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Both the manga and anime for "Revolutionary Girl Utena" seem to have quite a large following, so to say the least, I was expecting something great. I am afraid I did not get exactly that. I'm not saying this manga was bad because it was a great concept and actually had a lot of potential. However, it came up short for me, and I am going to give it a 6. I'll list the pros first.

Pros

I'll start with my favorite thing about this manga, which was the art. Chiho Saito really outdid herself because this manga was completely beautiful. I love the rose theme and ... the character designs were very attractive. They didn't really look like middle schoolers to me, but I was able to get over that. It was a fantastic manga in this regard.

Utena herself is a very likable and relatable female protagonist. She isn't afraid to stand up for herself, and is quite strong-minded. I wish we could see more Shoujo protagonists like her.

The story was a brilliant concept. This manga could have been an 8 or a 9 if it had been presented differently, in my opinion. With that, I can transition into the cons.

Cons

I'll start with the storytelling. Quite honestly, the fantasy elements of this story were quite weak until the fifth volume. I felt like I was reading something that was only a school story until the last few chapters when I was overloaded with fantasy attributes. Had the whole manga really harnessed these elements, it could have been incredible.

Secondly, the pacing was not good. I had times where I didn't want to put the manga down, but at other times, it was quite a chore to read. I even considered dropping it at one point, and don't get me wrong, I am happy I didn't. I had to dock a few points on "enjoyment" due to this though.

Some characters were very under-developed. I mainly mean Saionji, Juri, and Miki. I liked what I saw of them, but they faded into the background too often. Some backstories or more details would have helped me like them more. I guess I just wanted to know more about them in a sense.

I understand that this was made simultaneously with the 39 episode anime. I hear they are way different, and that the anime is better. I am definitely going to check it out since this had so much promise, and I am hoping for the best with it. As with most 6's, I don't really recommend it, but I honestly liked some parts of it a lot. I would say go with the anime. I am predicting something more fleshed out and better-developed than this.

6/10

First of all, I should say that I expected this to be a carbon copy of Madoka Magica, and one that would score a 5 at best. My reasoning was that it is a "darker" series about magical girls, and the main character, Snow White, even bears a striking resemblance to Madoka. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how this series stands on its own and is a solid 7.

I will write some pros and cons, as I do in all my reviews:

Pros

Quite a unique storyline. It was an excellent mix of the magical girl genre and the battle royale genre, both of which I ... love. The elements of these two genres were well-portrayed.

The manga hopped right into the action. There was not a lot of build-up, which worked in the manga's favor. The storytelling was also appropriate for the length of the manga.

Characters all got a brief, albeit good backstory. It really helped the reader understand their behavior, but did not take up too much time.

Some of the timings of the deaths for characters were quite unexpected for me.

The art suited the story and was aesthetically pleasing.

Cons

Some of the action scenes were slightly hard to follow. I had to go back a few pages sometimes to grasp exactly what had happened, which is a major pet peeve of mine in manga.

Other than the backstories, characters were mainly traditional archetypes. I would say the most unique characters were Top Speed and Swim Swim. Other than that, I didn't really fall in love with any of them, especially protagonist Snow White.

There could have been more backstory on the game the magical girls were playing and why exactly things had come to that. I felt the reasoning offered was very weak, and I would have liked more information.

It could have been grittier for a battle royale/dark magical girl story. I would say Madoka Magica was grittier, and this was one respect where I would have appreciated some Madoka rip-offs.

Overall, this was a good manga with flaws and some underdeveloped parts. Considering it was only two volumes, I can recommend it. I know there is a light novel, and maybe that is more developed? Either way, this was a nice short read.

7/10

I liked this manga for a few reasons, but also had my reasons to dislike it too. In my opinion, it was a good time killer and decent manga, but failed as a thriller in many ways. I will write some pros and cons.

Pros

Very great concept, and succeeded in being very psychological at times. Really gave insight into the emotions of those who have taken a life, which I am sure most could not actually relate to. But somehow, it worked here.

I thought I had predicted the culprit, but it was actually somebody different. Some of the twists and turns were quite good.

The art suited ... the mood and atmosphere of the story, while not being my favorite style.

Cons

The first four volumes were quite slow in my opinion. Considering that is over half of the series, I have to dock some points for that. I couldn’t get really into it until volume 5 or 6. I do believe this could have been shorter by a couple volumes.

The romance in the story just didn’t work for me. I have heard of a love triangle, but here, there was kind of a love pentagon. Characters’ reasons for liking another character sometimes made no sense, or their reasoning to sleep with a character they had no feelings for were nonexistent. I think the author was going for emotional disturbance in a sense, but I wasn’t buying it, and much of the story was wasted on these romances.

The characters were somewhat weak. Everyone kept calling Shintaro brave and Akira charismatic, and the boys were all over Tsubaki and Haruka for reasons that could have been better portrayed. Ryu was my favorite and the most relatable by far for me. This was a very character-driven story, so this is where it really falls short.

Overall, a decent read. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I wouldn’t tell someone to stay away from it either. I wouldn’t read it again though.

6/10

This is my first review so bear with me!

I thought this was a great concept and I really did want to enjoy it a lot. But I am going to have to give it a generous 5 rating. I’ll write some pros and cons:

Pros:

Nice concept for a story

The lingo and terminology for the story’s sci-fi aspects were well described and easy to understand.

... The art was good, and not overly fanservicey for a harem.

Cons:

The story was very poorly executed. Not only that, but I had this feeling midway through the 4th and final volume that the ending was going to make it worthwhile. Instead, there was a cliffhanger and not much was resolved. I know this is based on a light novel, and I am not sure if the novel was still ongoing, but either way, it left me unsatisfied.

Very under-developed and almost identical characters. Yuu was a very generic male protagonist, his sister was unlikeable to me for the most part, the writer did not help me sympathize with Iris enough to care what happened to her, and the rest were pretty much just in the background. I feel that I could have really like Firill and Ariella had they been given a backstory or even more lines.

The harem element also fell short. I do enjoy harems because of the variety of female characters we get, but these girls were neither relatable nor charming in my opinion. I always knew which girl Yuu would pick. Not that it isn’t obvious in most harems, but I like when the protagonist wavers somewhat. It makes it more realistic for me.

Overall, this one is skippable in my opinion. It is never a good thing when you are happy a manga was so short. This didn’t stand out in any of its listed genres and was very average.

5/10