First of all, I'm new, so hello all! I'm looking forward to the interesting conversations.

Now, without further ado:

Of the many reasons that "Utena" is my favorite anime of all time (read, everything about it), the thing that stuck with me the most is the emphasis on transformation/transcendence.

In the end, Utena opens the doors not as a prince or princess, but as her true self, and not because of the duty of a prince, but because she really cares about Anthy. She doesn't "save the damsel in distress" or ride off on a white horse- she doesn't even succeed in pulling Anthy out of her coffin. But her strength of character acts as a catalyst for Anthy's transformation, and maybe that of the other characters as well

Anthy takes her fate into her own hands by giving up her ties to Ohtori, her status as the Rose Bride/ Princess, and her attachment to the memory of Dios, and moves on to find Utena again and join her as her equal.

While Utena is in the Palace, the student council sit and wait. The thing is, while they still identify themselves as student council members, and don't remove the rings Dios gave them, they are much more open with each other. Juri doesn't react to the mention of her feelings for Shiori as violently as she would have in the past, and is coming to terms with this part of herself/ her past. Nanami no longer leans on her brother, and is beginning to stand on her own. They are no longer as cold, and seem to have formed real bonds. This openness and relaxing starts to be visible even before the final battle, when Utena, Nanami, and Miki are playing badminton.

The events of the story are a baptism by fire for the characters, and, except for Akio, they come out stronger for it.

"But yes the hippopotamus! ... but not the armadillo."  (:grin:sorry. Anyone else remember that book?)

Anywhozles. Thoughts? This is a very personal interpretation, so I'm wondering what you guys thing of it. It also feels a little vague to me, so please let me know if there's something I need to clarify.