This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#1 | Back to Top11-05-2006 01:16:28 PM

Hinotori
The Notable Death Mantis
From: Soviet Ohiostan
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 1335

Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

So Utena's got pretty good rewatch value, and It's been around for a pretty long time. Back in the day I used to watch the entire series every couple months.

But looking through the discussion forum it'd dawned on me that I haven't watched Utena the whole way through since I lost my VHS copies in a fire. That fire was in January of '05.  I've got a week off starting tuesday and I'm pretty sure I'll waste it doing something stupid, so instead I'm going to waste it watching Utena and looking for new things. O:

Is there in particular you picked up watching a second, third, fourth time? Has it been a while since you've seen it? (in that case, why not play with me?) Did your opinion of the series or any of the characters change while watching it?


(Super secret bonus kind-of-unrelated question: If Utena was redone, would you watch it?)


Hinotori made this post, and then went back and changed it later. Such is life.

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#2 | Back to Top11-05-2006 01:25:15 PM

G&Ysnumber1fan
Tenjou Tilter
From: On the Isle of Lesbos
Registered: 10-25-2006
Posts: 82
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Hinotori wrote:

So Utena's got pretty good rewatch value, and It's been around for a pretty long time. Back in the day I used to watch the entire series every couple months.

But looking through the discussion forum it'd dawned on me that I haven't watched Utena the whole way through since I lost my VHS copies in a fire. That fire was in January of '05.  I've got a week off starting tuesday and I'm pretty sure I'll waste it doing something stupid, so instead I'm going to waste it watching Utena and looking for new things. O:

Is there in particular you picked up watching a second, third, fourth time? Has it been a while since you've seen it? (in that case, why not play with me?) Did your opinion of the series or any of the characters change while watching it?


(Super secret bonus kind-of-unrelated question: If Utena was redone, would you watch it?)

I remember when Evangelion first debuted back in the day, and I would watch the VHS copies with a friend who had just moved from Japan. It had been a while but then I saw it again on Adult Swim and I was like YES!!, I was young at the time, 11 or so and I didn't really care much about the characters themselves and how I related to them, but now after buying the platinum edition I realize that the final episode is like...one that should be watched by anyone that feels as if they are alone in the world. It totally blew me away.

I would watch Utena if it was redone...I mean if someone had the *#$#)%# to make another version of Oh My Goddess, which is known as Ah My Goddess, they can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.


Akio..and James Brown(R.I.P.) have two things in common:
1)They are sex machines...
2)They are the only ones that could possibly make jumping over the windshield of a car look effortless..

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#3 | Back to Top11-05-2006 01:34:44 PM

Ragnarok
Caption Captor
From: Canada
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 4472
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

G&Ysnumber1fan wrote:

[T]hey can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.

Please, please, please no! emot-gonk I'm hardly a big fan of Sailor Moon, but I can watch the original no problem. Whereas the live action version was just painful. And if it was Utena I'd feel obligated to watch it.

I have been meaning to rewatch Utena lately. The last two times I watched it was with other people, so it was nice to see their reactions to certain things. (Nothing beat when "Mamiya" reverted into Anthy at the end of the Black Rose arc. school-devil) At the same time, I wasn't watching out for new things on my own because of that. I do appreciate Anthy more and more with every rewatch, though.


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#4 | Back to Top11-05-2006 01:44:43 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Hinotori wrote:

Is there in particular you picked up watching a second, third, fourth time? Has it been a while since you've seen it? (in that case, why not play with me?) Did your opinion of the series or any of the characters change while watching it?


(Super secret bonus kind-of-unrelated question: If Utena was redone, would you watch it?)

I've been planning a rewatch for some time now, so if you wanna make a thread specific to it, I'd be in. emot-smile I come by new stuff every time I watch. Even episodes 25 and 30, which I seriously know word for word and shot by shot. My love for the series only grows the more I watch it.

If it were redone, I would be All. Over. It. Leave the script alone. Leave the shots alone. Hell, leave the voice acting alone. Just for the love of god reanimate it. All the best shots in the series look like they were drawn by monkeys on speed. emot-gonk


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#5 | Back to Top11-05-2006 02:39:28 PM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I'm actually looking at doing a rewatch fairly quickly, as I'm writing a paper on SKU for my psychology class. I was gonna start the BRS today, but if we're going to organize a rewatch, I might wait.


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#6 | Back to Top11-05-2006 03:17:42 PM

Nessy
Sunlit Gardener (Prelude)
Registered: 11-04-2006
Posts: 169
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Ragnarok wrote:

G&Ysnumber1fan wrote:

[T]hey can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.

Please, please, please no! emot-gonk I'm hardly a big fan of Sailor Moon, but I can watch the original no problem. Whereas the live action version was just painful.

You know, I just don't understand why everyone has to rag on the Sailor Moon live action. It is AWESOME. emot-frown
.....
Well...I guess it is true that the first ten episodes are difficult to get through...unless you are a hardcore fan...and the REALLY awesome parts don't really show up until the last half...still. I loves me some live action Sailor Moon. Ack. etc-love

</offtopic>

Anyway...oh god...it's been long enough since I last rewatched Utena that I'm actually having trouble remembering the things I was so proud of noticing during my last couple of rewatches...jeez. It's been more months than I care to think about. I'm definitely going to play along, especially since I have a four day weekend coming up...and, honestly, it's not like I have much else to do. (& I've been meaning to do a very thorough rewatch anyway--I've been thinking about it a lot lately, and I really want to do an analysis on Miki's stopwatch.)

PS If they made an Utena live action, it couldn't be a TV series with silly shots and weird quality, like the Sailor Moon one. I can deal with that for Sailor Moon, (mostly because it was a remake of the classic season, which was never visual-quality driven anyway--although if they redid SuperS like that, I'd kill. [It's funny, no one but me seems to give a shit about SuperS...but I think that it is definitely the section of Sailor Moon where Kunihiko Ikuhara did the best work. Everyone falls all over the religious symbology of S but ignores the amazing surrealism of SuperS? UGH! Um. ANYWAY. {Sailor Moon is so distracting to my thought process.}]) but Utena...? No. It'd have to be a huge and beautiful production. I dunno. I don't think it could work, truthfully. It'd be difficult, to say the least.
But if they left most everything alone and just reanimated it, like Giovanna suggested? That would be MARVELOUS. The animation quality is the only thing in the entire series that isn't utter perfection.

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#7 | Back to Top11-05-2006 03:27:37 PM

G&Ysnumber1fan
Tenjou Tilter
From: On the Isle of Lesbos
Registered: 10-25-2006
Posts: 82
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Nessy wrote:

Ragnarok wrote:

G&Ysnumber1fan wrote:

[T]hey can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.

Please, please, please no! emot-gonk I'm hardly a big fan of Sailor Moon, but I can watch the original no problem. Whereas the live action version was just painful.

You know, I just don't understand why everyone has to rag on the Sailor Moon live action. It is AWESOME. emot-frown
.....
Well...I guess it is true that the first ten episodes are difficult to get through...unless you are a hardcore fan...and the REALLY awesome parts don't really show up until the last half...still. I loves me some live action Sailor Moon. Ack. etc-love

Yes, I agree with Nessy^_^ they need to make a live action Utena, er..well a new live action Utena...cause the musical was cool too, but it would be cool to see how in the world they would show Ohtori Academy..and such.


Akio..and James Brown(R.I.P.) have two things in common:
1)They are sex machines...
2)They are the only ones that could possibly make jumping over the windshield of a car look effortless..

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#8 | Back to Top11-05-2006 06:33:09 PM

Suyo
Tenjou Tilter
From: Washington
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 82

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I live action...utena?

ugh..talk about slash hell...(or would it be heaven?)

either way it'd be totaly horrid.

It'd be neat to make some sort of an animated sequal, though.
Another movie that takes palce after the series (as opposed to a completely new story line)
Anthy finds utena and the spirit of Dios awakens, recreating the world of Princes and Princesses.

That's all I can come up with right now XD
That'd be neat


May those who accept their fate be granted happiness. May those who defy it be granted Glory.

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#9 | Back to Top11-05-2006 07:11:53 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Giovanna wrote:

If it were redone, I would be All. Over. It. Leave the script alone. Leave the shots alone. Hell, leave the voice acting alone. Just for the love of god reanimate it. All the best shots in the series look like they were drawn by monkeys on speed. emot-gonk

I must agree with you on this point, the S K Utena anime deserves to have the animation redrawn, preferably the same quality as they used in the Utena movie but in keeping with the anime style…etc-love after all the last thing anyone wants to see is a foppish Akio prancing around the place. emot-gonk

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#10 | Back to Top11-05-2006 07:14:46 PM

Imaginary Bad Bug
Revolutionary
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2171
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I was hoping to start rewatching Utena this fall - it's been well over a year since I've watched the series - but as luck would have it I'll have added something like 10 new shows to my collection by the beginning of December, so I've had to delay that plan so I could work on killing the new backlog before going back to revisit shows I've already seen. emot-gonk

I have set things in motion for another movie rewatch, though.  I've taken the movie OST out of my iTunes playlist.  Why would I do something as crazy as that?  The longer I don't hear the music, the more impact it has the next time I watch the movie.  And it's all about being stunned by the movie each and every time I watch (and hear) it! emot-dance


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#11 | Back to Top11-05-2006 08:08:45 PM

mercurynin
Flourishing Verderer
From: Honolulu, HI
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 638

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I've been thinking about rewatching it over Thanksgiving break--that is, when I'm not applying for internships and throwing together the first draft of a 20-page research paper.  If not Thanksgiving, then Christmas break.


You know our hearts beat time out very slowly.  You know our hearts beat time -- they are waiting for something that'll never arrive.

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#12 | Back to Top11-05-2006 11:33:40 PM

ShatteredMirror
Yaoi Pet #1
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: 10-22-2006
Posts: 8858

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

In my first rewatch I found myself appreciating Nanami a lot more at the beginning of the series. She's a very layered character and knowing what I know about her from having seen everything to the end I find her to be a lot more interesting at the beginning, whereas the first time I saw the series she struck me as a two-bit antagonist placed to make us feel sorry for Anthy (which she is, in a way, but she's more than that too).

I also found myself disliking Saionji for different reasons. He irritated the hell out of me the first time through as he would any guy who wants to think of himself as chivalrous, but as I watched it again his immaturity grated on me far worse than his cruelty. He really did think that Anthy loved him and I find that kind of pitiable. Also, his enormous ego rested on very shaky foundations and that hit a little too close to home for me.


Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source.

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#13 | Back to Top11-06-2006 05:33:04 AM

Sanguine_Rose
Juri Jeerer
From: UK
Registered: 10-24-2006
Posts: 47

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I'm midway through a re-watch at the moment and almost at the end. The only thing that could make this series better is, yes, a remake with all the origional voices and music.

Though secretly i've been hankering to make an Utena play of my own to act out on stage. Yeah, it would probably be crap and there's no-one alive who could play a good Akio but still...i'd like to give it a go.emot-keke


When Patrick Stewart says "Come", WE ALL COME.

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#14 | Back to Top11-06-2006 06:58:36 AM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

ShatteredMirror wrote:

Also, his enormous ego rested on very shaky foundations and that hit a little too close to home for me.

Don't hate. emot-frown Relate. emot-frown


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#15 | Back to Top11-06-2006 08:39:43 AM

Ger
Rose Smilee
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 139
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I just finished rewatching it last week so I don't think I'll be up for another rewatch in quite some time emot-biggrin

On the question of character opinions changing, I liked Anthy, Nanami, and Juri a lot more this time around. When I watched it a few years back, I couldn't relate to a lot of the female characters, but I think I am beginning to understand them a bit. Miki is still a mystery to me, however. I have no opinion on him, for whatever reason.

Saionji, Ruka, and Mikage need more screen time.

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#16 | Back to Top11-06-2006 11:41:31 AM

Aine Silveria
Pumpkin Bride
From: Allegan, MI
Registered: 11-03-2006
Posts: 2098

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Given the fact I only own 2/3's of the DVD's, it makes it pretty bloody hard to rewatch Utena on a regular basis. Even as it is, I think I've seen the first two box sets over a dozen times, and the final set (god I love the friend who loaned them to me) about half a dozen times. For some reason, it was my most popular item to put in the DVD player while working at the video store. Imagine that. emot-wink

Also to my annoyance, I only have the first two mangas. >>;;;; I've read the entire manga line, and the movie manga (!! Utena/Touga sex~! *glee*), but I don't own them. And to make matters worse? I have two different styles of manga. Vol. 2 is the original release, Vol. 1 the new release. So I have to collect both versions now. *headdesk*

After all that rant is said and done, I think I WOULD rewatch Utena IF BUT I COULD.


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#17 | Back to Top11-06-2006 02:24:45 PM

Frau Eva
Voodoo Queen
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 803

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

I like rewatching, but I won't be able to do a full watch-through for a while because I'm slowly lending my copies to my English teacher. She went "Chu-chu!" every once in a while in class today. I think I've made a new fan. school-devil

Complicating watching it is--I'm sure for a lot of people--the fact that Software Sculptors declared bankruptcy. emot-gonk Getting it is from anime stores is pretty much impossible right now.


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#18 | Back to Top11-06-2006 02:39:15 PM

Aine Silveria
Pumpkin Bride
From: Allegan, MI
Registered: 11-03-2006
Posts: 2098

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

That clinches it. That last box set is mine as soon as I get the inevitable birthday money. Not that I wouldn't have gotten it anyway.... but....

And that may explain why the box set is $40 instead of the $100 it was last year. Hm. Or, they just want me to annoy my parents some more. emot-keke

Last edited by Lady Chani (11-06-2006 02:40:58 PM)


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#19 | Back to Top11-06-2006 02:42:12 PM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

That's it, I'ma buy the last box set. Friday. After my poor piddly paycheck emot-frown

You all thought I'd have it, didn't you. Unfortunately, I'm poor.


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#20 | Back to Top11-06-2006 02:44:20 PM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Nessy wrote:

Ragnarok wrote:

G&Ysnumber1fan wrote:

[T]hey can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.

Please, please, please no! emot-gonk I'm hardly a big fan of Sailor Moon, but I can watch the original no problem. Whereas the live action version was just painful.

You know, I just don't understand why everyone has to rag on the Sailor Moon live action. It is AWESOME. emot-frown
.....
Well...I guess it is true that the first ten episodes are difficult to get through...unless you are a hardcore fan...and the REALLY awesome parts don't really show up until the last half...still. I loves me some live action Sailor Moon. Ack. etc-love

Sailor Moon Live Action is great!  ... TO MAKE FUN OF!  emot-keke  It's one of the best make-fun-of-me shows I've ever seen.  On the other hand, you're right that awesome parts start showing up in the last half... the half where Ikuhara takes over the direction emot-wink

Oh, and on topic!  I'd love to see a live-action Utena.  It would either rock, in which case it would be a disservice to humanity not to make it, or suck in a Sailor Moon Live Action way, in which case making it would be technically a disservice to humanity.  The best kind of disservice to humanity.

And live-action adaptations CAN be very good indeed.  Everyone should watch the GTO live action.

Last edited by satyreyes (11-06-2006 02:47:08 PM)

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#21 | Back to Top11-06-2006 03:30:20 PM

Hinotori
The Notable Death Mantis
From: Soviet Ohiostan
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 1335

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

HAHA! You must've gotten into Utena about the same time I did. I'm not sure what was going on there, but they liscensed the Black Rose saga and sat on it for the looongest time, so for a while my collection was black rose free, and the remaining arcs were on fansub. I just dug up the whole collection again so it's taking a while to come, but I'll probably cheat and use the fact that I've spent money on it twice as an excuse to download the episodes until it comes.

The best part about Sailor Moon live action is acts like it was practically made for snarky japanese college girls to pick apart on the internets. Nobody was even bothering because (from my experience) It's pretty rare when you can watch something  you LOVED when you were under ten and actually improve on it.

That probably has more to do with being under ten when watching it, I guess emot-tongue .


Hinotori made this post, and then went back and changed it later. Such is life.

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#22 | Back to Top11-06-2006 06:15:16 PM

Dani
IRG Messiah
From: Virginia, USA
Registered: 10-22-2006
Posts: 361

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Lady Chani wrote:

Given the fact I only own 2/3's of the DVD's, it makes it pretty bloody hard to rewatch Utena on a regular basis. Even as it is, I think I've seen the first two box sets over a dozen times, and the final set (god I love the friend who loaned them to me) about half a dozen times. For some reason, it was my most popular item to put in the DVD player while working at the video store. Imagine that. emot-wink

Also to my annoyance, I only have the first two mangas. >>;;;; I've read the entire manga line, and the movie manga (!! Utena/Touga sex~! *glee*), but I don't own them. And to make matters worse? I have two different styles of manga. Vol. 2 is the original release, Vol. 1 the new release. So I have to collect both versions now. *headdesk*

After all that rant is said and done, I think I WOULD rewatch Utena IF BUT I COULD.

If you are having trouble watching, all 39 Utena episodes are on YouTube now which I think is accounting for the resurgence of fandom that seems to be happening. Just reading over the comments posted for the last episode reflected a lot of new viewers. (Thanks, duchello!!)

And Amazon.com carries the three box sets for $36 each. And, wow, I saw the Apocalypse Saga box set at Best Buy the other day which kinda surprised me.

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#23 | Back to Top11-07-2006 12:48:54 AM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Dani wrote:

If you are having trouble watching, all 39 Utena episodes are on YouTube now which I think is accounting for the resurgence of fandom that seems to be happening. Just reading over the comments posted for the last episode reflected a lot of new viewers. (Thanks, duchello!!)

I agree with you totally, duchello certainly made my year posting the subtitled SKU series on Youtube,com.  I could not have reached the level of understanding with the show without it! emot-keke

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#24 | Back to Top11-07-2006 09:38:48 AM

Maarika
Someday Shiner
From: Estonia
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 2510
Website

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Tamago wrote:

Dani wrote:

If you are having trouble watching, all 39 Utena episodes are on YouTube now which I think is accounting for the resurgence of fandom that seems to be happening. Just reading over the comments posted for the last episode reflected a lot of new viewers. (Thanks, duchello!!)

I agree with you totally, duchello certainly made my year posting the subtitled SKU series on Youtube,com.  I could not have reached the level of understanding with the show without it! emot-keke

I first saw Utena on YouTube this summer. And after duchello uploaded the rest of it, I also make my friend watch it! school-devil

Anyway, I'd love to rewatch it again, but I don't have the time right now and I'm not sure when I'll be able to do so. I think it won't be before Christmas break. And I really really hope they won't take away my Christmas break... emot-gonk


The Saionji Support Squad:
Believing in True Friendship Since 2008.

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#25 | Back to Top11-07-2006 09:12:45 PM

Romanticide
Cow Bellhop
From: Mazatlan
Registered: 10-18-2006
Posts: 447

Re: Rewatching Utena (I WANT YOU TO PLAY TOO)

Nessy wrote:

Ragnarok wrote:

G&Ysnumber1fan wrote:

[T]hey can do a sequel to Utena, or heck make it live action, that would be awesome.

Please, please, please no! emot-gonk I'm hardly a big fan of Sailor Moon, but I can watch the original no problem. Whereas the live action version was just painful.

You know, I just don't understand why everyone has to rag on the Sailor Moon live action. It is AWESOME. emot-frown
.....
Well...I guess it is true that the first ten episodes are difficult to get through...unless you are a hardcore fan...and the REALLY awesome parts don't really show up until the last half...still. I loves me some live action Sailor Moon. Ack. etc-love

I love the live action!! etc-love It may not be for everyone tastes but I love how they gave more depth to the rest of the sailors and not just Usagi/Serena/Bunny.

*Tania Remembers her subbed episodes and original dvd finale are in her hometown... Tania starts crying patheticall*


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