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 Top10-18-2006 10:41:10 AM

Maarika
Someday Shiner
From: Estonia
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 2510
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Let's talk about the musical

Yes. The Utena musical. If you haven't seen, you can find it on YouTube.

Anyway, I consider the musical a very very good entertainment. My father considers me weird for watching something like that.
When I first saw Chu Chu I couldn't stop laughing.
The music is very good though! And the actressess, too (especially the one who plays Utena. Whoever she is).

What do you think of the musical?


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#2 | Back to Top10-18-2006 11:39:40 AM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

Oh god emot-gonk

Fine, fine, when I get home I'll watch a bit of it. I do recall Saionji and Nanami being particularly well-acted...but Akio is so not a smoker. (Or a woman.) That guy could hardly be bothered to lift his own glass of cognac, he just doesn't seem like a smoker. Maybe cigars. Because sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

That's never the case with Akio though. emot-wink


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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#3 | Back to Top10-18-2006 11:47:25 AM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

To be brutally honest, I thought all the actresses sucked emot-biggrin  Well, with the possible exception of Touga.  Nonetheless, the musical was very entertaining in an Ikuhara kind of way, and I agree that the songs were very good.  I especially liked the musical mix of "Nanibito mo Kataru Koto Nashi" ("No One Has a Thing to Say;" Touga's second duel song in the series).  Also good were the Shadow Girls' song, which was true to their persona if maybe a little more consciously inscrutable, and the surprisingly compelling versification of the Chick Speech.

I think it's really funny that they're all women.  It seems like a very Ikuhara thing to do somehow.  This is the guy who broke into popular anime consciousness by making Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune lesbians.  He's also stated (in interviews, yes; take with a pillar of salt) that he hates Tuxedo Mask, Touga, and Akio; they're trying to take his woman!

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#4 | Back to Top10-18-2006 12:05:16 PM

UtenaFanGirl
Ballgoer
From: California
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 145
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

i said "oiy" and lmao....but i only thought juri was the cute one...utena needed dental help and chuchu...well o.O dont know about chuchu...but touga does have a nice voice...and i think anthy is the one that sounds like...anthy

but i do like the sound tracks...i'll imagine what happen...


Chu chuu CHU!!!!

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#5 | Back to Top10-18-2006 01:07:00 PM

Fluffy
New Student
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 9

Re: Let's talk about the musical

...is it terrible that the first thing I thought when I saw it was "gosh, Anthy has fat thighs"?

Seriously, it was - er - Dios and Akio were both wearing lipstick and Saionji's hair was all straggly and, well, the backing dancers were really, really shaking their booty. Basically, it was hilarious but also slightly painful.

I loved Nanami, though! A Nanami musical would be a very, very special thing.

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#6 | Back to Top10-18-2006 03:38:08 PM

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

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Fluffy wrote:

Dios and Akio were both wearing lipstick

Wait what????

.......maybe I should be glad my copy of the musical was hopelessly blurry.


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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#7 | Back to Top10-19-2006 12:20:30 AM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

Heh, I have Gio's old copy, and I still haven't watched it. Maybe I should, if only to laugh.


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#8 | Back to Top10-19-2006 01:04:33 AM

Nariel
Miki Molester
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 32

Re: Let's talk about the musical

OMG! That is so utterly freaky. I'm scared, the first thought I had was: eeeeeh! The costumes are wonderful! OMG, they all look so...UTENA! It's utterly brilliant!emot-smile


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#9 | Back to Top10-19-2006 06:22:24 AM

Maarika
Someday Shiner
From: Estonia
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 2510
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

Fluffy wrote:

Seriously, it was - er - Dios and Akio were both wearing lipstick and Saionji's hair was all straggly and, well, the backing dancers were really, really shaking their booty. Basically, it was hilarious but also slightly painful.

I loved Nanami, though! A Nanami musical would be a very, very special thing.

Dios was very weird... I'm not sure if the same actress played Akio too or not, but why couldn't they have used any male actors?

Oh, didn't Nanami have about 10 seconds on the stage? I think that was ridiculously short, but at least they captured her characteristics.


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#10 | Back to Top10-19-2006 06:32:28 AM

azuresquirrel
Touga Topper
From: Right behind you!
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 57
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

Maarika wrote:

I'm not sure if the same actress played Akio too or not, but why couldn't they have used any male actors?

I'm pretty sure that the Utena musical was performed by a Takarazuka theater company - in which women play all the roles. I kind of like the concept myself, but then again I'm just plain fond of crossdressing.


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#11 | Back to Top10-19-2006 07:03:44 AM

Shiranna
New Student
Registered: 10-18-2006
Posts: 4

Re: Let's talk about the musical

I always go to watch the musical for a laugh.  It's too great.

I thought Utena and Dios were really bad, though--I didn't like Utena's actress, and Dios...well, two words: blonde wig.  All of the song remixes were great though, and Touga's actress was plain hot. emot-aaa  Hurray for scary female Touga in gogo boots!

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#12 | Back to Top10-19-2006 07:14:33 AM

Maarika
Someday Shiner
From: Estonia
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 2510
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

azuresquirrel wrote:

Maarika wrote:

I'm not sure if the same actress played Akio too or not, but why couldn't they have used any male actors?

I'm pretty sure that the Utena musical was performed by a Takarazuka theater company - in which women play all the roles. I kind of like the concept myself, but then again I'm just plain fond of crossdressing.

Ok, that makes sense.


Ahh, yes. The costumes were very pretty! It was like a very nice cosplay fest.


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#13 | Back to Top10-19-2006 08:28:40 AM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

azuresquirrel wrote:

I'm pretty sure that the Utena musical was performed by a Takarazuka theater company - in which women play all the roles. I kind of like the concept myself, but then again I'm just plain fond of crossdressing.

From what I understand, Takarazuka theater was in itself a huge influence on Ikuhara when he made SKU. Having seen some of the costumes they come up with on their own, I can definitely see why.


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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#14 | Back to Top10-19-2006 08:00:07 PM

onsenmark
Spambane
From: The eastern U.S.... someplace.
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 548
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Re: Let's talk about the musical

Musical!Anthy is made of win. emot-dance

As is Musical!Wakaba. emot-dance

And one of these days, someone will give the musical the MST3K treatment. And when they do, I expect Akio's last line to be, "Dude -- this is pretty f*bleep!*ed up right here." (yay South Park.)


watch me whine: onsenmark.livejournal.com

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#15 | Back to Top10-19-2006 10:54:22 PM

Dallbun
Tour Guide to Crawling Chaos
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 719

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Giovanna wrote:

azuresquirrel wrote:

I'm pretty sure that the Utena musical was performed by a Takarazuka theater company - in which women play all the roles. I kind of like the concept myself, but then again I'm just plain fond of crossdressing.

From what I understand, Takarazuka theater was in itself a huge influence on Ikuhara when he made SKU. Having seen some of the costumes they come up with on their own, I can definitely see why.

The Takarazuka Musical Revue is a very specific theater company, and they did not produce the Utena musical (although the idea of all the actors being female is drawn from them).

As for the influence of Takarazuka on Utena...it's a little bit less direct than Ikuhara drawing influence from the Revue. Rather, the "God of Manga' Osamu Tezuka grew up in Takarazuka (the town), and drew inspiration from the troupe when creating early shoujo manga such as "Princess Knight." Successive shoujo artists such as Riyoko Ikeda then followed Tezuka's lead.

Interestingly, the Takarazuka-inspired Rose of Versailles was adapted into one of Takarazuka's most famous and often-revived musicals. It all feeds back on itself.

The "otokoyaku" (Takarazuka performers who act in the roles of men)-esque character type is now fairly widespread in shoujo and, to some extent, anime in general. I don't mean characters inspired by the characters that otokoyaku play, though - I mean characters inspired by the masculine-acting, charismatic otokoyaku themselves. Prominent examples of such characters include Oscar from Rose of Versailles; Kaoru no Kimi and Saint-Juste from Brother, Dear Brother; and Sailor Uranus from Sailor Moon. Utena herself is also a character in the same vein.

Now, in his commentary track on the last disc of the American release of SKU, Ikuhara denies being directly inspired by Rose of Versailles (I'll leave it to your discretion to decide how much you trust anything Ikuhara says about his creative process), but admits to wanting to appropriate tropes of the shoujo genre. By the time SKU was made, Takarazuka-esque elements were already part of those tropes.

A great book about Takarazuka: http://www.amazon.com/Takarazuka-Sexual … 30?ie=UTF8

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#16 | Back to Top10-19-2006 11:09:55 PM

Dematrah
Ruthless Deflorist
From: Kansas City
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 300

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Oh gosh now I have "Ojii-sama ga Ii" stuck in my head! XD


"We want beans, not goals." - Anon.

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#17 | Back to Top10-20-2006 07:38:42 AM

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

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Dallbun wrote:

INFO

Whoa, thank you. emot-aaa

Having seen a little of RoV, I simply refuse to believe it wasn't influential at all. Brother, Dear Brother is definitely an influence being that Juri looks exactly, EXACTLY Saint-Juste.

I actually got my hands on both and plan to do an SKU-inspiration trip report. emot-biggrin


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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#18 | Back to Top10-20-2006 11:09:11 AM

Hina the Prince
Friend, Perhaps
From: Israel
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 320

Re: Let's talk about the musical

The Utena musical is made of genius. It cracks me up every time. I especially love the part in Ouji-sama Ga Ii where Utena tries to push the fangirls away from her.
The songs are really catchy too, despite a couple that I really hate ["Onna no Ko no Kistesu" >____>], and Anthy's voice is superb.

Although, I could hardly ever tell apart Touga and Juri. And Akio was... amusing.

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#19 | Back to Top10-22-2006 03:10:43 PM

jmie5
Precious One
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 298

Re: Let's talk about the musical

The musical... oh, I appreciated it, but hm.  I laughed.  I thought it was tacky, and I laughed.  Hard.  But that's just because live versions are very difficult to pull off.  I thought it was funny that only select characters had dyed hair or wigs.  Utena's hair is traditional black, and Touga's is bright red.  Not to mention the lipstick.  I think my favorite part was when the Student Council met and the series song "Legend of the God Abraxas"  (name right/wrong?  It's hard for me to label the music correctly) started to play.  That sort of tie made me appreciate the musical and giggle. 

Aside from that, I really don't mean to sound ungrateful for someone's effort, but I think the musical isn't that good.  A bit ridiculous even.  I'd rather just watch the anime.  But for what it is, live action, it's quite nifty.  I really do like Touga's actress.  I couldn't stand the Utena though... not sure why.  I guess she just didn't seem special enough.  Maybe it was the hair... darned if I know.

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#20 | Back to Top10-22-2006 03:38:34 PM

Dallbun
Tour Guide to Crawling Chaos
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 719

Re: Let's talk about the musical

jmie5 wrote:

I think my favorite part was when the Student Council met and the series song "Legend of the God Abraxas"  (name right/wrong?  It's hard for me to label the music correctly) started to play.  That sort of tie made me appreciate the musical and giggle.

Yes! My favorite part as well (from the admittedly haphazard parts I've seen of the Utana musical). You just can't beat Touga singing the chick speech to "Legend - the God's Name is Abraxas". It's the height of awesome.

From what I've seen, the Utena musical is a little bit eh. I'm fonder of the Sailor Moon musicals, which lend themselves more to a campy fun musical format. And the Hunter x Hunter musicals, which don't particularly but somehow manage to pull it off anyway. emot-smile

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#21 | Back to Top10-22-2006 03:42:56 PM

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

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Dallbun wrote:

From what I've seen, the Utena musical is a little bit eh. I'm fonder of the Sailor Moon musicals, which lend themselves more to a campy fun musical format.

I recall in an interview Ikuhara said he wanted to do another musical and supervise it more. Obviously this never happened but if I were to offer a reason for why the SKU musical is 'eh', I think it would be that they never decided whether to be serious or whether to be balls out ridiculous. Either extreme could go very well given the storyline, but ridiculous is naturally much easier to pull off. I might be mistaken but the game seemed to go that route, what with the duelling Chu-Chu and that godless shot of Akio in the opening.

A serious SKU musical...is an interesting thought. It would never happen because everyone would screw it up, but...very interesting thought.


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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#22 | Back to Top11-26-2006 10:26:45 AM

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

Re: Let's talk about the musical

satyreyes wrote:

This is the guy who broke into popular anime consciousness by making Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune lesbians.

Misinformation! Takeuchi Naoko made them lesbians. She's the one who created the characters & the story. Ikuhara just directed parts of the anime. (Not even the whole thing!)


Uh uh well that aside.

I love the musical. I can't help it. I mean...it's a partially blind kind of love where I ignore the fact that you can't really smash the story into such a short time frame so it's structured terribly and there's some boring scenes and Saionji's hair looks like a moss monster eating his head--but I really like Touga singing her/his own duel song, I really like the Shadow Girls, the student counsil meeting is utterly brilliant (Saionji touching Anthy's tits is a nice touch,) and I adore A Rose With No Flower.

Also, Touga's actress in general is amazing.

Also also, I had a heart attack when I was first watching it and Akio popped out of nowhere. It was like...WAIT WHAT? No background or anything. I had another WTF moment when I noticed that he/she was smoking.

Anyway...I think to properly enjoy things like this you have to "buy into" the campiness and leave your better self behind. I like bursting into tears when Utena screams "ANTHYYYYY" & I like clutching my seat in suspense when Touga and Utena duel. So I try not to think about the fact that they actually sort of look really foolish doing it.

(Sorry for bringing back a dead topic like this. emot-gonk )

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#23 | Back to Top11-26-2006 12:15:08 PM

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

Re: Let's talk about the musical

The musical is hilarious. It isn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a lot of fun.

Whenever I think of it I'm reminded of the fact that I read that Bollywood was remaking Fight Club a few years back. Both those concepts make my pants tingle in a similar way.


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

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#24 | Back to Top11-26-2006 01:52:59 PM

Archambeau
Muffy, the Forums Trophy Wife
Registered: 11-20-2006
Posts: 499

Re: Let's talk about the musical

There's a reason why they had KaNNa record all the songs for the OST release.

She was the only member of the cast who could sing.

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#25 | Back to Top11-27-2006 06:54:42 AM

Hina the Prince
Friend, Perhaps
From: Israel
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 320

Re: Let's talk about the musical

Archambeau wrote:

There's a reason why they had KaNNa record all the songs for the OST release.

She was the only member of the cast who could sing.

She sang /everything/? Seriously? Then she must be very good at changing her voice. o_o; -must listen to the OST now-

And I think Utena and Touga sang pretty well. I mean, Utena was completely off key and stuff, but she had lots of energy and her singing sounded real, which was a good and Utena-ish thing, in my opinion.

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