071 | In which I finish Utena, start Yona, and continue enjoying Go! Princess Precure

[straightforwardly]

► Many things to talk about today! (Mainly because I haven't updated this in a while, whoops.) Since my last entry, I finally finished watching Revolutionary Girl Utena. I... probably should have wrote this closer to my actually finishing it, because I've forgotten quite a bit of what I wanted to talk about. However, I do still have a few things to say.

Overall, I really, really liked it. When I had about nine or so episodes left, I went, "screw it, I can't wait any longer to see what happens", and ended up marathoning the end.

Nanami is easily my favorite character. I think the final episode centered around her was the only time I cried during this series (though Mikage's final episode brought me close). I just really want all the fic about her post-series, working her way through her relationships with— mainly herself, but also Touga, Saionji, Miki, and even Juri. Well, to be perfectly honest, I really want post-canon fic about all the Student Council members working through their issues. They certainly were heading to that direction by the end, but the series itself never really resolves it— they haven't yet "graduated", as Anthy would put it.

I do like Anthy much more than I did when I last talked about this anime. She'll never be a favorite, I think, but I do find her much more interesting than I thought she was; I suspect that I'll be looking at her actions with a different eye the next time I watch this.

That all being said, I'm... not entirely satisfied with the ending? Most of it I either like or can accept. For example, I see where they were going with the whole "Utena shouldn't be a prince" thing, and think it's an interesting message to mull over— especially for someone like me, who adores fairy tales and fairy tale tropes. So, while a part of me would have eaten up Utena saving Anthy, etc., I still could go for what actually happened.

However, I really, really hate that (almost) everyone forgot about Utena at the end. It just left me with a sick feeling in my gut, especially since I'd been really invested in the ways in which Utena's relationships with the various Student Council members and Wakaba had progressed throughout the series. Utena's relationship with Anthy was probably one of the ones I was the least invested in, and it really bothers me that all of her other relationships were essentially... wiped clean, like they'd never happened. I do like that Anthy remembered, and was finally able to break free from Akio, but I wish that she hadn't been the only one to remember Utena.

tl;dr I loved pretty much all of it, with the exception of the last minute or two. Does anyone have any post-series recs about the Student Council members? The longer, the better, but I'd take anything good— especially if it revolves around Nanami, or Nanami-Saionji-Touga, or Nanami+the rest of the Student Council in general.

► After finishing Utena, I decided that I wanted another (completed) series to watch on days where I didn't have any new spring anime to check out, and ended up going with Akatsuki no Yona / Yona of the Dawn. I actually wanted to watch it while it was still airing, but last fall— my final semester— was so busy that I didn't really have much time for anime. So, I'm watching it now.

Right now, I've seen about 19 episodes, and I am so in love. You all have no idea how hard it is/was for me not to just marathon this all. It's so, so good.

I'm in love with pretty much all of the characters; they're all just so wonderfully complex, even those who— cough, Soo-Won, cough— would be otherwise slotted into a "one-dimensional evil backstabbing villain" category. Even Tae-Jun earned my interest and sympathy. Just, complex and interesting characters everywhere! No one-dimensional, "RAR I AM EVIL" characters (so far)! Clearly, this series was made for me.

I'm enormously invested in the Soo-Won - Yona - Haku friendship, of course. I have no idea how the series (both anime and manga) are going to resolve their relationship, but I have faith that it's going to be just as perfectly nuanced and emotional as all of their relationship has been so far.

I also really, really want to know what's driving Soo-Won; clearly, he genuinely loves and cares about Hak and Yona, judging by his reactions to... pretty much everything, but especially to hearing about their deaths. He also does seem to be a genuinely kind and gentle person, and I really don't think that the reason he gave to Yona for why he murdered her father was entire truth.

Gija (Kija? Crunchyroll's subs have it as the former, but I've noticed that AO3 seems to have it written as the latter) is probably my favorite of the dragons so far, but that is not an easy distinction to make. Still, his immediate, powerful devotion devotion to Yona hit buttons that I didn't even know I had, and I'm constantly delighting in both his bickering with Hak and the surprisingly sweet bond he seems to be forming with Sinha (Shin-Ah?).

Who, speaking of which, is equally delightful. I love his awkward, silent way of dealing with people. It doesn't hurt that it makes so much sense! His relationship with Ao-the-human was fantastic, and, again, hit so many of the right buttons with me. Ao-the-human) is another character that I'd have liked to have seen more of. His experiences of being the Blue Dragon definitely affected him much differently than it did Sinha, and I loved seeing the moments when he let Sinha peek around the defensive, bristling walls he built around himself.

My thoughts on Jaeha haven't settled quite so firmly, but I do know one thing for certain: I adore the relationship between him and Hak. Everything about it had me cackling with glee. The way Yona is slowly slipping in under his skin is also something which is really, really satisfying for me to watch.

Finally, there's the titular character herself. Yona is the best. She's been nothing but lovable from the beginning, and watching her slowly, but surely grow and become stronger— while still holding on to the kindness and empathy that makes me love her— is an utter delight to see. tl;dr she's amazing.

Although the structure of individual episodes themselves leave something to be desired, the pacing of the overall series is absolutely perfect. I tend to prefer shorter series to longer ones, but as of right now, I definitely think that this is a series that deserves more episodes / another season. I just want to stay immersed in this world with these characters forever.

► I feel like Go! Princess Precure just keeps getting better and better.

First of all, there was the two-parter with Close, which feels like it was made for me. I ate up pretty much everything in regards to Yui with a spoon. I am a sucker for a good Dramatic Reveal, and I was really happy with this one. Now, as long as she doesn't suddenly become a Precure, I'm quite pleased with where they're going with her.

Poor Close, though. I've been fond of all three of the villains so far, but those episodes managed to get me somewhat more invested in him than I have been. His design looked really neat— I loved the crow imagery— and there are some elements about his death that I hope the series looks back to (though I am somewhat more doubtful that this'll happen).

Then there was the latest episode! As of right now, I am all-aboard the Shut/Twilight train, haha. The way he fawned over her was just great, and I loved Lock's reaction to it.

I'm reserving judgement on Twilight herself, though. I'm pretty sure she'll end up becoming a good guy— she has a dress-up key, doesn't look explicitly monstrous, and initially interacted with the Precures in a somewhat-friendly manner— but I feel like haven't seen enough of her personality to really get an opinion on what I think about her as a character.

On a more shallow note, I think her face looks kind of... odd when she's not wearing a mask. When she is, she looks absolutely gorgeous, but without it, something just... doesn't look right about it. Something about the proportions? I'm not an artist, so I don't really know.

Finally, that Zetsuborg had an amazing design. I hope that all of the Twilight-enhanced ones do, because it'll be a delight to look at.

► Oh, I nearly forgot! I've decided to take place in fic_promptly's Contest Week this week as a way to kickstart my writing (after sulking for a couple of weeks about the whole all-my-files-were-encrypted-thing.

So far, I've written about 3-ish pieces. I haven't cross-posted them to my writing journal or AO3 yet, though, mainly because I'm thinking about maybe doing another edit on them when I'm not limited by time restraints. I'll be sure to link to them here when I do so.

Comments

[yuuago]

I marathoned the last handful of episodes of Utena as well, and... it was a while back, but I do remember not being quite satisfied either. But then again, I'm not sure what I wanted as an ending, so it's possible that it was just that my desires didn't match up with what it actually was. There was a gap of at least a decade between me seeing the beginning of the series, and seeing the end, so I'd built up all these expectations.

Do you plan to watch the Utena film? It's similar in some ways, different in others... a bit weirder in some ways.

[straightforwardly]

There was a gap of at least a decade between me seeing the beginning of the series, and seeing the end, so I'd built up all these expectations.

That wasn't the case with me and Utena, but I've definitely experienced this before with some other anime.

In regards to Utena, I didn't really know how I wanted it to end either, to be honest. I just really didn't like how it felt like all those relationships Utena had formed just... didn't exist, anymore.

I'll probably watch the movie eventually, but it's not super-high on my priority list at the moment.