All this is fascinating to me! Forgive me for replying to a post that's some four months old at this point, but there is nothing I enjoy so much as seeing people watch Utena for the first time and talking to them about it. And as anyone who knows me will tell you, I have a lot of thoughts about it and if you give me even and inch, I will corner you and talk to you about them at great length.
So, uh, yeah. I'm so sorry in advance for how long this comment ended up being. /o\
I unabashedly adore this show, but I definitely think your concerns are valid ones. As are the concerns of the person responding to that tumblr post, especially. I'm not particularly up on Japanese feminism, although that tumblr post when I ran across it a few months back is something that really pushes me to stop messing around and get on that. I can only say that the show had a hugely positive and inspiring impact on me personally at a young age, at the same time I was first reading a lot of feminist theory. It resonated and it still resonates with my experience.
I will 100% defer to anyone who is Japanese on this, but speaking simply as a person who has watched quite a lot of (good and truly awful) anime over the last couple decades, I don't feel like Utena falls into the "cute girls marketed to boys" category. It's pretty solidly of the shoujo genre and had a lot of forerunners like Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight, and even Sailor Moon, which Ikuhara had done directing work for preceding Utena. The influences of those three works in particular are pretty huge in the Utena series. If you've seen any Rose of Versailles, the similarities are uncanny at times. Ikuhara and some of the other production members have also spoken quite a lot about the influences of Takarazuka theater on the show, which is and all women theater troupe whose performances are very much geared towards and are hugely popular with female audiences. With all that working for it, I don't read the show as being marketed intentionally toward men. Not that it had all that much marketing at all to begin with. It's always been a bit niche.
I'm genuinely curious about what context you saw Ikuhara declare himself to be feminist. Do you know the source or have a link? I've read a lot of interviews with him over the years and I haven't seen an outright declaration like that. I'm wondering if it might have been a translation issue since the word "feminist" can actually mean "chivalrous" in Japanese. I can't quite picture Ikuhara declaring himself chivalrous either, but he's an odd duck, that one. So who knows.
The movie is definitely a love or hate thing. I love it and the expressly romantic relationship in it didn't feel exploitative to me, it felt like a natural progression and at long last actual representation, but YMMV. I don't think Ikuhara's a perfect feminist if he's ever thought of himself as such, but at the end of the day I agree with him inasmuch as he wants to let the work speak for itself and be up to individual interpretation. He's notorious for dodging "what does ____ mean?" and "what did you intend by _____?" questions. Usually with strange stories about UFOs abducting him and predicting his future. And at least compared to Mawaru Penguindrum, his most recent anime, he was definitely holding back on the fanservice elements for the Utena movie.
Have you run across the theory that the movie is an extension of the series rather than an alternate retelling? It's a fascinating read, even if you don't buy into it. It's over here if you're interested. There's also tons of great essays and such over at ohtori.nu, although I honestly haven't revisted them in quite a few years. This is if you're still interested in reading meta at all, that is.
And yeah, that dub is such a tragedy. Anthy's Japanese voice actress is a master though. I can't get over the subtle inflections she uses to completely change the tone of a scene.
no subject
So, uh, yeah. I'm so sorry in advance for how long this comment ended up being. /o\
I unabashedly adore this show, but I definitely think your concerns are valid ones. As are the concerns of the person responding to that tumblr post, especially. I'm not particularly up on Japanese feminism, although that tumblr post when I ran across it a few months back is something that really pushes me to stop messing around and get on that. I can only say that the show had a hugely positive and inspiring impact on me personally at a young age, at the same time I was first reading a lot of feminist theory. It resonated and it still resonates with my experience.
I will 100% defer to anyone who is Japanese on this, but speaking simply as a person who has watched quite a lot of (good and truly awful) anime over the last couple decades, I don't feel like Utena falls into the "cute girls marketed to boys" category. It's pretty solidly of the shoujo genre and had a lot of forerunners like Rose of Versailles, Princess Knight, and even Sailor Moon, which Ikuhara had done directing work for preceding Utena. The influences of those three works in particular are pretty huge in the Utena series. If you've seen any Rose of Versailles, the similarities are uncanny at times. Ikuhara and some of the other production members have also spoken quite a lot about the influences of Takarazuka theater on the show, which is and all women theater troupe whose performances are very much geared towards and are hugely popular with female audiences. With all that working for it, I don't read the show as being marketed intentionally toward men. Not that it had all that much marketing at all to begin with. It's always been a bit niche.
I'm genuinely curious about what context you saw Ikuhara declare himself to be feminist. Do you know the source or have a link? I've read a lot of interviews with him over the years and I haven't seen an outright declaration like that. I'm wondering if it might have been a translation issue since the word "feminist" can actually mean "chivalrous" in Japanese. I can't quite picture Ikuhara declaring himself chivalrous either, but he's an odd duck, that one. So who knows.
The movie is definitely a love or hate thing. I love it and the expressly romantic relationship in it didn't feel exploitative to me, it felt like a natural progression and at long last actual representation, but YMMV. I don't think Ikuhara's a perfect feminist if he's ever thought of himself as such, but at the end of the day I agree with him inasmuch as he wants to let the work speak for itself and be up to individual interpretation. He's notorious for dodging "what does ____ mean?" and "what did you intend by _____?" questions. Usually with strange stories about UFOs abducting him and predicting his future. And at least compared to Mawaru Penguindrum, his most recent anime, he was definitely holding back on the fanservice elements for the Utena movie.
Have you run across the theory that the movie is an extension of the series rather than an alternate retelling? It's a fascinating read, even if you don't buy into it. It's over here if you're interested. There's also tons of great essays and such over at ohtori.nu, although I honestly haven't revisted them in quite a few years. This is if you're still interested in reading meta at all, that is.
And yeah, that dub is such a tragedy. Anthy's Japanese voice actress is a master though. I can't get over the subtle inflections she uses to completely change the tone of a scene.