utenaesque

... the power to bring the world revolution! 🌹 * this is a side blog, come visit me @katacala *

[stubbyartist]

you put me into space and hate me when i ask for it

[lyrics in the art and caption from the song "Satellites" by Annabelle Dinda]

[nennenni]

[awwria]

You got a fast car

Is it fast enough so we can fly away?

We gotta make a decision

Leave tonight or live and die this way

[bimtimtom]

rose bride

[kallistoi]

[image description: fanart of anthy himemiya from revolutionary girl utena. she wears her rose bride dress and holds a large bouquet of roses in her arms while several blades stick out from her back, dripping blood. she gazes ahead at the viewer with a placid expression. end description.]

[a-nicer-picture]

A few Adolescence of Utena thoughts after the rewatch.

1. The film starts with the premise that the prince has died (and every main character seems to understand this to some degree at the beginning, even if Utena is in denial), where the series starts with, "How about this prince stuff, huh? Wonder if that will work out!" So there is some kind of progressive mentality shift. But I also don't buy that Adolescence is a direct sequel to the series. Sometimes I like to view it as Anthy's condensed version of the series, but I don't take that interpretation too seriously.

2. The Oniisama e references are there. Water first drying up, then spraying out and flowing everywhere indicating the revolution, for one. For two the airplanes, though here it's lost the association with intimate escape via suicide/death and becomes about escape via intimacy.

3. As iconic as she is throughout I'm still not the biggest fan of what the film is actually saying about Shiori. There seems to be no recovery from crashing out for her on the journey from illusory gendered roles to (queer) adult agency, where in the series she has more chances at the end. Also, as good as the parasite cabbage moth scene is, from where I'm sitting it's probably the most confused imagery in the film. By juxtaposing her speech about Juri's locket and Touga's assault, it might be implying that Shiori is falsely creating a victim narrative for herself (false juxtaposition), or she's victimizing Juri like Touga was victimized (Juri being the prince in her life, which Touga is overall representing as a dead ideal), or both? I would prefer a narrative that scrutinizes Juri's disillusionment a little more other than just having Shiori walk all over her... their dynamic in the series was much more complex. I know the film needs an antagonist and foil for Anthy (and Utena, to some extent) but I do find the parasite imagery reductive. Especially given how much the series avoids being too serious about calling people witches etc. unless the accusation is in a character's mouth (for example, Anthy thinks Shiori's evil... and. She is a human being projecting onto her). Anyway, tumblr user a-nicer-picture has Shiori opinions, I know that surprised everyone

4. There's a little bit here re: sexual purity when Utena rejects Anthy for being too easy. But the narrative then drops this idea after Anthy has opened up about her trauma and Utena accepts her prince ideal has died. Perhaps this implies the pure princess ideal has also died. But it's never addressed outside of what was probably an attempt to highlight some of the darker implications of the Rose Bride.

[inkyandhisbrain]

Watched the movie this weekend.

[evil-bpd]

The secret of the rose bride is... is... is...

[bixels]

Azure, Paler Than the Sky

FINALLY finished this piece, which I started over a year ago. Juri's 2nd duel is one of my favorite moments in Utena. There are so many gut-wrenching shots that I couldn't get out of my head, so I had to draw them all. This'll be available as a print at Lightbox Expo this year!

[fellhellion]

this post by @writing-is-a-martial-art x revolutionary girl utena

[sol-shines]

my favorite thing about revolutionary girl utena is that finishing it changes you fundamentally as a person and both you and the characters will be haunted by the narrative and its impact forever. my second favorite thing about revolutionary girl utena is that one episode where nanami nearly gets her shit rocked by a renegade boxing kangaroo on school property

[reiinx]

antiquity, perfection, isolation in the desert

[strawb-draws]

anthy as a madoka style witch

[metropolitanfemme]

This is literally how the shadow girls talk in utena

[jellytheteawolf]

I swear that I will change the world

[monkey-overalls]

I think about her every day… You will be mine eventually, only-prepainted-Anthy-figure-to-ever-exist (yes I know she also has dolls but I want a FIGURE).

[immunopathology]

these sword pull shots from episodes 1, 2, and 12 were likely reused animation. it's definitely well-animated with great attention to detail.

here, saionji, utena, and touga pulled the sword of dios from anthy, the rose bride, as they said, "grant me the power to bring the world revolution." the reflection of anthy in the sword was an apt imagery to convey the oppressive nature of the sword pull and the whole duelling system, the violence enacted upon the rose bride to achieve and sustain some form of structural hegemony within the system.

an interesting detail i note from these shots is that the background for anthy's reflection in saionji and touga's sword pull was black, but for utena's sword pull, anthy's background was white.

perhaps this detail served to highlight each duelist's benevolence towards the rose bride. yet, it's vital to keep in mind that anthy was seen displaying the same facial expression in all three sword pull shots; despite how well-meaning the duelist was, it did not alleviate the oppression of the rose bride. she still had to submit to the engaged.

[beebfreeb]

Nothing there.