/animu/ - Anime & Otaku Culture

This is one of those classics that just flew under my radar for some reason. I kept postponing it, then took a fucklong break from anime, and forgot about it. Now that I'm catching up with old series I might give it a try

Sorry for posting about not seeing it. Have lewds in return

I forgot to mention this but has Trigger ever mentioned something along the lines of the student council from Utena being an inspiration for the Student Council in Kill la Kill? I realised there were a lot of similairities between the two shows; the student council that has way more power than it should have, them looking over the school from a huge building, them seeming like the main antagonists of the show when in reality an adult pulls all the strings from the shadows with them eventually turning into the good guys, the "revolutionary" girl that wants to fight against the system of the school which seems like a society of its own rather than just a place of learning etc.

I fucking love the student council (in Utena) and even though they're not really stereotypical villains, I consider them my favourite anime antagonists as of now. The speech they do in the elevator in every episode of the first arc is also great.

>>32573

It's the same thing for me, I think the lack of popularity among western fans when compared to the love something like Lain or Eva gets is due to the fact that Utena was never aired in its entirety in the US (and not at all in Europe) due to its controversial themes and sexual undertones. This means that there are a lot less people who can feel nostalgic about it like some people do with Evangelion.

>Utena has a bizarre airing history. A television station in Hawaii aired the initial 14 episode release in 2007, and Funimation took over the broadcasting rights in 2006, airing the show on their Funimation Channel multiple times. Other channels also flirted with airing the show, including the SciFi channel and Anime Network on demand. The thing is, the show rarely aired in its entirety; I am not sure if this is due to licensing issues, or concerns given the content. At that time period, anime was edited heavily for broadcasting; in Sailor Moon, a lesbian relationship was edited into them being cousins. I suspect distributors just threw their hands up in the air with Utena, since there was really no clear way to 'fix' the show, since controversial issues tended to be the main focus of the episodes.

But there must also be some people who don't try it because they can not appreciate the surreal visuals as anime fans tend to just see these kind of shows as "pretentious", to this day there are still people that think Eva's Christian symbolism is just for show because Anno is too much of a nice guy to tell them they're faggots for not taking his magnum opus more serious.

>>32580

>the intricacies started feeling like fluff to me half way through.

Yeah, there was way less symbolism in the last arc and it seemed to try to have more of a regular narrative during the last few episodes. I liked that though.

Give me time, damnit!

Watched a couple episodes. Enjoying it so far, production value really is great and holds up even today.

Sadly, this thing is a tumblr magnet through and through. We can't have actually good satire anymore, least SJWs taint it.

Figured I might as well try to post it all here. If someone is interested but doesn't want to download the whole series just to check it out, they can do it here in glorious 320x240

My webm skills are seriously lacking though, so I'll divide it in two parts

>>33037

>>33037

>>33039

Is this what it feels like to watch anime as a streamcuck?

>>33042

Plus, some episodes get pretty wacky. I'm getting kill la kill vibes in more ways than just "student council controls the school"

>>32549

I just finished watching Utena a few weeks ago. It was amazing. I can't believe it isn't more highly regarded. It has now become my new favourite anime ever, surpassing a lot of other good stuff like LOGH and Satoshi Kon's stuff. The parts I liked the best were definitely the characters. I also really enjoy the reused footage and motifs. They looked and sounded awesome and it helped frame the show into a manageable watch. The shadow puppet girls reminded me of the fates or the chorus from classical Greek theatre. Their combination of comedy and tongue in cheek commentary on the plot were just so amazing. I think my only complaint was the conclusion of the second arc which seemed kind of weak.

I thought the movie was a bit shit though in comparison to the series. Dripping in symbolism and an interesting little ride of out there visuals, but really seemed to lack the depth of series. Unsurprising considering the limited run time of a movie, but I am very surprised to see people online recommending the movie over the series.

I am going to sit on the show for a while more, and then I am going to go watch Mawaru Penguindrum for more Ikuhara. I had already previously seen Yuri Kuma Arashi and really liked it for its artistic value despite its mediocre storytelling.

>>40169

Nanami is best girl and her episodes are so funny. In a way her arc might be the most interesting as in a way she is the character who ends up showing the most maturity out of everyone.

>I can't believe it isn't more highly regarded. It has now become my new favourite anime ever

I had the very same thoughts after finishing the series. As I said in >>32599 I assume it's because it wasn't able to be air in the west when it first came out but that doesn't explain why people nowadays don't talk that much about it. It's truly an underrated gem.

>I also really enjoy the reused footage and motifs

I didn't actually realise what the roses that appear when character were introduced meant when I first watched it. When I did find out, I was blown back by how even such a small detail that I thought was added purely for aesthetical reasons actually had thought put into it. The same goes for ChuChu who has much more meaning to the show then you'd think when first watching it as most people would disregard him as a comedic relief character.

There's an old forum meant for Utena-related discussion called Ohtori and while the userbase is kind of annoying and normalfaggy, I recommend you read the following if you want to know what I meant with the ChuChu thing: http://forums.ohtori.nu/viewtopic.php?id=4188

>but I am very surprised to see people online recommending the movie over the series

That's strange to say the least as the movie seems to be written specifically for people who have already seen the series. You wouldn't know what the hell what was going if you watched that first and then the TV series. It's like watching the The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya before watching the original TV adaption.

>I am going to sit on the show for a while more

I rewatched it only a month after my first watch of it even though I normally hate rewatching. This is one of those shows where every time you rewatch it you tend to pick up something new that you missed on your first watch so I recommend you rewatch this at least once. Just like with slice of life shows, I also felt a sort of desire to "go back" to the world of the show after finishing it.

>and then I am going to go watch Mawaru Penguindrum for more Ikuhara

I personally was not a fan of Mawaru Penguindrum in the slightest but I still hope you enjoy it. I might just give it another try myself in the near future.

>I had already previously seen Yuri Kuma Arashi and really liked it for its artistic value despite its mediocre storytelling.

Same, it had nice visual aesthetics, like other Ikuhara works but the story seemed to be written in a deliberately confusing way for first-time viewers and should have been more straight-forward from the start, seeing as it doesn't have that complex of a plotline.

By the way, there's a Sega Saturn dating sim adaption of Utena that takes place during the first arc and was written alongside the anime staff which has a fully transalated ROM online. I have only played the first half so far because the emulator I was using didn't work properly but I highly recommend you play that as well as the writing and atmosphere captures the spirit of the anime perfectly. The characters are voiced by the same VAs as the ones in the show too.

Bumping because I want to use this thread soon in the future

>>32549

Juri best girl, prove me wrong.

OST Box Set:

https://mega.nz/#!7PQHlaaT!8X7KEIhwYw5eWzcyHWHcCKDiZNFfYGcssSKV8vml_PI

/u/ has had a thread about the series for awhile

>>>/u/44351

>That 90s sax on track 18.

Utena always had good music.

>>51634

Thank you for the OST link.

>>51659

After I finished Utena I felt like pic related. I was sitting on my own brain and my butt hurt.

>>51634

Thanks!

>>51629

I ended up like an addict seeking another hit, I kept downloading more and more programs, watching tons of shows. At one point, I had two shoeboxes full of CD-r's packed with Anime programs. I had a library of just about every show ever made. I became obsessive, but I wasn't finding that feeling that was originally there. Sure, I could recapture it with great stuff like Serial Experiments: Lain and Millenium actress, but that was only for a moment.

Eventually, I stopped watching the shows I was downloading, but just grabbed them for the sake of having them. I had to have more. I bought DVD's and didn't watch them. Gradually, over time, I felt my aesthetic become warped. What once was strange and bizarre looking character design became familiar; I sought it out. If I caught a glimpse of an anime style character in real life, I felt a rush; almost as if my hindbrain saw it before I was aware of it. I was visiting a Japanese tea Garden and saw real life schoolgirls in the familiar navy blue fuku uniforms. I was fascinated by them; I was drawn, attracted, but not in a sexual way; it blew my mind to see something in real life that I had before seen only in the abstract.

A familiar feeling came through me when I saw them. I felt the same at that moment as when I had first seen Utena, when I had first finished Evangelion. My obsession took a new direction.

I bought several sailor fuku uniforms from online retailers. J-list was too expensive and didn't sell in the size I desired. I had to have the legitimate stuff. At first it was satisfying to just look at the uniforms. I would keep them clean, iron them, and hang them up every day. The ritual was soothing to me.

>>51865

Nice blogpost

You would think, but it doesn't end there. You see sooner or later I had to do it. I had to wear the uniforms I had treasured. I am proud to report that it took me a few months to break down, to really cross the threshold into utter depravity. After that line had been crossed, though, there was no going back. Tentatively, I started by simply wearing the uniforms around the house. I would wake up very early, before anyone could glimpse at me from outside on the street, and simply do my cleaning and cooking wearing the various uniforms I purchased. I got a matching apron. I would pretend I was getting ready for Japanese High school.

Soon, though, wearing the uniform in private was not enough. I purchased a duster trenchcoat and began walking through town wearing my outfit. Nobody knew, and this made me comfortable. But, again, this soon became insufficient to satisfy my obsession.

>>51865

>>51869

Lets see where this goes

>>51869

You deserve an award

>>51870

>>51872

The end began with me stalking this girl I knew, Sarah. I checked out her routines; when she left for work, when she got back, what time she went to bed. At first I furtively ventured into her place with my uniform under my trench coat while she was away. I knew where her spare key was because I had helped her move earlier. Speaking of this, I'm a pretty beefy guy. I weigh around 240-260 pounds, but I'm not that tall. A great friend to have if you need to move.

Anyway, gradually, I became more comfortable in her apartment. I started doing stuff like rolling around in her bed, stealing her underwear and putting it in little plastic bags, soforth. As you would expect, I became more and more comfortable doing this, and crossed a line. She came home unexpectedly one day, early from work. Panicked, I hid under the bed in my uniform. Immediately, as she came through the door, she spotted my trench coat. Lying under her bed, the sound of my heavy breathing seemed a thousand times louder than it actually was. I could hear her rooting through the trench coat, and could hear the wrinkling of celophane as she found my empty plastic bags. Thank god they didn't yet have her used underwear in them.

I put my sweaty, meaty hands together and prayed.

I heard her walking around the apartment. Thankfully, she didn't bring anyone with her. My mind was flashing; the excitement had triggered my epilepsy. Suddenly, I was barraged with memories from my first anime program, Revolutionary Girl Utena. I heard her walking around some more, and then sit down on the bed. I saw her clothes come off and hit the floor in front of me. During this time I was controlling myself and having a minor epileptic fit. I could see transformation sequences from anime programs I had watched. It was all coming together; the near hallucinations, the girl in the bed above me, and most of all, my sweaty fuku uniform.

She approached the bathroom and got into the shower. She turned on the water. I was convinced that this was the one moment I had been searching for. This was my chance to cross over into the other world described in Utena; the fabric of reality was thin. I could taste it. In many of my anime programs I had seen the seemingly normal characters, like me, enter into a world of magic and joy.

I rolled out from under the bed and bounded into the bathroom. She saw my large form approaching through the glass of the shower and started screaming. I was having epileptic flashes; the screaming sounded just like "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" I was having trouble walking, my steps staggered. I couldn't feel the floor. My meaty hands slammed the shower door open, but she sprayed me with a jet of water. The water triggered another fit and I seized, falling into the bath. She tripped and fell on top of me. As she was screaming and my blood filled the bath, it swirled around reality, and intermingled in my mind. Her screams, the blood, my sweat, the uniform, Japan, schoolgirls, magic, tragedy, terror, and hope all become one to me. For one moment, I could taste it. Ohtori Academy. It was here, like a precious jewel perched between my meaty, sweaty pectorals. And then, gone.

SO yeah I like Revolutionary Girl Utena.

>>51877

>No Prince of Bel-Air

Doing it wrong.

>>51869

>>51865

>>51874

>>51877

I giggled a bit.