I've never really tried to get other people to watch Utena.  I like knowing that there's fans, but not everyone's had the luxury of watching this anime.

On World of Warcraft, I roleplay a character named "Anthy" on the Moon Guard server, and she's a slave to warlocks much like Anthy from Utena is a slave to the duelists.  But hardly anyone ever gets the reference.  I've had only two people message me saying "Hey, you like Utena, too?!"  But when I do get them, it makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. XD

I have gotten two others to watch an episode, but I don't think I ever got them to watch more... one of them did already know the names of many of the characters and seemed very interested in the series, though, so maybe that one watched more. I don't really know, I've lost touch. ;

Hard show to get people into if you try to explain things. ;

I've showed Utena to four of my friends. They spend a lot of time at my house, so it's easy for me to suggest that we should all watch Utena. One of my friends makes me feel as though I'm forcing it down his throat, because he insists that he doesn't like it that much, yet he names himself after SKU characters on video games and stuff like that. Two of my other friends loved it, but not as much as I do.

The people who really like SKU are the ones who hear about it and want to watch it themselves without me offering. One of my friends asked to see it after she heard me talk about it with one of my friends, and she's the one who loved it the most, and who I can talk about the characters and even joke around about symbolism with on a regular basis.

Edit: I just remembered that I showed SKU to another one of my friends as well, but only the first few episodes. He didn't like it very much, probably because with all due respect, the first few episodes aren't all that great. I always have to tell them that it gets better at episode seven.

Last edited by Razara (06-29-2007 08:42:33 PM)

All my friends have heard me rant and rave about SKU for hours on end at least.. twice per person. While I've explained to a great length about elements of the show [not spoilers- things like some of the more common references to things outside of SKU, how it relates to religion, what mythology comes up, the roles in terms of Chess*, Freud, other such things.], and while I always recomend it to anime fans, I certainly don't try to push it on most of my friends. And, for the ones who do watch it, I fill it with disclaimers [how the first season is aimed towards a younger crowd and to know that things with eventually mature, how there is no true villain and you have to look at everything in several ways, how metaphors never seem to rest, how you need to keep an eye on the feminist undertones and the patriarchal overtones, the general mindfuck you're going to recieve]. It's not like I don't want them to understand what I'm so crazy about, and it's not like I don't want to have people I can fangirl with in real life; I just don't want to push them into something they won't understand. Trust me, it will cause problems in the relationship on my part.

*Yes, I actually did a school project on how SKU would map out into a Chess set.

Razara wrote:

One of my friends makes me feel as though I'm forcing it down his throat, because he insists that he doesn't like it that much, yet he names himself after SKU characters on video games and stuff like that.

It's the sort of show that some people won't admit to liking, I suspect.

There's some shows I enjoy but would never tell somebody else that I did.

Let me tell you, the way I got into this anime was a weird one. I have a friend who's bi, and one day I recalled a rather strange ad on the back of my old Record of the Lodoss War comics. I looked it up, it turned out to be Utena. And since I love watching anime with other people, I thought I'd give it a shot.

If it wasn't for my friend, I would have never picked it up. I'm sure glad I did, though. We both have very different viewpoints of things, so it was nice being able to discuss the show.

I do have one friend that I know will like it, if only to pick it apart and see what she can figure out herself. Another I'm trading off with another friend by watching Gravitation and Air Gear (the things I do to get her to watch anime, honestly. But I guess since she has no interest in Utena, watching two series I have no interest in is equal trade. Maybe we'll both find something worth while...)

Another one is up in the air. I...don't think he'll take to it well. I'll think about it a bit more.

These are interesting tips; most of them point to "give up" though. XD

Last edited by Wolfio (06-29-2007 09:49:28 PM)

The movie always worked for me.


..Of course, now I know a bunch of movie crazed people.


Just say its like a while 39 episodes in 87 minutes, plus ...cars.

Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:

"SKU is Evangelion except with roses and duels instead of biomechs."

I totally agree. I've always seen it as the shojo counterpart to Eva.

*reads Arki's post, starts taking notes*

AMV's always get me into a series *shrugs*

I dunno if my friend enjoyed it but I picked a character and went through it with her (it was juri). I'm pretty convicing though it probably would have been better if I gave her a neat overview first.

It sucks, I have no one here to share my interests with, I have to MAKE fans. Thanks to this expierence, I've adopted several in-built manipulative abilities to create my own. So its not difficult. Maybe I'll bring the show up in convo with her properly, to see how I did.

I know what caught my attention when I first read about Utena, that it was about a pink haired girl who wants to become a prince and she gets to become one when she gets engaged to the Rose Bride who is the key to gaining World Revolution.

Genderbending, pseudo-lesbianism and school kids who duel for the right to gain some kind of world changing power?  Of cause I'm gonna wanna watch it.

Last edited by Tamago (06-30-2007 06:27:13 PM)

I got into SKU because I had just gotten into Princess Tutu, and several people said I would probably like SKU if I liked Tutu. I ended up loving SKU, even more than Tutu. Much, much more. It's probably the series I'm most obsessed with. And now I am checking out Serial Experiments Lain because some people said SKU fans might like it.

I also vote for giving people keywords of the series. (lesbians, incest, swords, student council with secret duels to revolutionize the world, roses, symbolism, feminism, phallic towers.. ) If that doesn't grab their attention, then maybe it's not something they would like.

Last edited by SleepDebtFairy (07-01-2007 01:10:01 AM)

I really have to gauge the friend before suggesting it.  It's certainly not for everyone; Utena requires the viewer to be willing to invest the time in not just watching the series, but analyzing it and being open to discussion and critique with those you watch it with.  My room mate of last year was one of those passionate, involved sorts, and she adored the series.

dollface wrote:

SleepDebtFairy wrote:

And now I am checking out Serial Experiments Lain because some people said SKU fans might like it.

Oh, definately. While the storylines are really very different, the vibe is one that only an experienced SKU fan could handle without going absolutely insane.

I really don't try to tempt people into watching SKU, as most wouldn't really understand it. However, to get the attention of most of my friends, I just mention "HAY YAOI YURI INCEST FAIRYTALES NAKED".

Yeah, that's what I figured. I just finished the third episode, and I read summary/reviews. It sounds really different but still has the crazy fucked up SKU-vibe I love.

Good keywords, there. Things like that would grab my attention. (well, obviously.)

Last edited by SleepDebtFairy (07-02-2007 01:41:55 AM)