Archive for the Saitou Chiho Category


Yuri Anime: Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie/Adolescence Of Utena (English)

May 28th, 2012

Included with the third Revoutionary Girl Utena box set from Nozomi/RightStuf is the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie: Adolescence Of Utena.

I credit this movie, specifically, with being the beginning of my “career” as a spokesperson for Yuri. Because of my interest in the movie, my discovery of a Yoshiya Nobuko reference in the movie manga, and my interest in the literary and artistic references drawn upon for the series, I ended up being invited to present this movie at the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco, the British LGBTQ Film Festival and the Tampa LGBTQ Film Festival back in the early 2000s. I was able to meet and interview Ikuhara Kunihiko at Big Apple Anime Festival and because of this movie, CPM was an early sponsor for Yuricon events. I have a lot to thank this movie for. Not least of which is for being a fantastic movie.

It is a fantastic movie, with extraordinary visuals, and two of the most spectacular scenes I have ever seen on a screen – the dance on the dueling ground, and the castle car. As much as I consider the TV series a more subtle and sophisticated creation, its the movie I watch more often.

I find I have never once published the intro I gave this movie a decade ago when it first came out in English, so rather than explain to you what I said, here is the actual intro I gave the film, in front of hundreds of people who liked anime and the series…and thousands of people who had no idea what the hell they were getting in to.

In 1994, on Sundays at 7 PM, the Shinjuku Ni-chome, Tokyo’s gay and lesbian district would come to a screeching halt. Why? Because for the first time ever, Japan was watching a lesbian couple on their TVs, as part of the popular animated series, Sailor Moon These characters, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, were very clearly portrayed as a couple – with personal issues to work out, as well as greater ethical dilemmas – all within a framework of defeating the Monster of the Day as sailor-suited magical heroines.

The director of that pivotal season of Sailor Moon had instructed the voice actresses to play the characters as if they were a married couple. In 1997, that same director Ikuhara Kunihiko, along with veteran comic artist Chiho Saito and the creative team at Be-papas, turned their sights once again to the “magical girl” genre of Japanese animation. The result of their collaboration was the wildly popular series Revolutionary Girl Utena.

This 39-episode television series utilized symbolism from earlier popular shoujoai or, “girls love” series – character designs and settings, were inspired by pioneer of shoujoai, Ryoko Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles and Brother, Dear Brother. Ikeda herself had incorporated imagery into her works that were established at the beginning of the twentieth century, by lesbian author Yoshiya Nobuko. Yoshiya’s Flower Tales set the standard for girls’ literature, and ultimately girls’ comics and animation, as well. Yoshiya was also responsible for the creation of the “shoujoai” genre with her story Two Girls in the Attic, another story whose themes and imagery echo strongly throughout the Utena series.

What you are about to see is the movie based upon the earlier television series. It was not meant to be a resolution of the series, it was meant to be a reflection of it – the same story as seen through a slightly distorted lens. The movie highlights the conventions of Japanese animation, even taking them to extremes. The subtle surrealism of the television series has been left behind and replaced with overtly surreal elements, a non-linear narrative and perhaps most confusing, scenes that are wholly dependent upon knowledge of the television series. What does this mean to you, the viewing audience? Well, it means that the best way to view this movie is to simply let it wash over you, like the roses over the dueling ground.

What significance does this movie, this cartoon, have for gays and lesbians? Many Japanese – as do many Americans – see comics and animation as being just for kids. But as we know, as we breathlessly waited for Willow and Tara to kiss on Buffy, the Vampire Slayer; every image, in any media, is progress. And with gay and lesbian youth, images that appear on television or in the movies have an even greater impact. This movie, like the television show it is based upon, adds one more positive image to the library.

In the United States, Yaoicon was formed to increase awareness of the portrayal of gay men in Japanese comics and animation, while at Yuricon, we’re focusing on our own line of translated and original comics, and next year will be holding a ground-breaking event in Tokyo to celebrate lesbian stories in Japanese animation and comics with their creators. We at Yuricon firmly believe that our support, our creativity and our energy will bridge the enormous gap between fans here in the West and in Japan, and feed back into Japanese lesbians’ and gays’ efforts at being recognized openly.

And with that hopeful thought, I’d like to present to you, Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie.

***

We did hold that event, and we have continued to bridge that gap. I’ve traveled the world, spoken on several continents about Yuri, presented movies and manga and anime to people in hundreds of countries through this blog.

As I watched the movie this weekend – again – I’m reminded that in many ways, it did give us the power to Revolutionize the World. How cool is that? ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 10





Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie Anime Dub Review (English)

March 23rd, 2012

Happy Guest Review Day! I know I have not yet reviewed the third box set of Revolutionary Girl Utena, much less the movie, but I will. I’ve just been a tad busy. In the meantime, here is a special Guest Review from Okazu Superhero Eric P. on, specifically, the dub of the Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie, since as you know, I do not watch dubs.

I hope you’ll all extend a welcoming hand to Eric, as always. Enjoy the review!

In my review for the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series’ dub, I pretty much summed it up as a dated mixed bag at best. I would so far as say that Nozomi/RightStuf should’ve made the 5.1 Japanese the DVD’s default language, as they’ve done with most of their bilingual releases, rather than having to go to ‘Setup’ to make it so. However, and most fortunately, the same would not be said for the movie’s dub. Even though it is the exact same cast as the TV series, the Revolutionary Girl Utena The Moviedub production is a considerably vast improvement.

A variety of reasons comes into play here. It may have had to do with the animation having more vibrant life to it, and thus there’s more vibrant life to the acting since there was more to play off of. They had an ADR director for the movie who was not the same as the guy who did the TV series, so no doubt that was a huge help. Perhaps it  helped even more that Kunihiko Ikuhara himself came to the studio and offered his feedback and personal direction on some key scenes.

One of the key reasons was that all the weak-link actors trimmed either to just a brief few lines or just brief mute appearances. For instance, the flat-voiced English Nanami just cameos as a short-lived moo-ing cow, so nothing grating there. But for those with high expectations, there can still be some nitpicks. Saionji’s voice can be considered the least good performance. And Miki still sounds older for his age for anyone who finds that bothersome, but the acting itself still isn’t bad and, since he’s supposed to be mature for his age it still works in its own way.

In the end, for all the TV series dub’s weaknesses, by comparison the dub for the movie is a much more solid effort. The overall cast complements and adds to the surrealistic atmosphere of the story, and the actors convey all the necessary feelings through their characters as much as they should. One of the best examples is the scene where Utena and Anthy are in bed together—I thought the mood was really right for that moment, and it’s consistently reflected in all their scenes together. All things considered, it still stands well today, and I would so far as believe it’s interchangeable with the Japanese track; I can watch this amazing and excellent movie in either language and still appreciate it on the same level. So, if you’re a dub fan or are at least open to dubs but shied away from watching the movie in English due to the TV dub’s mediocrity, there’s nothing to be afraid of here. Give it a try if you’re inclined.

Ratings:

Overall – Well done if not so far as being totally perfect. To heck with it, I give it a 9.5

Thank you Eric for the review. Well folks who’ve seen both -what do you think? Does the dub hold up as well as the original track? All opinions welcome in the comments.





Revolutionary Girl Utena Anime Box Set – Volume 2, Disk 3 (English)

January 12th, 2012

Revolutionary Girl Utena, Volume 2, Disk 3 provides a whole lot of food for thought, doesn’t it?

So, first of all, let look at the final of the puppet duelists for the Black Rose, Nanami’s henchchick, Keiko. Like Wakaba, Keiko’s story hurts. It hurts, because she’s not one of the beautiful people and not one of the chosen. She’s a real person, with big gaping flaws, but we can’t quite hate her, or dismiss her, as we might Tsuwabuki, precisely because, like Wakaba, her dreams are so mundane. Anyone might wish for a moment alone with their idol. It’s a dream that is dull as dirt. As a result, when Nanami is horrible to Keiko, we feel it. When Yuuko and Aiko are horrible to her, it’s especially unforgivable.

And, at last, we reach the core of the Black Rose story, and the illusions with which Mikage has wrapped himself. The story, however one looks at it, is at best, creepy and self-serving. At worst, it’s possible the single most depressing illusion in the entirety of the series. There was a young, sickly boy, Mamiya and his sister Tokiko and Mikage became obsessed with their memory…but it’s not Mikage at the center of the manipulation, we learn incontrovertibly. It’s not just Akio, as we might have suspected. For whatever reason  – and at this point I’m inclined to think that Anthy’s line about lying to one’s self for love is the first honest thing she’s said in this series – Anthy is involved. In the first arc, we thought to ourselves, “She is merely being used.” But when Akio tells us that Anthy does not exists at the school, we have to wonder how much of everything is her doing. Akio has social engineering skills and he apparently wields the power, but then, we have to ask ourselves now…what is Anthy?

At the end of the arc, we get a completely different kind of clip episode, highlighting Nanami’s duplicity and ego. It’s very hard to like her at the end of this arc. It’s important to remember, yet again, that Nanami is about 13. She may pretend to be grownup, but…it’s clear now and will become even clearer later, that she’s basically clueless about people. This will also become very, very important towards the end.

Here at the end of the Black Rose Arc, we’re no closer to understanding any of what’s going on, or are we? We know several things; Akio is manipulating the situation, even as far as Utena and Anthy’s relationship. We know that he has all but abandoned the Student Council, except as tools, and we know that whatever is going on, Anthy is the center of it, in one way or another.

And we know, although she truly does not yet understand this, that Utena is the only sword that can cut through this Gordian knot.

The third and final arc is on our plate and I find myself tense about watching it. In fact, I’ve been kind of avoiding it for the last few years.

In the extras Ikuhara gives us some answers as to why there is an apparent strain of lesbianism in the series. His answer is cogent – for him, making Utena and Anthy “lesbians” is a visual symbol of otherness. But that only explains some of what’s going on, really, the stories of incest and male homosexuality that are either hinted at, or explicitly stated. I’ve said for years that Utena is a series that is exactly like any other high school, on steroids, and in this case the sexuality is stand-in for all the many things that make us different. For once I think Ikuhara did a good job of answering really crappy fanboy question. Dudes, there were *way* more than just lesbians in the series.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 9
Yuri – 3
Service – 3

Overall – 9





Revolutionary Girl Utena Anime Box Set – Volume 2, Disk 2 (English)

December 13th, 2011

Revolutionary Girl Utena, Volume 2, Disk 2.

This is where it gets really good.

Up to this point, the Black Rose arc has seemed superficially similar to the first arc. Kanae’s rage against Anthy seems overreacting, but we really don’t know much about Kanae or Anthy, and hey, we’re all creeped out by the portrayal of psychoanalysis in the form of Mikage’s Freudian elevator. And Kozue…we’ve written her off multiple times already. She’s not jealous of Anthy, just of her brother. Bro-con, ho hum.

But. Now. Shiori is here. Shiori, who sought to hurt Juri, to tarnish her shine, because she was too perfect, too shining. Oh yeah, fandom loves to hate Shiori.

But look at it from her side for a moment. Haven’t we all had a friend who is popular, talented, attractive and haven’t we all wanted, just once, to be better than them in something? Remember this particular moment of jealousy and pain. It will be back. In the meantime, we suffer as Juri tortures herself over feelings that one day won’t be so torturous. We all want desperately to be the one to tell her it’s okay.

Tsuwabuki’s episode is probably sadder than the others. Nanami is so very immature and yet, to Tsuwabuki, she is a mature, alluring adult. He’s right on that awkward cusp of maturity when at least some of the girls around him already “get” it, and there he is, flailing to figure out what “it” is. I was talking to a high school teacher just recently – we were discussing how at 14 or 15, you meet a teen and you just know, instantly, if they will ever fully mature. Some people don’t. Tsuwabuki will be 20, then 30, then 40, etc and he’ll always wonder what he’s not getting, until he convinces himself that everyone else around is just a snob, or a jerk or something. He’ll grow up attractive, have girlfriends and talk about he “doesn’t get women.” I always feel bad for Tsuwabuki.

And then we come to Wakaba. Remember Shiori’s jealousy? We don’t care about it. We don’t like her. We think she’s a petty jerk and can go to hell. Wakaba suffers from the exact same thing. But we like Wakaba. She was Utena’s first rescued princess. When we learn that her joy comes from something other than herself it’s hard, to learn that it comes from…him…is intolerable. When she stands before Utena on the dueling ground, undoubtedly we have the same stricken look on our faces as Utena does on hers. This isn’t an enemy, or some tangential person…this is Wakaba, a friend. It’s worth noting that this is the first time Anthy begs Utena to take the sword from her and this is the first time that Utena does not. She defeats Wakaba with the sword she wields…with his sword. And it is notable that Wakaba is the first of the Black Rose arc duelists to actually attack Anthy, despite their statements that they would kill the Rose Bride.

I love this duel more than any other duel in the series. Wakaba says everything we always wanted to say to that shining, perfect friend. How nice for you, we so desperately want to say, the way the world always gives a crap about you. But I’m not like that. I have to remain average and no matter what I do I will never be special. We may hate Shiori, but we can’t hate Wakaba.

And we hate that self-absorbed, moron Saionji. In the first episode he was presented as cool, popular and powerful. Now, he’s a fool, as Mikage says and we loathe him for it.

The hierarchy has changed, irreparably. Touga, supplanted by Akio, Nanami, Miki and Juri, half-heartedly holding the center, Saionji at the bottom of the pile. Where do Utena and Anthy fit on the grid? Keep watching to find out.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 3

Overall – 9

I will insert a note here referencing Alan Harnum’s Flesh Eaters for Shiori page, because if I don’t, both Alan and Sean Gaffney will try to explain it in the comments and you’ll be confused and probably distressed. This has got to be the oldest still-living Utena injoke on the Internet.





Revolutionary Girl Utena Anime Box Set – Volume 2, Disk 1 (English)

November 29th, 2011

The first episode of the first disk of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Volume 2, or what is commonly referred to as the Black Rose Arc, is that staple of long-running anime, the clip episode. Clip episodes became so common around the turn of the century, that in some infamous series, clip episodes were practically more common than actual story episodes.

In this case, the clip episode is welcome. Not only does it highlight each duel from the Student Council Arc, (which gives us a chance to relive the duels and their wonderful background music) but it provides an apparently objective perspective of each duel, allowing us to understand the motivation behind the duel, behind any discussion of the End of the World, a World Egg or Revolutionizing the World or other important-sounding nonsense.

The story of Nemuro Hall and the Mikage Seminar is set up, and we are quite suddenly dropped into a new, even more obscure arc than the last. Where the Student Council fights to possess Anthy, these new, derivative, duelists, seek to remove her completely from the game.

It’s not often I find myself incapable of half-watching an anime. Most of the time I watch something while simultaneously reading or writing. I wander off do a chore, come back and pick up the story wherever it’s taken me… it’s easy enough to do this if one doesn’t much care about the exposition. When Utena is on the screen, I do nothing else. There’s too much happening, too many symbols (both substantive and imaginary) and above all, there’s Anthy. This is the third or fourth I’ve watched this series and this time, I find myself watching Anthy intently. The joke is on me, because she rarely does anything. So every little nuance I perceive is me making it up in my head. ^_^

Of the many important things that happen on this disk, I consider most important the involvement of Kozue. It appears to us that her relationship with Miki and his with her are significantly dissimilar. Her Black Rose duel to me says that they are not, actually, that dissimilar at all. It’s simply that in those relationships, each holds a slightly different place in the other’s relatively similar world view. For Kozue, Miki holds the place of sibling, sempai and beloved, where for Miki, these are three separate positions. (I’ve always imagined that, post-series, it is Kozue who has the highest chance of becoming the next Rose Bride, despite it being a meaningless position by then.)

Also important is Nanami’s episode. These appear to always be the comedic relief episodes, but it’s important to remember that both Miki and Nanami are younger than Utena, and are working even harder to build a world that makes sense, with the fractured people around them. Miki appears to be the most innocent, but if we understand that innocence functions in part as a block to be carved, it’s instantly apparent that Nanami is the most innocent character in the series.

Two duels in to this arc and we still have no idea, really, what Mikage is after. However, if you’re adept at reading the signals here, you can see where at least two things are headed. Several key symbols have been introduced -the pointing fingers, the planetarium machine (which could spawn an essay all by itself) the pupa/moths (which return in the movie with a vengeance) and the elevators, both up and down, which Ikuhara uses again in Mawaru Penguindrum.

Two duels in and already the relationship between Utena and Anthy has radically altered. Anthy is something else to someone else and Utena begins to not note the obvious, in the most obvious manner. If Miki is clearly turning a blind eye to Kozue, how much more is Utena shuttering her eyes and ears?

The Black Rose Arc has always been my favorite. It is apparent to me that what Ikuhara does best is create tension. Scenes here are so fraught, so tightly wound, that we spend the episode watching wildly, waiting for the first blow. I described it recently as if, when we watch an Ikuhara production, we are standing in the middle of a ring of people with slingshots drawn, ready to shoot, not knowing where the first shot will come from, but knowing it will come. This tension makes us read into every comment, every scene, every background, whether there was something there to be read into or not. Every episode we’re standing on pins and needles, and Dios inhabiting Utena to win the duel fills us with the relief of predictability.

DVD extras are a pleasant addition for those who like production art, and the pamphlet this time is perhaps less distressing that the one that came with the first collection. Ikuhara’s episode commentary, and the discussion of the creation of Be-Papas and the anime and manga for Utena are equally full of pretension and insight. There is some discussion of the scene in which the sword is drawn from the Rose Bride’s chest and how the instructions were to make it look like a love scene, something that I think has stood the test of time. Of particular interest to me was the comment by one of the creators discussing the brief thought of redoing this anime, and realizing that it stood up so well and was so unique that there was no need. I agree completely. More than 10 years have passed since this series first aired and it still has the power to compel and enchant. Most series upon rewatching seem a little dated, maybe a little sentimental…not this one. I watch with the same creeping sense of…something… this time as I did the very first time. This series was one that I had on my personal top ten, but I presume, always, that nothing is as good as you remember it to be. This series is. Possibly even better.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 9
Yuri – 3
Service – 3

Overall – 9

Stay tuned – we’re going to have a contest to win the second Box Set from Nozomi/RightStuf shortly! ^_^