My mom prefers the movie and actually has my original copy of the DVD, still. The TV series didn't keep her attention, but she's seen at least most of it.

It was her idea to screen it huge, via projector, the first time I saw it that way, and I have to say, it's a lot easier to focus on when big. It plays better large, and I don't often have the motivation to commit to things like that, so I'm glad she does.

To be fair, I don't blame her. SKU is one of the worst offenders for abuse of stock footage I've ever sat through, though admittedly I haven't plowing through as much anime as I think most anime fans from that era did.

At this point, I do just skip the arena ascension and such. I mean, no one's pretending the repeat sequences were the animators being super complicated and deep. SKU was a major victim of its time, and its budget. Hopefully your mom forgives these flaws! If not, well, they're good pee breaks.

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

I really like it when it's done in a way that heightens the repetition or makes the reuse notable. SKU, Macross 7 have some pomp in the reuse.

Indeed. Without spoiling anything for her, I've tried to stress that the ritualistic nature of the goings on is thematically important.

there seems to be less recycle in general, these days.

When you think about it, Utena must've been one of the very last anime made in the old way: hand-drawn, hand-painted cells. It really was an incredibly expensive, labor-intensive way to make something.  In the late 80's, the Japanese economy was booming, and precedents were set for high production values in animation detail and quality. (The film Akira is a high-profile example of this trend.) Then came the economic "Lost Decade" of the 90's. The expectations were still there, but the money was not, and it's not surprising that anime from the 90's contain some of the most memorable examples of heavy footage re-use. (Sailor Moon, as much as I adore that show, is another offender.)

Although I do miss the aesthetics of hand-drawn animation, there's no question that modern computerized methods allow more complex and detailed animation to be done with less time, less money, less painstaking effort. That's the reason we see less footage abuse these days, although it's far from completely gone. OPs, EDs, and things like transformation or attack sequences still serve their purpose. This is our reward for having suffered through the primitive beginnings of computerized anime in the early 2000's, which I always refer to in my head as the "paint-by-numbers" era, due to how simplistic and unrefined anime from that period looked, compared to the lost beauty of the past.

Anyway, we watched the first two episodes. Her reaction was actually better than I might've expected, but now she's back to work, and between our clashing schedules (and it being a low-priority for her) it's going to be even more difficult to continue. However, she has said that she intends to because she knows it's important to me, so I'll just have to be patient.

Last edited by Aelanie (04-19-2014 10:18:52 AM)

That's fantastic. Thanks for the update.

I really do look forward to new material in this thread (and these kinds of threads, in general, much more than the professional-watcher threads, no offense to those who prefer them).

So we finished the series tonight. In the end it can only be called a total success. She loved it, and also loved the signet ring I was able to give her, having extras on hand by an incredible stroke of accidental luck. She told me a few episodes back that her vision of the ending was that "Utena and Anthy are going to drive away from the school together in the red car, aren't they?" Sadly that doesn't actually happen, although as I reminded her, it does essentially happen in the movie, which we will soon be rewatching again now that she's seen the series to make a comparison.

Last edited by Aelanie (06-19-2014 03:02:01 AM)

Decrescent Daytripper wrote:

Now, my head is spinning with the two endings, again, and what it means differently for Anthy to drive Utena out or for Utena to go and basically prove to Anthy that she can walk away whenever she decides to...

We discussed the difference of course, and will more fully once she rewatches the movie. Naturally I've also provided her with a bunch of my writings on the subject, including the four movie character examinations. Though executed differently, the thematic meanings are the same - but for both her and myself, there's no question that we prefer to see them leave together, as one.

In a way though, I kind of feel bad. Watching it as she did with me, she naturally was influenced by my views throughout the process, and though I was happy and pleased to help her see the show as I see it...anyone who's gone through that wonderful process of deep reflection and mental discovery, decoding and deciphering the franchise fully with only their own thoughts and feelings as the guide, can understand that I feel I denied her something there - although she probably wouldn't have been interested in devoting a huge amount of time to doing so anyway.

Last edited by Aelanie (06-19-2014 04:39:29 AM)