This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
As the thread title says, this is discussion focusing on what Story arc in this show you personally liked the most:
For me it the Akio arc plus the End of the world arc(Since they technically the same), the Akio arc was the point where the show started to become really good, the show became less of a generic shoujo anime Aesheticly with the removal of framed shots and other exaggerated shoujo cliches that the first half of the show was fond with plus the animation in the fidelity department was much better and in the case of the End of the world arc the show became less of monster of the week structurally and focus more on story which was much more interesting by this point in the show.
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I have a soft spot for the Black Rose Saga, even though it feels almost... like filler, since almost no one remembers it. I just love how it digs into the "NPCs" of the show. The elevator scenes have such nice atmosphere too. Deeper... Go deeper...
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It's an unpopular opinion, but I prefer the Student Council Arc over all others.
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Episode 25. The Akio arc somewhat, but mostly episode 25. I just really, really like listening to Kusao-san's voice, and I think that episode features more dialogue from Sai than any other ep.
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Ooh, tough one... but I'm going to have to say the Black Rose Arc, for giving the side characters more development.
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Black Rose.
It's such a turn from the arc that came before it.
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I like the Black Rose Saga best because it has my favorite ship tease moments and some of the only really worthy filler episodes in any anime I've ever watched. Oh, and I'm also a Nemuro/Mikage fangirl.
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Black Rose Saga for sure. It has character development for a majority of the tertiary series characters, which is always fantastic. In doing so, it also focuses heavily on feelings of anger, revulsion, worthlessness, incompetence, and jealousy, by presenting them as the Jungian "shadows" of the Black Rose Duelists. Pretty much anything that covers people (or in this case, Utena) having to face the dark and upsetting thoughts that we all have inside of us is like cheating to get to my heartstrings. Carl Jung knows our souls, y'all.
Plus, there's that two-parter with Wakaba. Oh god I love those episodes so much.
Actually, I used to love the whole series except the Akio arc because so much Akio ugh, but I'm over it now and I just try to skip that half of that one episode.
Because Akio.
Ugh.
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I'm actually gonna second Ashnod I love all the arcs of Utena, but the Student Council arc really stands out for me. No, it's not the most original of the arcs, nor the most daring or the most adult, but I think it might be the best executed. What it's got going for it is that this is the arc whose job it is to establish who these people are and why they're dueling and why it matters, and I think it knocks that job out of the park. For me, the beating heart of the show is located in the Student Council arc. The other arcs do a great job elaborating on the themes and ideas that are introduced there, but the reason SKU as a whole is so great is because it had the rock-solid foundations of story to build on from those first twelve episodes.
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I have to say the Apocalypse Saga; it's where Anthy takes centre stage and the best mind fuckery happens. For me, the most compelling character of SKU is Anthy and this is where the biggest revelations are made and her relationships are truely examined.
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Gotta say it's the Black Rose saga. For me, that's when shit got real. Up to that point, Utena seemed like a fairly standard girly Anime. It's when that planetarium slammed down for the first time that that I felt my preconceptions shatter. From then on, I knew I was in for a mindfuck.
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satyreyes wrote:
The other arcs do a great job elaborating on the themes and ideas that are introduced there, but the reason SKU as a whole is so great is because it had the rock-solid foundations of story to build on from those first twelve episodes.
LOL, I can agree with that. One of the reasons Utena is so great is that the foundation is pretty strong. It might not seem as interesting at first glance, but there are still things to pick up.
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Apocalypse. It's the arc I watch the most (though the duels and music are far better in the 1st two arcs). It's the meat of the story and so much of it is crammed into this arc. I think it's one of the more emotional arcs, my heart broke a few times the first time I watched it.
In truth a love all the arcs almost equally (but Apocalypse edges out because I tend to favor it more often).
The Black Rose is like a wicked pleasure. I love the opposing duels and gives me fond memories of its sailor moon monster of the day directing style. Student Council arc to me is the starting of friendship; A breath of fresh air and adjustment period.
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Lurv wrote:
satyreyes wrote:
The other arcs do a great job elaborating on the themes and ideas that are introduced there, but the reason SKU as a whole is so great is because it had the rock-solid foundations of story to build on from those first twelve episodes.
LOL, I can agree with that. One of the reasons Utena is so great is that the foundation is pretty strong. It might not seem as interesting at first glance, but there are still things to pick up.
Agreed with both.
While my personal fav is the Apocalypse Arc, it's almost impossible to pick out the 'best' arc, because all subsequent arcs are very tightly connected to everything that's been shown in the previous arcs. Even the 'forgotten' BR arc has definite relevance to the coming arcs.
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