Having read the Chiho Saito manga and watched a fair amount of the series, I thought I knew the utena plot very well. However, when watching this, it only seemed to take a few basic pointers from both of these sources. The utena movie (or whichever name you may use for it) has a mood and themes almost entirely different from the other versions of it. Of course there's the ever-present "revolutionising the world" theme, and the rose bride, etc, but this seems to be a more...updated version of these. It's not so much about achieving a goal, such as the 'revolution of the world', but is instead a film about the rite of passage from adolescence to adulthood (hence two of the movie's titles, 'the adolescence of Utena' and 'adolescence mokushiroku (adolescence apocalypse)')
The visuals in this movie are stunning. The animation, which looked, in the series, rather pretty and smooth, but not very original or special, has become absolutely jaw dropping in the movie. The backgrounds are stunning, and the characters move smoothly and look gorgeous the whole way through.
Many of the characters have been revamped; in both their designs and in the roles they play in the storyline. I personally don't see this as anything too bad, as long as you view the movie and the series/manga as separate entities.
The plot of the movie is...well, as the title of this review says, confusing. At one point (SPOILER ALERT) utena turns into a car (!) and other odd things happen throughout the plot. (End spoiler) Also, something lightly touched upon in the series, the sexuality of the two heroines, is brought to light here. Therefore, if anyone is uncomfortable with non-heterosexual relationships, they shouldn't see this film.
The soundtrack to the film is great, featuring "rinbu revolution" in a new remix for the film, and a couple of duel choruses, as well as the "sunlight garden" theme from the series. It's a nice blend of instrumentals, vocals (such as toki ni ai wa, one of the movie's most famous songs - and scenes) and, er, odd choruses (but don't we love them!), such as 'zettai unmei mokushiroku', another series song that makes its way into the movie.
Overall, this film, as long as you put the series out of your head, is fantastic. Beautiful, dark, eccentric, and utterly addictive. You'll find yourself watching it time after time.
The visuals in this movie are stunning. The animation, which looked, in the series, rather pretty and smooth, but not very original or special, has become absolutely jaw dropping in the movie. The backgrounds are stunning, and the characters move smoothly and look gorgeous the whole way through.
Many of the characters have been revamped; in both their designs and in the roles they play in the storyline. I personally don't see this as anything too bad, as long as you view the movie and the series/manga as separate entities.
The plot of the movie is...well, as the title of this review says, confusing. At one point (SPOILER ALERT) utena turns into a car (!) and other odd things happen throughout the plot. (End spoiler) Also, something lightly touched upon in the series, the sexuality of the two heroines, is brought to light here. Therefore, if anyone is uncomfortable with non-heterosexual relationships, they shouldn't see this film.
The soundtrack to the film is great, featuring "rinbu revolution" in a new remix for the film, and a couple of duel choruses, as well as the "sunlight garden" theme from the series. It's a nice blend of instrumentals, vocals (such as toki ni ai wa, one of the movie's most famous songs - and scenes) and, er, odd choruses (but don't we love them!), such as 'zettai unmei mokushiroku', another series song that makes its way into the movie.
Overall, this film, as long as you put the series out of your head, is fantastic. Beautiful, dark, eccentric, and utterly addictive. You'll find yourself watching it time after time.