Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection 1
Synopsis
Utena has it all. Beauty. Passion. Faith. A sense of justice. She is the idol of her classmates at the exclusive Ohtori Academy. And yet, she is driven by a childhood memory of a prince on a white horse who comforted her when she was grieving over her parents’ death. He gave her an enigmatic signet ring emblazoned with a rose crest, and this memory drives Utena to do the impossible: To become a prince, herself, as she duels the members of the Student Council to protect the mysterious ‘Rose Bride.’
Review
A princess who wants to become a prince, that is Tenjou Utena. When the show began, it caught my eye how most of the girls in Ohtori Academy admired Utena. They blush when they see her, yell out her name, and some even fall in love with her. The show also started out uninteresting, but it gradually attracted me into the story. There is a lot of fun stuff in the story, like the way Chu Chu acts, but when there is a good, there is always a bad. The bad is why does the Rose Bride, Himemiya Anthy always gets smacked around? Her life is of a servant. Who ever duels and wins is engaged to her, and she must do whatever that person wants. What kind of life is that? Not a very happy one that is.
Anyways, the action of Revolutionary Girl: Utena are exciting. The duels are quite interesting, as the main rule of the duel is that if the rose in the duelists’ chest pocket falls or is destroyed, the duelist loses and if you win, you are then engaged to Himemiya Anthy, which then allows the person to control the Sword of Dios which appears from Anthy’s body when she summons it. To wield the Sword of Dios is to gain the power to revolutionize the world, hence the reason for why the student council duel each other for the power. The right to duel however is only reserved to those who are of the student council, but Utena is able to avoid that rule, as she has the rose crest ring that the prince gave her when she was a child.
Overall, Revolutionary Girl: Utena is a very fun shoujo series. There is comedy, a beautiful soundtrack, an entertaining story and a crew of great voice actors/actresses, what is not to like about Utena? When I started the series with the Finale, I was not sure of what Utena was all about, who the characters were and what was their history in the story. Now that I am starting from the beginning, it certainly has been a real treat. This series that I once thought sucked, actually captivated me and now I can say that I am a fan of Revolutionary Girl: Utena.
The Breakdown
Revolutionary Girl Utena possesses all the essential elements necessary to create a great anime.