean. Don't get me wrong. I like Hidenori Tokuyama a lot. I just can't connect with him all that much.

There are some notable changes done to him. Mikage as a character always stood out to me from the other men in the show. His much shorter stature is the obvious thing (I don't care about that being represented tbh, he is shorter than Akio and Saionji, that's all you need) but another thing is how he is not violently misogynistic like them. He still is misogynistic, he uses the internalized misogyny of the girls to make them hate Anthy instead of the man in their lives. He would not be able to do what he did without exploiting the harmful systems of Ohtori. He could definitely be interpreted incel-like with his relationship to Tokiko and Mamiya. I guess he is just not as obvious about it? He doesn't show interest in any of the girls. He is obsessed with Tokiko but doesn't even realize she is walking past him. This is pretty noticeably changed in the musical.

He straight up hits on Utena. It's incredibly uncomfortable (as it was meant to be). With Tsuwabuki gone, all of his victims are women. His crush on Tokiko is shown a lot more. It's a lot more sus. I don't see this as a negative change. I like Anime Mikage more but I see the value in making him feel closer to how the other men are.

There are some more minor differences.

Sometimes when he says his lines, Akio says it along with him. For example during his talk with Saionji,

Saionji:  And what do you want from me in return?

Mikage:  Good question...

Mikage:  There's one item that I want from you.

Mikage:  A trifle, really...

There is more of this in the exact same scene btw.

His mannerisms are a bit different too. In the anime, he is approachable but you can tell there is something weird with him. In the Musical, you can tell he is obviously trying to manipulate you. He isn't as charismatic as his TV version. And I kinda like that honestly. It makes it easier for me to connect Nemuro and Mikage in my mind.

[xviistrings]

kotohime palace rulers ranking (wakaba included)

oh no, being asked for my opinions on the palace rulers, whatever shall i do...

KOTOHIME'S TOP 9 PALACE RULERS!!! WHO IS MARUKI

at number 9 we have the one and only kunikazu okumura!

probably the most predictable outcome, but can you blame me when he has an atrocious palace design, terrible writing as a character both in that arc and in haru's confidant, unsavoury memories of a certain cat... i mean, it wasn't really kuni's fault that morgana ended up stealing haru's spotlight to have his moment, but the writers know what they did

okumura's saving grace is that 1) he has enough backstory provided for me to do whatever i want with him in rsau and 2) he's pretty handsome

at number 8, junya kaneshiro!

now don't get me wrong, i love kaneshiro. i think about him allllll the time and he's THE bro in rsau (i can't go a second without mentioning it sorry) and also suguru's implied romantic interest cough cough

but... uh... :')

his palace is just as annoying. the only bonus it has is better music. makoto's awakening is also super sick, but this ain't about her

i get that he's got a fixation on being rich but it's a little comical how much he talks about it. like. he LOOOVES money. money money money. and hes purple fly hitler. who loves money

coming up on number 7 is yaldabaoth

cool twist. cool ending. cool whatever. but youre not my kitten baby (he actually is a kitten in rsau. or is he a cobra? kuni calls him a zebra)

at number 6 is wakaba isshiki!!!

who are you

at number 5 we have........ masayoshi shido!

was THAT predictable? i didn't think so!

you might think that from the amount of posting i do about how deeply i desire him carnally i must be a big fan, right? well. eh

playing through his palace was tedious and longwinded and dull when it wasn't plot-related. the whole "oh, kaneshiro and madarame actually knew shido and were sucking his dick the whole tiiiime" thing is also completely unnecessary and never gets mentioned again. nobody even talks about it. you probably didnt even remember it until i mentioned it again

shido is still cartoonishly evil like okumura is, but he gets bonus points for not trying to be made into a sympathetic, hard-working and misunderstood dad in akechi's confidant (and at least we actually get to see him show feelings towards things, even if it is just hating children and monologuing in his office)

also hes kiiiiiiiiiind of the tritagonist in cnau but we aren't going to talk about that.... yet..............

idk. i like shido but there's people who are better

making it into number 4 is futaba sakura!

i really like the twist on the concept of palace rulers actually. not every person with distorted desires is a bad person; instead of sabotaging others, futaba is self-sabotaging. but with a change of heart, that little shut-in is able to get back up and live life to the fullest!

now in the top 3, i give this spot to ichiryusai madarame!

the palace ruler with a canon deadname...... our trans icon 🏳‍🌈

he's what okumura wishes he was. this single father can do it all! he can paint, love, steal, emotionally abuse, he's a man of many hats without mastering anything!

if theres anyone who i love picking apart the brain of more than kaneshiro, it's madarame. he hates himself so much that it loops back around to having a huge ego. he was jealous of yusuke's mother and the talent she held that he let her die just so he can be validated boohoo

madarame thinks hes only worth what he creates, and being yusuke's only authoritative figure, imprinted that mindset and behaviour onto him. he actually sees yusuke as his son and loves him deeply but hes soooo dependent on him in multiple ways and without him he literally crumbles. madarame is pathetic and helpless and i love him

in 2nd place is sae niijima!

you know her. i know her. we've seen that section of the story. soooo good. banger palace theme, pretty environment, attractive lady, hoo-wee!

seriously, she has great development. sae never actually gets a change of heart, she changes on her own because she remembers she's here to protect what she really cares about; justice. she comes to be one of the few adults the phantom thieves can genuinely place their trust in. theres a bonus chapter in mementos mission where sae looks at buchimaru slippers because they remind her of makoto. and thats after she roundhouse kicks a purse-snatcher in the face while wearing high heels.

she's also the one who won the hottest palace ruler poll by a longshot so. you go girl!

and at long last... number 1 goes to......

SUGURU KAMOSHIDA!!!!!!!

i wanted to get a bunch of pictures of him for this but he's actually so hideous i legitimately got freaked out

he's my meow meow who did nothing wrong (he did everything wrong) and hes just a baby (literal abuser) and youre all just mean (he deserves worse)

they wanted to write a piece of shit and they did it. and they did it well. i can't think of a single reason why someone would like this guy. and thats exactly why i like him.

kamoshida was conditioned to believe that his actions had no consequences and therefore he could do whatever he wanted. people would cover it up. they'd keep their silence. his reputation is great enough that everyone is too worried to topple it because it might crush them when he falls. he doesn't need to be two-faced when they've already seen the other mask. hes the greatest introductory to the story and themes of persona 5 ever and i would not have it any other way

kamoshida is a SHIT BAG. he makes me legitimately sick to my stomach in a way the other characters just dont really do. i mean the mementos palace did a pretty good job of making me think about what im doing with my life so props to them, but like i said just looking at kamoshidas face made me feel uneasy

also i wrote a oneshot about him and kaneshiro fucking and there was the swag mention of the lingering guilt he experiences in the back of his mind every time he hurts someone because he is still a human after all

he's the protagonist in rsau and he's my favourite test subject for different kinds of pain and anguish. suguru kamoshida numba one 4eva. i hope he dies

[thebramblewood]

In Wakaba, Rav meets Yamachan and instantly becomes obsessed, so Rowan risks life and limb to wrangle a Simmi capsule from the depths of the vending machine on the off chance it's a rare golden edition of the icon himself.

[marislittlethings]

i also did watch the womens programs but i'm still v bad at identifying jumps & counting revolutions so i feel a bit less confident in my opinions about the singles disciplines/pairs

i do love bradie but unfortunately i was not charmed by the lord of the dance program... nothing about her free really stood out to me tbh, even before it went downhill

isabeau had a great short, i think my favorite she's ever done, but i'm ambivalent about her free. i've been wanting for her to skate something a little more playful, a little less serious than she's been the past couple seasons, and i felt like the breakfast at tiffany's program was the perfect balance of elegance & fun! and i know the iconic outfit does have a pearl & diamond necklace, but i wish they'd left the fake gem detail off the dress & just had the pearls. it looks strange to me

my favorite programs from the other skaters were minchae's short & wakaba's free (also wakaba's free dress is very cool)

[fantastic-mr-corvid]

Celia's design- Visual references

thought it might be fun to run though the bits and pieces i picked up from other characters<3

big curl- at first definitely ripped from Kakyoin. later shifted to be more like Juris as a more stylized ringlet curl as oppose to a stretched-out-by-weight curl like Kakyoins. because it was way easier to draw and shade with a simple flow of hair in a spiral

middle curl- Wakaba. i dont have the braincells to go into the link but. there's something there.

golden hair- originally just a more gold-y blond i really leaned into it with some stylistic colour choices then when returning to proper colour i kept it. partly inspired by a lot of the amazing art of Giorno with his hair coloured golden

Trenchcoat [original design] - this is like a convergent choice based on both my old outfits and also Jotaro looking cool as fuck in his. the Jotaro influence was definitely subconscious as i remember getting annoyed that they ending up looking somewhat similar with the long coat trousers and black and gold- its a large part of why i ditched the trench and the predominately black clothes too. a long black trench was my most iconic dress choice for my late teens alongside a miniskirt [which is why i shove her in one- though i put her in denim like the original material of the outfit that heavily inspired her main design]

Curly hair- imma be honest i just wanted a character with short hair and messy curls. like me<3

body type- i was disappointed that Jolyne wasn't as ridiculously buff as earlier jojos. that's kinda it. also i wanted to push myself to draw different body types and go for a physically strong and seems like it female* character

Eyes- mainly the small white pupil. it started with Mura, and Georgie got it to. its just a quick and cool way to make someone noticeably different & even unsettling. Celia often wears sunglasses to cover them when shes trying not to be intimidating

in a similar vein, her hair grew longer over time as i drew it, as i had fun making it almost sentient, defying gravity to cling to her. the longer at the back kinda helps it look more masculine? in a weird way? idk

hair colour pt2: there's a constant battle between red and gold in her, and the dark red shadows in her hair grew to show just how bloodstained she is to her core. also with her only having two skin colours in her pallet with red used for deeper shadows and white and sometimes yellow used for highlight sit makes her seem even more unnatural. for this reason as well as the constant inspiration from Alanna, if Celia didnt have her golden hair i would see her hair as more ginger than blond, more orange than yellow

the arrows- based on the original design of human algebra, where the stand used the fusion 360/blender move tool on an object [god im such a nerd], but the design got to messy, so it was simplified to arrows [this is where the design for her belt- a circle with arrows moving out, as well as the heels of her special boots comes from. which end up looking like a rotated male gender symbol. so foreshadowing for her genderfuckery]

[rikabauer]

weird little revival moment but here are some of the last few layouts i've used :)

[let-them-fight]

VOTE YUUKI YUUNA. HERES WHY:

EXHIBIT A: THE FU INUBOUZAKI

She has a big sword and I just think she’s funny. Also, she made me cry so fucking hard I had to take a break from the show for 2 weeks

EXHIBIT B: THE TOGO MIMORI

She’s great, enough said. Also, Canon lesbian character

IN STEM

EXHIBIT C: THE KARIN MIYOSHI

OK. So I actually have a decent amount more to talk about here. Without getting too much into some actual spoilers, Karin is definitely the most developed character in the show (at least in season 1), going from your typical hotheaded ��tsundere” girlypop into steadily managing to crack open that outer shell thanks to the help of the titular MC Yuuna herself, to then adopting the motto of the Hero Club and vowing to protect her friends. I’m leaving that semi-vague and awkward for a reason, because when I say Karin has the best moment of the first season, I mean it.

Speaking of

EXHIBIT D: HERO CLUB MOTTO

Give people a good greeting

Try not to give up

Sleep well and eat well

If you’re troubled, talk to someone

You’re likely to succeed if you try

Don’t push yourself and make sure you’re happy as well

EXHIBIT E: PREQUEL MATERIAL

The two important prequel materials connected to YUYUYUI as I’ll call it are the Nogi Wakaba chapter and the Washio Sumi chapter. Of course, given my blog pfp and header, I could easily go on for 10,000+ words about how genuinely amazing the Nogi Wakaba chapter is, only one was faithfully in full (as of my knowledge) adapted into the series: the Washio Sumi chapter. And somehow it is even better than the first season. In just 6 episodes, the new characters you’re thrown into grab your heart and rip it open like a rabid squirrel or something idk. Speaking of.

See blonde girl? See her? Yeah. I bet you do. I know you do. And guess what?

EXHIBIT F: the best fucking character ever made in the history of all

Sonoko is iconic. She’s funny. She’s silly. Goofy. Her autistic swagger has reached beyond astronomical points. She loves cats. She has a chicken onesie. She stims. Hey, Wasshi. Let’s enjoy Kagawa Life. SHES VOICED BY FUCKING KANA HANAZAWA.

That, and honestly? She’s the embodiment of one of the show’s bigger themes: Hope. She just like all the other heroes like her absolutely go through it and yet she continues to fight on, no matter what. And you know what? Swag for that🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅 she also makes me immensely sad but that’s another discussion

CONCLUSION:

VOTE YUUKI YUUNA IS A HERO

@best-underrated-anime

Best Underrated Anime Group I Round 1: #I8 vs #I1

#I8: Magical girl club gets silly and depressing

In her everyday life, Yuuna Yuuki is a hero. As proof, she is in her middle school's Hero Club, where she does her best to help others and bring a smile to everyone's face.

But Yuuna, always up to any task, is about to become an even bigger hero. Mysterious destructive forces called Vertexes begin threatening the world she loves, and the Hero Club is called upon by a strange phone app to save it. Along with her best friend Mimori Tougou, as well as sisters Fuu and Itsuki Inubouzaki, they must transform into magical girls in order to battle the Vertexes.

#I1: The 86 are forced to fight someone else’s war.

According to the Republic of San Magnolia, their ongoing war against the Giadian Empire has no casualties—however, that is mere propaganda. While the silver-haired Alba of the Republic's eighty-five sectors live safely behind protective walls, those of different appearances are interned in a secret eighty-sixth faction. Known within the military as the Eighty-Six, they are forced to fight against the Empire's autonomous Legion under the command of the Republican "Handlers."

Vladilena Milizé is assigned to the Spearhead squadron to replace their previous Handler. Shunned by her peers for being a fellow Eighty-Six supporter, she continues to fight against their inhumane discrimination. Shinei Nouzen is the captain of the Spearhead squadron. Infamous for being the sole survivor of every squadron he's been in, he insists on shouldering the names and wishes of his fallen comrades.

Titles, propagandas, trailers, and poll under the cut!

#I8: Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero (Yuuki Yuuna wa Yuusha de Aru)

Propaganda:

I adored this show from the moment I watched it because throughout it all, it’s hopeful. These girls go through a lot. A LOT. A lot of horrible, horrible things, and yet they bounce back. These girls bounce back pretty much every single time and do anything to help their friends do the same. To me, that is insanely inspiring.

The cast of characters here are also insanely compelling. They feel like actual, real friends—doing things together, hanging out, comforting each other and laughing with them all the same. This point I feel helps that sense of hope this show has absolutely.

The character designs in general too are absolutely breathtaking, and are nothing like I’ve ever seen from any other magical girl anime. Also, one last thing: this show’s soundtrack is done by MONACA. MONACA is also known for doing the first two NieR games. Take that what you will :)

Trigger Warnings: Flashing Lights, Self-Harm, Suicide

#I1: 86 (Eighty-Six)

Propaganda:

The characterization and character development in this show is amazing. It also has a very good depiction of survivor’s guilt/mental health, which you don’t see a lot. The animation is great and the soundtrack is done by Hiroyuki Sawano, who’s amazing and it’s one of the best soundtracks for a show ever.

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Racism, Suicide.

A main subject of the show is racism. Active war, lots of violence. Character acts without regard for their life, so suicide was included. Child abuse relates to the backstory of a character.

If you’re reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

[tottymatsuno]

💕🎭🎮🔥☘🌚📚

Hiiii dragon my beloved bestie

💕 - my favorite Matsuno duos are any and all tottie involved ones but also parka, chokei, wakaba, and I forget what karama and Jyushis duo is but there was a post that called them meat heads united!

Here are my favorite tottie duos lol

Parka is so funny to me bc they're literally a raccoon and a kitty cat hanging out and getting into mischief and also Osomatsu calms Ichimatsu down and they're friends

Chokei is also funny bc like the two of them are constantly taking pot shots at each other but also vibe and love getting along and double teaming their brothers. They are a good team and also their beef is so funny fhwhfhd

Wakaba - I just love seeing Jyushimatsu throw Choromatsu and bite him lol

And Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu are sooo! Who could forget the iconic oh my little Jyushimatsu!!?!

🎭 - my favorite au within the show (immediately thinks of my banana tottimi wife but knows it's illegal to do the same joke twice)

Does this count??? Technically it's an alternate time line! I like most of the skits but tbh I think I'm more invested in hesokuri designs. Not that I hate them, just aside from the Banana one I can't think of an au that screams my favorite.

🎮 SPEAKING OF HESOKURI MY FAVORITE SET AUGH don't make me pick just one!! It changes so often!!!

If it's illegal to pick mroe than one this one but I'm crying and begging to let me pick all 200 of my favorites 😭😭😭

🔥 An aspect of the show that I think is underrated is definitely fleshing out the secondary cast? With one writer on staff you can clearly see when he gets bored of characters or can't find anything funny to say about them. So when that happens characters like Chibita, Totoko, Iyami and others (who I kinda don't really like but def feel like they're entertaining as an ensemble) are thrown to the wayside when they could provide a lot more comedy.

Idk what emoji this one is and can't find it but! A matsu trio I'd like to see more of is:

OTOUTO!!! THEY'RE MY FRIENDS!! sans Todomatsu it'd be

These three. Suuji + Osomatsu is so hilarious to me. Also pardon totty 😭

🌚 Something I want to happen in the show that I'm sure never will happen? Uuh. Well the low hanging fruit is getting to kiss Totty. The serious answer is seeing the brothers in success relationships, growing up and becoming happier for it. And me kissing Totoko.

📚

SOME OF MY FAVORITE FICS YOU ASK??!

Dropping links lol

your totty kissing fic <3 and I love your writing in general!

It was so sweet and had the right amount of push and pull, and AUGH!

I've only read a few chapters of your Jyushihomu sandwich One or the Other but it's so fucking unique and good Dragon! The fact Jyushimatsu meets the reader by hitting the reader with a baseball, and Ichi panicking sbfbsn

@itchymatsu has a bunch of amazing stuff on ao3 too! Her new work Somebody's somebody is so delicious for self inserters, ichi kissers never eat so fucking good when Brittany writes.

@nicetoneetyou has a fantastic fic with his oc Takeshi too that makes me beat the fucking ground bc he HASN'T UPDATED IT AUGH

@girlymatsu has been favoring me with the privilege of reading his delicious writing for a while (yes it is exclusive, yes I am that special ☺️) and has posted a fic of Osoeri on ao3! He's mega talented, and I am obsessed with his recovery fics! He has made me cry with his little red riding hood imagery, if you ain't in the know I feel a bit sorry for you bc it's so damn good. It's powerful, it's emotional and impactful. You can read it exactly like you'd see it because of Evans skillful work. It's so fucking good

Speaking of recovery aus @chorotchi has an amazing one! Greens There She Is literally made me fucking cry. The Omurice series is literally the best trans girl choro content on the scene. Don't walk lol run. It's so good, and ik Viri's working on a really great yokai au! And just started greens actual fic for recovery Choro!

@ichikos is also like a fucking stellar writer, idk if Izzys posted much of it yet but deadass is my biggest inspiration and rock when it comes to creative exchanges. Izzys writing is so good, the way she sees Ichimatsu and how delicately she keeps his fangs bared but him sweet? aurgh. You guys gotta see the meals I be snacking on when Izzy sends me over a doc.

@chockmatsu has her Squeeze With Both Hands fic that's so professional quality. It's so good, you could read it in a novella or a anthology and wouldnt guess it was fic at all. Literally a masterpiece, like all Karamatsu stans it's heavenly so yall want for fucking nothing in terms of quality content. Five course meal right there.

@lesbiabmatsu not only has this cute ask blog for girl gays but also is a writer that will knock your fucking socks off!! Her ocs are so adorable, funny, charming and all are so compatible with her characters!! Bibi is my bestie from kindergarten, Inko is my new friend who breaks my bfs arm when he makes me cry and Totty is sandwiched between me and Suzu's fine ass. When I get to read her writing it's always a special and rare treat because Clover can and does write her fucking ass off in those documents. Makes me scream each time, trans karama lovers better line up bc there's no getting better than my girls sweet writing

And @emeraldhillrose!!! GREEN RECENTLY SHOWED ME HER FUCKING WRITING AND I WAS BLOWN AWAY!! I LITERALLY LOVE HER OC SEXTUPLETS, AND NOT ONLY THAT HER ELDEST OC SEXTUPLET ROSEMARY IS THE CUTEST, MOST ADORABLE TSUNDERE TO EVER WALK THOSE AKATSUKA STREETS!! I read two last night and burst into tears bc Rosemary had a rough day but then Osomatsu helped her out in the sweetest fucking way possible.

@ochomachuu - while not a fic writer I gotta mention Mei. My fucking rock, she is the smartest person I know and so damn talented. Her meta analysis and the way she sees the brothers is so unique. I love Mei sooo much, she's the 7th Matsuno she's their sister she lives with them. Yall know her for her art and for her talent and for her brain and smarts but do u know her for her heart? Hm? ❤️

If i forgot anyone so sorry but read my friends works they're all so smart and funny and they will make you feel emotions.

[anolyso]

Utena thoughts...about 2 weeks later

I've been putting it off for way too long and so most of my thoughts stopped being fresh. On top of watching way too many analysis vids post-watch, but still I do at least want to put my 2cents of Revolutionary Girl Utena out there for the world.

Utena is perhaps one of the most famous "magical girl"/shoujo action shows out there for not only it's transgressive themes of relationship abuse and low-key pretty much being the poster girl for like actual feminist perspective on/in anime...but also just doing it all in both a heavily allegorical and understated, yet super over-the-top stylish fashion

But that's it's reputation preceding itself, is Utena worth while all these years? The answer is Yes, but it also really shows it's age and budget in pacing and repetition, tho as an appreciator for "behind the scenes" compromises in art, it's more showcasing Ikuhara's talent in working around both taboo and long-form budget constraints with just well-thought out and iconic imagery that - while episodic and formulaic - is just very good at filling the 39 eps with feasts for the eyes.

Utena broadly is about tomboy Utena with memories long ago after her parents died being "saved" by a princely figure like a princess...except she's so enthralled by the nostalgia that instead she becomes a full on Prince herself and receives a dueling ring to fight in the Ohtori Acadamy secret duels for "engagement" to Rose Bride Himemiya Anthy.

Utena is divided between 4 arcs, only the first and last being Manga adapted from hearsay:

1: Student Council Saga

2: Black Rose Saga

3: Akio Ohtori Saga

4: Apocalypse

From back to forth I'd say that Akio + Apoc is more just escalation into the finale while Black Rose being anime original comes off as a glorified side-character study which while complementing the secondary cast, feels like one of those Anime movies that has to say "but if you don't watch this part, it's pretty much optional for the main plot" despite it also actually introducing the most important antagonist within it's margins.

More importantly, it's the Student Council (arc and the actual people) that lay the foundation but also a large part of the show's focus which ironically puts Utena in the background until like almost the finale and some in-between developments, so it's less "Utena (and Anthy Himemiya)'s story" until the very end, but more like a showcase of how fucked up the system at large is (pin in that).

By the Council themselves is:

Kyouichi Saionji: The biggest jobber, like actually introduced as the most despicable loser ep 1 and proceeds to be a complete arrogant joke for the rest of the show. Honestly in another shojo "love" story, they'd find some way to redeem him but semi-compellingly they turn him into like an Aqua-lad type pathetic brat with an inferiority complex to the actual Student head

Miki Kaoru: the naive "nice, non-threatening soft boy" that also just never actually listens to the girls around him. Probably adds more complexity to the whole patriarchal idea on analytic reflection since yeah, the whole "nice guy finishes last" plays up better when the kid comes off as that "ally" energy of wanting to save Himemiya from being the Rose Bride but also low-key won't actually not just do the duels and win her cuz he's that sorta wishy-washy hypocrite. Arguably the least hateable guy in the cast (minus mascot Chu-Chu)

Juri Arisugawa: TRAGIC LESBIAN TRIANGLE LOVE. Probably the biggest point to of both "not-explicitly homosexual" but also really freaking obvious since her entire story is her girlfriend stealing her "boy crush" when actually she was crushing on her and being pretty much frustrated throughout her story as pining most of it. It's quaint by today's standards but also like damn girl, get over her she was like the worst back stabbing bitch (literally if Black Rose counts)

Nanami Kiryuu: SPEAKING OF QUEEN BITCH, it's been a long time since I've watched a High School girl bully and honestly it's kinda refreshing. If Miki is "soft-boy uwu" Nanami is a brat that gets her come-uppance often, featured prominently as an anime only with the MOST filler/comedic episodes but also not low-key, being the most out-spoken actual brother complex ironically spins perhaps the biggest twist and ironic relationships of "I love my brother but not-like-that but also like-that" by the end. Mostly comedic relief but I find her inclusion to actually add a lot more to juxtapose...

Touga Kiryuu: Big Student Council Prez himself, the first arc antagonist and also a strong foil to Saionji and later a stepping stone for Akio. Touga is THE image of a Princely Playboy Heart-Throb that in any other Shoujo romance would have the main girl win him over from all those "other girls" despite him being apathetic if not outright manipulative of them. Good thing Utena is better than that and really puts a spotlight on just not-actually-ok his power hunger for "the power to bring the world revolution" that leads him to heavily objectify Anthy, arguably even more than Misogynist Trophy Girlfriend beater Saionji, since he doesn't even see her as more than a means to an end despite professing and looking the Prince part but lacking all the actual virtues.

The Student council matters more since they're characters and subsequent tragic flaws are the ACTUAL meat of the show and on second rumination actual shows more how fucked up the system/gender dynamic/power hierarchy is since - while it blatantly fucks over Juri who can't just outright say who she likes - also show almost it's own sub-text of Masculine failings: Saionji desperately clinging to being TOXIC MASCULINE™ and completely falling short underneath Touga; Miki's "nice boy" act belying him trying to replace his low-key nostalgia for his sister (also a bitch, but apparently was more like Nanami in the manga); and best yet Touga being the quintessential "Prince in all but actual behavior" by emulating a cutthroat and Machiavellian world view but coming up empty because well, he's just an illusion of a prince...but that leads in way more to the big finale piece where I'll reintroduce the actual story's main trio

Utena Tenjou: Tomboy Prince with brain empty except for lesbian thoughts. Honestly probably what every western "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN" archetype wishes they were since while having very tomboyish personality in athletics, blunt speaking and also VERY oblivious to the actual plot for REAL DRAMATIC IRONY, but also never actually demeaning her being feminine partially due to her love of an childhood prince and how she maintains her relationship with both her friend Wakaba and later Anthy. Honestly mostly a plot device after S1 until she gets ACTUAL development by the very end and instead kinda bumbles her way into undoing the entire REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD. I kinda wish she felt either more cognizant or at least felt like she was developing/properly rebuking the rest of the cast's power obsessions but I guess that's for the movie.

Anthy Himemiya: Actual Trophy Wife with a dark secret (darker than ski- wait no that's terrible scratch that). Set-up very much as an immediate princess in distress while also being the most femme Yamato Nadeshiko, Anthy being the Rose Bride as a literal prize who acts and behaves as whom she's "engaged" with desires while otherwise being quiet, wry, mysterious and noticably submissive, by the end it actually plays up into THE BIG REVEALS of just how abused she's been into a hopeless acceptance...like y'know actual abuse victims.

Akio Ohtori: Grade A Antagonist, probably the most insidious I've seen a villain in a while, Akio is notable for, back in 1997, being perhaps the big go-to of actual deconstructing the facade of a whole shoujo genre's "hots for a teacher/sexy man putting the moves" and highlighting how actually exploitative and abusive a person like that really is. Being Himemiya's brother (somewhat justified in the manga by both being a weird Sailor Moon-esque reincarnation of gods/godesses of Dios), despite how much of his motives are runing the background and how the entire back story is  uh...brought up in like barely in the last arc with little lead up (some scenes feel like they'd be a full melodrama season and they just have like 1 scene in the final arc episodes) he manages to one-up Touga (in the plot as well) by instead of "just" objectifying girls, not-just-flat out saying Utena looks best as a princess, but y'know the fact that he is implicitly yet constantly exploiting and victim-blaming Anthy for her own suffering for "the power of Dios/Revolution of the world" turns it on its head

I've spent all this time on characters but in truth a lot of the meat of the show relies again on the Council Members fleshing out the issues of system leading to outright divorcing "being a Prince" (heroic altruistic virtues) and "being a man" (considering like all but maybe the comedic relief have some deliberately misogynistic behavior) and beyond just the plot (or rather character) synopsis, the talent goes far more in how it's framed, the symbolic/allegorical shots, the repetition adding a good episode formula flow to character showcases, probably the most "tasteful" allusion to uh...*ahem* sexual abuse that so many other edgier/prentious shows fumble. Both in how intimidating yet understated it's foreshadowing is until they hard-reveal it despite never explicitly naming it even tho it sends Nanami into hysterics

Really it's both a massive blessing and reason for it's cult beloved status for it's aesthetics but also it's burden, for being a full 39 episodic season by season character development study of everyone BUT the main trio except for snippets and the very end that makes it greatly appreciable as a legitimate work of art.

What I wanted more to say however (long overdue) is that a large part of following is, visibly at least, western feminist critiques and yes while it almost seems like Utena fits the "deconstructing patriarchy" story like a glove...it's weird how almost none of them actually can give a good historical account of actual Japanese female/gender/sexuality norms nor Anime contemporaries actually were. Like Tenchi Muyo and Berserk came out the same year (Cardcaptor Sakura the next) and despite how you can "feel" the influence in lots of modern shows like SHAFT's signature visual imagery cuts or many WESETERN shows having straight scene references to Utena....almost no one has a similar feel to Utena until like Princess Tutu comes out.

Really tho probably should've watched Utena and then Tutu because while it's undeniable that Utena is a major pillar of shoujo re-codification - what with everyone before Utena was saying they thought it'd be like a Rose of Versaille or Lady Knight rip-off...whose laughing now? - it's almost like there's a missing link between it and it's major western fanbase (probably with what few anime did get overseas, this one probably rose to the top), or how very noticeable there IS an influence on it's genre in Japan

Almost none of the big analyst fans actually know A) it's not "a deconstruction of Magical Girls" since despite Ikuhara working on Sailor Moon just before this, almost none of the tropes line up and instead more with Shoujo genre as a whole. or  one of the major inspirations was Takarazuka theater.

And this is not to dismiss how inspirational it is to it's western fandom, but while I am notably cynical towards placing things on pedestals, there's probably something about cultivating the whole pop-culture feminist reading commune with people making weird time-loop theories while kinda most of it is just filling in a mad-lib mostly thanks to Ikuhara just keeping things on the vague and letting the audience take away their own perspective.

Again, most of the show is completely sub-textual or visually/symbolically depicted and never stated nor properly defines it's weird key words (End of the World, Revolutionize the World, Power of Dios, Rose Bride, all things said constantly but never really said what they "mean". But that's also perhaps its charm, in it's allegory and very Death of the Author approach, it has definitely allowed it's fan theorizing and appreciation to flourish so there's something there for that.

Ultimately I'd say Utena the TV series is great more so for what it isn't...or rather I should say it's great for not just subverting Shoujo tropes and archetypes for the Japanese audience but also that despite dealing with some very serious and heavy subjects in obtuse and perhaps understated ways for the time, people have allowed it to be put on it's pedestal because they can easily fit it in themselves.

Honestly though, not that a more "straight forward" approach wouldn't detract from Utena but I will say that the movie, Adolescence of Utena, is very much the best encapsulation of what Utena strives to be (for another big blog post) and while the TV series has plenty of time and flexes it's directorial muscles with budget constraints and season pacing UNrestrained, the movie will trim a lot of the fat

[seasaltmemories]

Top 5 episodes of Revolutionary Girl Utena.

5) "Qualifications of a Duelist" (23)

This was the episode where the show really began to grip me, not that the rest was bad, but Mikage's fate is such an important piece of the show thematically, even though it doesn't really affect the plot, not to mention, Anthy really only now drops her guard with that green-lit sleeping scene, upon rewatch it really only gets better as the parallels between Mikage and Utena are made more clear

4) "The One to Revolutionize the World" (37)

One of the most tense calms, before the storm, seeing Utena, Juri, Miki, and Nanami bond as normal teenagers for once is almost healing in its heartwarmingness, we get so many iconic utenanthy scenes, the letter ripping, the cantarella, the suicide attempt, watching the stars after Utena's date, the pacing is a little choppy bc we miss some context, but otherwise it really cements everything we need to know about them before our finale

3) "Wakaba Flourishing" (20)

Wakaba is already a pretty great side character, but aside from just the pain it is having to watch her struggle with her self-esteem, the fact Utena refuses to draw a sword on her (and the unique beautiful animation that follows), Anthy's insistence that Utena get the sword, hinting at some genuine care, the pretty blatant hint that Anthy and Mikage are working together to some extent, and getting to see Saionji in a different light, learning not only is he a violent sexist creep, but a coward who really has no morals of his own and will simply adapt to whatever system promises him the most power, great stuff

2) "The Rose Signet" (34)

Anthy's backstory alone would be a hell of a selling point, but seeing not only how it gets twisted by the patriarchy in the present day but also that Utena's core desire has always been to help another lonely little girl, just tears me to shreds

1) "Someday, We Will Shine Together" (39)

Not only is this the climax, but so many elements of the show that make RGU what it is are key here, without this exact ending it would be such a different beast, and what we get is so masterfully done, the backstab, the gate turning into a coffin, the handhold, Utena disappearing and Anthy setting out on her own, it is the best kinda of bittersweet that looks the entire system dead in the eye and says, "I love her more than I fear you,"

[gaelic-diary-holder-returns]

Rin and Wakaba Icons from World Series by Quick Waipa