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adolescenceofutena

Adolecence of Utena

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Alternate/Japanese Titles: Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie, Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Adolescence Mokushiroku

Original Japanese Release Date: 1999

Episode Length/Run-time: 80 minutes

Summary:

A condensed summary of the original series: Revolutionary Girl Utena, The Adolescence of Utena retells the tale of Utena Tenjou, a young girl who dresses as a man in order to be a prince and save princesses.  She is roped into a secret society at her school via a rose crest ring who duels for the hand of Anthy Himemiya, the rose bride, on a rooftop garden.  Utena must uncover the secrets of the school and these duels to save herself and Anthy.

Review:

This movie is a beautiful whirlwind.  The production values are amazing and the product is visually astounding.  Even if you’re not a fan of the series, or know nothing about Utena it will be really easy to sit for a short 80 minutes and gaze on going, “oooh, shiny.”

However, a whirlwind it is none the less.  If you haven’t seen the original series you’re likely to be left feeling dazed and confused.  The movie moves at a breakneck pace, spending little time to stop and explain things for the unfamiliar viewer.  It’s also steeped in symbolism, with often times a single scene or image representing a whole period of time in the series.  You’re left to your own devices far too much if you’ve never seen the series, and even the Utena veteran may find themselves at times going “what just happened?”

A must-see for Utena fans, a good watch for shojo or stellar animation fans, but beyond that this may not be a movie worth your Sunday afternoon.

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angel beats

Angel Beats

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Alternate/Japanese Titles: (none)

Original Japanese Release Date: 2010

Episode Length/Run-time: 13

Summary:

Yuzuru Otonashi wakes to find himself in a world in which he cannot die. It is a purgatory-like school setting trapped somewhere between life and death. The world is filled with mindless NPCs, which should Otonashi comply with he will disappear forever. Otonashi teams up with Yuri Nakamura and the SSS Brigade, a team of other young “students” like him who fight against the mysterious “tenchi” and rebel against the world to avoid disappearance.

Review:

Originally a light novel, and then a four volume manga Angel Beats is a beautiful exploration into everything modern-day animation can do right. The colors are vibrant and the setting, while generally simple and generic, has still been rendered in an enchantingly beautiful way.

The characters are a riot and you attach to them easily. At one moment you’re laughing at their crazy antics, you can imagine what can happen when you put a spear through someone and they don’t die.

The story progresses beautifully up until the last three episodes. While the anime still finds a way to tear at your heartstrings the ending gets confusing and convoluted.  It’s as if they tried to conclude too much, and go too in depth to things they never flushed out earlier in the series.

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