Revolutionary Girl Utena: Episode 39 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2025-03-30 13:00:14 +0000 UTC**JAW-DROPPING HEADPHONE WARNINGS**
WHAT a season finale! I'm conflicted, torn, bamboozled at some decisions, but one thing is for sure: THANK GOD ANTHY AND UTENA (spoilers) are rid of Akio! *wipes away sweat*
Did it happen in a satisfying way or the best way it could? We'll talk about it and at least I am looking forward to seeing what the movie and "After the Revolution" manga have yet to offer.
NOTE: The comments for whatever reason just had me in a mood this episode. That's on me, and just my frustrations with not finding the series to be as great as I was told it is...apologies for my frustration this week and in weeks prior!
LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/AMGwS8CJGCXin3E1tAFjss
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Yessss, dang it - betrayed by the OP! Also, yes, Akio - just stop, sir. Ahhh, I really had a lot of emotions in that opening - it being the same day as watching Maquia! *hands tissues* I’m sorry your daughter doesn’t want to see the movie but at least you’ll be able to give her an update on it! I definitely agree that the first half or until Episode 29 are my favorites. It’s still a good show and “anti-magical girl” is a great title for it! And yeah, romance was ironically where it didn’t come to fruition for me. But I do agree - rooting for Utena has been a staple of his show! And Nanami…I miss her! And her fashion! I agree, there’s been a lot to discuss in this series, which has been a lot of fun overall! I agree, though, I wanted more development with Anthy and her coming into her own before the very last episode. Yeah, I think giving us more of a slow drip of Anthy development and the final theme of the story would have worked better - I know it was there “all along” but it didn’t feel earned for me as much as it COULD have - there is a lot of potential for what this could have been, but I still enjoy it, overall. And yeah, that PROJECTOR. I’m still not over it, hahaha! And yeah, a darker ending for Akio FOR SURE after all he’s done. And yeah, the school crumbling would have been a nice tough or the rose gardens taking over - that would have been AMAZING! And yeah, the movie will be WILD and the manga is a hoot as well, but it’s weird to think we’re nearing the end of that series! Thank you for the comment and kind words! Let’s go last two weeks of RGU!
Romaniablack
2025-04-04 13:26:44 +0000 UTCYeah…the whole “this is all a metaphor” thing works until you try to “ground” it with “We’re all actually just in the Chairman’s room and it’s a projector.” It’s like they couldn’t decide to go with the mystical elements or try to give it a glimpse or realism, but it’s hard to effectively tackle both. And I agree, Ikuhara wanted the same vibes as EOE, but that show is too different in its set up for this to perfectly match it and pull it off in the same way, to me, at least. I agree with you! NOW, I do love that Anthy got the courage to leave her abuser and did it HERSELF. That was fantastic. I’m sorry you had a similar experience and I’m so glad you were able to leave! Your experience ties so well with Anthy’s and I’m sure she’ll be able to reconnect with Utena, hopefully, now that she’s away from him! Thank you for the comment!
Romaniablack
2025-04-01 18:53:13 +0000 UTCTying back to what I said last episode, this episode is really confusing because we don't know what is real and what isn't, as you say in the discussion. Esp the swords. They stab Anthy, but it turns out that Anthy isn't the real Anthy so the swords didn't really stab her, but then how are they flying? Are they real when they hit Utena? Presumably not since Anthy thinks she can find Utena out there some where, but then what actually happened at the end? Oh well, I think the truth is Ikuhara saw how wild and wacky the ending of Evangelion was and wanted to do something similar, but he didn't pull it off as well. That being said I love this episode, especially that the conclusion is Anthy finding the courage to leave her abuser. Although I'm sure he'll say all sorts of horrid things about her now that she's gone, she can take comfort that his opinions only matter in his little world, which she no longer has to be a part of. I had a similar experience when I was a teenager. Leaving felt impossible and terrifying and like the world was ending, but once I was out of it I realized how small and pathetic that world was.
Lynden
2025-03-31 20:33:27 +0000 UTCHere at last, the end of the journey, and still, we are on foot! Those flying horses have betrayed me, nooo!!! And Akio giving off the damned 86 uncle vibes this episode "Don't open it! Don't you know what will happen?!" he says to Utena. How about you stop talking, and keep your face down on the floor, no one wants to hear you anymore! Ah, such a heartfelt opening to this discussion, and of all days I pick today to watch Maquia, I will get through them both without crying, I will! I've watched Utena blind for about half a year now weekly with my daughter, and for her, she ended up enjoying the first half of the show much more than the second - in her words 'it started out good but then when it didn't have a plot I stopped liking it.' She sadly refuses to watch the movie, but that's ok! She is a very good sport about it all! I enjoyed my time with it more than she did, even though I've been a bit hard on it lately myself. It's certainly different from other anime I've seen and as a magical girl show, or maybe more an anti-magical girl show, I think it delivered everything and more - except for romance. Ironic as that is, coming from a show with roses for a theme/logo! The highlights for me from right at the beginning, rooting for Utena, our protagonist, going against the norm, to hoping for her friendship to develop with Anthy. From figuring out the duels, the shenanigans with Nanami in her Mean Girls streak, to the humor, oddities such as ChuChu and the elevator sequence, along with Anthy's puzzling antics, each episode seemed to bring some new and exciting thing to see and discuss! And the Nanami drip, she starred in the wrong show I tell you! The first episode of the second arc with all the new animation was great, and the Juri episode where she stayed true to herself was one of the show's strongest. I just wish we had more development for others too later on, especially for Anthy, and spent a little less time on the Akio section of the final arc. Your talk about the poem from one of your girls on the speech team (I imagine to be less than a single episode in length) having more development than the entire series gives to important characters like Anthy over 10 hours of episodes, hits for me. Some of the choices the show made in what information to give us - or rather what information NOT to give us, I don't think worked for me. "But it's not important what's actually in the briefcase" just doesn't sit right with my curiosity, haha! I think the final episode suffers a little from a feeling of coming out of nowhere, so much whimsical and fantastical things at the 11th hour, which I think needed more screen time. That projector is putting in some overtime too! I would have enjoyed a darker ending for Akio, I could have used his VA doing more screaming of "Anthy NOOO" at the end, maybe see him in tears, that's not asking much is it? Or give us the school shutting down and deteriorating over the years of abandonment. Perhaps the rose gardens going wild and taking it over, that would be a nice metaphor. RGU has been something I've mostly looked forward to each week, crazy it's almost come to an end. I'm definitely excited for the movie, and the final discussions from you and others here! It's been a journey, thanks! 😊
L Freya
2025-03-31 03:03:26 +0000 UTC
