#i added so many icons of BOTH cuz it adds character.......... maybe

[tenacityreturns]

“listen, asshole. i’m gonna carry you home whether you like it or not. you’re not in any condition to get there yourself.” (you know the ship)

send me prompts for me to get mega carried away writing aokaga drabbles! ♥

          kagami knew he wasn’t going to be able to play basketball for a little while. he knew not to wear shorts in the winter under the impression he’d inevitably end up going to the outdoor court near his house and running drills by himself. he knew he wouldn’t be able to play in the practise game against kaijo next week, or enjoy any one-on-ones with his rivals. it upset him to know that the cast on his foot was also stopping him from working out, and even moving, let alone how it was affecting his basketball.

miserable, basically. kagami was miserable. he still met up with his friends, and insisted on coming to practise just to see what everyone was doing. coach allowed him to practise his three-pointers under the agreement that he was absolutely not to attempt dunks. kagami’s not that stupid, come on! joining his team doesn’t make him feel any less torn up, though. in fact, it could be argued that watching everyone have so much fun makes him feel worse, not that he’d say it for the fuss he put up even being allowed to come in the first place.

it makes sense that aomine would be waiting for kagami’s badly sprained ankle to heal up before they meet up. the redhead is convinced that the limits of his appeal are closely defined by his basketball ability, and this goes for aomine’s impression of him as much as anyone else’s. that’s fine. aomine likes basketball, so what else does kagami have to offer besides that and cooking for him ( which kagami is unwilling to do all the time )? nothing, exactly. kagami has accepted it, and by aomine’s silence, it sounds like he has too. can’t blame him.

in his second week with the awful brace on, aomine contradicts kagami’s assumptions by asking ( in his own way ) to go to maji’s. it sucks that aomine would see kagami with his stupid little brace, but at least he isn’t using a crutch anymore! there’s no shame in being injured, kagami knows this, but he really wants to play and he was thinking he’d be able to grin and bear it if he’d have the brace off by the time they met up. kagami really isn’t sure how much fun he’ll be, but he agrees because it’s aomine and he misses him. ( is that stupid to admit in itself? that he misses getting clowned on, and lectured, and spoken down to? crushes are weird. )

maji’s wasn’t that bad, either. aomine almost didn’t mention kagami’s injury, except to ask if it hurt bad to walk on. it is, but he’d said it wasn’t. he’s too restless to do nothing as it heals! it’s boring. 

kagami eats apparently noticeably less today, but he hasn’t done anything to work up an appetite. he’d been worried there would be awkward silences, but there aren’t. aomine mentions kise, kagami tells him that he’s having to sit out of the game, and the conversation swiftly moves along to something entirely different. 

scarlet eyes watch carefully. is aomine talking... more than usual? is something up? kagami almost asks straight up, but decides against it at the last minute. what good would it do? kagami doesn’t want to hear aomine admit that he just wanted to hang out! how fucking embarrassing would that situation be? so it cheers him up a little that aomine isn’t just hanging around for the basketball. ( and if he is, he makes such a fuss about being too tired to play one-on-ones that he’s got a funny way of showing it. )

so. the scene has been laboriously set. the characters, kagami taiga: injured, miserable; aomine daiki: love interest, acting strangely sensitively towards miserable rival, have been introduced. not to mention the lingering stares, shared food, hurried apology promptly buried after aomine had accidentally nudged the bad leg under the table. 

after the meal, they cut through the park towards town to do some shopping. aomine said he was too tired and couldn’t be bothered, but kagami has things he wants to buy and despite not insisting, the other teenager tags along. not five minutes into their journey, demons appear. as fast as their legs can carry them, three hellhounds race across the grass and STRAIGHT into them! he doesn’t know the breeds ( boxer, pug, border collie ), but they have big teeth and they’re barking at them! kagami’s body reacts before his scream can leave his throat, and he’s running in the opposite direction before aomine could tell him not to because of his bad leg.

( kagami doesn’t see this because he’s five metres away already, and ten seconds from falling on his face, but aomine is alarmed by the animals too before the come to a stop a few feet away. kagami! what are you, stupid? you’ll hurt yourself! but it falls on deaf ears. tails wagging, the dogs run around each other and then come up to aomine to say hi. the pug yells, the border collie barks, and the boxer is their silent guardian. she’s much quieter, and earns pets from aomine who is more than happy to pay them. the collie is more excitable, but he’s sure that’s a trait of the breed. a woman comes running across the grass in workout gear, and she apologises for her dogs, she lost grip of their leashes. aomine will have to shrug it off because where the fuck has that idiot gone? and what does he mean by running when he’s got an injury?! )

crash. his brace isn’t meant for running on. a stone beneath his foot sends him stumbling to the ground. the subsequent steps he takes mid-air, trying to save the fall from landing on the bad leg, has him land on the good one and now that hurts too. but kagami shifts around to sit so that he can at least see the dogs charging behind him until finally they eat him alive. but the dogs are being taken away by a girl, and aomine’s jogging to catch up.

     “what the fuck was that?” he asks in annoyance, "i know you don’t like dogs but you gotta be careful.”

    “don’t like them?” kagami repeats weakly, but it’s the rage which gives him voice. “what the fuck do you mean i don’t like them! there were three of them and they were coming straight at us! any normal person would run away! are you stupid yourself?” he tries to get to his feet but it’s a struggle. what has he done to his other foot? “shit---”

    “ah, did you hurt yourself? i told you,” despite the totally unwelcome reprimands, aomine hooks his hands under kagami’s arms and pulls him to his feet. much to kagami’s angered embarrassment.

    “i’m fine, get your hands off me,” but he’s grumbling, not shouting. he’s grateful really. kagami takes a step onwards, away from the dogs and, as it happens, back home, but the good leg buckles under sharp pain. it’s his knee. it isn’t his foot. fuck. this is much worse. as the pain subsides, kagami becomes acutely aware of the hand on his back. somehow, in a quiet way, this is worse.

    “easy. what’d you hurt this time?”

    jeez, aomine makes it hard to be anything but angry sometimes. “nothing! i’m fine.”

    “kagami,”

    “shut up! i’m going home,” but the step on his bad leg hurts, and the next makes his knee hurt again. he grits his teeth, screwing eyes tightly shut. no, this really fucking hurts. what if he’s fucked up his knee again? is he going to have to take longer off basketball? this is shit!

    “listen, asshole,” aomine’s hand glides across kagami’s shoulder-blades to find a firm grip of his shoulder, but it’s not the straightened arm that stops him from walking ( it’s the straight up yearning ). “i’m gonna carry you home whether you like it or not. you’re not in any condition to get there yourself.”

    “no---!”

    “shut up. you think i want to carry you, fatass? we’re only a couple blocks from your house, it’ll be fine.”

    “who the hell are you calling a fatass!"

    "stop complaining, you're being too noisy."

this is such an unfair statement to have made. kagami is often unaware of how loud he's being, so he is told off by teammates for this all the time. aomine saying it just makes him pause and check himself. but his volume had been fine! aomine just called him a fatass, isn't it natural to fight on that? aomine doesn't think so. his hand leaves kagami's shoulder and thoughts feel a little more coherent, but he's still insisting.

    "no, aomine, I don't want you to fuckin' carry me. how embarrassing is that?"

    "okay," he shrugs, "let's go back."

that was... easy. "what do you mean! you're gonna make a fuss and then drop it just like that?"

    "let's go," he nods his head to gesture onwards, but it's a second before kagami can even consider moving. is aomine being... respectful of his wishes? ( also, when did the bare minimum become so applaudable? )

kagami grits his teeth through stepping on his bad ankle, eager to prove that he’s absolutely fine to walk, but cannot prevent the wince when it comes to his knee. it’s really sore. it feels kind of like when he’s jumped too much in a game, so he must have hit it in the worst possible spot.

when his eyes eventually bring themselves to find aomine’s, he finds that aomine had not moved since insisting they leave. he’d been watching to make sure kagami could do it. this is so embarrassing.

    “yeah,” aomine rolls his eyes, reaching behind his head to pat his own back in gesture, “anyway, hop on, tiger.” 

    “i’m heavier than you------”

    “i can do it,”

    “wait, who are you calling tiger?!”

    he smiles, as if laughing at his own super original little joke. that pisses kagami off! and embarrasses him further! his face is red hot and burning ever brighter, but aomine just walks around to stand in-front of him, facing away. “i’m serious, kagami, get on.”

    “are you--- sure?” is kagami really considering this now? “if only to get you to shut the hell up...”

    “yes, i’ll shut the hell up if you get on my back. jesus fuckin’ christ, kagami.”

it’s leap frog. it’s just a piggy back ride. it’s an emergency! it’s anything other than being that close to his crush --- and maybe even crushing his crush. whatever, kagami likes weighing close to 200lbs, that’s why he eats so much! but if he hurts aomine too... that would be pretty bad...

    “kagami,” it’s a stern reprimand from aomine that kick-starts kagami’s ascension. it almost makes the redhead forget who he’s talking to, so used to getting told off ( and then doing what he was told ) is he.

    “alright!” he retorts, hobbling closer. “ready?”

    “born it,”

that’s so lame. this is so dumb. almost hoping aomine topples forwards under his weight, just to prove a point, kagami grits his teeth and hops up onto aomine’s back. dark hands grip under his thighs and, yeah, this is about as terrible and catastrophic as it is awesome. aomine grunts under the weight, readjusts, and starts walking. kagami blinks. he’s------ he’s doing it? they haven’t fallen over yet?

all the same, kagami’s arms wrap around aomine’s shoulders in case of collapse. he can’t see whether the expression worn by his knight in shining armour betrays the strain, but from here, he seems to be holding up! is aomine... secretly really strong? this is... so cool...

    “you’re stronger than you look,” kagami remarks quietly.

    “what’s-- that supposed to mean?”

    “uh-- you’re not that built? like, you’re more slender than me?”

    “i’ll drop you on your ass, so help me.”

it’s so much easier dealing with aomine when he’s being snappy. snappy is so much better than sappy. sappy is offering to carry him. snappy is threatening to drop him. kagami smiles. he’s doing everything in his power to avoid thinking about those hands under his thighs, so he doesn’t even think to fight him about the threat. maybe he would if kagami couldn’t distinctly feel aomine’s back under his chest. it’s important in moments like these to remain completely in control of one’s body, to avoid very embarrassing things. he’s not thinking about them either, just in case he accidentally wills it into life.

they leave the park and aomine’s still carrying him. about a block away from his apartment, aomine takes a right when he should’ve gone straight on, and kagami speaks up.

    “hey, we’re going the wrong way. you should’a kept going on, dumbass. you forget already?”

    “there was a dog,” he replies frankly, “i don’t wanna risk our necks over it.”

    “oh,” that’s pretty considerate of aomine, actually... weird...

    “so you’re really scared of them? like a phobia, or whatever?”

    “yes,” kagami huffs, “i got bit when i was a little kid.”

    “and it stuck with you?”

    “you got a problem?”

    “no, just asking. you scared of tetsu’s dog, nigou?”

    “not so much. what’s that thing where, like, if you’re scared of the dark, then psychiatrists will put you in a dark room ‘til you get over it?”

    “huh?”

    “i don’t know the japanese for it, dude! ugh, whatever---”

    “like exposure therapy?” he laughs, “did tetsu force you to get over it for nigou’s sake?”

    “basically! it was always me putting on his jersey, or he put my water bottle in nigou’s hands when passing it to me. seriously annoying. kuroko’s kind of a bastard.”

    “mmm,”

    “but he likes basketball, so he can’t be all bad.”

    “tetsu or nigou?”

    “nigou, keep up!”

    “sorry, i’m just lugging ‘round a 4-tonne whale on my back----”

    “shut the hell up! it’s all muscle, anyway, so it’s not like you’re insulting me!”

    “all dumbass more like.”

    “hey!”

    “don’t shout in my ear!”

kagami decides to pull said ear between finger and thumb.

    “oi, ungrateful bastard!” aomine ducks away, but still doesn’t drop him.

    “ungrateful? i’m not ungrateful, idiot! i’ll make you something nice when we get in, how’s that?”

    “i don’t want anything---”

    “no, we gotta be even, and since i can’t play basketball--”

    “that ain’t even, i win every time.”

    “oh, every time? how about at the winter cup?”

aomine fakes a drop by loosening his grip and dropping his knees down. kagami’s grip tightens around aomine’s neck, confirming that if one fell, the other would too.

    “i know i was with my team that day, stupid!” kagami exclaims, “don’t fuckin’ drop me just ‘cuz i said that!”

    “gotta learn to be respectful somehow.”

    “not like that!”

    “calm down, i’m not actually gonna drop you. obviously, idiot.”

and he doesn’t. kagami makes a move to get down once they’re close to the building and aomine puts up a fight about it, and the same happens when they get to the front door. it’s only once they’re waiting for the elevator that aomine stands straighter and lets kagami slide off. aomine’s sweaty now, and leans into the wall as they’re taken to the penthouse floor.

aomine’s a good guy. he seems to like keeping that fact a secret, but kagami knows what it’s like to brush people off to avoid getting close ( and subsequently hurt by ) others. sometimes having no friends is just simpler. but kagami’s glad that he joined the seirin basketball club that day for hundreds of reasons, and standing in the elevator with an exhausted rival who just carried him for the whole five minute walk home is just one of them.

kagami is glad to have met aomine for hundreds of reasons, but finding a likeminded friend in him is just one of them. of course, ideally he’d like to be more, and the unconquerable smile on his face when aomine looks over, says it all. unfortunately, aomine doesn’t seem to be listening for it.

    “what?” aomine’s drowsiness fades in an instant.

    “nothing.”

    “well, shut up.”

    “i didn’t say anything!”

    “stop thinking whatever you were thinking.”

    kagami’s smile broadens. “you have no idea what i was thinking about.”

    “probably something perverted,” aomine clicks his tongue. “disgusting.”

    kagami immediately shoves him, “shut the hell up! as if i’m thinking about you like that!” maybe earlier, much to his dismay, but not right now!

    “oh! so you were thinking about me?” aomine smirks, catching the wrist and pushing it away. “interesting.”

    “shut up!”

    “i didn’t say anything,” 

he’s really a bastard, huh? a beautiful, dumbass bastard. kagami lowers his eyes ruefully. alright. so maybe he’s head over heels for him, what of it? he exhales. a proper thank you is definitely in order. he’ll feel bad if he doesn’t say it. after a moment of opening and closing his mouth, quite oblivious to how obvious his struggles are, it’s aomine who speaks first.

    “don’t bother,”

    “what?”

    “i said don’t worry about it. listen next time.”

    “you don’t know what i was gonna say!”

    “you were overthinking how you could thank me,” aomine pushes his index finger against kagami’s forehead. “i could see the cogs turning.”

    “get the hell off me,” kagami, despite being madly in love with him, is also the man’s primary target for irritation, and aomine always knows how to push his buttons. he’s blushing, but angrily. “i was just thinking how i was gonna tell you that you smell bad.”

    “shut up,” aomine shoves him, “i smell great, you’re just jealous of my natural musk.”

    “you’re such an asshole,” but kagami’s smiling again. “is it fun being on my nerves all the time?”

    “hey, ‘least i’m on your mind.”

    “you don’t need to be an idiot for that to happen!”

    “huh?”

    “what?”

    “ah, so you do think of me?”

    “no.”

    “you just said you did.”

    “what? no i didn’t! so what if-- if that’s true, anyway? idiot. you’re making a big deal out of nothing! it’s normal to think about your rival. how else do you come up with ways to beat him?”

    “sure.”

    “shut the fuck up with ‘ sure ’ !” 

    the elevator dings. aomine shrugs. “if you’re still worried about how you can make it up for me for saving your ass back there,” the doors open, he leans in close momentarily. “i can think of a few things you could do.”

is there... any way... that the way aomine said that... could mean anything else but what kagami immediately thought of? his cheeks, already hot, start to sting with how intensely he’s blushing. aomine saunters out, but waits half-turned towards him outside the elevator. kagami stares for a second. tries to recover. almost gets locked inside the lift as it’s called down, and hobbles out to catch up with his awful rival.

    “hey aomine?”

    “what?”

    “don’t tell anyone i hurt my knee. it’ll be fine in a day or so, probably. it’s----- embarrassing.”

    “tch, like it isn’t embarrassing for me too?”

kagami hadn’t really thought of that side of it. aomine had been so insistent that he’d figured aomine didn’t care. ah man. now neither of them are talking and the stinging heat on his face is back! he unlocks the door, and neither of them talk about it again. kagami’s smile hardly fades all afternoon.

#aonon. #drabbles. #answered. #aokaga #YEAH i tagged it......... bold of me ik #3241 words...................... absolutely kill me #i added so many icons of BOTH cuz it adds character.......... maybe #anyway i love them so much #thank u SO MUCH for this anon i owe you my heart

[anolyso]

Utena thoughts...about 2 weeks later

I've been putting it off for way too long and so most of my thoughts stopped being fresh. On top of watching way too many analysis vids post-watch, but still I do at least want to put my 2cents of Revolutionary Girl Utena out there for the world.

Utena is perhaps one of the most famous "magical girl"/shoujo action shows out there for not only it's transgressive themes of relationship abuse and low-key pretty much being the poster girl for like actual feminist perspective on/in anime...but also just doing it all in both a heavily allegorical and understated, yet super over-the-top stylish fashion

But that's it's reputation preceding itself, is Utena worth while all these years? The answer is Yes, but it also really shows it's age and budget in pacing and repetition, tho as an appreciator for "behind the scenes" compromises in art, it's more showcasing Ikuhara's talent in working around both taboo and long-form budget constraints with just well-thought out and iconic imagery that - while episodic and formulaic - is just very good at filling the 39 eps with feasts for the eyes.

Utena broadly is about tomboy Utena with memories long ago after her parents died being "saved" by a princely figure like a princess...except she's so enthralled by the nostalgia that instead she becomes a full on Prince herself and receives a dueling ring to fight in the Ohtori Acadamy secret duels for "engagement" to Rose Bride Himemiya Anthy.

Utena is divided between 4 arcs, only the first and last being Manga adapted from hearsay:

1: Student Council Saga

2: Black Rose Saga

3: Akio Ohtori Saga

4: Apocalypse

From back to forth I'd say that Akio + Apoc is more just escalation into the finale while Black Rose being anime original comes off as a glorified side-character study which while complementing the secondary cast, feels like one of those Anime movies that has to say "but if you don't watch this part, it's pretty much optional for the main plot" despite it also actually introducing the most important antagonist within it's margins.

More importantly, it's the Student Council (arc and the actual people) that lay the foundation but also a large part of the show's focus which ironically puts Utena in the background until like almost the finale and some in-between developments, so it's less "Utena (and Anthy Himemiya)'s story" until the very end, but more like a showcase of how fucked up the system at large is (pin in that).

By the Council themselves is:

Kyouichi Saionji: The biggest jobber, like actually introduced as the most despicable loser ep 1 and proceeds to be a complete arrogant joke for the rest of the show. Honestly in another shojo "love" story, they'd find some way to redeem him but semi-compellingly they turn him into like an Aqua-lad type pathetic brat with an inferiority complex to the actual Student head

Miki Kaoru: the naive "nice, non-threatening soft boy" that also just never actually listens to the girls around him. Probably adds more complexity to the whole patriarchal idea on analytic reflection since yeah, the whole "nice guy finishes last" plays up better when the kid comes off as that "ally" energy of wanting to save Himemiya from being the Rose Bride but also low-key won't actually not just do the duels and win her cuz he's that sorta wishy-washy hypocrite. Arguably the least hateable guy in the cast (minus mascot Chu-Chu)

Juri Arisugawa: TRAGIC LESBIAN TRIANGLE LOVE. Probably the biggest point to of both "not-explicitly homosexual" but also really freaking obvious since her entire story is her girlfriend stealing her "boy crush" when actually she was crushing on her and being pretty much frustrated throughout her story as pining most of it. It's quaint by today's standards but also like damn girl, get over her she was like the worst back stabbing bitch (literally if Black Rose counts)

Nanami Kiryuu: SPEAKING OF QUEEN BITCH, it's been a long time since I've watched a High School girl bully and honestly it's kinda refreshing. If Miki is "soft-boy uwu" Nanami is a brat that gets her come-uppance often, featured prominently as an anime only with the MOST filler/comedic episodes but also not low-key, being the most out-spoken actual brother complex ironically spins perhaps the biggest twist and ironic relationships of "I love my brother but not-like-that but also like-that" by the end. Mostly comedic relief but I find her inclusion to actually add a lot more to juxtapose...

Touga Kiryuu: Big Student Council Prez himself, the first arc antagonist and also a strong foil to Saionji and later a stepping stone for Akio. Touga is THE image of a Princely Playboy Heart-Throb that in any other Shoujo romance would have the main girl win him over from all those "other girls" despite him being apathetic if not outright manipulative of them. Good thing Utena is better than that and really puts a spotlight on just not-actually-ok his power hunger for "the power to bring the world revolution" that leads him to heavily objectify Anthy, arguably even more than Misogynist Trophy Girlfriend beater Saionji, since he doesn't even see her as more than a means to an end despite professing and looking the Prince part but lacking all the actual virtues.

The Student council matters more since they're characters and subsequent tragic flaws are the ACTUAL meat of the show and on second rumination actual shows more how fucked up the system/gender dynamic/power hierarchy is since - while it blatantly fucks over Juri who can't just outright say who she likes - also show almost it's own sub-text of Masculine failings: Saionji desperately clinging to being TOXIC MASCULINE™ and completely falling short underneath Touga; Miki's "nice boy" act belying him trying to replace his low-key nostalgia for his sister (also a bitch, but apparently was more like Nanami in the manga); and best yet Touga being the quintessential "Prince in all but actual behavior" by emulating a cutthroat and Machiavellian world view but coming up empty because well, he's just an illusion of a prince...but that leads in way more to the big finale piece where I'll reintroduce the actual story's main trio

Utena Tenjou: Tomboy Prince with brain empty except for lesbian thoughts. Honestly probably what every western "STRONG INDEPENDENT WOMAN" archetype wishes they were since while having very tomboyish personality in athletics, blunt speaking and also VERY oblivious to the actual plot for REAL DRAMATIC IRONY, but also never actually demeaning her being feminine partially due to her love of an childhood prince and how she maintains her relationship with both her friend Wakaba and later Anthy. Honestly mostly a plot device after S1 until she gets ACTUAL development by the very end and instead kinda bumbles her way into undoing the entire REVOLUTION OF THE WORLD. I kinda wish she felt either more cognizant or at least felt like she was developing/properly rebuking the rest of the cast's power obsessions but I guess that's for the movie.

Anthy Himemiya: Actual Trophy Wife with a dark secret (darker than ski- wait no that's terrible scratch that). Set-up very much as an immediate princess in distress while also being the most femme Yamato Nadeshiko, Anthy being the Rose Bride as a literal prize who acts and behaves as whom she's "engaged" with desires while otherwise being quiet, wry, mysterious and noticably submissive, by the end it actually plays up into THE BIG REVEALS of just how abused she's been into a hopeless acceptance...like y'know actual abuse victims.

Akio Ohtori: Grade A Antagonist, probably the most insidious I've seen a villain in a while, Akio is notable for, back in 1997, being perhaps the big go-to of actual deconstructing the facade of a whole shoujo genre's "hots for a teacher/sexy man putting the moves" and highlighting how actually exploitative and abusive a person like that really is. Being Himemiya's brother (somewhat justified in the manga by both being a weird Sailor Moon-esque reincarnation of gods/godesses of Dios), despite how much of his motives are runing the background and how the entire back story is  uh...brought up in like barely in the last arc with little lead up (some scenes feel like they'd be a full melodrama season and they just have like 1 scene in the final arc episodes) he manages to one-up Touga (in the plot as well) by instead of "just" objectifying girls, not-just-flat out saying Utena looks best as a princess, but y'know the fact that he is implicitly yet constantly exploiting and victim-blaming Anthy for her own suffering for "the power of Dios/Revolution of the world" turns it on its head

I've spent all this time on characters but in truth a lot of the meat of the show relies again on the Council Members fleshing out the issues of system leading to outright divorcing "being a Prince" (heroic altruistic virtues) and "being a man" (considering like all but maybe the comedic relief have some deliberately misogynistic behavior) and beyond just the plot (or rather character) synopsis, the talent goes far more in how it's framed, the symbolic/allegorical shots, the repetition adding a good episode formula flow to character showcases, probably the most "tasteful" allusion to uh...*ahem* sexual abuse that so many other edgier/prentious shows fumble. Both in how intimidating yet understated it's foreshadowing is until they hard-reveal it despite never explicitly naming it even tho it sends Nanami into hysterics

Really it's both a massive blessing and reason for it's cult beloved status for it's aesthetics but also it's burden, for being a full 39 episodic season by season character development study of everyone BUT the main trio except for snippets and the very end that makes it greatly appreciable as a legitimate work of art.

What I wanted more to say however (long overdue) is that a large part of following is, visibly at least, western feminist critiques and yes while it almost seems like Utena fits the "deconstructing patriarchy" story like a glove...it's weird how almost none of them actually can give a good historical account of actual Japanese female/gender/sexuality norms nor Anime contemporaries actually were. Like Tenchi Muyo and Berserk came out the same year (Cardcaptor Sakura the next) and despite how you can "feel" the influence in lots of modern shows like SHAFT's signature visual imagery cuts or many WESETERN shows having straight scene references to Utena....almost no one has a similar feel to Utena until like Princess Tutu comes out.

Really tho probably should've watched Utena and then Tutu because while it's undeniable that Utena is a major pillar of shoujo re-codification - what with everyone before Utena was saying they thought it'd be like a Rose of Versaille or Lady Knight rip-off...whose laughing now? - it's almost like there's a missing link between it and it's major western fanbase (probably with what few anime did get overseas, this one probably rose to the top), or how very noticeable there IS an influence on it's genre in Japan

Almost none of the big analyst fans actually know A) it's not "a deconstruction of Magical Girls" since despite Ikuhara working on Sailor Moon just before this, almost none of the tropes line up and instead more with Shoujo genre as a whole. or  one of the major inspirations was Takarazuka theater.

And this is not to dismiss how inspirational it is to it's western fandom, but while I am notably cynical towards placing things on pedestals, there's probably something about cultivating the whole pop-culture feminist reading commune with people making weird time-loop theories while kinda most of it is just filling in a mad-lib mostly thanks to Ikuhara just keeping things on the vague and letting the audience take away their own perspective.

Again, most of the show is completely sub-textual or visually/symbolically depicted and never stated nor properly defines it's weird key words (End of the World, Revolutionize the World, Power of Dios, Rose Bride, all things said constantly but never really said what they "mean". But that's also perhaps its charm, in it's allegory and very Death of the Author approach, it has definitely allowed it's fan theorizing and appreciation to flourish so there's something there for that.

Ultimately I'd say Utena the TV series is great more so for what it isn't...or rather I should say it's great for not just subverting Shoujo tropes and archetypes for the Japanese audience but also that despite dealing with some very serious and heavy subjects in obtuse and perhaps understated ways for the time, people have allowed it to be put on it's pedestal because they can easily fit it in themselves.

Honestly though, not that a more "straight forward" approach wouldn't detract from Utena but I will say that the movie, Adolescence of Utena, is very much the best encapsulation of what Utena strives to be (for another big blog post) and while the TV series has plenty of time and flexes it's directorial muscles with budget constraints and season pacing UNrestrained, the movie will trim a lot of the fat

#long post #Revolutionary Girl Utena #I haven't actually done my Anime thoughts in a while #Maybe I'll keep this on my main blog this time #I wrote this mostly on facebook tho if I wrote it here first I'd better integrate images probably #anolyso's media time #uh...except now that's on my main blog