Product Details

• Actors: Tomoko Kawakami, Yuriko Fuchizaki, Takehito Koyasu, Kotono Mitsuishi, Aya Hisakawa
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Software Sculptures
• DVD Release Date: March 11, 2003
• Run Time: 75 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000087EYN
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,684 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Revolutionary Girl Utena - Darkness Beckoning (Vol. 5)" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars www.Amazon.com's reviewer doesn't get it!, May 11, 2003

By 

Andrea H. (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionary Girl Utena - Darkness Beckoning (Vol. 5) (DVD)

I'll start off on a general note--Charles Solomon simply doesn't understand Utena. If you like anime, give this series a try--it's amazing. And this DVD in particular is quite good. In some ways Mikage is my favorite character--he's certainly one of the most tragic. But then, the strength of this series is that every character is tragic, fully rendered, and engaging. So are Utena's premises, animation, and concepts. (The dubbing isn't bad either--but the Japanese is best.) This DVD in particular is central to understanding the series--for those of you who are still confused, I'll give you a hint. What Akio tells Tokiko in the middle episode--"Only those who leave this school will ever become adults"--is crucial to the series' meaning. Charles Solomon implies that Utena is only about adolescents, but it's really about adolescence, and about growing out of it. The series' most disturbing implication is that more people have refused to grow up than we might like to think. But really, dueling galore! Who could want more in an anime series?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Utena is great, whether it's the TV series, movie or manga, August 15, 2003

By 

Night owl "Amy" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Revolutionary Girl Utena - Darkness Beckoning (Vol. 5) (DVD)

I am obsessed with this series. In fact, I was hooked from the very first episode. Its decidedly adult sensibility, humor, icon-twisting symbolism and out-and-out romanticism make Utena an extremely engaging and thought-provoking series. In fact, Utena is great in any form...TV series, the movie "Adolescence of Utena" and the manga (only 3 of 5 volumes are currently available in English). Each format takes a slightly different swing at the plot and characterizations, and each is an extremely rich experience.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrapping up Black Rose..., January 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Revolutionary Girl Utena - Darkness Beckoning (Vol. 5) (DVD)

Central Park Media does it yet again, releasing 3 episodes onto this DVD! (Well, seeing as though they released the first 7 episodes, they could not have done much except to have this one have 4 episodes at most. The Black Rose arc is only 11 episodes long.)

Either way, though they may technically be missing the final episode in the Black Rose arc (The "11th" episode is technically a filler, involving one character's finding the diary of another character, with some silly stuff ensuing.), these three episodes will be all you need to get closure in this arc. It features the duels of two people: Sonoda Keiko, and Souji Mikage. Yes, on this DVD, you WILL find out (eventually...somehow...after thinking about it for a while) what actually motivated Mikage to do all this dueling stuff in the first place. Also, these episodes will reveal to you that certain characters are NOT as innocent as they seemed beforehand. Well...as if you didn't know that NONE of the characters (except MAYBE Utena) were that innocent at all...