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R1 DVD Reviews
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Written by maehara
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Friday, 04 November 2005 00:00 |
 With only one volume remaining after this one, Revolutionary Girl Utena
finally casts off its duel-of-the-week formula and begins to set the
groundwork for its finale. The most surprising thing here is when
Utena begins to start acting like, well, a girl, as Akio's charms begin
to win her over and Touga expresses his own feelings for her, but it
seems Anthy's been up to some late-night shenanigans behind her back...
34 - The Rose Crest
The school drama club is trying to persuade Utena to join them, and
invites her along to one of their performances to show her what's
involved. Utena drags along Anthy and Akio for some moral
support, but when they get there it's not quite what they were
expecting... Yes, the Shadow Players seen in every episode have
finally got an episode all to themselves, and tell the tale of the Rose
Prince - which just happens to have a whole lot of parallels to Akio
and Anthy. Meanwhile, Touga and Saionji ponder Utena's true
identity, while Utena shares her memories of meeting her Prince with
Akio - and of her first meeting with the Rose Bride...
35 - The Love Which Grew in Wintertime
Akio and Touga are planning for the next duel - a duel that will be
between Touga and Utena, and should determine "who will bring
revolution to the world". Utena, meanwhile, hasn't been feeling
quite herself - her meeting with her prince is just at the edge of her
memory, but she still can't remember exactly what happened and it's
really beginning to bother her - and Akio and Touga are only too happy
to use her confusion for their own ends. Utena's state of mind
isn't helped when she finds herself falling in love with Akio, either...
36 - And Thus Opens the Doorway of Night
Utena's spendng more and more time with Akio - despite him being
engaged to somebody else, he seems to be returning the feelings she's
developed for him. It's enough to make her feel almost
feminine. For Touga, it's time to finally challenge Utena one
more time - but not before confessing his love for her first. As
a result, the stakes for their duel are simple - if Utena wins, he'll
leave her and Anthy alone forever. If he his, she'll become his
girlfriend. But even more unexpected than Touga's confession and
challenge, is what she sees in Akio's planetarium after the duel...
The Shadow Players' performance in episode 34 is a rather strange tale
of the origins of Dios and the Rose Bride, which
finally fills in some bits of Utena's past that have been referred to
but never seen - the identity of End of the World, why Anthy is the
Rose Bride, and why Utena has a fixation on becoming a prince.
Most of what happens to Utena in these episodes is manipulation on
Akio's part, of course - he's setting Utena up for
the fall, and using Touga to help in his plan, although it seems
Touga's emerging feelings for Utena may not be part of the
script. There are also a few scenes that talk about people being
trapped in
coffins and snippets that show the characters in other forms that may
indicate that the world of Ohtori Academy may not be entirely
real. For every revelation these episode makes, there's a hint
dropped about something else that muddies the water again and leaves
you desperately trying to figure out what's happening - an attempt to
play with the expectations and perceptions of the audience that really
works quite well.
There's only 1 duel in these three episodes - the usual formula has
been abandoned as the story reaches its conclusion, and there's
absolutely no filler here, either. With only three episodes to
go, it's still far from clear how the story will finish - but I can't
wait to find out.
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