| Title | : | Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 5: To Blossom |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1591161452 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781591161455 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 168 |
| Publication | : | First published March 1, 1998 |
Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 5: To Blossom Reviews
-
A good ending, but also not. So this is it? All that happened, all that pain, that big battle, and it ends with this? Will we ever know if x is still found? It was quite interesting that Touga remembered. I can understand Anthy, because well.... but that Touga remembers must truly mean he loved her. That he truly cared about her. That he truly was hoping for them to be together. Which is quite sweet (and yes, I was shipping them like crazy).
The battle was wonderful though, quite exciting, not too long and not too short. It felt like the perfect length. It was a sad solution that brought the end to the battle, but it had to be done. I don't think there was any way for this to go differently. It was this or worse consequences.
The side stories, we have two as the main story is only 60~ pages. The first one is about Juri. I don't quite like the girl, but we see a whole new side to her + some additions to the side we always see. It gave more depth, and I respected the girl a bit more. I didn't like Ruka the entire story until the end and the revelation there. Men, please, just tell your feelings honestly. :|
The second side story was a bit confusing, suddenly there is someone with a black rose seal? A guy with a feeling of anger at never ageing, having to atone for what he has done. And I guess waiting for Utena to come by, just like so many other characters seemingly waited for Utena to show up. I feel this story should have been fleshed out a bit more, now it just came out of nowhere. The ending was OK, though it was quite sad.
I would highly recommend this series to everyone. Even with the ending as it is, the story is engaging, the characters are great, the art is beautiful, and there is so much more that I loved.
So this series ends. Tomorrow I got the Adolescence to read, kind of curious what they have done in that manga and what changes there are in that one.
Review first posted at
https://twirlingbookprincess.com/ -
Review of Volumes 1-5.
Why I Recommend Bumping This Down On Your TBR:
If you watched the anime first, you might be as disappointed as I was to see that the characters all seem straight in the manga, Shiori doesn't even exist, Utena's motivations are different, feminism isn't present (replaced with "humanism"), and things aren't very bizarre at all. Although sex is used similarly in both the anime and the manga, it's handled less skillfully in the manga. Also, the resolution is odd and unfulfilling.
Why You Might Bump This Up On Your TBR:
If you watched the anime first, you will love seeing the characters again. It's just as easy to attach to them in the manga as it was in the anime. Touga is a completely different character in the manga, a positive and healthier one, so I got a new experience of his character through this version. I did enjoy reading it and gave each individual volume a high rating due to the amount of pleasure experienced. -
雖然短短五集，但其中牽涉到的象徵與隱喻實在不少，不敢說自己看懂多少，搜到的心得似乎都是由幾原邦彥率領的團隊 BE-PAPAS 製作的動畫為主，而且不少感想認為原作漫畫就只是那個年代的少女漫畫（而更肯定幾原邦彥的動畫作品），但其實光就漫畫本身現在讀來還是很有意思。
我的確不會特別覺得主角歐蒂娜多有女性意識，這部漫畫也不強調女性主義，反而充滿中二風味——很「女孩子氣」（請用正面或中性的意義去理解）的中二。
不過故事描繪主角歐蒂娜在學園毫不講理的規則當中看見做為獎賞卻沒有自我意識的姬宮安希的心，並且放棄在體制中求勝，最終憑著她對安希本人的關心與愛喚醒了薔薇公主的心。光是對於社會預設價值系統的質疑並且試圖突破，無論過程還是結論都很女性主義吧。 -
Unlike many series, this one actually ended pretty well, and it being only 5 volumes managed to help keep things fresh. Could it have gone on for some more issues? Sure, but I'm glad the author didn't drag things out.
-
Beautiful, surreal, and mysterious. Utena pursues her goal to become a prince, ending in a revolution where much remains the same in her former world, but at least one person is transformed. Perhaps more than one. A sacrifice was required. A sacrifice is always required as is revealed, not only in the conclusion, but in the two side stories; touching both the sacrifice and those left behind in ways they don’t entirely understand.
Once again I find myself frustrated with the version of Jury in this manga, yet she’s not unsympathetic and never without style. Ruka was a lot more sympathetic in this story, yet he’s again Jury’s tragic ally while playing the part of her adversary. Touga showed a much kinder side while Utena became far more of an obstacle when our perspective was shifted from her point of view. Utena changed again, becoming a dark savior in Mikage’s story, a far shorter story than in the anime, yet far more powerful. Mikage remains one of my favorite characters in both series, due to how reinterprets the dueling game to include more fluid gender roles, yet he’s trapped by it (a bit like Utena herself and Jury.) His goals are sinister yet he’s so sympathetic. I want Utena to beat Mikage every time, yet I always cry for him, perhaps more than any other duelist. I did feel for Touga. I got a sense that he really grew because of his love for Utena in the manga. Perhaps this is why he was both blessed and cursed with the memories he kept at the end.
I always want more when I finish this. I speculate upon the surreal worlds Utena and Mikage find themselves in after the ending. Perhaps parts of them are caught in the spires of the inverted castle in the sky? At the same time I understand finishing where we did with the mystery of the game being over and the real journey just beginning. -
I don't get it.
It ended, I guess?
It explained some of the weird-ass shit, I guess?
Just because it's weird and you get an explanation doesn't make it ANY GOOD AT ALL.
Who cares if you're flipping genders and swapping norms or whatever if your story is no good.
I guess that's the end of my foray into manga. -
Wait that's how it ends. Lame.
-
che finale.....
-
a little meh tbh
-
The ending of this series is only a small portion of this volume. On the reread of this manga I had hoped to understand it more, and on some levels I did but the ending was still a bit convoluted. Better than the anime, but still rather mysterious.
-
The power to revolutionize the world... just what is that, exactly? Is it the power someone may win in a duel or fight against another strong opponent? Or is it something that comes from within a person's heart, body, soul, and will? The answer is never clearly spoken, but it can be seen if the reader chooses to read between the lines. In one of the two extra stories at the end of this volume, Ruka, Juri's senpai, forfeits his match to win the rose bride from Utena. When questioned by Juri, he answers with "who knows why? Perhaps because I glimpsed a moment of eternity. Even if I didn't win the duel... I knew I'd won the power to revolutionize the world... It's here. The power is... right here. [Points to Juri's heart.] In your heart, Juri. And in each tear that falls." As if the main story were not enough, this scene, this act, this statement cements it. It further impacts Utena's actions in the main story where when faced with further conflict via World's End, when questioned where Anthy is without her prince, where Utena would have been without hers, she swears that not only will she become, but that she IS, a prince-- Anthy's prince. She goes on to adorn princely attire resembling Dios, and takes on a very similar air about herself. Akio even ends up mistaking her for Dios, but she reassures him that it is indeed still her, Utena.
Utena was not the one who had killed the light side of Dios, and yet she was the one who was chosen to wield the power, for her noble heart that while it may have faltered on its thorny path, never truly gave up nor gave in. Utena wielded the power to revolutionize the world, and reunited light and dark, i.e., Dios and World's End.
The message this sends is that strength is never earned through studying or actions, but it is fostered, raised, built, harnessed from within. No amount of education or training can make you into something you're not. Akio was right when he told Utena that she shouldn't, and cannot, make herself into something which she is not. But he was wrong when that was said in intent to call her some frail mortal girl.
Throughout this story, it was unclear whether it was a story about Utena's journey to becoming a prince, or if it was a story meant to tell of how Utena realized her boyish dreams were exactly that. and found her womanhood.
I now see that it was neither of those things. The story of Utena is in fact her journey of not becoming a prince, but her thorny path of BEING a prince, and her journey of discovering her own self, just as much as Anthy did, thanks to Utena's strong influence.
Touga speaks of his love for Utena, explaining how he didn't love her as a woman, nor as a man, but her loved her "as a human being." He goes on to compliment and reminisce over the qualities he sees in her, and elaborates about how every time she bested him, he only loved her all the more for it.
For every single character in this story, I truly believe that Touga's love for Utena was the sincerest. It was also the one in which I was most happy to see, and most approving of. I hope that the kindness Touga carries in his heart never fades. I also see now that he carries a kindness for Juri as well, by not indulging her in her affections for him, but rather treating her as a common friend instead and rejecting her feelings. He's well aware that her heart is set on someone else, but those feelings have nowhere to go, and so they land on Touga. But feelings for someone else placed on someone they are not meant for is only going to bring the holder more pain if they gain what they wish to believe is their heart's desires. Touga is doing the best thing for Juri in terms of her feelings. Despite how he may look, Touga appears to treat women most fairly out of likely all of the older men in Utena. Miki likely the best, considering he doesn't appear to hold much opinion on the differences in genders, perhaps thanks to his connection with his sister.
Finally, I'd like to close with a quote from Chiho Saitou-sensei and my thoughts on the connection between Anthy and Utena,
"Years ago, I felt that I couldn't die until I became a mangaka. But now, I don't feel that achieving a goal in itself is all that important. When I achieve goals to satisfy my ambitions, only a moment later, that achievement has become simply a part of my normal life. And there are people who are more important to me than any such goals. I think choosing people over goals will make my life better and leave the least regrets." I have no words for this. It is thought provoking and rings true to me.
As for Anthy and Utena, they are now inexplicably connected, such as Anthy with the new freedom she has found, and also... Utena? Why is it we don't know where she is, even if we know she is still alive? It feels as though she is inside of the rose seal ring, but it's unclear. Perhaps Utena is finally free from her worldly burdens and is now among the gods, perhaps that is meant to symbolize the freedom and liberation she too has found.
I'll be honest, I don't understand their connection in the manga so well, besides that they were inspirations for each other, and now that their engagement is over, there is nothing in this world to separate them. But I do know that for Anthy, Utena was her inspiration to shed her burdens to the people around her and to live for herself, to be free. As for Utena, Anthy was her inspiration to live for herself and for someone else, because there will always be someone worth protecting. Her quest to save Anthy led her onto her own path of self discovery and therefore her own liberation and freedom to and from herself and her own lifelong expectations and ideals.
There are so many messages interwoven in this story that all came to not a close, but an opening at the end, that I could write a couple chapters about it. But I've tried to keep this review as brief as possible. The previous volume had me a bit unsure, but that's past me now. Please, read this beautiful story about maturation and finding one's self. It has aged a little oddly here and there, but I believe many of its core elements will remain timeless.
May you as well, find the power to revolutionize the world.
P.S. I made a comment on another user's review, but I'd like to put it on mine as well for my own benefit. Just so that I don't forget.
Fun fact, I believe that the anime and the manga were both in production congruently! However, the anime stands as the original work, whereas the manga stands as Chiho Saito's (one of the art/character designers) project. She is a part of the original Be-Papas team which created the anime. And she is a bit more conservative than Ikuhara and the others. Although, interestingly enough, both the manga and the anime are considered canon by the entire team, even though they differ greatly in some aspects.
I suppose it's really up to the fan to choose to believe which story they like best.
P.P.S. I almost forgot to mention something Ikuhara said that really struck me.
"The last scene of this story represents the type of life that I wanted for myself when I was a teenager. Although I wished for "freedom," in the end, my teenage self didn't have the courage to break "outside the box" (the box of the world that adults has made)."
This last part of this statement really stuck with me, I don't agree with it. Adults are not the only people in the world that can influence others. Perhaps that viewpoint is common for a younger person, or someone not worldly. But I firmly and strongly believe that you are never too young to influence the world, to influence society. It is a matter of experience and, knowledge, and will. And I firmly believe that these days, and likely in the past too, adolescents easily influenced the world as much as adults did. Adults do make structures, true. That is the box they've made for us. But we can break out of it. And I believe that in modern times, adolescents have learned how to make their own structures. Perhaps this is a new phenomenon, and this statement merely is better understood by a generation which lived before me.
"...Since then, a lot of time has passed, and I finally found the courage necessary to break "outside the box." I've decided that, like Anthy, I'd find my Utena (freedom), and make a life for myself outside the box." -
3.6
El manga de Utena es un caso especial. La historia del anime es, en mi opinión, mejor, más artística y muchísimo más completa. El manga tiene lo suyo, pero muchas de las cosas que se muestran aquí son inferiores comparadas a las que hay en su contraparte animada: la relación de Utena y Anthy en papel y tinta es mostrada como algo filial completamente, lo cual no es malo hasta que consideras que Utena, la Chica Revolucionaria bien podría ser la mejor representación de una pareja lesbiana que se ha hecho hasta ahora en la historia del anime. Las motivaciones de muchos se reducen a "me gusta Utena, eso es todo", y como es habitual en los mangas, no hay mucho tiempo ni espacio para demostrar que el enamoramiento de los chicos tiene fundamentos.
Juri, por su parte, sufre un cambio colosal: mientras que en el anime ella es abiertamente lesbiana, lo único que la mueve en las viñetas de la versión de Chiho Saito son chicos. Si no es Touga, es Ruka. Su personaje fácilmente es el que más sufre los cambios de Saito, quien quería hacer una historia más normal en comparación al anime.
Luego está el asunto de los duelos. Puesto que no pueden moverse los dibujos impresos, las batallas de rosas y espadas no son tan impresionantes como las que el anime tiene para mostrar.
Hay algunas cosas buenas en el manga, claro, y aunque parezca malo de mi parte no mencionarlas en mi reseña, preferiría que tú las encontraras por tu cuenta. Después de todo, ¿cuál es el chiste de arruinar las sorpresas agradables que pueden hallarse?
Considero que el manga no está al nivel del anime, así que sólo deberías leerlo después de terminar la serie y únicamente si en verdad deseas conocer todas las versiones que hay de esta maravillosa historia.
Recomiendo comprar los cinco tomos de una vez, puesto que las historias cortas se encuentran al final de algunos de ellos, y si se lee exactamente como están impresas se rompe el ambiente que Saito creó. El orden que considero apropiado para leer es este:
a) Leer los primeros tomos hasta el duelo de Yuri.
b) Leer todas las historias cortas, a excepción de La Rosa Negra.
c) Continuar con la lectura hasta que Utena nota por primera vez que Anthy se ha marchado por
la noche.
d) Leer La Rosa Negra.
e) Terminar el manga.
Pienso que este es la forma más apropiada de disfrutar del manga. Ahora, con su permiso, los dejo leer. Yo me retiro a leer La Adolescencia de Utena. -
what an interesting end! utena is stabbed straight through her chest and back, and still had enough strength to kill akio? really? i love how anthy's hair is down, to me it symbolizes that she is now free from her "rose bride" duties. i love how touga, the only one not in a "coffin" was the only one (other than anthy) to remember utena. i love how anthy seemed to take on utena's spunky personality.
what the movie does that the manga did not was truly nail how the school was like a prison, a false reality. the movie, in it's bizarre way truly embodies that. at the end, you know anthy and utena are free and out to change things. at the end of the regular storyline (half of the book was bonus stories) the "revolution" hadn't even begun. utena was sort of dead and anthy and touga are still stuck, well in a way. anthy was free from the duels, being a possession, and taking on utena free personality with her clothes and attitude. but, touga most certainly didn't seem free. in fact he seemed to be even more trapped than what he was before.
the bonus stories.
i wish that they were in the normal storyline. it was mentioned in the first book that there could be even more rings than utena's and the rings the members of the student council had. i kept waiting to see more, and none appeared. i guess that mystery was solved with akio saying that utena was the only one given a ring by dios, and that he wanted to distract the council by giving them fake rings. anywho- i love the juri/ruka story. it was lovely to say the least. -
The conclusion of Revolutionary Girl Utena left me upset. It was clear that Utena had gotten herself into a tough situation. Her sacrifice was noble and expected based on her behavior through the series. In many ways, the ending felt inevitable. However, it also felt rushed. It felt like in order to keep the tensions high and deliver something satisfying, the actual plot felt subpar. Thankfully, like much of the rest of the series. There were some characters that kept me wanting to come back for more and find out where their story took them. I just wish there was more care for Utena.
-
Since no omnibus yet exists and I don't want to add all five volumes, I'll just add the last one. The manga is very similar and yet different than my beloved, favorite anime. It was interesting to see some of the characters in a different light and to get a different (more coherent) ending.
-
Not exactly the ending that I was hoping for. If it had not been a *Everything went pretty well there, but almost everyone forgot that anything ever really happened in the first place.* ending, then this volume would have gotten 5* from me.
-
The art references of wrestling angels? Delightful. The straightforward explanation of themes? Also delightful. Touga? Still oh-so-present. Utena and Anthy coming through for each other? Delightful. The neglect of the nobility of the princess? Well. The ending? Idk I thought it did a pretty good job at having an Epic Ending! As in, having elevated us up to killing god levels, it made sense! I don't know why I would have been upset with this ending before, so it is possible that I never read it.
I like the way this informs the anime; I do think if (given my druthers) I get to introduce more people to Utena, I'll still give them the show first. There's a space for a grandiose journey and deeper character arcs. Vol 4 and 5 are like, extra gorgeous tho, and well paced.
WILD that the black rose saga (like...13 episodes?) is one side story in the manga. -
Libro parte del~Reto Sáfico~ de Pimplop.
Junio: Comic-Manga-Novela gráfica.
Bueno ya era fan desde el anime así que la calificación buena no debería ser una sorpresa. A pesar de que muchos elementos del anime como que nunca existieron en el manga, fue bastante enriquecedor para mi leerlo. Siento que en momentos dieron mejores explicaciones, explicaciones que en el anime quedaron un poco cortas (eso o tengo pésima memoria y no las recordaba) pero siento que los momentos heterekes eran muchos más y eso me desagradó un poco. Porque: principalmente los momentos heterekes eran sin consentimiento y los personajes hombres eran un poco insoportables. Sin embargo los momentos saficos eran soft en su mayoría (o dramáticos en otras situaciones) Pero bueno, arte lindo, buena historia, recomendado!! -
4.5 Stars
Wow.
I bet this is going to go down as one of my favorite mangas of all time. There's just so much symbolism, so much to unpack throughout the series, that it would take pages upon pages to hit all of the points. Also, I haven't had an ending rock me off my socks as much as Revolutionary Girl Utena in quite some time.
Another unrelated note: lots of the story in here is so relevant and so timely that it's a wonder to learn that this was written twenty years ago. Like, geez! Saito and Ikuhara (the director of the anime, which came out as the manga did) were way ahead of their time.
Recommended for pretty much anyone who reads manga, but especially those who like fairy tale deconstructions and/or Puella Magi Madoka Magica. -
Premetto di aver letto questo manga quando avevo ventidue anni e nel 2012 ero un pò fuori dal mondo. Ero una grande lettrice (ma poco critica) e nonostante tutto ho avuto difficoltà a dare una valutazione a questo manga. Ne ho sempre sentito parlare bene di questo manga e per questo doveva essere un must-have della mia collezione soprattutto perché adoro Chico Saitou.
Ma non saprei, la storia prosegue molto velocemente ad un finale aperto (cosa che io assolutamente odio), gli ultimi volumi sono i più belli per non parlare delle storie ma... sono un pò confusa.
Penso che a tempo debito mi farò una riletto a mente "adulta". -
The end of this work has seemed very moving. It has really been an unexpected outcome that has captivated me a lot, I really did not expect a resolution of the conflict like the one that has occurred. In summary, I can conclude that despite the fact that the protagonist is practically a Mary Sue, I have really enjoyed this manga, because it has not made me scandalously sweet. It has not lacked action nor scenes of drama or romance. It is a story that I recommend to everyone, although it is easy to get lost if not enough attention is paid to the details.
-
Une fin ouverte qui n’est pas si mal. Au final, j’ai trouvé que les enjeux de cette histoire n’étaient pas bien définis, avoir le pouvoir ok mais pour en faire quoi ?
J’ai bien aimé la partie de l’histoire qui expliquent l’origine du conflit entre Dios et Akio, c’est tellement représentatif des manga des années 90 (X, Angel sanctuary, Evangelion, etc.).
Au final, ce qui m’a le plus plu c’est le combat que mène Utena tout du long pour choisir elle même le rôle qu’elle souhaite endosser et ne pas se voir imposer un rôle dont elle n’a pas envie. -
I loved the ending.
We finally got that cleared up about who is who and what really happened, a nice addition to the anime.
Touga is kind of written differently than in the anime or the movie, which isn´t bad but it also felt Alien. Also some qualities of the characters were changed, which was very strange.
The art was amazing, especially for that volume. -
Oddly, I quite enjoyed the ending. It was a shorter chapter, but I felt it all came to a head the way these things normally do - suddenly, and with a loud, crashing finale. There are two bonus stories, one of which was the obvious basis for the Black Rose Saga arc of the anime, and the other which became a regular episode.
-
Not anywhere as good as the first four volumes. New characters were introduced which didn't appear to have any connection to the story line except to energize one of the other characters. The ending made no sense and left me with a sense of what just happened and why are there so many loose threads. Very frustrating.
-
the art for this volume hit SO DIFFERENT. absolutely beautiful. gotta say the ending was kinda weird considering it was the last volume but hoping ‘the adolescence of utena will clear some of that up’
-
I'm not sure I completely understand the ending of this series. If it ended the way I interpreted it to have ended, I just read over 900+ pages for nothing!
-
WHERE IS THE ENDING???
-
2,5 stars
-
La Revolucionaria siempre será mi fav ♡
