by Nathan
Title: Revolutionary Girl Utena: Crest of the Rose (Eps. 1-4)
Format: VHS; subtitled and dubbed.
There was a princess, who after her parents died, was comforted by a prince and given a rose signet ring. As he left, he vowed that they would meet again. Is the rose signet an egagement ring or something else? Thus openth Revolutionary Girl Utena, the only show that uses more roses per episode than Tuxedo Mask. After this little prologue, we follow Utena Tenjou as she, tomboyish, yet popular, interacts with her friends. When she sees her best friend’s crush slap another girl after breaking her best friend’s heart, she challeges the young man to a duel, one that will have consequences beyond her imagining. Seeing the signet ring Utena wears, the young man accepts, telling her to meet him in the restricted area outside school. Utena wins the duel, and in the process, becomes engaged to Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride. Now Utena has to fend off challenges from other duelists, each wearing a rose signet ring.
I was overwhelmed by the immersion into a grand plot beyond my and Utena’s comprehension. Although I understand that Utena’s clueless about all the rules and reasons for the Duels, I could honestly care less. The plot arc seems too grand and too unexplained for much of what I saw to make sense. I assume that after further episodes the viewer can understand what happened, but to be honest, I don’t care. Confusion is not a virtue, and while I do not want to know everything from the beginning, I want to at least have more of a clue of what is going on than the writers dangle for our consumption, which isn’t much. There were too many unaswered questions for me to continue with the rest of the tapes in the series.
From an artistic standpoint, Revolutionary Girl Utena has been placed on the scales and found wanting. After watching Tenchi Muyo! Universe, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Magic Knight Rayearth, and Fushigi Yugi, I have come to expect more from character designs than Utena delivers. The pupil-less eyes and transparent hair locks seem to be more along the lines of cut corners than stylish. In truth, the Duelists are of better quality than the two main characters. And the computer animation is not up to Escaflowne or Anastasia standards of integration with the cell anmation. For a project that claims to be by the same producer and staff that worked on Sailor Moon, this was a disappointment.
Even with its flaws and small group of annoying characters (Nanami, those cursed shadow players, and that little rat thing of Anthy’s), Utena did entertain. The Sunlit Garden - Prelude, last of the four episodes on the cassette, was touching and is a good watch for all the sentimentalists out there. Too bad it was ruined by Nanami’s “comic relief”.
While I do not whole heartedly recommend Revolutionary Girl Utena, because I thought it too mediocre to live up to its hype, I do suggest you watch it. I have seen it both praised and cursed by other reviewers, with almost as many praises as curses. Therefore, you should watch it and make up you own mind. If you don’t like it, don’t claim I didn’t warn you. And one last word of warning, make sure you watch this one subtitled. The dub is absolutely horrid, worse than usual.
Story - 6 - Sounds like a good yarn, but gets too complex too soon.
Art - 4 - In the post-Eva age, we expect more than this.
Music - 6 - Not bad, but somewhat freaky.
Enjoyment - 3 - Very little, but for the Sunlit Garden episode.
Rewatchability - 3 - Almost stopped watching it on six separate occassions.
Total - 4.4
Cute Creature Rating - 2 - There is only one cute rat with oversized ears, and he works for Disney
Final Verdict - Rent, but don’t buy.
---NathanAs usual, the opinions in this review are mine and mine alone. If you disagree, good. You’re thinking for yourself. But don’t write to me, my opinion is cast in stone. However, you are free to write your own review on this page.