There's interpretation and there's revisionism. There's just so damn much different between the Utena TV series and the movie that I simply do not see them as existing in the same timeline. (Although I must admit that I like Gryphon's idea that -- within the UF worldline -- there is a movie very much like "The Adolescence of Utena", which is an outsider's rather surreal view of what was going on.)
And oh yeah, I know that Utena was the vehicle of Anthy's freedom, and yeah, I know the movie has a happy if bizarre ending. But I didn't find anything confusing (well, not much) about the end of the TV show, at least not so confusing that I needed a trippy movie to tell me what it meant. And in its own way, it is happy, if inconclusive. Utena's out in the world, free of the Tournament; Anthy's finally free of the own guilt that bound her in servitude to her brother. I think it's fairly clear that it's only a matter of time before they reunite, and Akio is the biggest loser, eternally trapped in his games and so convinced he's on top that he can't even understand that Anthy's leaving.
-- Bob
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There is no spork.
And oh yeah, I know that Utena was the vehicle of Anthy's freedom, and yeah, I know the movie has a happy if bizarre ending. But I didn't find anything confusing (well, not much) about the end of the TV show, at least not so confusing that I needed a trippy movie to tell me what it meant. And in its own way, it is happy, if inconclusive. Utena's out in the world, free of the Tournament; Anthy's finally free of the own guilt that bound her in servitude to her brother. I think it's fairly clear that it's only a matter of time before they reunite, and Akio is the biggest loser, eternally trapped in his games and so convinced he's on top that he can't even understand that Anthy's leaving.
-- Bob
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There is no spork.