What could we possibly do after watching as much Sailor Moon as we dared? Watch Utena, of course.
This was one of those situations where I was leery. I’d wanted to suggest we watch Utes for years now, but finally got around to it. Kitty was leery too, and still is. I have never finished watching the show, and she has never watched it before now.
We stopped. Almost exactly where I stopped. It was bad luck, to begin with — friends came in from out of town, Dad died, I got married — but now we seem to keep forgetting to get back to it.
Have you ever had one of these moments? When you enjoy something you know pretty well, but you’re afraid to see anything new? You see, I just so happened, years ago — without knowing this — to stop just before the Akio arc starts. Now, I know a bit about what happens, but not that much, surprisingly (given that shoujo-ai fanfiction was my jam back in undergrad, even for shows I hadn’t seen). But the nostalgia will stop working for me.
Kitty has already helped me see some… problems in the show I hadn’t really noticed. Utena is kind of dumb, is the main one. I followed her around, back in the day, like any protagonist figure. Now, Kitty’s right — Utena’s kind of dumb. The show also does a lot less with gender dynamics and sexuality in this section than I remember. My memory of it comes primarily from having seen nothing really like it.
But. You know. I’ve read Orlando now.
So for anyone out there getting mad, cut it out. I haven’t seen the whole show. I’m not saying it’s bad, just that it isn’t as world-changing (revolutionary?) as I remember. Keep in mind, that’s based on exactly the same episodes.
Maybe when we finish One Punch Man…
G Conley: Magic Arts 