Welcome to IRG, Juli!    You've posted this thread to General Dissection, but the thread is about Utena, so I'm moving the thread to the Shoujo Kakumei Utena subforum.

I have never seen an anime that is like Utena.  Some people say that Princess Tutu and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are like Utena; I haven't seen those shows, so I don't know.  Utena's director, Kunihiko Ikuhara, also directed a recent anime called Mawaru Penguindrum.  I like Utena a lot better than Penguindrum, but I guess that's the show I would give the "Most Like Utena" award to.  You might also want to look up an older show called Oniisama e.  Oniisama e is a fantastic show with a lot of the darker interpersonal elements of Utena, though it doesn't have the supernatural elements.

Please don't be embarrassed!   We were all new once.

Any other suggestions?  What anime remind you of Utena?

Welcome, Juli!

If you're looking for a fantasy action series where strong female, androgynous lead that pwns the guys - with everyone being depicted as emotionally intricate and real - then Legend of Basara by yumi tamura is just the thing (Sarasa and Cha-Cha reminds me so much of Utena and Juri, and have similar dynamics between them too).   However, the anime only cover the first few vols of the manga, so you need the manga to know what's gonna happen next.

Nothing's a carbon copy of Utena, but there are shows with similarities, certainly.

Anything involving Ikuhara or Yoji Enokida, for example, share a lot of common tropes or tendencies with Utena. The original late-night Eat-Man is similarly elliptical in its pacing and storytelling. Utena was also definitely part of a wave of Deconstructing/repositioning anime taking on different genres and loads of older works. The movie, Terra E and the television show The Rose of Versailles share similar design and characterization aesthetics. The scarier parts of Utena aren't a million miles from the Vampire Princess Miyu OAV series.

Last edited by Decrescent Daytripper (10-20-2012 05:33:18 PM)

There isn't really anything like it. A few things that are similar but nothing that's the same. Princess Tutu feels like it has a similar ideology and message, but it is a tad more idealistic and a hell of a lot more child friendly, and Madoka is less metaphorical and more straightforward. The feel of the show is really what separates it from most other anime, the way Ikuni directed it, as well as how it was written by Enokido. Not to mention there was probably a lot of influence from staff that we don't know as much about. That's why the "feel" of the show is only ever close to being recreated in shows like Penguindrum or Star Driver where staff that were involved with Utena bring their personal style with them. I see Utena as a once in a lifetime kind of scenario, the right people got together at the right time, and had the right ideas. It's something that can't be recreated, lightning doesn't strike twice as they say

I'm going to second the recommendations of Star Driver and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Star Driver has the sexual undertones, a similar structure, many similar themes and a similar message, although the overall tone is much ... lighter? more optimistic? If Utena makes you want to break free from the things that hold you back, then I guess Star Driver rather makes you want to enjoy life without holding back. Not that Star Driver doesn't have its tragic or dark moments, but I'd say Utena is darker.

PMMM is ... hard to talk about without spoiling it, really. Darker in tone than Utena. More straightforward, but may also make you go WTF more often. Themes familiar from Utena: friendship and love, the thing you want most in the world and are willing to fight for, sacrifice, idealism vs. cynicism (especially re:selfishness), etc. If you look closely, there's quite a bit of feminism in there too.
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Apart from those, you might enjoy Ouran High School Host Club for the visuals. It's got TONS and TONS of roses.

Oh, and lots of Utena fans on Tumblr also seem to be fans of Sailor Moon. I've neither watched nor read it, though, but I have to say the manga looks pretty good, and I'd probably want to watch the original Japanese dub of the anime - because it seems to have some of the same things I like about Utena - if it weren't so hard to find where I live.

OH! And Simoun! You've got to try Simoun! The overall feeling is pretty different from Utena, but it's got the queerness, relationships of variously dubious healthiness, a lead who is very reminiscent of Utena herself and, well, cool battles. I mean, it's about priestesses fighting a war by drawing symbols in the sky with their aircraft which are powered by their pilots' love for each other! And it's not nearly as cheesy as that sounds. It might not be your thing at all, but I'd really recommend giving it a try.

(Edited: Fixed some errors.)

Last edited by Elin I. (10-25-2012 11:25:26 AM)

I recommend watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and Serial Experiments Lain. I personally have always thought that Evangelion and Lain were Utena's Shonen and Seinen Cyber Punk twin brother and sister.

Sorry to resurrect this topic, but I had to chime in. Melody of Oblivion has the same Writer, Character Designer and Art Director as Utena. It also has similar thematic elements of adulthood and adolescence.

I'm only halfway through the series (I started it years ago and loved the initial episodes, not to mention the killer opening song. I recently just got around to purchasing the rest on dvd.) but honestly am now kind of bored by it. The plot moves at a snails pace and the characters aren't really doing it for me anymore.

Also I must agree there is something about Tenshi Ni Narumon (I'm Gonna Be An Angel! in the US) that is very Utena-like. It's very silly, surreal and weighed down by strange, mature themes. Was the entire thing ever localized?

Last edited by stardusty (07-21-2013 03:35:16 PM)

I also feel that the newest anime Yuri Kuma Arashi reminds me of Utena.

Sailor Moon is a difficult series for me to 'recommend'. I love it but very subjectively. Objectively, it isn't very 'good', with poor animation, very repetitive battle sequences and a lot of silly cheesiness (this gets the truer the earlier on in the series you go). And yet it is one of the very few anime I regularly rewatch. I can't really say it's nostalgia. There's just something about it. When it's good it is good enough to make up for all the bad you had to sit through.

Also: the last season. Sailor Stars.

Elin I. wrote:

OH! And Simoun! You've got to try Simoun! The overall feeling is pretty different from Utena, but it's got the queerness, relationships of variously dubious healthiness, a lead who is very reminiscent of Utena herself and, well, cool battles. I mean, it's about priestesses fighting a war by drawing symbols in the sky with their aircraft which are powered by their pilots' love for each other! And it's not nearly as cheesy as that sounds. It might not be your thing at all, but I'd really recommend giving it a try.

Simoun. Is like. Oh my God. Paraietta.

Raven Nightshade wrote:

YamPuff wrote:

Sailor Moon is a difficult series for me to 'recommend'. I love it but very subjectively. Objectively, it isn't very 'good', with poor animation, very repetitive battle sequences and a lot of silly cheesiness (this gets the truer the earlier on in the series you go). And yet it is one of the very few anime I regularly rewatch. I can't really say it's nostalgia. There's just something about it. When it's good it is good enough to make up for all the bad you had to sit through.

Also: the last season. Sailor Stars.

The key to Sailor Moon being a recommendable series in relation to SKU is that it's where Ikuhara came from. (Re)Watch the series bearing in mind that he had a hand in it from the beginning, even though he didn't have full control until episode 60. There are so many things in SKU that were clearly came from Ikuhara's time on SM, especially given that parts of SKU itself started off as the plot of the SuperS movie using Uranus and Neptune.

Perhaps that why my favorite seasons are S and Stars. I loved Ikuhara even before I knew him.

interesting how nobody so far hasn't recommended Rose of the Versailles(berubara)
also Oniisama e
it is a darker version of berubara with characters looking exactly like those from berubara but with different personalities
Oscar for example is a drug addict, smoking, masochistic, suicidal

Last edited by Karuka (03-03-2015 11:47:56 PM)