| Title | : | Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1591165008 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781591165002 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 1999 |
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena Reviews
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When I saw this manga at the library, I got excited because the back cover read:
A liberal adaptation of the movie by the same name,
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena veers wildly from its original source. More direct than the anime and more mature than the original manga series, this version of Chiho Saito's fractured fairy tale blasts Utena straight into iconic stratosphere.
What was promised by the back cover was definitely delivered. I have been a fan of Utena since my Sailor Moon days, and this manga reminded me of why I fell in love with the anime in the first place.
It is difficult to write this review without giving away any of the plot twists from the manga. Certain relationships are illuminated in more detail than what you might remember from the anime and the manga series, such as Utena, Anthy, Anthy's brother, and Touga. Other relationships and duels are glossed over, such as Juri, Mickey, Saionji, and Utena's friend Wakaba. Even the cute mouse Chu is nonexistent until the final three pages of the manga. However, I can understand why certain plot points are glossed over as this book is simply 181 pages-- there is only so much that can be jammed into its depths.
I was still a little confused by Anthy's role as the rose bride. Why roses? Why this title? Why not rose princess? Maybe a closer reading of this manga with the anime and original manga series would answer some of my questions.
Fans and even new Utena readers will be delighted by the themes of love, friendship, death, betrayal, forgiveness, and freedom as illusion and reality collide in the world of Ohtori Academy. There is violence, nudity, and sex, so younger or more immature readers might do best to steer clear if they are uncomfortable with this type of content.
There are some themes that might not be very popular with some readers, exemplified by the following quote-- Memory will hold you here, unable to move on. Don't cling to love. After reading this manga, though, you will understand better why Utena must face the hard task implied by these quotes. Otherwise, she will never truly live.
I was a little disappointed with the ending simply because I did not want the story to finish. I was sad by what Utena had to do with Touga as I have always been a fan of them being a couple. Anyone who loves Touga will be happy to know that there are many scenes when he is not wearing a shirt-- sexy! ;)
As always, the artwork is impeccable and beautiful! I find myself mesmerized by the people--their expressions of love, agony, laughter-it all feels very real! I can really relate to the difficulties that Utena encounters and her desire to become a prince because both the writing and the images are well-crafted. They draw the reader into the story.
To all the little girls, or even older women, who want princes to rescue them: Utena is a reminder that we do not need princes. We do not need to wait for someone to rescue us as we can rescue ourselves and be our own princes! And we are more badass for it!
Let's revolutionize the world! I am proud to say that I am a prince and a princess--why not be both? :D And, as Utena says, ...I have to do the best I can to live my life... Unlike her, though, I do my best to live my life not only for myself but for my daughter--who I hope sees her strong and loving mother for who I am. -
Okkkkkkk.... I have no clue what I just read. Really, no clue. It was quite good, hence the 4 stars, but it was also oh so confusing and weird. Sex with a ghost/memory (though it was also beautiful and sad)? Drugging someone to have sex with them (whut)? No one caring that Utena suddenly has long hair all of the sudden. The duels. The way the story was told, it just jumped around a bit too much for me.
The ending was good though, I am really happy as I was shipping this couple as well.
It is a nice new story (I liked what the mangaka did to the normal Utena story and made it new), nice idea, but I feel that it could have been worked out better.
I am not going to write a longer review as I have no clue what to write. :P -
As similar reviews on Amazon promised, ‘The Adolescence of Utena’ proved the perfect accompaniment to the ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’ series, for fans of the much-loved manga. This comic proved achingly difficult to put down and I read it in little more than half an hour from start to finish.
Although written and illustrated by the same author, Chiho Saito, ‘The Adolescence of Utena’ follows much the same storyline as the original, however strips away a lot of the fantasy to tell a more believable, realistic story. Gone are the swordfights and the mysterious castle in the sky. Instead the focus is more on two real-life traumatic experiences and how these events shape two very different girls’ distraught illusions.
The story is split into two parts, first focusing on Utena and her relationship with her ex-boyfriend Touga, then on Anthy and her brother Akio. Throughout, the comic is well-paced, building to two emotional, ground-breaking conclusions that shock the reader and leave them grieving for the poor girls.
There’s less attention on the comic’s other characters: Miki, Juri, Nanami and Saionji. This doesn’t detract however from making a fantastic story and one that like ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena’, leaves the reader thinking for ages afterwards.
If I had any complaint about this comic, it was that it was too short! Bravo Ms Saito for another fantastic comic, and please, please write more about Utena Tenjou and her adventures to bring the world revolution! -
This was included as part of the boxed set, so even though I was OVER IT, I wanted to finish the book.
Bad idea.
There was a drugged incest rape. WHY. WHYYYYY??????
Hell to the nope out of here. -
One of the most beautiful iterations of Utena and Anthy's story, and the only one with a straightforwardly happy ending, despite the heartbreaking intensity of some of the content. It's not as abstract as the Adolescence of Utena movie, and doesn't have the time to develop its plot and characters as the TV version has, but it distills the story in a way that captures its essence - and is far, far better than the earlier Utena manga. It also has perhaps the most sympathetic and likable version of Anthy.
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Me gustó caleta.
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They had a chance to reimagine the entire series and it's still garbage.
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So, this manga classic was not at all what I expected. First of all, this is the manga based on the movie on Utena's adolescence. It's said to be different from the actual manga series. I would have to read it to compare. It was a really disappointing read. It shows its age in terms of how queerness is treated.
Note, I read this in Italian, so some terms may be different.
First of all, Utena becomes a prince because she thinks her prince, Toga, abandoned her. Now, had this been a bisexual read (or done better, because it kind of is) I would have had no problem with it. The issue is that it appeared to me that both Utena and Anthy were the way they were because of the men in their lives.
At first, I really did not like neither Utena nor Anthy. I grew to like them, but only a little. It also seems like the setting is too elitist and hetero. It's not a linear story either and it was a bit confusing. Also, why are the males called 'princes' but Anthy called Utena 'Lady'?
Anthy is also treated as an object by everyone by Utena, who just wants to be her friend. Anthy seems very disturbed to me but she was abused a lot, including by her own brother though it's unclear if he was also abused by her. Yes, there is incest.
It's not at all what I expected and it left me perturbed, disgusted and disappointed. Especially because this is a classic and if this is what the anime is about... It's like Utena and Anthy were pawns for the males even though they were the protagonists and everything was in their hands. I'll try to read the series...but I won't have too high expectations.
Art was ok. -
The beauty, sexual tension, and sense of ritual of Revolutionary Girl Utena is intensified in this condensed version of a fairytale among fairytales. The Rose Bride, the Rose Prince, and those caught in their dueling game until a young girl comes to revolutionize the rites of summoning the revolution takes on a new vitality while retaining the form of the series I found so addictive. Utena seeks to become a prince at first, but she comes to care too much about the Rose Bride, to see her as a person than to let her remain trapped in the roles prince and princess sought to play. Utena not only saves Anthy, but gives her the strength to save herself. Myth and metaphor unite with real feelings of grief, abuse, and the inability to let go in this exquisite fairytale where the sheltered world of the school creates an unreality, an unreality the protagonist must eventually grow up and leave behind, even if it means letting go things she’d rather hold in her heart. For eternity means standing still, unable to move forward, trapped in her memories, even if they fade, leaving both she and others unable to remember tha they’re trapped. Beauty can be a trap, too, seducing the characters into not fulfilling their true potential if they conform to the prince’s dream. And even if they have the power to revolutionize the world, they may never be able to use it, if they cannot move forward.
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A less-obtuse version of the sequel/reboot "Adolescence of Utena," which exists as both manga and anime. This version is lovely and has many scenes in common with the anime - it veers off around the final third, flattens the narrative a bit, and also gets around to explaining
another, pettier, different spoiler: -
The most unhinged manga I’ve ever read, and I love it all the more for it. Is it clear? No. Does it answer all the questions it raises? No. Does it make any sense outside the context of the rest of Utena canon? Absolutely not. But it’s a masterpiece of fan service, edginess, and drama so intense it’s almost campy. If you wished the rest of the Utena series was gayer and grittier, this is the one for you.
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Bigger, gayer, more flowery and filled with metaphors than the original series. I love that they really explore more of Anthy's duplicity and her victimhood in this story than they did in the original manga, but the ending was soft and sweet which is what I wanted. If you love shojo-ai and yuri, this is the one.
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Sensacional. Esta cuarta representación de la historia de la chica que desea ser un príncipe nos muestra lados distintos de personajes que queremos. Recomiendo altamente su lectura a los fans de Utena.
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This is a great adaptation of the movie version of Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Obviously there are differences between the two, but both convey that feeling of transition in stages of life. Still rich in symbolism and motifs, any fan of the original series should read it. -
Not my favorite series, sold my copy.
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A convoluted meta-pretzel wrung from what was a good story until it got the movie treatment.
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The storyline doesn't flow and some themes are just kind of ....wack.
But I still enjoyed it. -
Recordaba la película como algo tirando a sutil. O me equivoco yo o el manga se pasa de directo.
(Respuesta correcta: C - A y B son correctas) -
I spent most of this in a state of confusion. The art and gays did it for me though.
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naaaaa
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4.5
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i really enjoyed this addition to the series. it clarified the content of the main story and tied up loose ends. i cannot get enough of this art and these characters!!
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not nearly as good as the original but gayer. we live in a world of give and take
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Very confusing going into, overall maybe the best of all the tellings? Hard to say
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!!SPOILERS BELOW!!
I watched the Adolescence of Utena movie adaptation several years ago - and was just as WTF-perplexed as the next person - so I wasn't quite sure what to expect with the manga. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised, although unlike some other reviewers here, I kind of preferred the earlier manga series ending. It was just more hopeful to me than this one was, since Anthy had more of an identity of her own in that version that wasn't necessarily as connected to Utena.
Also, this version had much more mature content, whereas the earlier one only kind of alluded to sexuality as a drive of any of the characters - hence adding "adolescence" to the title. It worked quite well here and would have seem out of place in the other one - such as Anthy's sexual approach to her prince, the more overt incest between Anthy and Akio, etc. Not necessarily my favorite approach, but like I said, it worked in this manga.
This is not to say that I prefer everything from the older version. Touga and Utena's relationship in "Adolescence" was much better developed and so much deeper than in the previous manga. I actually found myself liking Touga instead of wishing him dead. :)
All in all, though, I think this is a fitting reimagining of the Utena series, although I will leave this as a final rhetorical question: why do so many popular anime/manga series have, like, a thousand different ways of telling the story with the same characters?? (Tenchi Muyo, Neon Genesis Evangelion, etc.) -
While I don't condone some of the things that happen in this volume (such as Anthy's brother taking advantage of her sexually), I must say that I feel this is a much more suiting ending for this wonderful series than Vol.5 was.
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Utena has returned to the school years after the events in Vol.5, and does not remember much about the duels or the whole World's end phenomenon. But, she is thrown back into the midst of it all, and easily wins back the Rose Bride--Anthy Himemiya--for herself once more. But, this time is different. Everything is on the line, and Anthy is finally expressing feelings of her own.
Gone is the Rose Bride that let everyone push her around. She finally stands up to World's End, and vows to live her life forever with Utena by her side.
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This volume is where the yuriness truly comes into this series. But, it is not overdone nor in-your-face. It's beautiful. -
this made so much more sense than the movie did. i think it's because all of the extra nonsense was cut out. like the constant school announcements, people turning into cars, and trying to go through a killer carwash. yes, all of that was out. i was expecting it to take it a step further than the movie did, and i really didn't see it that way. i quite honestly wish that this one was more than just a book. i think it was way more interesting than the original series. which says a lot since the original was rather interesting. if you were to only pick one part of the utena collection to consume, i would recommend reading this book.
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I had already seen the movie and big chunks of the TV series before reading this; I grabbed it somewhat impulsively at the library. Those of you who have seen the movie know ... it's kind of ... strange. So, it turns out, is the manga version of the movie. But oddly, it's easier to read than the regular manga. Probably because the regular manga is trying to be somewhat linear, and that just emphasizes the oddness of the storyline in a somewhat jarring way.
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Sejak awal, saya tidak mengharapkan sesuatu yang ramah untuk otak. Apalagi saya membeli buku ini setelah menonton movienya terlebih dahulu, dan dibuat jungkir balik saking njlimetnya. Untungnya, dugaan saya salah. Setidaknya di sini, simbolik dalam kisahnya tidak terlampau absurd. Endingnya pun sederhana sekali, walau seperti biasa, tidak semua penjelasan keajaiban dalam cerita dijabarkan.
