Week 5 - Revolutionary Girl Utena, Gender-Bending in Shoujo

Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of those many classics that all self-respecting anime fan has heard of and is known for supposedly pioneering and exploring much uncharted territory and topics in anime. I've heard much about the series and seen references to it all the time, yet have never watched any footage of it. Until now. Much of the reason I've not bothered watching it was my views of it as the token "shoujo" anime that ran in the same era as "shonen" animes such as Gundam Wing (The Vision of Escaflowne already had enough school-girl love story for me at that time). What I was expecting to see was a mix between Prétear and Vampire Knights where the girls' greatest enemy is her internal emotions and they guys always know what to do and rescue the day. What I was greeted with, however, was completely different.

Although Utena is categorized as a shoujo, it touches on many themes not typically found in modern day light-hearted shoujos, including cross-gender roles, abuse against women, canonic yuri, and explicit incest (later on in the series according to reviews). The theme I first encountered in the very first episode was that of gender roles. Straight out in the first few minutes, Utena Tenjou declares her intention of becoming a prince. Not a feminine princess, but a masculine prince. She follows through with this through her male apparel both in school and during duels. In anime today, cross-dressing/gender-bending is usually done either for comical effect (see Ouran High School Host Club and Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu), out of necessity of the genre (see Maria-sama ga Miteru and Junjou Romantica) or the focus of the anime itself (see Maria Holic and Princess Princess). Utena is in its own category; although Utena decisively wants to become a prince and dresses accordingly, she maintains her femininity both in character and composure. Seriously too as part of her back story, as opposed to as a means of achieving a perceived archetype. This kind of strong personality I imagine strikes strongly with younger female audiences (the charm of a prince yet also the grace of a princess in one), which I assume allows for the canon yuri theme later on (something that is usually only teased but generally canonically avoided in shoujo animes). This unique gender role perception alone in my eyes earns the series its "Revolutionary" title.