Apr 4, 2025
I don't have any nostalgia goggles for Utena. I didn't watch it at a young age. It wasn't a formative experience for me. What I did have was two friends who loved it and sat down to watch it all with me in my 30s. And I can say that, despite its rough edges, Utena is absolutely masterful in the task of telling the story it set out to tell.
It's always important to meet a story where it is. Utena is a fairy tale. It's a metaphor. Plenty of what happens is clearly presented visually as one thing that we're not meant to take as
...
a literal representation. The point isn't to worry about what exact details are true and what aren't, because the point of the story is the themes and emotions underneath.
Utena is, at its core, about two things: the place women hold in the world, and the cycles of abuse they suffer in. (To be fair: the male characters aren't safe from these cycles of abuse, either. But it's clear that Utena is centering its story on the way women tend to be uniquely impacted.)
Many of the characters are pretty bad people. Many of them are cruel or petty or destructive. Some may not be cruel, but they're too passive to make a difference when they need to.
The animation is all over the place. Sometimes it's pretty bad, and other times it can be breathtaking; they were clearly saving money in some parts to make sure to shine in the most impactful moments. The last few episodes are honestly breathtaking.
The show is also deeply silly in many ways. Embrace it.
I ended the show feeling like it holds something intensely similar to Evangelion (which was MY formative childhood anime). They bear no real resemblance in their plot, style, themes, etc. But there is something that connects them on a deep ~vibes~ sort of level. I think that Utena is worth ANYONE giving it a chance, but especially if you're hunting for something that will hit some similar strange part of you that Evangelion does.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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