I just realized that Utena has been kinda unfairly forgotten. I know there will never be another Be-Papas but it really makes me sad that we don’t get anything on this level of writing or style. It is truly something that is incredibly unique and I really hope it doesn’t go away.

The Wakaba duel is unquestionably my number 1 - it breaks all the "rules", not just in-universe, but on a meta story level too, fantastic voice acting from all three as well

I disagree about Nanami #2 tbh. I understand the motivation for the fight to be the fact that she saw herself in Anthy after realizing she was on the same path of sexual abuse as her. She thought fighting Utena would make her 'above' Anthy as well, seeing she saw Utena's ignorance to the fact as horrible. She essentially just wanted to humiliate the two and prove herself to be above them, because if she isn't, then all she is on the same level as them, and therefore her fate and identity are something disgusting to her. We see it in the fact she abandons the student council uniform later and ends the series passively making tea for her brother - on some level she's started mirroring Anthy because she was unable to differentiate herself from her.

@Cleobirdwell

3 ай бұрын

Old comments on utena videos are always so good lmao. These is a fascinating read. I like it a great deal.

As someone revisiting the Utena series herself for a deep dive into the series, I'm a bit surprised by some of these choices but I won't lie placing the Wakaba duel over the final Akio duel is SUCH a good take and I'm glad more people see that as the best duel in Black Rose (and kinda makes sitting through the Black Rose saga worth it imo)

@DropOfMidnightOfficial

Жыл бұрын

seriously! its the duel that i find myself revisiting all the time

@Mitsuraga

2 ай бұрын

Is there an Akio duel, really? That battle was actually about Utena and Anthy escaping Akio's control. It was Anthy as Akio's puppet vs. Utena, who had been groomed by Akio and defied him anyway. For all of his posturing about how it's a "real" fight, it certainly didn't feel that way to me. Everything about him is so artificial, so manufactured. When it comes right down to it, Akio didn't have much of a hand in that conflict, except to act like he knew what he was talking about and to end up being so very, very wrong about what he thought was true. And I disagree about the duel ending when Anthy stabs Utena. That's when the _real_ conflict starts, because again, it's not really Akio's fight. Everything prior to that was just Akio being a dick. He isn't really in control. He doesn't even understand what happened in the series finale, not even after Anthy tells him he doesn't get it.

@ChloeSunfloraVA

2 ай бұрын

​@Mitsuraga I'd argue the duel starts the moment that Utena and Anthy enter the observatory and see Akio, as the pre-battle tradition of ZUM playing before it heralds it. I do agree however that the duel doesn't end with Anthy stabbing Utena, it arguably keeps going until Utena opens up the door to try and free Anthy and the duelling arena collapses. It's the most unorthodox duel in the entire series but it's arguably the one of which is deserving of being the longest in the entire series for a reason. So yeah, I'd say it still counts as a duel even if it isn't in the sense of it being all the same as the other duels because it's basically Utena's final test of resolve to her pledge of saving Anthy despite her temptations.

Definetly agree about the Keiko fight, I always switch it with the two Wakaba episodes before the end of the Black Rose Saga, it especially helps because of the link between Tatsuya (The Onion Prince) and Mikage. Tatsuya is the only one that Mikage spares because he sees himself in Tatsuya. Tatsuya says how he knows that Wakaba will return to him because "I love her and True Love always wins in the end." And Mikage seeing Utena as Tokiko tells her "I thought you would return to me, you don't have to regret abandoning me." This show is so damn brilliant... I really do love the Wakaba duel but I think thirrd for me. Touga 3 at number 2 as it is brilliant in so many ways, especially the implication that they have been trapped in Ohtori far longer than they might realize as well as the image of Utena defending Anthy from the cars representing the toll of this eternal struggle of the Prince. But the Fianl duel is the most brilliant to me as it really becomes a true piece of art that allows us mere mortals a brief glimpse at Eternity, at the heart of all creation.

Just realized that the moment in the third Touga duel where he holds Utena's hand is a parallel to Utena holding Anthy's hand in the opening. What does Utena do to Anthy in that scene? She slides a metaphorical ring off of her finger. (= Metaphorically representing the moment that she slides open the lid to Anthy's coffin, complete with a sparkle that represents her tears.) The moment Touga doesn't pull the ring off, he lost the duel.

Hmm, as for #21, I do agree in some ways, but I feel that Keiko does have something unique in her. She wakes herself up during the duel. She has a realization that Nanami should be her focus and from there whatever conviction she had was shattered as she loses soon after. This is nice foreshadowing to what occurs in the next duel with Mikage who also has a "wake up call", which causes him to lose due to his loss of conviction. I'd put Kanae's duel last, personally. #15, I entirely disagree. We have had a build-up of Nanami's reasoning over the last two episodes. She thinks that defeating Utena will allow her to surpass everything, she wants to escape from this twisted game she's been thrust into and fights well enough towards that goal. I think if any 3rd Arc Duelist could have won, it would have been Nanami. The greatest irony with her duel is that this is her wake-up call. After the duel she does recognize she doesn't need to beat anyone in a physical match to rise above the situation. Other than those two outliers, I largely agree. Great work!

I just realised - Utena lost the sword Juri entrusted to her, it was destroyed! And we never hear about it again. And Juri continues to have the same sword. Continuity error or theatre play? A solid list, and I'm glad it isn't blocked in my country any more!

This show hits so hard. It was so beautiful & meaningful & filled with metaphoric imagery.

hell yes another Utena vid. I have a very similar top 10: S Jury II: duel + aftermath + hospital scene makes me cry more than any other part of the show Touga III: animation quality and detail and symbolism is GOATed Akio: of course A Wakaba: Wakaba impersonating Saionji while under the Black Rose's influence is genius Jury I: starting to see the cracks in Jury's facade A- Touga II: great duel but emotionally overshadowed by the earlier scene with Utena and Wakaba under the rose mural Nanami I: important moment for Nanami and I love how it plants the seeds of Touga's further manipulations Mikage: such a psychosexual clusterfuck, I'm about it. "what was actually going on with Mikage" might be the most mysterious / unanswerable aspect of the show B Nanami II: imo Nanami's realizations at the end of the duel are one of the most crushing character moments in the show for me. I agree with your criticisms about Nanami's motives feeling forced, however Miki II: juicy symbolically but Miki's character just never moves me emotionally. Kozue sniping at him at the end of the episode with "coward" / ikujinashi also overshadows the duel

the way touga had anthy power up the sword was seen again- it's what anthy does when she pulls on the blade after utena does her backflip over her in later fights- the same pink/red flies off of the sword when she touches it great video, though! i always love to see other people's interpretations of duels and the meaning behind them

For me, the themes and songs in the duels are what really set a duel as my favorite, which is why I love Wakaba's, Nanami 1, both Juri duels, and Touga 3. I can't pick a favorite amongst them, all of them are incredible.

your top 4 picks are definitely the same I would have, though probably in a different order juri's second fight does so much for me personally I'd put it in the top 3 for my own personal list, but I can't argue with any of your picks either :P

This is the Utena content I needed in my day today. Fantastic video, I _love_ Utena so much.

Personal top 4: 4: Nanami 1 3: Jury 1 2: Jury 2 1: Wakaba

God that cow episode is everything. Definitely unserious nonsense and doesn't deserve to be included here but good God what an episode. Never skip filler lol.

When I first saw the title of this video, I was skeptical, given Revolutionary Girl Utena isn't renowned for its action; but this is a very good ranking of the duels. Considering the story and stakes (and music) in addition to the fight choreography is a great lens through which to discuss the duels, and I think your insights were spot on. RGU is a series ripe for analysis, but KZread seems a little light on such content. I'll be checking out your other videos. As for my own favorite duel, I'll need to rewatch the series, as it's been a while. You made great cases for the top 3, though.

Only slight thing with the Saionji #1 fight is that Utena’s motivation to fight him isn’t on Anthy’s behalf, but rather Wakaba’s

top 4 is ACTUAL peak fiction. good list, but I would bump up Utena 2 (what I call Touga 2, since Utena is the challenger) to top 5.

i think keiko’s battle is just where it needs to be because it fully cements that utena did not learn her lesson from the last episode and that she didn’t get wakaba or her struggles at all and just wanted her back to how she was before without actually addressing anything wakaba said. another comment also gives a lot of good reasoning for keikos placement when it comes to the arc itself

I think there is a point in having the Black Rose arc duels be at times lacking, not a real challenge. Utena hardly even knows Keiko, yet it is the fight before the one with Mikage - this is End of the World scraping the bottom of the barrel to craft a narrative to keep Utena winning duels, leveling her up, fattening her up for the slaughter. Mikage wants to win, yet his resigned pathetic appearance after each duel is part of the formula for the episodes, himself not believing when he says it will be better next time. Mikage is set up to serve Akio as long as he is of use, and then to be sacrificed for a victorious Utena, who is then sacrificed for Akio - the duelists Mikage sets up being substandard is to show how manufactured the conflicts can be, just to achieve the goals of a selfish god. Is a duel between duelists with well established motivations more enjoyable to watch? Sure! But violence is not the solution to anything, all the duels are for is to maintain a system of violence and conflict in place of one of peace and cooperation - we should be rooting for the duels to end, for there to be no winner, so Anthy can decide her own fate. Tho that might be too meta and not much fun...

Man, I don't even remember Kanae or her conflict. For that reason, I would probably switch the bottom two entries. It's also worth pointing out that Ruka is dead before we ever meet him. That's why he can't win, and that's why he stands stock still while Shiori is slumped over, because it's really more her fight. Ruka is just there to do the dueling. Saionji 2 is the best duel song, in my opinion. It is, at least, the one that had the most lasting impact for me.

I'd probably rank Shiori's duel slightly higher than you have -- in at least the low teens, probably around Kozue. Everything about Juri's storyline slaps and Shiori's duel is a prime example. Plus the theme is my favourite duel theme.

Say what you want about Keiko (I would agree with the ranking, the episode just wasn't super interesting) but her duel theme goes hard

It's always great to see more Utena content. While I'd order the top four differently, I do agree with you on those. I disagree with Nanami 2 though, mostly because of how it ties into what I find to be a very interesting character arc, with her acting as Anthy's thematic foil.

Fantastic video!

I got a vpn just to watch this. I remember searching for a duels ranked video when I finished Utena but I didn't find anything. So I am prepared for this moment: 1. Touga 2 (The fight made me cry many times, the whole episode built it up perfectly. Episode 12 is in my top 3 of Utena.) 2. Juri 1 (I was sure Utena would win once she lunged forward but when Juri riposted the blade, it now me certain Juri would win so I was beyond shocked at the way the fight concludes. It's the way it played around with my expectations that did it. God tier animations, lyrics, body language, VAs) 3. Wakaba 4. Saionji 2 (I always think of random lyrics from this song, a ton of good animations from this fight will get recycled on later episodes which makes this one stand out.) 5. Touga 1 (This one I disagree the most with: The reason we aren't directly seeing this fight at times and for the starting slideshow is because Utena couldn't observe what was actually happening. Everything in her mindstate during this fight is fragmented and not flowing on par with real time. Touga is standing still and opening his arms to portray a prince embracing her which makes her crumble by herself, he didn't want to seem like a threat to Utena in order to manipulate her perception of him. The song starts of energetic but pauses on some syllables while Utena takes pauses to reconsider who is actually her enemy.) 6. Touga 3 7. Shiori (The song drop gave me goosebumps and the Shiori's design and VA is so good here. She blends the lines of being a heartless sadist and an insecure child very well. It's one of the coolest characters and the duel is just so clean.) 8. Akio (To be fair I am kind of separating this from Anthy's backstab since it felt really random before you actually watch the last episode.) 9. Saionji 1 (I love the shot of Utena staring at her fake sword gasping saying "Masaka..." regretting her stance and realizing she doesn't understand her motivation for becoming a prince or fighting Saionji all during the singer saying: "I am an actor". To me that scene from the very 1st episode constructed one of the main themes of the series which is Utena's motivation and the meaning of being a prince and noble person.) 10. Miki 1 (First duel that is psychologically engaging with Utena's opponent in a clever way. It single-handedly raised my expectations for the show quite a lot.) 11. Juri 2 (The reused animations almost ruined it) 12. Nanami (explained in the video) 13. Miki 2 14. Nanami 2 15. Mikage 16. Kozue 17. Saionji 3 (Almost every animation will be CTRL+Ved in better fights of the 3rd arc later on, also the song is just a remix of virtual star embryology) 18. Kanae 19. Keiko (The only Utena filler episode, maybe it's because I was so disappointed that I liked the duel a bit, the song is awesome.) 20. Mitsuru (Couldn't take this one seriously. Dude doesn't know the multiplication table yet and he's fighting for world revolution and murder of an indian r*** victim in Japan. It was too ridiculous I couldn't do it.) 21. Ruka (Probably the worst Utena character)

solid list! i agree with a lot of the rankings

My least favorite way Akio because it shows how Anthy still cares and love Akio even tho he keeps hurting her again and again , which lead to her betraying Utena.

SEATED.

first

all duels are great get good

Lowkey I don't get why Nanami all of the sudden almost kicks Utena's ass in the second duel but sucks in the first?

@FallenDaffodil

9 ай бұрын

My personal headcanon is that Nanami is uniquely annoying and managed to piss off both Utena and Anthy by saying her prince will lead her to victory, with the latter going like "Oh really ????" and ending the duel as soon as she could lol. We see that Nanami isn't actually that bad of a swordswoman in that very same duel - she's the only other council member to knock off Utenas rose. Granted , it's after the duel is over and Utena is caught slightly off guard but...I'd say it still counts for something! Mitsuru similarly does pretty well in his duel against Utena as well - hell , he lasts longer than Kanae and Keiko, who are both older than him, all because he has Nanamis sword fighting prowess. I might be overthinking things, but yeah :>

Also as much as Kanae's duel was lame the music kind of slaps