Why You Should Watch Revolutionary Girl Utena (spoiler free!)

A lot of the anime I tend to watch is mainly older anime, specifically around the 80s to 2010s era where the majority of animes weren't just lazily put together medieval settings and overall just an excuse for the creator to act out their very boring fetishes on their barely legal female characters (if you couldn't tell from that sentence alone, I hate isekai animes with a passion. Unless it's I'm in Love With The Villainess). 

There's a reason for me preferring this sort of era of anime, partly because nostalgia bait has me on a leash, partly because it's pretty, but also because some of the stories are just more relatable. Of course I believe that anime now has nuance and I'm not saying that it doesn't (some recommendations would include Sk8 The Infinity), but when I say that many animes now lack nuance I mean the ones that are fully pushed by the mainstream, or whatever the current 'meta' for reddit users to flock to is.

But even then, some of the older animes you may think I would absolutely glaze to death also have this lack of nuance. There was a lot of sexually driven fanservice even back then, and I think a lot of anime fans who also like that era also avoid talking about it because that era was simply perfect and amazing and didn't have any flaws whatsoever! And if you point out said flaws you're a hater!

But that's almost the exact opposite of how I feel about the anime I'm about to write about. The anime is timeless - sure, it's confusing and if you don't watch it at least twice you may walk out more weirded out than satisfied, but without paying attention to the details you tend to miss out on what Revolutionary Girl Utena has to offer. It's the visuals that tie the whole anime together, with enough symbolism and pure dramatic flair to balance out the dark and deep that weighs on your shoulders the deeper you go. 

So, how would I describe Revolutionary Girl Utena to someone who knows absolutely nothing about it? What's so revolutionary about it? Why does everyone, including me, consider it a masterpiece of visual storytelling?

#1: I'm assuming that you already know what revolution means. Most people do. I'm not one of those people in video essays (or just essays in general) who goes back to the beginning of human existence just to talk about a silly anime. But the title describes what the anime is - it represents a change; a metamorphosis if you will. That change is propelled by our titular protagonist Utena Tenjou, a 14 year old student in the middle school section of Ohtori Academy. But it's done in a way that isn't typical, and maybe not even that noticeable if you're not watching and paying attention closely enough. But that's the beauty of the anime - it's not your cookie-cutter mahou shoujo where it's just lesbians with swords, and as you delve deeper the anime makes you realise that it's more than just campy entertainment (tip: watch RGU without your phone or a second screen, or you'll miss out. Trust me, I've tried and it doesn't hit the same.).

#2: It's a dramatic, entertaining spectacle. Although it was relatively low budget even for its time, it doesn't stop the anime from being artistically beautiful and surreal. Of course with all anime it has its low budget episodes, but that doesn't then lower its storytelling qualities. Never skip filler (if anyone tells you to skip the Black Rose Arc, do NOT listen to them. Watch every single episode. It is all important and significant to building characters.).

#3: The representation is immaculate, even for its time. I think people tend to forget that a lot of queer representation back in the day was mostly coded or implied to appeal to the popularity of the BL/GL genre at the time (it's still thriving by the way! I love me some good heartfelt yaoi and yuri <3). But the queer representation isn't just a silly decoration - it's used to show the complexities of queerness, from sexuality to gender. There's also representation of South Asians, but one of my main criticisms of RGU is that Anthy is used as a scapegoat for people with lighter complexes than her (this however isn't the main problem. I interpret her ethnicity as South Asian, but it's never been stated. As someone who has faced more discrimination because I'm both Asian and a woman, I see myself in Anthy which is why I read it this way.).

#4: Taboo subjects such as rape and abuse as a whole are often swept under the rug with animes, especially new ones. I find that they tend to almost kinkify it (and no, I'm not trying to kinkshame) and make it a little thing that's hot and sexy and mostly just an excuse for the writers to act out their fantasies on their barely legal female characters. There this literally an anime centered around enacting revenge sexual assault, which by the way isn't okay and if you ever feel the need to do that get a therapist! But RGU doesn't do that. That's not how it works. Rather than glorify it, we have to fight it head on. Without saying exactly what happens, it takes one multiple taboo subjects, some of which are stereotypes of anime in general, and flips them around on their heads, exploring them like real world subjects rather than just little gags and jokes like other animes.

Those are my four reasons. Overall, I just think RGU is an anime that I'll never be able to forget even if I tried. It's glorious, dark, entertaining, funny, beautiful - all those words. I could talk endlessly about RGU as a whole, but I'm trying to retain your interests here. Thanks for reading though!! If you ever try it from reading this blog, be sure to give me shout <3