| abstract
| - Utena is a tomboyish, courageous and naïve character who lives to emulate the idealized prince figure from her childhood. She is forthright, honest, and friendly. Nearly all the girls in school idolize her. She both subverts and conforms to the stereotypes she embodies as a noble warrior and a naive magical girl in danger of becoming a damsel in distress. The series chronicles her journey to protect her friend Anthy and become a truly noble Prince. Her Dueling Rose is white. In the manga series, her parents died when she was six years old. On that day she was wandering around, lost, and she fell through a hole in a fence that enclosed a river area. Utena nearly drowned but was saved by a mysterious Prince who kissed away her tears and told her that if she did not lose her noble heart, they would meet again. He left with her a rose signet ring (the Rose Seal as it is called by the duelists). Later on, Utena receives picture cards that give her clues as to where her prince is. By following these clues, she finds herself at Ohtori Academy. In the anime, the initial story the anime presents is almost identical to that of the manga, except with darker detail. Flashbacks show the young Utena climbing into a coffin upon her parents' deaths, seeing no point in living if all humans eventually perish. She is "saved" by Prince Dios, who instills in her a drive to become a Prince herself. Up until the end of the series, Utena believes that her thirst for selfless nobility springs from her desire to meet her Prince again. In both the anime and manga, Utena accidentally becomes a Duelist and wins Anthy as the Rose Bride. Though critical of the Duels for objectifying Anthy, her desires to protect Anthy as well as a drive to act like a Prince lead her to become the Duels most prominent Champion. As the series passes, her nobility is continuously tested, until she is finally forced to confront her own hypocrisy. In the anime's finale, Akio tries to convince Utena to become his princess, and despite being reminded of her own failings and her feelings for him, Utena goes against him in the duel called Revolution. Her revived dedication to become a prince shocks Akio, and causes the destruction of the illusionary castle above the arena, where Utena gets the upper hand- only to get stabbed in the back by Anthy. Her sword taken from her, Utena is forced to watch Anthy being impaled by the swords of hatred while Akio tries to open the Rose Gate with her sword. But, after being goaded by Dios, Utena drags herself to the Rose Gate and pulls it open with her bare hands. Behind the Gate is Anthy, inside a coffin, and pleads for Utena to not try to save her. Utena doesn't listen and begs Anthy to take her hand. Upon doing so, the coffin breaks off of the arena and falls towards Earth and Utena is pierced by the swords in Anthy's place, which then destroy the arena. Some time after, people are starting to forget that Utena was ever at the academy, with Akio commenting that she became "another side leftover to be pitied". But, Utena did indeed get her wish, and managed to free Anthy from her bonds to the school and Akio. The anime ends with Anthy leaving the academy to find Utena. In the movie, Utena travels to Ohtori Academy after supposedly breaking up with her past boyfriend Touga. It is also assumed that after her separation from Touga she was in an emotional turmoil that led her to the academy. However, she sees him on her first day on campus. Her hair is cut short, giving her more of a male's appearance, causing Saionji to initially mistake her for a boy. Additionally, Utena is a more bisexual character in the movie being coquettish with Wakaba and does not seem to mind her more boyish appearance. She is extremely troubled by Touga's apparent abandonment of her, and her interactions with Anthy express a level of introversion not present in the anime series, though she also shows an unpredictable streak and is once physically violent towards Anthy in anger. This is said by fans to be Utena's adoption of a more masculine personality. Initially Utena's aim to be a prince is more subtle than prominent compared to the anime series. It is Touga's supposed abandonment of her that caused her to feel that she must be more independent and a "prince" by nature. Though she states that Touga was always the prince she wanted, the movie deals with her own metamorphosis in becoming a prince. Many fans noted that Utena and Anthy seemingly swap personalities in the movie, and that Utena is the one who must be saved by Anthy. Their physical appearances also seem to mirror their respective series incarnations (seeing that Utena has wavy hair and Anthy has straight hair, which was the opposite in the series).
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