Oddly, I'm not sure we've ever had a thread quite like this before, though Rae posted one a while back asking what Utena means to us.

I'll second you, Autumn, in pointing to the depth of the characterization as the most important reason Utena has captured me.  I don't feel as you do, though, that the characters are unsympathetic.  They aren't perfect, true.  Each and every one has at least one serious flaw that damages their relationships.  But surely sympathy is not reserved for the perfect.  In fact, the perfect are the hardest to sympathize with.  You can only watch Superman deflect bullets off his chest for so long before you want to watch a human hero for a while.  Utena's heroes -- and I believe every one of Utena's characters is a hero, at least of their own stories -- are human heroes.

That humanity is why I sympathize with the characters of Utena, and why I love them and their show.  I'm not the only one.  We all sense an inner humanity in each of them, worth understanding and pitying and loving.  That's why we'll spend hours picking apart why Saionji hits women or whether Anthy enjoys sex with Akio or whether Utena herself is really noble and in what way.  So ultimately, I suppose, I like Utena because of the sensitivity with which its characters are drawn, how it avoids caricature.  No one goes to an Inu Yasha forum to debate why Miroku is so horny all the time.  Akio is a different story.

Above all, I love Utena herself -- which is maybe ironic, because in some ways she's the least nuanced character of the bunch.  Even for her, though -- the character who has least given up her aspirations toward nobility -- doing the right thing is not easy, and doing it for the right reason is sometimes impossible.  I admire her.  Not for her naivete or her oblivion to her own selfishness, but for her ability to confront an increasingly complicated and dangerous world without forgetting what she's really about.  She may be a pawn -- but like a pawn, she never stops moving forward.  I want to have her belief in herself, and she's what keeps me watching the show.

Last edited by satyreyes (11-24-2008 11:12:10 PM)

Like_Autumn wrote:

Certainly, Utena has some admirable qualities, but her complete naivete irks me. [...] I think Tohru from Fruits Basket is one of the nicest girls around, but I'm not interested in analyzing her.

Which is kind of funny, because I think Utena is the bee's knees, despite her flaws, yet Tohru really grates on me for some reason.

Anyway, I definitely agree with the "complex characters are fun to analyze" and "symbolism/surreality" angles.  Also, when a series showcases such a lovely variety of characters full of flaws and dreams, odds are pretty good that most of us will find at least a few things that really hit home, or so I imagine.  It is more than just that for me, though - it's hard to really enumerate the reasons why, but it just resonates so hard.

I'm suspecting that some of it, for me, has to do with still being a student, and having been for so incredibly long.  (My laptop is named Nemuro, in a bit of black humor.)  A friend of mine who's long out of college watched the series for the first time semi-recently, and she thought it fell flat in part because she'd been out of school for so long.  But, no, this doesn't come close to being all of it.

Oh, and it is absolutely wonderful to see an anime series that is so smart about gender.  Honestly, I'm usually just relieved when a show manages to avoid the most atrocious gender nonsense.

I'll admit it right here: I don't like how Utena the series is animated. It was never the animation that drew me, which is odd, because I love the fan art and Saito-sama's art. If anything, in a darkened room when I was fifteen and again when I was sixteen, the common themes between myself, Utena, Anthy, Juri and Wakaba intrigued me. Years later when I finally sat down to BRS, Mikage, Wakaba and Anthy disturbed me with how much I was like them in my faults.

The gestalt that is Utena fandom was also responsible for how I have stuck with the series for so long. I once told my husband that I was into a "childish" series because of the fandom itself and I told the truth.

The rest of this post is IFD.

I've always told people that I love the series because all of the characters are sexually deviant and emotionally destructive.

I love the show for a myriad of reasons, but the most important one being, the idea of a girl becoming a prince was pretty novel to me. Sure, we've seen this before a kick-ass girl in a role of power, yes---Buffy springs to mind, but in SKU the idea has so many more layers to it. *No offense to any Buffy fans, I too love the show*
Like satyreyes, I'm a fan of Utena the character.

I like the portrayal of the characters. This is one anime where the characters flaws, have some basis on people you've either met, loathed or have similarities to.
Everytime I watch the show, I can see bits of people I've known over the years and think "wow such and such is so like this character." I  think that because the characters seem more human than most anime characters, we have more to discuss.

Man, I dunno. Logically, it doesn't make much sense. I'm repelled by drama and tragedy, but I love SKU. It was also one of my first anime, and I first saw it when I was sixteen or so, and was fresh enough to anime that I'd watch just about anything (even *ugh* Fushigi Yuugi).

But I think Utena might have drawn me in with its relatively light-hearted first arc, and simply the fact that it's so good despite all the drama. Sometimes I compare it to Giant Robo in that sense, since I also hate anime where a lot of great characters die-- except for Giant Robo, which has a huge death toll in its cast, but it's so amazing that it doesn't matter.

So I guess even though, in a lot of ways, Utena goes against the kind of stuff I enjoy, it's so damn good that I love it anyway. Plus it makes for hilarious parody material.

I don't think the characters are totally unsympathetic, but I agree that they're so interesting because they're so incredibly flawed. Many of the characters will at different points either drive me nuts with their selfishness and emotionally destructive ways or they will endear me with their raw hurt and emotion and the fact that they sometimes remind me of hurt kicked puppies.

Except their hurt kicked puppies with so many dirty, despicable secrets. They have the kind of secrets that they or anyone else in their shoes would not want to face. That's what makes them so real. They show us the dark parts of humanity.

I think the main reason out of many, many reasons why I like Utena is because there's always something to think about and analyze. I like things that fuck with my head. And if it's colorful and full of roses and cross-dressing princes, even better.

Hi. :3

I found Utena when I was 13 and was just beginning to question gender roles, and starting to develop "feelings" towards friends of the same gender. So I guess my initial reasons are obvious. The first episode I ever saw was the only tape my video store carried...the episodes where utena loses to touga and then has to duel him again to regain herself. What a great way to get into a series! I was immediately intruiged. I watched the tape dozens of times trying to figure out what the duelists were about, and who the heck the rose bride was. So starting like that, Utena's been a mystery to unravel right from the start.

But what kept me coming back? Everyone I knew rejected and disliked the idea of lesbian/gay relationships and the universe of SKU became a sanctuary, my holy 'shining thing'...a world I could run to that would reinforce what I knew in my heart...that kind of love can be valid, that girls can be princes and that miracles do happen. Which is sort of weird since there aren't any successful gay/lesbian relationships in Utena, only unrequited ones.

Deeper...Juri had me hook line and sinker. She WAS me. (at least in my foolish and youthful fantasies) I had two best friends...J (a girl) and M (a boy). I was in love with J and so was M....I was 3 years younger than them.  (ooh that rhymes! lol.) so when they started dating, my relationship with both became strained.  J was never icey or cruel like Shiori, although she welcomed my attention, allowed me to spend money and time on her..more than a friend...less than a lover, most likely enjoying (at least on a subconcious level) her power over me. For what reasons I couldn't even begin to ponder. J and M are married now (they've been together 8 years) and J is pregnant with their first child, I'm it's godmother.

It's no longer about J, I grew up. But there is something that was...to me...noble in all those years of suffering and wanting her,  bearing it with as much dignity as possible...to fill J's world with light even if I can't have her...that defines my character. Quiet suffering. And that, ultimately, is what links me to Utena: the parallels between myself and Juri. SKU is my golden locket.

Now that I'm a well adjusted (?!) adult I stay because of the artistic/surreal qualities of the show, and because I LOVE the animation style (actually all Utena artwork). I stay because of the fandom and the company...because of the discussions. I don't post, but lurk often. this is a long and oddly personal post for me, I hope no one finds it too strange.


EDIT: I probably should have put this in the "what is Utena to YOU thread" upon further thought. this doesn't exactly say why utena is great, just why it's great for ME. lol.

Last edited by MissKosmic (12-03-2008 05:40:22 PM)

I actually laid eyes on it back around 2001-2002.  The beautiful manga art drew me in, but I abandoned it the second there was implied incest. However, I heard great things about it, and when it came to Comcast OnDemand I decided to give it a try. Not only was it intense, fresh, and thrilling, but it struck an emotional chord in me when I saw Utena and Anthy's friendship. 

My best friend is to me as Utena is to Anthy, you see. I saw so much of us in the characters it was not even funny. She is confident, tomboyish, and very protective of me. Even their skin colors match ours! If not for her I would still be painfully shy and cowardly.  We have been friends for almost a decade, and I still love and idolize her.  I know I am not a fighter, so I always give her a shoulder to cry on and she balances me out with encouragement. I am the Rose Bride who wants to help her duelist sister in any way possible.

When we met I couldn't believe that she would want to be friends with me of all people, so I was practically subservient to her like Anthy.  I was even happier when she liked me for who I was. She is my Utena, my heart's twin, and I love her. That is really why I like the series.

I love this show because you gain a new insight everytime you watch it again and even more insights if you take a different drug whenever you rewatch it.