Attention Utena fans.

[trenchkamen]

I got that Utena community up. It is nemuro_hall. Please take a look around and see if it is to your liking. I want to get this place rocking. Join up and get involved in the first discussion. You know you want to.

It saddens me to see this fandom die out. This is my all-time favorite anime, and it is sublime. I just re-watched the final two episodes (of the old-skool Utena Translation Fansubs, long live! and fuck Software Sculptors) for the first time in over a year, and I notice new things every single time. When I watched that ending for the first time when I was thirteen, I understood it very differently. I was seeing things from Utena's point-of-view; this time, I saw things more from Akio's point-of-view.

Comments

[ariseishirou.livejournal.com]

The thing I think that I disliked most about Utena - I otherwise loved the series - was the arc where everything is revealed to be a dream, called the Black Rose duelists or some such, and did not establish anything about the major characters that hadn't already been established. An utter waste of time.

That and since the characters are largely symbolic, just like their experiences, I found it difficult to get attached to them.

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I rather liked the Black Rose arc; Mikage was one of my favorite characters. It seemed as though it was written more to showcase a philosophy and the peripheral characters than to develop the main characters, which is cool. After watching the show through some-odd-times the Black Rose Saga seems rather integral to establishing the theme; it is the first time somebody 'leaves' the academy by becoming aware of the illusory nature of the place, and it is revealed that students in the academy do not age / leave their adolescent mindsets so long as they are there.

Regardless, the Ohtori Akio and Apocalypse Arcs still ruled over all.

And, hell, I thought the characters were meticulously realistic and beautifully-written. They were my imaginary best friends back in the day. They still have a special place in my heart.

[ariseishirou.livejournal.com]

It does establish these things, but there would have been innumerable better ways to do so, rather than in a way that essentially removes any effect on the characters themselves. It affect the viewer, certainly.

I have always been taught, and generally agreed with the exception off exceptional circumstances that 'it was all a dream' is a plot device that should be rarely, if ever, used. Simply going through the arc but having the characters remember the experience would have been a much better way to go about it.

The characters were beautifully-written, I agree; perhaps it's the literature courses I've taken, but I could not help but equate the characters with what the represented every time I thought of them. And the world itself, though captivating and intriguing in its own way, I found impossible to go anywhere with, because it is intended to exist symbolically and not as reality.

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I've never been too bothered by the 'it was all a dream' concept in this instance, though, yeah, in most others it is a rather annoying echo of a deus ex machina cop-out ending. I think the 'dream' concept had some meaning in Utena; once illusions are gone, or princes, or martyrs, or people forget about them. The same thing happened to Utena at the end of the series that had happened to Mikage; she became a 'dream' because she left the illusory world. And that train of thought is getting close to becoming a long, detailed discussion…

True, though, that the Black Rose Saga may have been more profound if all the characters had remembered their experiences during that arc, and had changed accordingly. I’m pondering that now. What did annoy me was Touga sitting around feeling sorry for himself for thirteen episodes. That was lame.

I think the Utena universe is ripe for expansion. There is a lot to be said about the outside world relative to Ohtori Academy, and what the characters would experience once they had to leave, or once the Academy's illusions ceased to exist. There is a lot to explore regarding the end of the series. I personally think Wakaba would have been the next 'Utena' and that there would have been a revolution on behalf of the 'normal' people--sort of a reprise of her Black Rose duel. There is always a way to expand on something; the trick is finding just the right way to do it to make that expansion meaningful. Imagination is unlimited.

The characters always existed first as themselves to me. What the characters symbolized seemed more arbitrary and simplistic, like something in the background. True, their respective symbolic meanings contributed greatly to the meaning of the work, but when it comes right down to it, they seem like people to me.

[ariseishirou.livejournal.com]

Indeed, imagination is unlimited, but mine wasn't piqued by the series in the slightest - it felt very much like a finished piece, and that the writers of the series had said all they wanted to say. Thus it follows that since the characters impressed themselves upon me as symbols rather than people, once the story had ended there was nothing left to be said about them.

With regard to the rest of the world in relation to the Academy: since the school represents for the most part adolescence, I would assume what lies in store for all of the character when they escape it is adulthood. In which, of course, they would revel in their freedom and newfound knowledge for a few years before entering and entirely different kind of Institution, wherein all freedom of thought and expression is crushed for most by endless repetition of the same acts and a sense of powerlessness that ultimate leaves them back where they started: caring only about themselves, their belongings, and their close friends and family.

All those who speak out against it are ridiculed for their lack of understanding of Reality and That Which Must Be; fear and ignorance of the outside world is as rampant as in the Academy.

The only way to leave this Institution is through death, and this time the death is without end.

/cynicism

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

What you say about the transference to 'adulthood' is very true; it was more or less what I had in mind about what happened to Utena once she was in the 'outside world' long enough. She had still retained a great deal of innocence by the last episode of the series; it would be heartbreaking to see that idealism destroyed, and it would be very painful for her, but I think she would also be liberated in the long run by losing some of her immature perceptions and hang-ups.

Reality is reality, yes; nobody should be ridiculed for trying to point out common sense. And people are always prisoner of some system or device, regardless of the stage of life. But there is a mental freedom that can be achieved despite that. It is not ideal, and with wisdom and age comes a sense of one's transcendence, and from that jadedness, but people do have control over their own mental freedom. It is not easy, but it is a choice everybody has. And, in the end, it can be the difference between a happy life and an unhappy life.

I’m determined to be about sixteen at heart the rest of my life.

[shineko.livejournal.com]

Never watched Utena and only know bits and pieces, so I'm sad to say I won't be joining. But I can pimp your community? And good luck with a community like that! Definitely hope you don't have trouble :3

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

Of course! I would greatly appriciate that. Thank you!

[shineko.livejournal.com]

I'll do it in the morning or afternoon, considering the time it is. People tend to catch things better at certain times, I guess XD

[stabbityblkmage.livejournal.com]

doesn't she at one point randomly turns into a car?

Stevveweeeevee

[keichisfuuma.livejournal.com]

Your thinking of the movie, whic is the most amazing anime movie ever.

[mefiant.livejournal.com]

Note to self: Get Chris to buy Utena.

:3

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

Who is Chris?

I honestly don't know whether or not you'd like it. It's a hit-and-miss show for a lot of people.

[fufuberrysoda.livejournal.com]

Sadly, a lot of the fandoms are dead or dying. And this isn't a bad one, but... sigh. I'm a bigger fan of the manga, personally. (Why yes, I'm a Ruka/Juri shipper!)

I prefered the fansubs, too. Same with X and about a million other anime. Sailormoon's a good one to site where fansubs were better, too...

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I thought the manga paled in comparison with the anime.

I never saw the fansubbed version of X.

[fufuberrysoda.livejournal.com]

I think the manga didn't have a lot of things the anime did. The anime ended up having, well... more meaning to it. They gave reasons for fighting and acting. Chiho didn't get into that stuff enough in the manga.

OMG. YOU SHOULD. And if you get one of the really good ones, around episode 12 or so, the subs screw up and are like, "!1asdk q fb" when it has an exclamation point after a word.

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

"FUUUMAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!1"

[fufuberrysoda.livejournal.com]

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!

I can't tell you how much that amused me. My sides hurt.

Okay

[keichisfuuma.livejournal.com]

lauren, seeing as I never use my Livejournal, and you messed up my stuff anyway... Like my intrests....XD I dont have a clue on how to join your Nemuro Hall thing. I want to tho, so yea, please tell me how. It is awsome by the way.

Re: Okay

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

At the very top of the "user info" page, right under "Community Information" and above the blue button-bar, there is text that tells you to "click here" if you want to join the community. And I did not mess up your interests. I fixed them.

Are we doing anything today?

[white-manjushri.livejournal.com]

I requested to join the community. Man, Utena brings out my 13 yr old self, I even had a yahoo group dedicated to it back then, what nostalgia...

[trenchkamen.livejournal.com]

I was about the same age when I got into that show, too. Rock on.

You're the first member!