 If you liked
Shoujo Kakumei Utena
|
 ...then you might like
Ouran Koukou Host Club
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Revolutionary Girl Utena and Ouran host club are cut from the same cloth...
They both parody many shoujo anime themes such as roses.
The shows have very similar art, and both use a fair amount of symbolism.
They are both set in prestigious boarding schools for the rich with a french architecture design.
The comedy is similar using abstract arrows and creative use of camera angles.
Both shows also have a lead female character that dress as a boy.
Both have strong homosexual themes and jokes.
On the other hand Utena is much darker and also part action show, featuring a duel nearly every episode.
I believe if someone
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As I looked through the list of recommendations on Utena's list, I was surprised by the complete lack of Ouran High School Host club. First of all, I noticed extreme similarities in the art styles. Both are drawn very angular. Both center around a boyish female that (in the Utena Movie) are confused for male.
I realize there are some differences in the plots. But I just got this strong feeling that OHSHC was based of Utena.
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Recommended by kawaiisammy
Both feature a masculine girl for a main character, lots of male characters drawn to look attractive to female viewers, a big and beautifully built academy, and focus on friendship and growing up. Roses play a significant role in both stories, and nearly everybody has some decent character development.
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Recommended by mysngoeshere56
Revolutionary Girl Utena and Ouran High School Host Club are both anime that critique shoujo, featuring a female lead that wears male clothing and strong themes of homosexuality.
The difference is that Ouran is a light-hearted parody, whereas Utena is a much darker and satirical in nature. Ouran is a simple work intending to make the audience laugh. Utena is a very dramatic and complex psychological work intending to make the audience think.
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Recommended by XanthReborn
Ouran and Utena share a lot of similar things. Crossdressing protagonist? Check. Lots, and lots or roses? Check. Gorgeously designed academy for wealthy students? Check.
The main difference is Ouran is more geared for comedy, and Utena is...a bunch of things.
Although a first glance at their MAL descriptions betray few similarities, Shoujo Kakumei Utena--aka Revolutionary Girl Utena--is a spiritual predecessor to Ouran. Both satirize tropes/themes in shoujo anime. If you enjoyed the examinations of gender in Ouran and want to watch more gender-bending anime but with a little more teeth, this is the anime for you. It shares the same sense of the dramatic as Ouran, and some of the imagery/names in Ouran are deliberate references to Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Utena also takes place at a fancy school with pretty boys (although the boys are less good people). For all that it is more serious
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Recommended by ChocolateDoves
Both share criticisms on what a typical shoujo would be and have a female lead that often goes outside of the conventions of a shoujo female lead and lots of lgbt themes as well too and female lead in particular often wears guys clothes and doesn’t act like a typical girl as mentioned before and also a school setting as well too.
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Recommended by Disapeared_Ghost
Episodic shows with similar character designs and main leads, with a lot of romance and comedy. Both are set on a school, and each episode usually focus on developing a specific character, with multiple episodes dedicated to the main group (the host club or the student council+).
There are also some very specific things that both of these series do, like sometimes having flashing arrows pointing to important stuff, banana peels that randomly appear so that someone can slip on them, and the very simplified and pointy designs on their OP's.
Utena and Ouran have a similar atmosphere. Whether that's from the rose symbolism, similar-looking art style, the run-on jokes, people playing piano, or lavish school uniforms, I don't know. While Utena is a much more serious anime than Ouran, the "filler" and slice of life episodes have the exact same energy as every episode of OHSHC. There's also episodes diving into each character's emotions and lives, dramatic personalities clashing, and talk about gender and sexuality. And certain characters share similar personalities with characters from the other show. I'm certain that if Nanami and Tamaki ever met the world would crumble and be destroyed.
It's the feeling. Like a fever dream. Surreal. Weird, abstract, & unexplainable, with symbolism galore.
The pallette, the roses, esthetic, transition card use/look. The everloving overflow of roses!
Then of course what other people have said (which didn't even occur to me at first) w/genderbending MC, teasing/skirting LBGTQ+, elite boarding school, French architecture, etc.
If you enjoyed saying "what the ell am i watching" (in the most sincere way) with Utena, you will definitely enjoy this.
Did i mention roses?