Utena MOVIE

[lizardjay]

Utena movie watched!!!

Attempting to post by phone. I was going to wait until tomorrow, but unfortunately I'm stuck awake until my Tums kick in, so...

 

I take back not being confused by Utena. I'M CONFUSED NOW.

A few weeks ago I saw several people say you had to watch the movie to truly understand the meaning of the show's ending. If so, I incredibly did not get the point of the movie.... I found the ending of the show to be so lovely and good and this movie only confused and honestly frustrated me.

I'll boil my reaction down to this:

Anime: "What's happening??!?" (delighted even though many things are incomprehensible)

Movie: "What's happening...?" (struggling to connect to the most basic parts of what I'm seeing)

... I feel like I'm being really negative throughout this post. Maybe this movie is something I need to digest for a while. I'll admit that I'd unrelatedly had a really bad day before I wrote this up. Idk, people are clearly finding something lovely in this...

Anyway. Of course, the primary question is "is this an AU, or a sequel?" I find both options kind of unsatisfying. To be clear, I found the movie to be entertaining and interesting, but not really narratively or emotionally coherent.

If we go with it being a separate AU:

- why on earth was Saionji included in the Power of Friendship moment at the end

- Utena and Anthy's relationship, imo, is built on very little and really not shown? I found it confusing. For example after the dancing scene, which was lovely, Utena acted like they'd had some big moment of connection..... but I really didn't see it! Obviously I'm coming in with my knowledge of the show that makes me root for them anyway, but. Yeah.

- By not showing any horrors of Ohtori/patriarchal control/etc, except for the instance of Akio Rape directed at Anthy alone, I feel like it weakens Utena. How has Utena realized that the roles society/Ohtori has set up are harmful? And like, I love dead Touga, but how does realizing he's dead.... relate to the themes? It's not like Utena learns his backstory.

- What did Utena (I think she was the one to say it?) mean by saying both she and Anthy killed the prince. Did she mean Dios at the very end with the castle? When watching, that didn't seem to be it. Maybe she said it before that even happened? I don't remember. And so.... what else could it possibly mean? You and Anthy have barely done anything together. This points toward the sequel interpretation but I'm not happy about it..

It's occurring to me to wonder something. I assumed the whole movie took place over like three days. Maybe it was supposed to imply that it took place over a much longer period? I saw no evidence of that though.

If it's a sequel of some sort:

- Why is Anthy back here? Or Utena for that matter, though since we didn't see her after the swords, I suppose she could still be stuck in Ohtori in some way, like Ruka maybe. (I will eternally be bringing up Ruka I guess). I guess you could say Anthy came back FOR Utena. It seems like she's been here for a while before Utena showed up, but we can call that Ohtori Memory Shenanigans. But in that case, why would she hesitate when Utena was trying to take them both away? Why would she hold onto the school? She's already been through this. I guess you could say that for the first time, she too is susceptible to Ohtori Memory Shenanigans, so she went in with the intention of getting Utena out, and the faith that even if she forgot, she and Utena could make their way out again? I mean that's very romantic and I like it, but I'm not sure if it's actually supported by what we see.

- This does make Saionji (and Miki and Juri) make way more sense.

- What does it mean for Touga to be dead? I think we can ignore the specifics of the drowning story since that's likely fake. He's become a Mikage sort of figure in some ways, which is blatantly signalled through his elevator scene. I wish I remembered some Mikage details better.

Despite how much people make fun of it, the car scenes were the most straightforward part of the whole movie. Of course Utena can turn into a car! Of course the castle is on wheels! Of course there's a carwash! I loved that carwash so much. It looked so cool. I could've taken a lot more car metaphors.

What on earth was the Kozue scene for? And what kind of car did she become? I mean, I'm here for it. I'm absolutely here for it. Idk if it's true or not but I assumed she was the giant tank that almost fell on them. I'm just fascinated by the choice to include her for like twenty seconds to threaten Miki and call him a traitor. Also, of course they bathe together. This is unsurprising. But yeah, I'm surprised she and Miki existed in the movie at all. Throwing a bone to the Miki and Kozue fans 😌

We figured out Touga was probably dead in his first scene. I mean, not that they make it hard 😅 the white sheet over him a couple scenes later is a big clue. Though, looking back, I guess that makes him talking on the phone with Akio (I assume? They changed VA's for Akio, or he put on a different voice. If it wasn't Akio then it was Dios on the phone) pretty interesting. Even in death you can't escape phone calls.

My brother had already told me the Touga backstory. There's no reason it can't be true in the show too. AAAAAAAAAA ☹️

I'm really intrigued by Touga/Shiori. Wild concept at all, first of all. But then Touga is kind of the Mikage analogue, and Shiori the butterfly of the elevator in a way.

I just learned that Shiori turned into a cabbage moth, which is a parasite of cabbages. Which were present. Hm. Idk exactly why Shiori became super evil in the movie in general. I had assumed there was a cabbage patch bc of the saying about stealing/eating prized cabbages being like. A metaphor for sex/ruin. I think it's a Chinese saying but it might be widespread.

Circling around to Akio..... how pathetic, on multiple fronts. Losing his car key (metaphorically, I guess, control of his life? Direction? Freedom?). Raping Anthy, but only if she's unconscious; he's not that kind of guy! He swears! Falling out the window, which is again covered by a white sheet. So many sheets in this movie, I haven't even touched on Shiori's wings. Akio's dead before the movie even starts. And then the backstory Dios scene, where he just tilts until he falls to the floor. That too was pathetic.

Dios the concept lurks around the school (he was present in the car garage or whatever that was) and also is there in Dios's Moving Castle at the end. In this movie, since Akio is dead, I'm seeing him as a more separate concept-being.... but who knows. I guess Akio could be dead in the same way as Touga is dead.... technically dead, able to be seen by some people and not others, able to act within the reality of the school.

Utena showing up in her fun outfit and immediately flirting with Wakaba: 😍😍😍 (I'm curious about what happened with Wakaba after she got ditched early in the movie. She was the duelists' car!! What does it all mean......)

Something that's interesting is how much is brought out into the open. Utena and Juri duel in public! Akio's body is discovered in the open! The shadow girls are projecting news over the radio (and TV?)! So many things in Utena happened semi-secretly, that's the environment where sickness really thrived. Not to say there are no secrets in the movie: the rose seal is still supposed to be a secret club, and Akio's actions and death were secret up until he was found. But it feels different still. Everyone is gaining more awareness, perhaps. This goes along with the other duelists saying they'll leave soon.

I am sad this movie had no jokes :( unless you count the Nanami and Chu-chu (and alligator.... thing) cameo.

Comments

[lizardjay]

Utena's look was INCREDIBLE. Honestly starting off the movie with that and then flirting with Wakaba was absolutely perfect.

Yeah, I'm trying to make myself come around to the movie but it's a lot of work! I could see it being compressed but I kind of wish it was compressed in a way where it made like.... emotional sense by itself.