Whenever I watch Utena I see Marxism.

zevrem wrote:

There is an "aristocrats are evil" angle, but there really isn't a visible working class anywhere.

Where do you find that? I don't mean to say that SKU paints aristocracy in a good light, but it doesn't paint it in any light at all that I see. There's no representation of the poor man or the working man that it flatters and sings praise to. The entire cast is comprised of wealthy people. There's some passing evidence that could be twisted to suggest Saionji is poor, but there are equally ready counter arguments for those, and poverty or wealth as far as I can recall like don't come up, at all, anywhere.

In a very broad sense, I think SKU focuses strongly on individualism, in the sense of a stance that values the pursuit of the individual's goals as higher in value and more important than consideration for the whole. Each man for himself, etc. That philosophy is clearly one Akio agrees with, but it's also the same philosophy everyone, Utena included, practices. Whether they'd agree with it or not.

This issue of the individual in society and who should win has pretty well established roots in the psychology of many modern eastern nations, Japan especially. A show exploring the value of individual apart from the crowd, its challenges, it's strengths, and its failings, isn't something I'm surprised to see.

Deliberately avoiding psychological theories here.