There is no excuse for not appreciating culture. I can never understand why people sit at home and watch NASCAR when there are so many better things to do. HOLY CARP BEING SERIOUS TODAY But really. Why would you want to stifle your brain like that? Thinking is one of the things that makes humans what we are. If we never think, what is the point of living? We might as well be animals if we never think. Nothing wrong with that, but... it cannot be right for a person to behave like an animal. Eat, sleep, fight, and fuck. Are we not better than that yet?
A rose by any other name... I read in a book that a clove means I have loved you and you have not known it. Naturally, I made up my mind to threaten someone by taping a clove to a bottle of roofies. I think it would work. That is, if the person in question was interested in the Victorian Era.
   When?

   Unmei.nu was purchased in mid-November of the year 2000, and Empty Movement was launched before the domain even had a splash page. In February of 2002, the site moved from unmei.nu/utena to its own domain, ohtori.nu.
   In November 2002, the site entered a hiatus where it was temporarily given to a friend of mine. In 2003, however, I met Yasha, and she offered to split the work with me, which had prior to that been just too much. Not long after, In the Rose Garden, the site's forum, was born, and from 2006 or so to 2014ish it was the central hub of the Revolutionary Girl Utena English-speaking fandom, with three successful forum meets (affectionately called RoseCon) and tons of friends made on the way!
   The forum has since waned, as social media has become the predominant location for fandom interaction. Going where the business is, we moved to Tumblr in 2015ish, and Twitter in 2017. In 2017, we also launched a Discord server, which is bustling along to this day.
    Though it has its downtime here and there, at this point we've been running this site for almost two decades and see no reason why we should ever stop doing so.

 
   Why?

   Because Shoujo Kakumei Utena is the best damn anime in the history of anime. In fact, the degree to which it rises above its humble medium makes calling it anime insulting. If Utena was a novel, you'd be studying it in college. In fact, some of you have sent us your term papers, so... you are. <3


 
   About Giovanna

Greetings! My name is actually Giovanna. In the real world, I'm an RN living in Edmonton, Alberta, with my wife. You know, the psycho Touga fan. It's complicated. So complicated that I moved from Miami, Florida, with an average winter temperature of 85F, to a place where the winter temperature is Fuck You, and lasts about 5 months. But hey, I'm unionized.

Aside from a very, very obvious obsession with Utena, day to day I cook, read, wank, play video games, and do overtime. I love to travel, and abhor the idea of an itinerary when I do so; nothing lets you learn to love a place like wandering until you're lost, or parking your butt in a cafe and watching the rhythm of the world around you. I've found I can get along with anyone, from any culture, because no matter where you're from, you love to share your food, and I love to learn about it. I've distracted people from the insertion of painful needles and invasive tubes by making them discuss their own personal masala blend, or where to get the best Italian pastries. Food and drink brings people together like nothing else, and if I wasn't fond of making a living, I might have ended up a chef.

Despite my favorite characters being Akio and Saionji, I'm actually quite well adjusted. No, seriously. Okay fine, that may be a gross self-delusion. I am learning from the best with Akio, there.
 

 
   About Yasha

Gio and I are the grizzled veterans of the fandom, huh? I think I first watched the show in... it's gotta be 2000. It's been an interesting ride, from rags to RoseCons even. But this is supposed to be facts about me, right? Uhh... I've got bloodthirsty and super-offensive tastes in entertainment, and I'm told I come off like a bitch over the net (GEE THANKS PROFESSOR BEACH >.<) but I'm basically a big marshmallow softie. I like traveling and do it as often as I can, but I've never been outside North America, much to my great irritation. I'm a cat person, but I own a snake. No, I'm not talking about Gio. I write; I write rather a lot when I can, but no one ever sees it but me and Gio and my friend Frosty. Maybe that will change someday.

I'm really not very good at talking about myself. Oops. I'm just gonna crib the rest from Gio-- yes, we're married, it's not that complicated, I'm the Touga fan she's talking about, she is actually nominally well-adjusted, and Yasha is not my real name but after meeting so many fans of SKU I answer to it in real life as well. I think that's it, right? Right. See you around!
 

 
   Materials Used

domain: .nu
hosting: Lithium Hosting (ohtori.nu)
built with: Dreamweaver (various versions) & Arachnophilia
picture editor: Adobe Photoshop (various versions)
FTP access: Filezilla
actual human limbs