Customer Reviews

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Eternal Castle [VHS]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the most subtle, intricate, and intreging shows that I have ever seen. So do *not* let the first episode temp you into thinking that this show is *fluffy*.

The story pivots around an incident that happened to Utena when she was young. She doesn't remember what really happened, but other characters have varying amounts of information about it, and use that to try to manipulate the outcome of the show. (Reading the true motives of the characters in this setting is next to impossible, and an almost demonic sense of manipulation and paranoia descends upon the cast as the show progresses.)

Friends who have seen the show in it's entirety tell me that everything clicks into a frightenly clear and desperate endgame when the show actually does tell the audience what the backstory is about. They also tell me that all of the clues needed to solve the mystery are there in the first episodes, but the odds of figuring it out ahead of time are next to nothing. Good luck. :)

Add to that a gorgeous art style, and deep character development, and mix well for an incredible series.

Eternal Castle is the third video tape in the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena. Utena is a show about a 14-year old girl named Utena, who lives at Ohtori Academy. She is beautiful, outgoing, and athletic. She is just your average student--until she challenges Kyouichi Saionji, the Vice President of the Student Council, to a duel after he humiliates her best friend. Utena defeats Saionji, and suddenly finds her self in the midst of a puzzling conflict. (I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it for you!) This series is a bit strange, and often quite confusing, but I think it is wonderful. The plot is very very original, wonderful, and intriguing. The animation is simply beautiful. I HIGHLY recommend this series! It's wonderful! Buy the first two videos, Crest of the Rose and The Legendary Spice, though, before viewing The Eternal Castle. =).

Well, okay, maybe this just wasn't my type of movie or something but it just didn't appeal to me that much. I mean the song "Absolute Destiny Apocolypse" is worth hearing and the transformation sequence was okay, the animation was nice too, but it was just a little too goofy for me. Personally, I I'm a Vampire Hunter D, Samurai X, Poltergeist Report person so maybe I just should have made an ages 13 to 17 and up choice. I must say it would be ideal for a Sailor Moon fan and littler children. All in all it just wasn't my type of movie ,but please do not be discouraged from purchasing this video due to this review, see what a few other people have to say first.

This is one of those series which must be watched more than once. As more is revealed about the characters and the mysterious world in which they live, the earlier parts of the series become more impressive. The detail work in this series is second to none. Only the first four tapes are currently available in the USA, but as one who has seen the whole series (39 episodes) I can say with confidence that this is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, anime series ever made. The third volume is brilliant. The story kicks into high gear, and the relationships between the characters deepen. The characters themselves become more complex by the second, and all in a way which keeps the series unpredictable and intriguing. It also becomes more difficult to understand; if you're looking for something that's fun and easy to watch, this is not the series for you. It requires effort to understand even on a surface level. The tone of the series becomes very surreal over the course of this volume, a trend which continues for the rest of the series. One warning about the third volume of Revolutionary Girl Utena. This tape ends with a cliffhanger, so if you get this one, you might want to get the fourth volume at the same time; the wait is torturous. I can't recommend the series highly enough.

This is a really good series. In these three episodes,Utena and Anthy switch places in Curried High Trip. In Where the Castle of Eternity Dwells, you see Saionjii's past and he get's expelled. Yay! Nanami's Precious Thing shows Nanami's past and how she duels Utena. You actually get to see her hair without the Freanch braid on top of her head! I recommend these series to anyone who likes all sorts of surprises.

I loved this video! Here are the episodes:

Curried High Trip-Miki wants Anthy to make him a spicy curry, but Nanami and her friends put a magical spice and turns their personalities around!
The Castle Where Eternity Dwells-Saionji kidnaps Anthy and takes her to the dueling arena, but Anthy is sleeping in a rose coffin, and Utena has to save her! Saionji also gets suspended.
Nanami's Precious Thing-This episode kind of shows Nanami's past. It's Touga's birthday and Nanami's the duelist from End of The World.

I think this video was funny. I loved it.

Revolutionary Girl Utena goes beyond the pale and ethereal world normally explored in such girls' shows like Sailormoon or Card Captor Sakura and shows an unusually mature bent for such a genre. Pet fave for this volume was the second episode, "The Castle Where Eternity Dwells". Just goes to show you that things are never what they seem to be and what may seem indelible at first is found erased by the relentless march of time. Quite a lesson for such a throwaway generation! Fans of Japanese girls' shows who are aching for something beyond pigtailed bimbo heroines must grab this show: so insightful! The music is also catchy - somewhat operatic with elements of heavy metal and jazz. Case in point would be Shinkichi Misumune and JA Seazar's choral arrangement for the duel music in episode 3, "Nanami's Precious Thing". Way eclectic. Girls' shows have DEFINITELY come of age. (Kudos to Director Kunihiko Ikuhara and the Japanese staff and congrats to the American dub crew for such fab work!)

this is my favorite video of one of my favorite series. It makes the series even more mysterious and you get to see nanami fight(and my favorite song!).

The first episode on this tape is, simply put, the most wild, twisted, and downright demented episode of *anything* you're *ever* likely to see. "A Curried High Trip" features one of Nanami's practical jokes backfire in (literally!) explosive fashion - resulting in Utena and Anthy trading bodies! The expected role-reversal jokes ensue, intermixed with Nanami and her crew trying to find the cure (only to get repeatedly flattened by stampeding elephants)! In the midst of all this insanity, Utena-as-Anthy learns what Saiyonji *really* thinks about her, and she's able to get some *very* sweet revenge!

Things settle down again for "The Castle Where Eternity Dwells". Saiyonji, by now totally obsessed with regaining Anthy, learns from "End of the World" that the floating Castle above the Dueling Arena will be coming down that night, so he kidnaps Anthy and uses her to lure Utena into an unofficial Duel - thinking that whoever has the Rose Bride when the Castle descends will be granted the power of Dios. Some major pieces to the plot puzzle are revealed in this episode, including what *really* happened the day Utena's parents died... and who could possibly be her "prince"?

The last episode on this tape, "Nanami's Precious Thing", sees Nanami undergo a startling transformation from merely the comic-relief thorn in Utena's side into a dangerously unstable new Duelist, filled with nothing but hatred for Utena and how she is moving in on "big brother" Touga. The dark side Nanami reveals here is startling in its intensity; as a child, it is revealed, she actually killed a small kitten simply because Touga was paying more attention to it than to her! The Duel that ensues is easily the most intense battle the Girl-Prince has ever fought...

Although the first episode is definitely *not* recommended for the first-time Utena viewer, for the experienced fan it's a hysterical romp... and if it seems like needless filler, the plot revealed in the following episodes more than makes up the difference. A worthy addition to anyone's collection.

"If it cannot break out of its shell, a chick will die without being born. If we do not crack the world's shell, we will die without truly being born. We are the chick. The world is our egg. Smash the world's shell... For the Revolution of the World!" - Student Council motto

I find this movie very amusing! Sometimes it keeps you on the edge of your seat, but a lot of times it will make you laugh. With action and humor, it makes a great movie and I recomend you see it. The animation was superb, too. The characters were very interesting and all had different personalities. I really liked this movie and I hope you will, too!