Does anyone here understand (or even watched) Utena?

[hotcakesnmushrooms]

Im currently watching an animé called Utena.....and i find it very confusing.
Ive gotten about halfway through the first series, and i honestly have no idea whats going on! i normally watch alot of manga/animé, and understand it pretty well.....but i cant help but think that this has lost something in the translation. Can anybody here explain to me whats going on? Its days like these i wish i could read japanese...

hotcakesnmushrooms

 

[i have a tail]

Why yes, I've watched it. I have the whole series of books, too. What's up? What don't you understand?
(The movie is pretty weird though, I admit...)

Meilin

 

[SAint Mark]

I've watched about 30 eps of the series... didn't really understand the point of it all

 

[Kittykatgrizabella]

Ok i have read the first manga. ~In my opinion the manga is betta than the show.~
I forgot what it was about....a girl who was destine to be the guardian of the rose princess..why a girl and not a guy? that reason is found out in the manga...i sink...just pick it up and read that instead if ya must!

 

[nekohakase]

Well, it's basically about a girl who's a bit of a rebel - it was inspired by that old comic about Marie Antoinette... "Rose of Versailles" I think. In that comic there was a made-up character of the seventh daughter of a duke. The duke was so tired of having daughters that he decided that this baby shall be raised as a boy! And he gave the girl a boy’s name. That girl grew up to learn sword fighting and all that other cool stuff, wore suits like a boy and though everyone knew she was a girl, was much admired.

That character inspired Utena, a girl who is a tomboy only because of a hint of feminism. The story is kind of a parody – what if a girl walked the road a man was supposed to take? It seems to be just as well either way... but in the end... well, that’s spoiler talk...

It’s so hard to talk about Utena without being a spoiler.
Everything about that story makes sense in the end.

Do you have any specific questions? I can help.

Haru