Revolutionary Girl Utena

"Ikuhara told me it's not about a girl who causes a revolution. She's not Joan of Arc,” Nagahama said. “It's about a girl's revolution. All girls' revolutions. It's about a freeing of a set destiny and whatever that path is. If you look at the title in Japanese, it's not 'Kakumei Shojo,' it's 'Shojo Kakumei.' The translation should be Girls' Revolution Utena"

The above quote is from an interview with Hiroshi Nagahama (who worked on concept design for the show, as well as animation for parts of it). I think it captures quite well some of the themes and worth of the show.

One cannot become an idealised prince, it is simply false, pretend. To be an idealised prince is to hurt everyone. They do not protect, they enslave. The Prince removes freedom by claiming to protect someone, and the Prince also "protects" their own fragile sense of self worth, their ego and narcisim, their feelings of entitlement (and thus the Prince "protects" gender, societal, and sexuality norms, limits emotional expression and freedom, and so forth).

However, you can help people, help them know that they have worth, help them to then help themselves.

Revolution is not one person fixing everything, but a cascade where people are called to action. People helping other people know that they have worth and power. A domino effect, a ripple.

Life is never entirely a one saves one situation. People also have to save themselves. People have to realise their worth, realise the freedom they could have, should have.

The show does not seem to try and completely save every viewer with a click of its finger (because it can't, nothing can), but to try and give them the power to then save themselves, to bring revolution, to break the egg shell.

This review doesn't even begin to capture all the nuance contained within the show, such as the key LGBT representation, explorations of sexual abuse and patriarchy, and numerous other themes and explorations. I doubt I have even comprehended a decent chunk of what this show has to offer to be honest. This review also leaves the exceptional visual presentation with its stylised approach unexplored, which is arguably near the peak of anime's ability for striking and effective colour use, symbolism, meaningful repetition, and impactful theatrics.