Review

Revolutionary Girl Utena
The Rose Collection 1
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Software Sculptors

Running time: Approx. 170 mins.
1 single side, dual layer DVD
Includes episodes 1-7
Release Date: July 27, 1999
List Price: $39.98

Also available on VHS subtitled or Dubbed 

Coming:
The Rose Collection 2 (ep. 8-13) Release date Oct. 99.

The short review: Utena is one of the best series to be released in the past year. There have been a lot of good titles released recently and Utena is right up there with the best. Buy it :-)

Revolutionary Girl Utena was not a series I expected to see released in North America. It's a SHÖJO title, it doesn't fit into any of the standard anime formulas, and it gets kind of weird at times<g>. But I'm very glad CPM did! I just hope we don't have to wait too long for the rest of the series to be released here. If it's shöjo why do I like it, being a male in my 30's? For the same reason I enjoy reading fiction written by female authors, well developed characters and a plot driven story. I'm sure not everyone will like Utena as much as I do. If Ninja Scroll and Street Fighter are your favorite anime, or you think Knights of Ramune Blast Off is good (for something other then an emetic) you may want to rent or borrow before you buy.

The title character Utena Tenjou is a student at the Obtori Academy. The Childhood memory of a prince on a white horse who comforted her at the time of her parents death is the key to Utena's life. Driven by that memory she vows to become a prince herself. She has a strong sense of justice, excels at sports even head to head against the boys, she even dresses in a boys school uniform. Utena doesn't want to be a boy just a prince. She wants to be the one to rescue the princess, not the one that needs to be rescued.

It's her sense of justice that draws Utena into the "game" when her friend Wakaba is the victim of a cruel joke. She finds that challenging the guilty party to a duel means more then revenging the wrong done to her friend. She is now part of a game that she doesn't know the rules of. Unable to return to her normal life after winning that first duel, she discovers all of the members of the student counsel have a rose crested ring the same as the one Utena received from the prince long ago in her childhood. Where did the others get theirs? Why do they keep challenging her to duel? What is it about Anthy, the Rose Bride, the sword of dios, and "the power to revolutionize the world"? By the end of the seventh episode you have a lot of questions. You learn the answer to a few of the questions, can guess at some, but many remain a mystery.

Printed across the front cover are the words "From the Director of Sailor Moon" (Kunihiko Ikuhara) but there is not a lot in common between the two. This is not a monster of the day show and Utena's opponents are not your standard cookie cutter evil villains. You can't even call all of them villains. Each have their own personality and motivations for what they do. A friend called Utena "Sailor Moon on crack<g>. I'm not trying to say there is anything wrong with Sailor Moon, but they are two very different things.

Much has been made of the relationship between Utena and her friend Wakaba. Some cultural liner notes would have been helpful here. In Japan teenage girl-girl friendships are considered a stage that many girls go through, not something to worry about. It's clear , as Utena herself says, she wants to find a normal boy. If you want a strange relationship you should be looking at Nanami who is out to get Anthy and Utena because they have distracted her brothers affections.

While it's probably not a good idea to try and dissect a TV show for deep meaning ,one thing I find interesting is the contrast between Anthy and Utena. Anthy is the ideal traditional Japanese bride. Passive, eager to please, only rarely coming out of her shell. Even when abused by others she refuses to stand up for her self. Utena is almost the complete opposite

One of the things that draws me to Utena is the mixture of elements you would not expect to find together. The same effect can be found in other shows like Key the Metal Idol, Lain, or Giant Robo. Start out with the normal school setting you see in just about every teen romantic comedy, but add a prince on a white horse, the shadow players, and a touch of magic and you end up with a surreal universe for the story to unfold.

 The shadow players is one of the unusual things in Utena, appearing before major events they foreshadow the coming events (I don't think the English pun was intended). Unexpected events appear just when things seem normal.
There are several sequences that are repeated almost every episode the ascent to the dueling arena, the appearance of the sword, the student counsel's elevator trip to their meeting place. Like the transformation scene in magical girl shows they save animation costs, but they really work well as an anchor to tie events together.

The animation quality is very good for a TV Show. Smooth motion, detailed backgrounds. The music is top notch (got to find a sound track CD ). I like both the opening and closing song a lot. The background music fits perfectly and helps set the mood for the story.

From my limited Japanese I'd say the translation is quite good. They when a character address someone by there family name they don't automatically substitute the given name like a lot of other series have. They do have the standard problem with translating Utena-sama into English. The only way around it would be to keep it as is and include some liner notes.

The dub is not nearly as bad as I expected after reading comments about it. Actually I think it's quite good. True some of the voices cast did not fit as well as I would like but nothing that would make you want to bite your tongue. A year ago I'd have said it was very good, two years ago it would have been one of the best. Dubs ARE getting better (but I still prefer subtitles.)

This is the first DVD I've reviewed.

Video quality is very good, a few Pioneer titles beat it but this is the best looking CPM disk released to date. Utena is one of the titles CPM did "in house", it's far better then the sloppy Image DVDs.
The sound is clean and clear, both the Japanese and English dub tracks.
The Utena DVD includes two types of subtitles. Songs are hard coded in green, they can't be turned off. The subtitles don't appear on all of the opening and endings, they alternate. Dialog is standard DVD subtitle (it can be turned off) in yellow with a very thin black boarder. They are slightly transparent making them a bit difficult to read in some spots. An opaque font with a thicker black boarder would be better. I found them to be quite readable most of the time, but they could be a little better. Some people have reported that the subtitles shake on there players, it seems to be hardware dependent. The disk comes in a clear keep case, this is a good choice for CPM disks since they print the chapter index / credits on the back of the cover insert. With the clear insert you can read them without having to pull out the sheet.

There are several "extras" on the DVD.

• WebConnex - Just points to pages on the Software Sculptors web site. If you don't have a DVD ROM you are not missing anything here.
• The Songs - Just pointers to the songs on the DVD (but not the Opening or ending songs) and the dub track at that. No big deal here.
• Sneak Peeks - Previews of other titles, animated not just still slides like a lot of early DVDs. Sad to say this is the best "extra" on the disk.

  DVD price.

  Some people complain that DVDs are too expensive. Utena was originally announced as a two disk set with all 13 episodes of the first story arc but was split into two so the unit price would be cheaper even if the total cost is higher.

  For Utena the price per episode breaks down like this.

  DVD - $5.71 (ep 1-7)
  VHS single tape Dub - $7.14 Sub - $8.57(ep. 1-7)
  VHS Box Dub - $6.92 Sub - $7.69 (ep. 1-13)

   Prices are US$ SRP. Add the fact that if you buy online the current price war makes DVD even cheaper (I paid $23.99 or $3.43 per episode). Software Sculptors prices tend to be better then average (compare a Ranma tape at $30 for two episodes!) and the price of the Utena DVD is a real deal.