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I enjoy anime generally and realize that not all material is for everyone. However, I bought a VHS tape containing the first four episodes of this series for my 6-year-old daughter. The cover said "suitable for most audiences," it was from the director of the popular "Sailor Moon" series targeted to children, and it looked like the sort of fairy-tale princess fun my daughter enjoys. The packaging was clearly aimed at a family audience.
Big mistake.
An unmistakable, inescapable theme of lesbianism permeates all episodes, and the androgynous characters further confuse gender issues. Call me small minded if you will, but my kids don't need to see this. They'll have plenty of opportunities to confront sexuality later in life. I was looking for good, clean fun. Instead, I got hit with a stealth attack by the counter-culture.
All of which is a shame, because the series contains elements that my kids love: exciting but bloodless sword fights, a noble tomboyish heroine who stands up for the downtrodden, a sinister mystery to solve, the beautiful fairy-tale castle environment the story takes place in. The show could easily have been what its marketers pretended it was, had not the director had a social agenda.
Viewing "Revolutionary Girl Utena" was like bending down to smell a bouquet of roses and discovering a scorpion within.
score /10
kevin_s_scrivner 28 January 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1277424/ |
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22-11-2019 12:04:45
