The main character is Utena Tenjou, a tomboyish teenage girl who was so impressed by a kind prince in her childhood that she decided to become a prince herself. She attends Ohtori Academy, where she meets a student named Anthy Himemiya, a girl who is in an abusive relationship with another student. Utena fights to protect Anthy and is pulled into a series of sword duels with the members of the Student Council. Anthy is referred to as the "Rose Bride" and is given to the winner of each duel. It is said that the winner of the of tournament will receive a mysterious "power to revolutionize the world", and the current champion is constantly challenged for the right to possess the Rose Bride.
This can essentially be taken as the makeup of Touga’s character. His relationship with Akio is inappropriate and statutory rape, but he’s clearly copying Akio and his methods of hurting people. The movie also shows that Touga was abused by his adopted father, and that is meant to apply to his character in the series as well
Anthy is brutalized in the story but it isn't for spectacle. Her being brutalized is part of the story's themes of women being mistreated when they don't fit into the rolls that society has set up for them. Anthy did not fit into the stereotypical princess or damsel in distress until she was punished greatly and forced into the roll. But she does get a happy ending in the end
No drugs are used. A character IS drugged in the movie, and a character may be possibly drugged at one point in the show, but it's unclear.
No characters are clearly shown taking drugs at any point in the tv show.
Animals are shown packed in tight cages in episode 8. A kitten is hit and later left to drown in episode 10. Chu-Chu (a small monkey-like animal) is regularly abused by other characters.
Nanami is seen drowning her brother Touga's kitten in a flashback scene by putting it in a cardboard box and setting it adrift in a rapidly flowing river.
There are no spiders ever shown in detail in Utena. It is possible there is one in the background that I missed, but I am unsure why this has so many Yes votes.
In episode 16, Nanami wears a cowbell as a fashion statement. Three boys cover Utena's mouth to prevent her from commenting on the weirdness of the bell. In episode 34, when inviting Utena to their play, the shadow girls cover her ears and ears, possibly in reference to the three wise monkeys.
There's at least a couple of scenes of Anthy being put into a coffin. In a flashback, Utena willingly puts herself in a coffin beside her parents' coffins.
She doesn't have a seizure but in the last episode Anthy is shown with her eyes all white. I'm mentioning it because it triggered me because it reminded me of a seizure that I saw.
In the last episode someone mentions remembering that a boy drowned while trying to save them from drowning. This is discussed and not shown on screen.
A few times- When swords are pulled from the student council in the black rose arc, and also when black rose duelists are defeated. Anthy also faints a couple of times, notably in the final.
yeah, in "the landscaped framed by kozue", i'm pretty sure (after episode 14.) it's not shown happening onscreen, all you hear is a scream and then see a long staircase and afterward its mentioned
technically yes, but the point is that the sexualization of teenagers is bad. on the other hand the girls do all have shorts skirts long legs and large chests despite most of them being middle schoolers but thats a dated artstyle thing
a character sacrifices/tries to sacrifice themself to save another character late in the series, and in a flashback it's shown that another character put themself in danger to try to protect someone and was attacked instead
At least two named characters. One has possibly been dead all along but still walking around like nothing happened. And another isn’t seen again after being fed an apple that has been stabbed with many forks.
an abusive adult character has sex with underage boys and girls despite being engaged, but its not actually "bisexual" cheating, nor is it ever framed that way, since he's doing it to take advantage of and use those characters. its not indicative or supposed to be indicative of his sexuality the point is just that he's a rapist
A girl is told/shown that another girl has a crush on her in episode 17. The crush in question assumed the girl was straight; it is unclear to what extent the girl is out in general, as she's been secretly harboring the crush and not dating anyone else.
The term "boy-girl" is used to describe Utena's gender presentation in a derogatory way. Utena is not trans, but this insult may be seen to have transphobic connotations.
No, but at one point the idea of a young girl beginning to lay eggs is used as a pretty distinct metaphor for puberty—wondering if this happens to other girls and the like
a character is shown in a hospital/hospital-like room in a recap episode where tsuwabuki's notebook is taken (this is the recap episode at the end of the black rose arc)
Yes. The world of Ohtori Academy itself seems to be highly malleable. How much this is real (within the text at least) and how much is metaphor is unclear.
In a flashback, a young child is depressed after her parents are killed, and she hides in a coffin because she believes she should die too. She plans to stay there until she dies, claiming that continuing to live makes her "sick."
Not directly, but the shadow girls that show up every episode function as a Greek chorus. While they don't reference the audience directly they show story-awareness. In the second arc Utena responds to their plays directly.
an adult preys on and rapes teens, a 17 year old has a crush on a 14 year old, and a teen is implied/hinted to be in a relationship with a child. a 13 year old also “dates” an elementary schooler for one episode
No, but for a few episodes one character gets kicked out of the academy and stays at another students dorm instead of going home, and its possible the latter wasn't truly an option.
In episode 9, the shadow girls perform a skit about believing in UFOs etc., and one of them comments that she found out Santa wasn't real in kindergarten.
The ending is very ambiguous and whether or not it is happy depends on your interpretation. One thing that is for certain, however, is that at least one of the main characters gets her happy ending.