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Revolutionary Girl Utena - The Movie Director: Kunihiko Ikuhara Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Animated, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 87 minutes Studio: CENTRAL PARK MEDIA Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2001-11-13 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 97 Average rating: 4.5 "Intense & Gorgeous" The first time I saw Utena, I thought it was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen. And that was only the tv series. However, after having seen the Utena movie ("The Adolescence of Utena") I can definitely say it's also one of the most beautiful and special things I've seen... Here are some things you may want to know about this movie. Artwork. The artwork in this movie is stunning. Some of the best I've seen. Even before the opening credits, I was spellbound. Utena mixes seamless digital animation with superb traditional artwork to great effect. The character designs are somewhat altered from the tv series (Utena's hair is sometimes short, Anthy's is always long, etc.), but only for the better. The scene in which Utena & Anthy dance in a field of roses under the stars is a perfect example of the movie's superior art (and all of the movie's other high points). Imagery & motifs. Wow. Utena is stuffed with gorgeous images, far more so than the tv series. Once again, roses abound, but in even greater quantity. Some of the most beautiful scenes - Utena's reunion with Touga in the beginning of the movie & the dance scene I mentioned above - center on roses, as do all the duel scenes. Water is also a motif, used in alternately disturbing and soothing ways throughout the film, building to the revealing final scene with Utena & Touga. Imagery is used to relate to the audience just what a strange & surreal world the Utena movie is set in. Themes & Symbolism. Symbolism is key throughout the movie, and you'd be pretty lost if you didn't pay attention to it. Shiori's wings, Akio's "key", Anthy's scar, the faceless girls, and pretty much everything in the climactic & closing scenes. Utena is built on symbolism - for instance, the entire end of the movie makes no sense except in purely symbolic terms. The themes of Utena, in my opinion, are those of growing up, choosing one's own fate, self-reliance, and laying one's past to rest. And love, of course. Characters. The characters of Utena are some of the most interesting and beautiful in anime. Although Utena is ultimately the story of Anthy & Utena, all of the character development in Utena is fascinating (especially Anthy's, in my opinion). In such a short movie with such a complicated story to tell, there is of course not enough exploration of side characters for my taste, but Utena & Anthy at least get plenty of attention. Warnings. Not warnings, exactly, but two things you might want to consider. First, although Utena is definitely worth the time & money, the story is many-layered and hard to understand, and you may not want like to watch movies that make you think for an hour and a half straight. Second, there is some mild nudity, violence, homsexuality, & references to incest. Personally, I think it just makes the story more interesting, but you may object personally. That said, the Utena movie is an incredible experience and I highly recommend it. This one is worth the money. "Utena The Movie" ok....... The movie is great but the storyline of the movie itself is very confusing whats with the twisting sheets??!?!?! The graphics and Anime are of Good Quality but I guess if you havent see the videos it would be hard to understand like when they show a flashback of Utena and Touga were Touga died I don't know It confused me alot even though some reviews say for 13 and up well I'm 13 and I don't get it I think it is more for 15 and up for the compexity of the Movie Plot. There is some slight nudity and I can't remember if they cuss but I really did not get this movie. Even though I like the movie so so I love the graphic Novel and I think I would find the volumes of the show themselves much much easier to understand!!! "To Each Their Own With This Movie." I can see why some people regard this film as advocating lesbianism or whatever, but when I watched it, I regarded Utena and Anthy not so much as two different people, but as two sides to one coin. I saw them as one person, or as all of humanity, trying to reconcile conflicting feelings, desires, and dreams while dealing with the fearful unknown of adulthood. And that's just MY interpretation. Who knows how many perfectly valid opinions can be drawn from this complex movie? The animation is beautiful, detailed, vivid, and fluid, and the characters are majestic and beautiful (except for Nanami--she certainly got strange treatment in this movie). I was pleased by how good the dubs are, and Akio's voice actually made me laugh, it was so smug and aloof. Shionji's kind of threw me off, however, but this may be my personal taste. I was surprised Shiori got as large a role as she did, but what is great is that you can listen to the director's commentaries and understand why things were presented as they were. On the other hand, some of his comments really made me wonder just how seriously I should take the movie since it seemed so many things were incorporated arbitrarily or for amusement's sake. The extras are really cool, and the menu layout is just superb, even better than Cowboy Bebop. Lots of moving images, sounds, and elements of the film incorporated into the menu items. Overall, the best thing about this movie, like End of Evangelion, is that you can interpret it as you choose. You cannot fully understand it with just one viewing because foreshadowing in the beginning gets fulfilled by the end, and you feel the need to refresh your understanding of the film. I hope viewers don't get offended by the film, and it certainly is not for children, but for anyone who dreamed of exploding into adulthood on the wheels of power and freedom, this movie is for you. "Wow..." First off, I would like to address the other reviews on this page. Yes, there is nudity, but this is not what I would call porn. The themes are mature, yes, but the nudity is more symbolic. Nudity symbolizes many things throughout the movie. Second, a little warning. If you are buying this to understand the series in any way - don't. This has little to do with the series. I have only seen the first 8 subbed episodes and read various descriptions and summaries of the others. My friend and I watched this together. She's only seen the first 8 and hasn't read any summaries. She understood the movie as well as I did. It is a beautiful movie. The art work and symbolism will blow your mind. The relationships are beautifully twisted and strained. Angst, romance, betrayal... This movie has it all. "Utena likes pie" The revoltutionary girl Utena is a metaphorical master piece! It a must see for all adolessences. though this movie dose contain insest, drug-rape, nudity and Lesbiens it's fine. Though I would recamend parents watching it with them the first time, unless you don't care. It's a fairy tale that is a heck of alot better then that crap disney makes! Run Utena Run!