My favourite moment in the episode is when Utena asks Sayonji about the arena and the sky castle, and he casually drops "nothing, just some kind of projection"
Spoiler: AND THEN AKIO REVEALS IN EPISODE 38 THAT IT IS INDEED JUST PROJECTION (both litterarly projection of the light and more metaphoricaly of the mind what you deeply desire) Utena just the best work of art i had the luck to witness.
I dont think saionji pinned the letter to the board. saionji is petty and cruel, but he's honest and cannot manipulate his way out of a bag. he most definitely did toss it out but if he says he didnt pin it to the board then i believe him because he never once did anything so cunning in the show. thats what makes him a small fry villain at best, his inability to scheme in a show populated by clever schemers and manipulators. now i believe that the person who pinned wakabas letter to the board was anthy. she was saionjis bride and had access to his stuff, she had a motive of possibly riling up a potential new member and lure them to the game, and wakaba is utenas friend, and utena, being as noticeable as she was, was most definitely noted by ends of the world as a potential duelist. and plus, anthy IS one of the cleverest and meanest schemers in the show.
Oh for sure Anthy pinned the letter to the board bc akio asked her to get utena to duel. Its right in with her character as she can only work in the shadows due to akio controlling her. Her moves and rebellions are "small but powerful" like not immediately going to akio when he asked and the cowbell.
i remember when i was watching for the first time i saw a comment under this episode that went like "when you've watched the whole show, saionji is just kind of pathetic/you pity him" and i was like he's literally a domestic abuser, there's no way, the fans of this just gotta be morally bankrupt. but now when i think of saionji, i just feel sad, no burning hatred or fear like i feel for other characters cough cough akio. crazy how the show made me feel something i specifically didn't wanna feel
this video was great!! i always love seeing new utena video essays and i would really like to see more of these!! the song analysis bit was particularly interesting- there are a lot of songs in utena that i haven’t been able to make sense of yet so i would love to hear more of your thoughts on those!
the connection to ozymandias was one i never made, its definitely something I will think about more. its amazing how much they put into the show from the very first episode, I enjoyed your analysis of the form used in the Japanese the characters speak as well. this was reminiscent of reading a paper in college but in the best way, I hope you make more of these!
I've watched this series so many times (and am actually watching it again with a newbie) and I still love seeing different analyses and breakdowns. There's always more to find with this show, and my obsession will never be sated. Your analysis was great! I especially appreciated your breakdown of some of the nuances of the language they use that is generally lost on me as a non-Japanese speaker. And breaking it down scene-by-scene was a great way to show the flow of the story and the efficiency of its worldbuilding. I hope you continue this series!
i love this video! i really appreciate the breakdown of the japanese the student council members are using when they're talking to each other about anthy. that joke doesn't come across in the localization. this is a really thoughtful analysis and always refreshing to see an utena video that doesn't start out with a disclaimer about how impossible to understand sku is.
im glad to see more discussion about RGU, and i have a love/hate relationship with the first arc (it's kind of boring, even if it does do a good job of building the world and characters), so it was cool to hear your thoughts about episode 1. the songs in this show are very interesting to me, and i learned recently that they actually weren't made just for RGU, but were repurposed from songs he had already written for his theatrical company. knowing this makes me more interested in how the songs connect to the motivations of the duelists, now each fight's theme seems to be an allegory of an allegory. i don't really like Saionji except as a tool to view Wakaba's character, so I don't have much to say about your read of him, but learning about the tropes he embodies was nice. if you keep doing these analyses on episodes you think are important, i'd be happy to watch them! (the outro music using a post RGU Utena-inspired seazer song was very exciting to hear as well, i just love when people recognize him lol) i'll have more to think about on my next rewatch! also, i don't mean to sound rude, but i'd encourage you to watch out for when the projection of your voice falters. i have a low voice as well and i noticed near the beginning of the video a lot of your sentences quickly dropped into that throaty mumble territory where people usually have to ask me to repeat what i said 3 times :P around 2:30 you started sounding a lot clearer, maybe you got more comfortable speaking as you were talking or something. anyway, thanks!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! I agree that the first arc can seem kind of boring compared to the rest of the show, especially on repeated viewings, but I almost feel like that's more of a testament to how interesting the show is as a whole. There's also something comforting about the repetitiveness of the student council meetings before thing get even crazier. There's a lot of good jokes such as the classic saionji "hidden love" one and I also think the end of episode 6 is underrated for its overall absurdity, especially the end where Nanami, Touga, and Tsuwabuki walk into the sunset with that emotional music and Utena is genuinely impressed by Touga fist-fighting a kangaroo. I think it was necessary to have a more static first arc as stasis is the enemy of revolution. I want to learn more about the background regarding the music--I am pretty familiar with J.A. Seazer's music based on what I've heard in the soundtrack and the albums on youtube, and I have a few books on/by him, but making slow progress haha. If I feel like I have some knowledge that would be worth sharing at some point, I would make a video on that background. Thanks for the pointer about voice/audio. To be honest, I didn't really quality control that much for this video and I think the second one I released was a bit better in that regard. I like to think I don't have a deep voice sometimes but then I'm reminded there's no hiding from it it haha
This was a great analysis video on the first episode and I'm excited to watch more of these! I really enjoyed thinking about the ideas you presented that I hadn't even considered
first of all i just want to say that this is an amazing video! i think the main points i'd say you could probably improve on are (if you can) getting a pop filter for your mic, the plosives are just really obvious and also i think editing is the other main thing that stood out to me, including video or making the pauses between lines snappier could really help with audience engagement imo. also! examining the actual language that characters use isn't something you see often but really adds so much meaning to the scenes so i really appreciated seeing that [: keep up the great work!
![Mangaka Reiji Yamada discusses the background of Utena and its creator, Kunihiko Ikuhara [Eng sub]](/img/n.gif)
My favourite moment in the episode is when Utena asks Sayonji about the arena and the sky castle, and he casually drops "nothing, just some kind of projection"
Spoiler:
AND THEN AKIO REVEALS IN EPISODE 38 THAT IT IS INDEED JUST PROJECTION (both litterarly projection of the light and more metaphoricaly of the mind what you deeply desire) Utena just the best work of art i had the luck to witness.
He knows it's a cult from the jump
Utena content in 2022 lets goooo
I dont think saionji pinned the letter to the board. saionji is petty and cruel, but he's honest and cannot manipulate his way out of a bag. he most definitely did toss it out but if he says he didnt pin it to the board then i believe him because he never once did anything so cunning in the show. thats what makes him a small fry villain at best, his inability to scheme in a show populated by clever schemers and manipulators.
now i believe that the person who pinned wakabas letter to the board was anthy. she was saionjis bride and had access to his stuff, she had a motive of possibly riling up a potential new member and lure them to the game, and wakaba is utenas friend, and utena, being as noticeable as she was, was most definitely noted by ends of the world as a potential duelist. and plus, anthy IS one of the cleverest and meanest schemers in the show.
Oh for sure Anthy pinned the letter to the board bc akio asked her to get utena to duel. Its right in with her character as she can only work in the shadows due to akio controlling her. Her moves and rebellions are "small but powerful" like not immediately going to akio when he asked and the cowbell.
i remember when i was watching for the first time i saw a comment under this episode that went like "when you've watched the whole show, saionji is just kind of pathetic/you pity him" and i was like he's literally a domestic abuser, there's no way, the fans of this just gotta be morally bankrupt. but now when i think of saionji, i just feel sad, no burning hatred or fear like i feel for other characters cough cough akio. crazy how the show made me feel something i specifically didn't wanna feel
this video was great!! i always love seeing new utena video essays and i would really like to see more of these!! the song analysis bit was particularly interesting- there are a lot of songs in utena that i haven’t been able to make sense of yet so i would love to hear more of your thoughts on those!
glad you enjoyed--just put out a new video! i'd love to do more song analysis, maybe even some videos focusing solely on songs
I would love more utena content from you, I'm mostly lurking and reading the comments but I want you to know your work is appreciated.
the connection to ozymandias was one i never made, its definitely something I will think about more. its amazing how much they put into the show from the very first episode, I enjoyed your analysis of the form used in the Japanese the characters speak as well. this was reminiscent of reading a paper in college but in the best way, I hope you make more of these!
I've watched this series so many times (and am actually watching it again with a newbie) and I still love seeing different analyses and breakdowns. There's always more to find with this show, and my obsession will never be sated. Your analysis was great! I especially appreciated your breakdown of some of the nuances of the language they use that is generally lost on me as a non-Japanese speaker. And breaking it down scene-by-scene was a great way to show the flow of the story and the efficiency of its worldbuilding. I hope you continue this series!
i love this video! i really appreciate the breakdown of the japanese the student council members are using when they're talking to each other about anthy. that joke doesn't come across in the localization. this is a really thoughtful analysis and always refreshing to see an utena video that doesn't start out with a disclaimer about how impossible to understand sku is.
im glad to see more discussion about RGU, and i have a love/hate relationship with the first arc (it's kind of boring, even if it does do a good job of building the world and characters), so it was cool to hear your thoughts about episode 1. the songs in this show are very interesting to me, and i learned recently that they actually weren't made just for RGU, but were repurposed from songs he had already written for his theatrical company. knowing this makes me more interested in how the songs connect to the motivations of the duelists, now each fight's theme seems to be an allegory of an allegory. i don't really like Saionji except as a tool to view Wakaba's character, so I don't have much to say about your read of him, but learning about the tropes he embodies was nice. if you keep doing these analyses on episodes you think are important, i'd be happy to watch them! (the outro music using a post RGU Utena-inspired seazer song was very exciting to hear as well, i just love when people recognize him lol)
i'll have more to think about on my next rewatch!
also, i don't mean to sound rude, but i'd encourage you to watch out for when the projection of your voice falters. i have a low voice as well and i noticed near the beginning of the video a lot of your sentences quickly dropped into that throaty mumble territory where people usually have to ask me to repeat what i said 3 times :P around 2:30 you started sounding a lot clearer, maybe you got more comfortable speaking as you were talking or something. anyway, thanks!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment! I agree that the first arc can seem kind of boring compared to the rest of the show, especially on repeated viewings, but I almost feel like that's more of a testament to how interesting the show is as a whole. There's also something comforting about the repetitiveness of the student council meetings before thing get even crazier. There's a lot of good jokes such as the classic saionji "hidden love" one and I also think the end of episode 6 is underrated for its overall absurdity, especially the end where Nanami, Touga, and Tsuwabuki walk into the sunset with that emotional music and Utena is genuinely impressed by Touga fist-fighting a kangaroo. I think it was necessary to have a more static first arc as stasis is the enemy of revolution.
I want to learn more about the background regarding the music--I am pretty familiar with J.A. Seazer's music based on what I've heard in the soundtrack and the albums on youtube, and I have a few books on/by him, but making slow progress haha. If I feel like I have some knowledge that would be worth sharing at some point, I would make a video on that background.
Thanks for the pointer about voice/audio. To be honest, I didn't really quality control that much for this video and I think the second one I released was a bit better in that regard. I like to think I don't have a deep voice sometimes but then I'm reminded there's no hiding from it it haha
This was a great analysis video on the first episode and I'm excited to watch more of these! I really enjoyed thinking about the ideas you presented that I hadn't even considered
first of all i just want to say that this is an amazing video! i think the main points i'd say you could probably improve on are (if you can) getting a pop filter for your mic, the plosives are just really obvious and also i think editing is the other main thing that stood out to me, including video or making the pauses between lines snappier could really help with audience engagement imo. also! examining the actual language that characters use isn't something you see often but really adds so much meaning to the scenes so i really appreciated seeing that [: keep up the great work!
I really liked this video :) is there any chance you could upload an audio-only version as a podcast on spotify or something?
thank you!! i haven't ever uploaded anything to streaming services, but I might look into it in the future if there's interest
So excited to see more vids from you !!
rgu is so under appreciated, seeing new commentators on it makes my heart flutter!! please keep doing what you do🫶