History Anime / RevolutionaryGirlUtena

* UnnecesarilyCruelRejection:

* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Almost every episode, the Council members ride in a fancy elevator to meet in a rose-decorated tower to discuss the upcoming revolution. Then they [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours swordfight]] for a chance to control said revolution. That's about as absurdly powerful as it comes. Beautifully subverted when it turns out that [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy created the Duels for the sole purpose of benefiting Akio, and not even Utena really had a fighting chance to become the final Champion as long as Anthy remained the Rose Bride.]]
* AbsurdlySharpBlade: Anthy can power up the Sword of Dios/[[spoiler:Utena's soul sword]]; included in said power-up is this property, although it's only demonstrated during Utena's duels with Touga. [[spoiler:To put it into perspective, Utena's powered-up soul sword can easily split approaching cars without them losing velocity.]]
* AccidentalMarriage: Downplayed; Utena is surprised to find herself engaged to Anthy, the Rose Bride, after winning a duel against her previous fiancée, Saionji. However, Anthy does whatever her betrothed wants, and since Utena just wants to befriend her, their dynamic is that of roommates getting to know each other rather than lovers.
* ActionGirl: Utena is athletically gifted to the point that her natural ability compensates for her lack of martial arts training. Juri is captain of the fencing team and is capable of defeating Utena, only coming up short due to unusual circumstances. Every other girl who chooses to become a duelist also counts for this trope.
* AdaptationDyeJob: Due to the divergent evolution of the manga and the anime, the character color schemes are different between the mediums. The manga creator, Chiho Saito, favored more down-to-earth color schemes especially in the beginning.
** Utena started in the manga as a blonde, but was given pink hair in the anime and later manga volume covers and illustrations. Her eyes also varied between being brown or blue in the early colored artwork, but stuck as blue after her hair changed to pink.
** Anthy originally had dark brown/black hair in the manga, which was changed to violet in the anime and later colored illustrations, while her eye color changes from brown to green. Other hair color changes included Juri going from being blonde to having orange hair (while her eyes changed from brown to blue), and Touga's hair changing from black with red bangs to red with one paler forelock. Miki's hair also was originally brown in the first color illustration of him, but quickly changed to blue to fit with the anime (as did his eyes).
** Utena's uniform was also originally pink in the manga (though she receives a black uniform as a plot point in the third volume), but Ikuhara vetoed the idea of it carrying over to the anime. Chiho Saito explained in an omake that he gave her the choice of having Utena wear black or red in the anime; while she picked red, he settled on giving her black.
** Anthy's Rose Bride dress was originally white with blue trim, but changed to red in later manga illustrations to match with Ikuhara's color choice.
* AdvertisingByAssociation: Video releases of the series capitalized on creator {{Creator/Kunihiko Ikuhara}}'s prior involvement on ''Anime/SailorMoon'' by plastering it on the covers.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deconstructed; any girl who goes after a 'bad boy' in this series finds themselves hurt by them in the end. This is most apparent with Wakaba's attraction to blatant JerkAss Saionji.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Sadly lampshaded by Juri, who remarks that the cast would be much happier if they could simply change the objects of their affections.
* AllTakeAndNoGive: The relationship between [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy]] offers an interesting twist on this trope. [[spoiler:Akio]] has the obvious position of power, not just in the relationship but throughout Ohtori Academy, while [[spoiler:Anthy]] is at the bottom of the social pyramid, and often plays into [[spoiler:her brother]]'s schemes. However, [[spoiler:Akio]] is powerless without [[spoiler:Anthy]], and she knows it. However much he may try to abuse and dominate [[spoiler:Anthy]] in order to take and maintain control, it does not change the fact that all of [[spoiler:Akio]]'s power is derived from [[spoiler:Anthy]].
* AlmostHoldingHands: In the opening, Anthy and Utena's hands reach to grab each other but slip away, a few seconds after an AlmostKiss. This symbolizes the unresolved romantic tension that lingers between the two for most of the series, and also foreshadows a future point where [[spoiler:Utena holds Anthy's hand to keep from falling from the planetarium]].

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:The anime ends with Anthy departing on a quest to find the missing Utena]].

** The StockFootage is stock footage, yes, but it's all ''very'' well-animated.
** Creator/MamoruHosoda (credited under a pseudonym) did the storyboards for several episodes of the TV series, and his episodes feature one or two carefully rendered, high-frame rate scenes of characters moving very slowly and deliberately, like Mikage turning to look at Utena in episode 23. One of his episodes...
** ...is the infamous episode 33, with Utena and Akio's beautifully composed yet extremely hard to watch [[spoiler:sex scene]]. Utena's movements in this scene were very carefully designed to convey her emotions on the matter.
* AntiVillain: Nearly every character that can be considered a villain at any point in the story is this except for [[spoiler:Akio]].
* ArcWords: ''All over the place'', to the point where the show occasionally throws in parodies of its own arc words for humorous effect.

** And also appearing in the sword-pulling sequence, "Rose of the noble castle, by the power of Dios that sleeps within me, heed your master and come forth...!"

** The Absolute Destiny Apocalypse, both the name of the transformation sequence's song and what Anthy repeats in every "next time" preview.

** Various mentions of "endless motion" and other forms of repetition.[[note]]Or, in other words, revolution.[[/note]] (Which is a motif that the overuse of arc words ties into.)

** From the Akio arc: "There, can’t you hear it? If your soul has not truly abandoned all chance for hope, then you can hear the sound that races through the End of the World. Follow us to the world you seek!" and "I now reveal the End of the World... to you."

%%* AuthorAvatar: Chu-Chu. This ''is'' Ikuni.

* BadassBoast: The songs during the duels sometimes contain these, like "My children, astronomical planets - five solid bodies are my descendants". Sometimes they're the namesake of the song, like "I Am All the Mysteries in Creation" or "I Am an Imaginary Living Body".

* BigBrotherInstinct: Averted - very few big brothers demonstrate any, and those that do have manipulative plans.

** Played with with Miki, who wants to have a relationship with Kozue, but no longer knows how he can do that.
* BisexualLoveTriangle: Utena is torn between first Touga and then Akio (Touga's mentor and role model), both princely ManipulativeBastard types, and the demure and feminine Anthy. Touga/Akio both remind her of the prince she met a a child, but her relationship with them represents becoming a princess instead of the prince she aspires to be. In episodes where she submits to Touga/Akio, she undergoes temporary {{Chickification}}, going from a brash and confident tomboy to a demure and submissive girl. Whereas Utena's interest in Anthy is closely connected to her desire to become a prince and emulate the KnightInShiningArmor ideal.
* BitchSlap: Anthy is on the receiving end of this multiple times during the story, typically courtesy of [[AlphaBitch Nanami]] and her posse. Her close relationship to the student council (particularly Nanami's brother, [[BigBrotherWorship Touga]]) and ExtremeDoormat tendencies made her an easy target.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Utena has disappeared from Ohtori Academy, the entire campus will eventually forget about her, and on the surface everything returns to a typical school life instead of the world-shattering "revolution" imagined by Akio. But the revolution ''did'' occur: Utena's presence has changed everyone she met for the better, in small but significant ways, helping to free them from their trauma and toxic relationships. Most significantly, Anthy is inspired to finally break free of her eons-long abusive relationship with Akio, and leave Ohtori Academy to search the world for Utena]].
* BlindIdiotTranslation: The official English translation by Neil Nadelman is [[https://twitter.com/fspls/status/1001007719048925184 rather infamously bad]]. There's countless translation errors, ranging from minor and relatively inconsequential mistakes to butchering character beats and plot developments. It's been noted that the official translation makes the plot more difficult to follow than it actually is, because it creates plot holes that fans had to come up with interpretations to explain away (given the abstract nature of the show) and generally overcomplicates exposition. The songs in particular are subject to awful translations. The duel songs for episodes 14 and 20 directly reference Hamlet's Japanese translation, but you wouldn't know that from the official translation (though admittedly most fan translations also miss this). Listing every problem in the official subtitles (and the dub, which uses the same bad translation) would fill an obnoxiously long stretch of this page, so have some highlights instead:

** As seen in the link above, Wakaba saying she doesn't see a need to know more than the multiplication tables is mangled into her saying that she'd be happy getting only 99s in Math tests. Uh, entitled much?
** Kanae's monologue in episode 14 counts for a butchered character beat. In the actual script, she says she despises Anthy no matter how hard she tries. The official translation misparsed this to her saying she can't get Anthy to like her no matter how hard she tries.
** Earlier that same episode, Utena remarks that she and her classmates went out to have fun on Saturday, which is mangled in the translation into her saying that she turned their Saturday class into a party.
** Episode 18, which centers on Tsuwabuki wanting to be a grown-up, has a large amount of innuendos and double entendres, including the final line of the episode, which has Nanami saying something that could be translated as "Is it hot in here or is it just me?". Some of the more obvious ones are translated in the subs, but there's still many unaccounted for, including the aforementioned final line.
** For a more traditional blind idiot translation, a line in episode 7 where Utena says that she doesn't know if the things she's heard about Juri are true or not is erroneously rendered as "I don't know if it's real or true." This is one of the many errors the re-issued subs on the recent Blu-ray release did not fix.
** One error they did fix in the updated subtitles is the final line of episode 1. They corrected an incorrect translation that went something like "From this day forward, I am your bride" to the accurate translation of "From this day forward, I am your flower".
** In episode 23, Utena's younger self in her memory says she will be patient, while the official translation changes that to her saying she will be strong. It's a relatively minor error compared to the rest, but it still damages the scene because the point of the scene is that in her memory, Utena was dependent and vulnerable, not strong.

** In episode 8, a thinly veiled threat of rape towards Anthy from one of Nanami's cronies is left out.

* BookEnds: The very last episode features a montage of "everyday" scenes paralleling events that happened to Utena and the other characters throughout the last year. As Anthy points out, the ending is not as [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]] as it initially appears -- [[spoiler:the character dynamics that Utena changed are things that can't be undone]].
* BoxingKangaroo: One breaks out of containment, attacks Nanami, and ends up getting KO'd by Touga. No explanation was ever given for why there was a kangaroo on campus in the first place.
* BreadEggsMilkSquick: More or less literally -- Utena uncharacteristically babbles about meal prep for tomorrow's lunch [[spoiler:while she and Akio have sex.]] The asparagus sandwich may never be the same.

* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: Generally an ominous symbol in this series. The Cabbage White, a specific type of butterfly which appears several times (most iconically in the movie, but they show up in the TV series too,) is common garden pest linked with unwelcome change and parasitism. The Black Rose arc repeatedly focuses on a mounted butterfly in the confessional elevator as it moves backwards from mature insect, to chrysalis, to caterpillar, to leaf.
* CagedBirdMetaphor: Anthy's rose garden is inside a birdcage-shaped greenhouse, emblemizing her mysterious imprisonment as the "Rose Bride". [[spoiler:The fact that she can technically leave this "cage"--but chooses to stay--also hints that [[MoreThanMindControl she's imprisoned by more than physical or magical means]].]]
* TheCasanova: Touga gets every girl he wants - except for one.
** Akio gets every girl he wants, but not necessarily for very long.
* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler:Touga and Nanami]] come to fear that Utena is in terrible danger [[spoiler:once it's clear that she will be chosen as the one to revolutionize the world.]] They are correct about this, [[spoiler:since they witnessed at least some of Akio's scheming and[=/=]or Anthy's complicity,]] but they've both shot too many angles with Utena in the past for her to heed them. No matter how many times Utena is told [[spoiler:not to trust Akio and Anthy]], she doesn't listen.

** [[spoiler:Akio]] abuses [[spoiler:Anthy]] who passively aggressively attacks Nanami, Utena and others.

* ChalkOutline: The arena during the Black Rose arc becomes filled with red silhouettes of dead bodies. Rather creepily, whenever a Black Rose duelist is defeated, they collapse perfectly into one of the silhouettes.

* ClingyJealousGirl: A number of girls strive to hold on to relationships with important people in their lives, to the point that it is not so much about the other person as the relationship itself.

* ColourCodedCharacters: Each major character has a color associated with them. [[RuleOfSymbolism Each color, in turn, represents the biggest emotional problems they face.]] Similarly, Utena's white rose when she faces Black Rose Duelists is a classic case of White Hat Black Hat.
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Throughout the Black Rose arc, the shadow play girls start doing their performance in front of other people (usually Utena), at the end of which the witness makes some innocent comment or question about their performance. Said comment is invariably about the literal events portrayed without grasping any of the allegorical similarities to the events of the episode.

* ComingOfAgeStory: At it's heart, Utena is about the pains and missteps of growing up.

** Dios appears as a divine figure, complete with HolyBacklight, who descends from the heavens to give Utena his strength. The antagonist self-identifies with the "Morning Star", as in the fallen angel Lucifer. [[spoiler:The TV series uses this Dios-to-Satan progression to illustrate Akio's fall from grace, but in the end neither the prince nor the fallen prince have any actual power or even meaningfulness. Akio is small and petty; Dios offers nothing but cold comfort.]]

* DancesAndBalls: Fancy parties, akin to royal balls, are made during the show; and in those parties some relevant moments take course.
** The ball in episode 3 has Utena saving Anthy from a really cruel prank and Touga expresses his interest in Utena [[ClingyJealousGirl in Nanami's ear range]].
** The party where Nanami receives the cowbell.
** The party Nanami organize in hopes of cheering up Touga, during the Black Rose saga. [[spoiler:Keiko is unable to attend because of Nanami, which makes her go to Mikage's seminar.]]

* DiscretionShot: We are mercifully spared seeing Nanami wearing a nose ring.

** In "Nanami's Egg", [[AlphaBitch Nanami]] woke up to find that she had laid an egg and spent the following day wondering whether this was something that happened to many girls or not. It is generally assumed that this is a metaphor for menstruation, although it gets a bit [[MindScrew confusing]] [[{{Squick}} when another character almost cooks and eats the egg]].
** Anthy kisses Touga's sword to give it superpowers, turning it red and giving him the power to deal massive ClothingDamage to Utena.

** The duelists wear roses on their chests that need to be knocked off with a sword in order to win, hence "deflowering".

** Most of the Black Rose episodes end with the Black Rose duelist happier and with some CharacterDevelopment for their trouble; [[spoiler:Wakaba's]], on the other hand, [[spoiler:ends with her coming to see Saionji has left as she mutters an "I'm home" to herself.]] In short, it's implied that not only is she still discontent with her status as an ordinary person, she also ''missed'' her {{Aesop}} - which is that being attracted to a person of [[TroubledAbuser Saionji's character]] is ''really'' not a good thing.

'''All:''' FOR THE SAKE OF REVOLUTIONIZING THE WORLD!

* ElaborateUniversityHigh: Ohtori Academy is a {{Boarding|School}} ElevatorSchool covering elementary through high school. The campus is so large that it is difficult to tell where it ends and where town it's situated in begins. Virtually all the action of the is set in the school, making it an AcademyOfAdventure as well.
* EliteFour: The first arc has four duelists competing with Utena: Saionji, Juri, Miki, and Touga. These four make up the Student Council which seems to control the school, they are vying for the power to revolutionize the world, and they are the primary antagonists - in the beginning at least. Later on in the series, the antagonistic dynamic breaks down as the characters go through their respective development arcs.

* AnachronismStew: The setting roughly corresponds with a modern one, contemporary to the time it was made, but it's all practically [[WorldOfSymbolism made of symbolism]] - fairytale characters like princes and witches ''might'' be real, ''might'' be waiting just around the corner. The same may be true of aliens. It seems like there are people from beyond the grave lurking about, too.
** The legend of the rose prince is a standout example; it's played up as medieval, but the sword-wielding townsfolk are dressed like [[OfficeLady OLs]] and [[{{Salaryman}} salarymen]] and there's a fax machine prominently placed in the scene, unspooling endless messages.

* WorldOfSymbolism: It is one thing to say, "the world is absurd and doesn't make any sense." Anyone might say that, and any listener might nod, and agree, and move on. ''Utena'' doesn't want its audience to nod or move along--it wants them to ''feel'' that the world is absurd and doesn't make any sense. The closer it is to it's central message, the less the rules of reality apply. And sure, it's challenging, but that doesn't mean it isn't fun. The story starts out as an off-kilter but sensible enough school tragicomedy, only working its way up to full allegory by the end.

** The early musicals are disparate in style - the first is reminiscent of 90s Theatre/SeraMyu productions and there is an official recording of it; the second leveraged the underground theater DNA of the series and is sought-after LostMedia among fans; and the third is a small production out of Western Japan that is even less-documented than the second.

* PoorCommunicationKills: This goes hand-in-hand with the crazy amounts of DramaticIrony. Most of everyone's problems could be solved if they would just sit down and talk, but if they did, the show would be over. This goes double for Shiori and Juri, but it applies to everyone.

* SaveThePrincess: Utena's goal from the very beginning is to become a prince who saves princesses, turning the basic idea on its head.

* TeacherStudentRomance: Between [[spoiler:Akio]] and [[spoiler:just about everyone else]], though there arguably isn't any actual ''romance'' in the relationship, just sex with the intent to manipulate.
* TechMarchesOn: Akio's omnipresent car includes a car phone. Back in 1997, this luxury helped emphasize how rich and important he is, but the affordability and ubiquity of mobile communications tech today may make it difficult for modern audiences to pick up on this.

** Downplayed for Juri and Shiori. While tomboyish fencing captain Juri has an ugly side to her that appears at least once around Anthy, compared to Shiori -and as seen in their relationship- she's much more passive and emotionally vulnerable, and among the entire cast, she's one of the few with more redeeming qualities. Shiori on the other hand is very delicate and feminine, emotionally vicious against apparent friends and foes alike, and never holds back in a fight.
** Played with and deconstructed for Utena and Anthy. Taken at face value, Utena and Anthy are stereotypes of "tomboy and girly girl" - tomboyish Utena fights in a knight-like way wanting to become a "prince," and the "princess-like" Anthy supports her with her Rose Bride magic. Utena, however, is [[BigGood always affable]] and [[PluckyGirl overall sweet]] around the [[ExtremeDoormat emotionally isolated]] Anthy, which over the course of the series is what helps develop their friendship into something more genuine. [[spoiler:As the series goes on, it becomes very apparent that there's [[JadeColoredGlasses more going on with]] Anthy BeneathTheMask, and at the same time, that Utena has a lot of hypocrisy she's not confronting. By the time they do confront those sides of each other, Utena's [[SecretlySelfish shown herself]], and [[TheDragon the witch]], Anthy, has stabbed her in the back. But Utena still doesn't give up hope in Anthy or herself.]]
* TemporarilyAVillain: The Black Rose Duelists are normal (or at least morally gray) people around the school who have a really, really bad day and get manipulated into thinking that the best way to fix things is to revolutionize the world.
* ThemeNaming: Characters have botanical elements in their names. The most commonly cited examples are "Utena" (萼)meansing "calyx", which is the part of the flower that ''protects'' the petals, and "''Ánthos''" (Anthy) which is Greek for "flower". There are many other examples to choose from, including some that extend into episode title wordplay.
** "Miki" means "tree trunk," "Kozue" means "treetop." Kozue-centric episode 18 is titled "The Scenery Framed by Kozue."
** The elements in Touga's name mean "winter" and "bud/sprout". He features prominently in episode 35, "The Love that Blossomed in Wintertime."
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Subverted with Mikage, whose 'seminars' involve him listening to the problems of the character attending, similar to what a therapist or counsellor would do. The problem is that the therapy he administers is MindRape.
* ToiletHumor: This trope is surprisingly common and driven by Chu-Chu. It will eat anything (including desiccant packets, apparently) and suffers the [[{{Gasshole}} digestive consequences]]. Chu-chu also gets {{Snot Bubble}}s on a few occasions, including a huge, exaggerated, ''wet'' one...which of course pops and drenches it in goo.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Utena, a brash, sporty girl who wears a boy's school uniform, is "engaged to" and develops a deep friendship with Anthy, a demure and shy girl who wears a PimpedOutDress as the Rose Bride. Neither of them play this trope entirely straight considering that Utena actively avoids being labeled as OneOfTheBoys, and between herself and Anthy she is TheHeart, a role that typically goes to the girly girl. Anthy is a [[{{Housewife}} great housekeeper]] and a CaringGardener, yet she has a distinctly performative approach to other womanly tasks and pastimes. She is a [[ElegantClassicalMusician skilled pianist]] but doesn't seem to take any joy in it; she [[TextileWorkIsFeminine knits a whole sweater in a day]] and never touches the craft again. She pointedly averts FeminineWomenCanCook. Utena is a better cook than she is.
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: In the final third of the show, the StockFootage of ascending to the dueling arena shows Anthy disappearing from within her normal school uniform and reappearing naked for a moment, though only her bare shoulders from behind are shown.
* ToTheBatpole: The arena ascension StockFootage sequences involve both travel and transformation, with Utena climbing up a column [[spoiler:either by stairs or an elevator]] to reach the high platform where the duels are fought and magically gaining BlingOfWar to supplement her usual outfit as she makes her way there.
* TragicHero: [[spoiler:The burden that the Prince must carry will eventually crush anyone who takes on the role. Dios, Mikage, and Utena all approach it with noble intentions that eventually go wrong and prove their undoing.]]
* TheTragicRose: Utena received her Rose Seal after her parents' funeral when she was a young girl. Anthy, whose unhappiness and trauma is revealed to be deeper and deeper throughout the show, is the Rose Bride, along with the gradual revelation that she has thorns herself. Duelists also wear Rose Seals and wear roses during the duel; all the Student Council members deal with their suffering in ways that hurt themselves and / or others, while the Black Rose duelists are recruited explicitly for their pain.
* TransformationSequence: Utena's outfit gains "princely" trappings when she goes to the dueling arena. The process is animated in a style reminiscent of MagicalGirl transformations, which the many staff members would be very familiar with as ''Sailor Moon'' alums, but there is one major difference - there is no distinct change in identity. Utena is still Utena while she fights, she just has cooler clothes that signify the role she wants for herself. The sequence changes slightly between the first and second arcs; the third arc has completely new and highly elaborate animation.
* TriumphantReprise: The very end of the show has a unique medley of the show's sad theme "Aphrodite of Death" that gradually swells into a hopeful version of "The Sunlit Garden" melody. Immediately afterwards, it breaks into "Rose & Release", which is Masami Okui scatting to the tune of the opening theme. After everything that happened, it is incredibly joyous.

* UncoveringRelationshipStatus: In "The Rose Bride", Utena asks Wakaba if Saionji is going out with Anthy.
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Played with. While most of the student body has a touch of this, it's most obvious in Utena herself, who spends almost zero time investigating the supernatural events that are happening to her regularly. She appears to believe that the best way to handle her classmates trying to kill her and Anthy, in the midst of physics-defying weirdness, is to simply go about her regular routine, she was told that all that weird stuff was an optical illusion and she just believes it [[spoiler: at the end is revealed that it was in fact an optical illusion]], yet a normal person would be interrogating the Council, talking to the principal, or calling the cops. She never even seems to ask Anthy for a full explanation of what being the Rose Bride means or what the rules are for the duelists.
* ValleyGirl: In the English dub, an unnamed Ohtori student never really seen onscreen speaks with an exaggerated valley girl dialect. Most of the time she's relating gossip about Shiori and Ruka. Apparently, "the whole school's talkin' about it."
* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: An in-universe example. The play put on by the Shadow Girls gives a very inaccurate explanation of what happened to Dios (that for some reason flies right over Utena's head anyway) and seems to come from [[spoiler: the lie that Anthy made up to keep Dios safe]]. Utena later has a dream about her childhood that gives a lot more details, but she can't remember most of it when she wakes up.
* VillainPossessedBystander: The Black Rose Arc features minor, often comic relief characters such as Kanae and Tsuwabuki temporarily becoming duelists and attempting to kill the Rose Bride after having a "counseling session" with the ArcVillain Mikage, who gives them a seal that allows temporary access to the dueling arena. The characters generally dramatically change personality and become somewhat BrainwashedAndCrazy after talking with Mikage about their problems.
* VillainousBreakdown: Averted somewhat in that instead of going AxCrazy upon [[spoiler:losing his second duel against Utena]], Touga simply sits down in a chair. And stays there. For ''thirteen episodes''. RealLifeWritesThePlot. His voice actor temporarily left to work on other series. Plus, it made his re-entry into the third arc all the more dramatic.
%%* VillainousIncest: Take a good guess who.
* VillainsOutShopping: Happens with the student council members at several points, and to the point of eeriness with Akio near the end of the series.

** The duels take place at the top of a very tall, phallic platform. Anthy is naked for much of the TransformationSequence to get there.
** Akio's tower is even more phallic in shape, fitting as Akio is a seducer who embodies a certain kind of masculinity and sleeps with anyone.

** For the first part of the series, you can almost convince yourself that the whole show is going to be interesting, but mostly fun and lighthearted. Then during Episode 9, [[spoiler: we have a flashback to Utena more or less trying to kill herself when she was eight, the Upside-Down Castle nearly coming down and taking Anthy with it, and Saionji attempting to kill Utena and Anthy both]]. And then you can't.
** Episode 33, a ClipShow episode, which by its nature lulls the viewer into a false sense of boredom. [[spoiler: And then Akio has sex with Utena, and you've missed it if you blinked.]]
** Episode 34, in which the Shadow Girls interact with the main cast for the first time and casually reveal ''the entire real plot thus far''. And it's ''horrifying''.
* WifeBasherBasher: This is the bait that [[spoiler:Akio Ohtori]] uses to rope [[TheHero Utena Tenjou]] into the dueling game: make sure Utena sees Saionji slapping around his "girlfriend", Anthy.
* WickedWitch: Series Metatrope - [[spoiler: Anthy is implied to be either a WickedWitch or a DamselInDistress.]]
* WideEyedIdealist: Utena. And Dios before [[spoiler: [[DespairEventHorizon he became Akio]].]]
* WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter: The bamboo training sword Utena uses to win her first rose duel.

* WorldOfJerkass: Akio is a [[spoiler:DepravedBisexual, a sexist, and a rapist]], Touga is a DepravedBisexual who goes after anyone, Saionji is a {{Domestic Abuse}}r to Anthy, Nanami is the AlphaBitch, Keiko is the BetaBitch, Shiori is a BitchInSheepsClothing who does anything to spite Juri, Mrs. Ohtori is [[spoiler:an EvilMatriarch who sleeps with her daughter's fiancé]], and Ruka is willing to [[spoiler:abandon Shiori and later assault Juri.]]
* WorldOfSymbolism: RuleOfSymbolism is really the only unbreakable rule in this story. The series relies on Jungian archetypes to explain immortal power struggles, with surreal landscapes and a bewildering sword fighting tournament set in an ostensibly modern, ordinary world. It also uses fairy tale archetypes and motifs to examine and deconstruct gender roles, especially ones that are prevalent in shoujo series.
* WorldOfTechnicolorHair: All of the characters that are majorly involved at some point have outrageously colorful hair, highlighting their specialness and importance to the plot. In contrast, most of the background characters, and named characters who are supposed to be more "normal" (like Wakaba, Keiko, Tokiko, and Tatsuya) have brown-black hair. Hair colors include:
** Utena, Souji: Pink

** Chigusa (from the Sega Saturn game): Teal
* WrongGenreSavvy: Ruka sees himself as PrinceCharming in a series that has an ambiguous relationship with the concept.
* {{Yandere}}: Kozue for Miki, though like everything else in the show its not as simple as it seems. Nanami for Touga too, or at least when she was this more when she was younger since she [[spoiler:killed his cat out of jealousy]].

On the day of her parents' funeral, a seven-year-old girl named Utena Tenjou is overwhelmed by despair until she has a miraculous encounter with a travelling prince on a white horse. The prince encourages her not to lose her strength and nobility as she grows up, and gives her a rose signet ring that he claims will lead her back to him someday.

However, Utena is so enthralled by the encounter that she decides to become a prince herself, instead of becoming a princess in waiting.

Seven years later, Utena (who now presents with a mixture of male and female gender cues) has followed the trail of her prince to the prestigious Ohtori Academy boarding school. One day, Utena attempts to defend her best friend from the abusive vice-president of the student council, and is unwittingly drawn into a secret sword-fighting competition held between its members, who all bear signet rings identical to her own. The champion of the Rose Crest Duels is awarded access to the mysterious inverted castle hanging above Ohtori Academy, "the power to revolutionize the world", and the hand in marriage of the [[ExtremeDoormat demure and obedient]] "Rose Bride" (''Bara no Hanayome''): a student named Anthy Himemiya.

The relationship between Utena and Anthy slowly blossoms as a number of challengers emerge to fight Utena for their own personal reasons and self-actualisation. Utena grows closer to Anthy and her older brother (the charming and mature Akio Ohtori), is forced to confront the incongruities between her childhood ideals and developing sexuality, and discovers the secrets of her own half-remembered past and those surrounding the hidden benefactor of the Rose Crest Duels: a mysterious figure known as "[[BigBad End of the World]]" (''Sekai no Hate'').

''Revolutionary Girl Utena'' (少女革命ウテナ, ''Shōjo Kakumei Utena'') is a surreal {{shoujo}} work that describes, averts, inverts, and subverts a wide variety of anime tropes, most notably StockFootage (Utena's OnceAnEpisode TransformationSequence) and ClipShow episodes (two of the three such episodes contain major essential plot twists). The series has a striking visual design crafted by the circle Be-Papas (and headed by director Creator/KunihikoIkuhara) and influenced by the Creator/TakarazukaRevue, Noh theater plays, fairy tale imagery, and classic shoujo manga. It also features a lush soundtrack that mixes classical orchestral themes composed by Shinkichi Mitsumune with outré choral harmonies and surrealist rock music composed by J.A. Seazer. The show draws on a number of symbolic, philosophical and literary allusions while beautifully and aesthetically portraying its DysfunctionJunction of attractive and troubled characters. This approach helped the series win the "Best TV Animation" award at Kobe Animation '97.

Underneath all the visual flair and cultural references, however, ''Utena'' tells a coming-of-age story that explores many curious notions: Can a pink-haired girl surrounded by frills and flowers break free of the expectation of becoming a princess to instead take on the role of a prince? Can someone hold onto childish ideals to defeat an opponent who embodies adulthood? What does it even mean to become an adult, or love another as an adult, and what is lost by those who desperately chase an illusion of maturity?

In contrast to the show's subtle approach, the 1999 film ''Anime/AdolescenceOfUtena'' makes explicit the romantic nature of Utena and Anthy's relationship. The film also changes most of the show's characters in drastic ways, both in terms of appearance and characterization. The storyline receives just as many drastic alterations; fans consider it more of a recreation of the series than an adaptation. ''Utena: The Movie'' became infamous for a GainaxEnding -- which comes after a Gainax Beginning and a Gainax Middle. One could see the film as [[RuleOfSymbolism an allegory on Mahayana Buddhism, a musing on Jungian philosophy, or even a look at gnostic belief]]. (Or it could just be [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory about bisexuals]].)

Creator/CentralParkMedia originally released both the series and TheMovie in North America. When CPM snagged the show's license, it dubbed the show's first thirteen episodes, but failed to secure a license for the remaining episodes until years later. This mistake created a huge gap between the release of episodes. They did eventually dub the rest of the show and later released the series and TheMovie on DVD. In 2011, Creator/NozomiEntertainment rescued the license and re-released the series across three DVD sets, using the show's remastered Region 2 DVD as the video base and retaining the CPM dub. (It included TheMovie in the third set.) The series also aired on Viz Media's Creator/NeonAlley streaming service. Creator/MangaEntertainment, who shares a distribution deal with Nozomi, made the whole series available in its entirety on both Creator/{{Hulu}} and Website/YouTube; it also placed TheMovie on [=YouTube=]. Nozomi re-released the series and movie, this time on Blu-ray, in 2018.

Creator/VizMedia published the entire manga series and the manga based on TheMovie. While those releases have fallen out of print, Viz re-released the manga in a hardcover collection format in 2017.

Flowers magazine published an [[DistantFinale epilogue]] by the name of ''After The Revolution'' by Chiho Saitou from July 28, 2017, to March 28, 2018. Creator/VizMedia started publishing the epilogue in 2020.

* A five-volume manga. Though chronologically the first version (serialization began in mid-to-late 1996), the manga and the anime were simultaneous projects, and the manga was based on the anime's plans rather than the other way around.
* A 39-episode anime series, which was produced by Creator/JCStaff, and aired on Creator/TVTokyo from April 2, 1997 to December 24, 1997. This is considered the "core" canon.
* A single-volume manga based on the below-mentioned film. Although it follows TheMovie relatively closely, it diverges with its own ending.
* ''After the Revolution'', a 20th-anniversary 2017-18 one-volume epilogue-sequel manga that uses imagery from the anime and no clear-cut continuity.

* ''Anime/AdolescenceOfUtena'', an original animated feature film, released in 1999. The movie is considered an alternate continuity to the original series, though it is in many ways seen as a spiritual continuation/alternate ending due to its heavy use of symbolism that requires knowledge of the original show to parse.

* A pair of {{light novel}}s published in 1998; one focuses on Miki, the other on Saionji. These are [[NoExportForYou one of the most obscure parts]] of the ''Utena'' canon and are yet another alternate continuity (though they bear the closest resemblance to the original manga, and are mostly LighterAndSofter).

* ''Four Days in Ohtori: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru Monogatari'', a UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn visual novel. This game features two new characters--the NewTransferStudent player character, and a villain named Chigusa Sanjouin--and is set during the anime's first arc. [[NoExportForYou It was never released outside of Japan]]. Almost twenty years later, [[http://forums.ohtori.nu/viewtopic.php?id=4005 a fan translation was released.]]

* [[https://youtu.be/C2HQwzD-LS4 Comedie Musicale Utena la fillette révolutionnaire]] (December 17 - 29, 1997) at Hakuhinkan Theatre.
* ''Revolutionary Girl Utena Hell Rebirth Apocalypse: Advent of the Nirvanic Beauty'' (May 26 – June 1, 1999) at Zamza Asagaya Theater. Produced by Gesshoku Kagekidan, a small angura theatre troupe with strong ties and history to Terayama Shuji, a favorite playwright of Ikuhara Kunihiko. Apparently featured Anthy with a machine gun, zombie mummies and the Egyptian God Osiris.
* ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Choros Imaginary Living Body'' (September 30 – October 1, 2000) at Amasaki Piccolo Theater Center Hall. An even more obscure musical whose very plot remains a mystery.
* ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Bud of the White Rose'' (March 8 – 18, 2018) at CBGK Shibugeki!!. This musical covers the Student Council arc.
* ''Revolutionary Girl Utena: Blooming Rose of Deepest Black'' (June 29 – July 7, 2019) at Theatre G-Rosso. Covering the [[https://youtu.be/HHGuubhsXuE Black Rose arc.]]

Oh, and one last thing you will want to remember: WordOfGod [[TrollingCreator says]] ''all'' interpretations of ''Utena'''s symbolism are true.

* ToiletHumor: This trope is surprisingly common and driven by Chu-Chu. It will eat anything (including desiccant packets, apparently) and suffers the [[GasHole digestive consequences]]. Chu-chu also gets {{Snot Bubble}}s on a few occasions, including a huge, exaggerated, ''wet'' one...which of course pops and drenches it in goo.

* ToiletHumor: Chuchu is ocasionally a source for it with its flatulence.

* TriumphantReprise: The very end of the show has a unique medley of the show's sad theme "Aphrodite of Death" that gradually swells into a hopeful version of "The Sunlit Garden" melody. Immediately afterwards, it breaks into "Rose & Release", which is Okui Masami scatting to the tune of the opening theme. After everything that happened, it is incredibly joyous.

* RapeAsDrama: The true nature of [[spoiler:Anthy and Akio's]] relationship goes from squicky FanDisservice to flat-out heinous when, at the end of episode 25, [[spoiler:Akio rapes Anthy when she hesitates to "come to him" as she usually does. It is later '''heavily''' implied that he has used force on her during their nighttime meetings more than once.]]
* Really700YearsOld: While never outright stated, the narrative implies that [[spoiler:both Akio and Anthy are timeless and may have been playing their manipulative games for centuries.]] Mikage, meanwhile, is merely [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looks]].

* RecapEpisode: The recap episodes are remarkably well-structured and carefully designed to maintain the viewer's interest. 2 out of the 3 recaps are actually pivotal to the plot.
* RedOniBlueOni: There are multiple contrasting pairs, all closely examined and played for drama. A lot of tension is because the Red and Blue Oni have different communication styles and end up talking past each other, contributing to self-defeating behaviors.
** Utena and Anthy. Utena's a HotBlooded ActionGirl who wants to be a prince while Anthy is an ExtremeDoormat DamselInDistress.
** Touga and Saionji. Touga is a cool ManipulativeBastard while Saionji is HotBlooded with a HairTriggerTemper.
** Miki and Kozue. Miki's reserved and introverted while Kozue's much more outgoing and expressive.
* RedStringOfFate: Used (quite ironically) in Juri's flashbacks about her history with Shiori. The red string appears as part of a tin-can telephone linking Shiori to a boy that Shiori assumes Juri likes and intends to steal away from Juri. But there is nothing "fated" about this boy. We never even learn his name.
%%* RefugeInAudacity: You know how a lot of shojo anime romanticizes behaviors and traits that would be unacceptable in real life? Well, here those actions and character traits actually have consequences, because Utena subverts the ''hell'' out of this.
* RefusalOfTheCall: After winning her first duel and discovering that she is now engaged to Anthy, Utena plans to lose her second duel on purpose to end her involvement in the dueling game and get back to her normal life. But when the moment comes for her to throw the duel, she doesn't go through with it.

* RewatchBonus: Watching the series a second time is a different experience with the knowledge that [[spoiler: Touga, Anthy, and Akio are manipulating everyone including Utena, and Anthy is a witch with vaguely defined powers]], turning gags and minor acts into expert string pulling. For example, in episode 5 the first time you see Anthy cheer Utena on during the duel with Miki it looks normal, the second time [[spoiler: it's clearly Anthy deliberately tripping Miki up so he'll lose the duel. And the act that inspired Miki to issue the challenge in the first place, namely Anthy playing the song Miki used to play with his sister on the piano, goes from coincidence to a calculated act]].
* RuleOfSymbolism: Omnipresent in the show (a passing gag about a ''multi-layered bento box'' even symbolizes the series' deeper themes!), but especially in the flashbacks and the Tale of the Rose.
%%* SadisticChoice: Really, can you blame how [[spoiler: Anthy]] turned out when her choice is between [[spoiler: angry mobs with fire and ''freaking magic swords'']]?

* SamaritanSyndrome: The unintended consequences of well-intentioned act of self-sacrifice are this story's original sin. [[spoiler:Anthy shielded Dios from his crushing obligations as the "Prince," and her reward was the frustrated wrath of all the people who demanded his help and could no longer receive it, symbolized as a "million swords of hatred." Those swords are always piercing her, and Dios, having since become Akio, is content to let her suffer in his place forever.]]
* SatelliteCharacter: The Black Rose arc deconstructs this archetype. Every Black Rose Duelist's "trigger" reflects their resentment over how their lives are merely in service to a more "special" person.

%%* SayMyName: Utena and Anthy in their last duel with Touga.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Glare on Anthy's glasses conceals her eyes [[spoiler:when she's being complicit with her brother's manipulative plans]]. As the story progresses, instances of this trope become more and more frequent as Anthy finds it harder and harder to keep her placid mask in place.
* SchoolPlay: The Shadow Girls' rendition of the Tale of the Rose has the trappings of a student production done on the cheap, like the title card drawn on a chalkboard. Akio specifically draws attention to its amateurish qualities and the inaccuracy of its story. [[spoiler:And he would know, since it's ''his story''.]]
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: At the end of the final episode, [[spoiler:Anthy decides that the whole "Rose Bride" thing is meaningless, and leaves the school to search for Utena.]]
%%* SexAsRiteOfPassage: The concept more than the usual trope, and half the point of the show is to tear it down.
%%* SexIsEvil: Or at least is portrayed in a very negative light for the most part.

%%* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: Maybe not to everyone, but definitely Akio.]]

* ShipTease: [[ShipTease/RevolutionaryGirlUtena Has its own page]].
%%* ShirtlessScene: The later arcs are chock-full of this kind of scene. Two words: Akio Car.
%%* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: The Myth of the Rose Bride was wrong on several different levels. Can you ''guess'' how many lives Akio must've ruined [[FaceHeelTurn since then?]]]]
* ShoutOut:
** ''Utena'' features commentary on and references to existing works, including (but not limited to) ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles'', UsefulNotes/CarlJung, UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud, the House of Borgia, ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', Creator/WilliamShakespeare, Creator/{{Cicero}}, and [[http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses9.html#7 Ovid's Metamorphoses]]. It even has multi-episode obscure visual references to [[Art/LeDejeunerSurLHerbe Manet]] and numerous nods to the existentialist German war novel ''[[Creator/HermannHesse Demian]]''.

** A previous work by Creator/ChihoSaito, ''Manga/{{Kanon|ChihoSaito}}'', may have served as the inspiration for several of the themes and tropes in this story.
** The series as a whole takes many thematic and aesthetic influences from the Creator/TakarazukaRevue, from the military-esque outfits the Duelists wear to nearly every duel being accompanied by a musical number.
* ShowerOfAngst: Juri indulges in this.
%% * ShutUpHannibal: Utena several times per arc.
%% * SiblingYinYang: Miki and Kozue.
* SignificantNameShift: When Utena wins her first duel with Saionji, Anthy stops referring to Saionji as -sama and starts using -senpai to indicate she no longer has any obligation to be subservient to him.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: ''No'' character is innocent. Even Utena herself is far from ideal. [[MindScrew And yet...do they have to be?]]
%%* SingleStrokeBattle: Some Duels.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: {{Inverted|Trope}} with the Black Rose duelists, discounting Mikage himself; all but one are female, with the Elementary school boy Mitsuru being the only male to be lured into the duels (Tatsuya, another boy, was lured in, but rejected).

* SpoilerOpening: [[spoiler:The first ending shows Utena with the Prince, in a pink version of Anthy's Rose Bride dress. Utena wears the dress when Akio draws a sword from her in episode 38.]]
%%* SnotBubble: An exaggerated version by Chu-Chu.
%%* SpikesOfVillainy: Game antagonist Chigusa's shoulders in her dueling uniform, and the pommel of her sword.
%%* StartOfDarkness: How does one completely corrupt the [[AllLovingHero strongest]] and [[WideEyedIdealist purest]] [[KnightInShiningArmor Prince]] in the world? Hint: [[spoiler: Just ask Dios... turned Akio.]]

** Akio has a planetarium and telescope in his house. Akio likes to look up at the stars on his ceiling and make philosophical observations, and he often dispenses advice to Utena during solemn sessions of stargazing. These scenes develop the Akio-Utena romance, as Utena grows to trust Akio during these sessions. The fact that the stars are a planetarium show and not real is symbolic, representing the fact that [[spoiler: almost everything in the world of Ohtori Academy is an illusion created and manipulated by Akio.]]
** Anthy gets her own solo scene where she poignantly closes the roof of the planetarium on the night sky and insists to Akio she prefers the fake stars. It perfectly encapsulates Anthy's dilemma and complicated feelings.

%%* StepfordSmiler: [[spoiler: Anthy.]]
* StockFootage: The series has many famously overlong sequences used over and over-- Utena climbing to the arena (and several of her signature moves), Akio's highway scenes, etc. The shows plays around with this, using them both to save money but also emphasize how one's lives and stories can repeat themselves. The story about the little girl who lost her parents and met a prince that opens several episodes is repeated enough that most viewers will have memorized it... [[spoiler:except it is eventually revealed to be only partially truthful]].
* StockShoujoBullyingTactics: Anthy is frequently cornered by Nanami's GirlPosse after school and slapped for things that aren't her fault, usually over her association with popular male students like Saionji. Nanami herself takes part in this during her introductory episode, where she persuades Anthy to wear a special dress to a ball, which dissolves when she engineers someone to "accidentally" spray champagne over it. Good thing Utena saves Anthy's dignity with a dress made from a tablecloth.

* SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: To the point that the first company to license the show marketed the first batch of episodes as a bog-standard MagicalGirl series... they wisely changed their approach from the second arc on.
%%* SwissArmyTears
%%* SympathyForTheDevil: [[spoiler: Anthy displays this towards Akio. It's not entirely clear how much say she has in the matter.]]

* TheGhost: The Student Council recieves letters from the End of the World instructing them on how to conduct the duel game, but the sender of the letters is anonymous and remains unseen [[spoiler:until the second arc, which reveals that Akio is the End of the World.]]

* SamaritanSyndrome: The unintended consequences of well-intentioned act of self-sacrifice are this story's original sin. [[spoiler:Anthy shielded Dios from his crushing obligations as the "Prince," and her reward was the frustrated wrath of all the people who demanded his help and could no longer recieve it, symbolized as a "million swords of hatred." Those swords are always piercing her, and Dios, having since become Akio, is content to let her suffer in his place forever.]]

* LadyAndKnight: One of the series' most fundamental subversions of gender roles is the fact that both lady and knight are women. Utena is an outspoken ActionGirl who wants to emulate a KnightInShiningArmor she met as a child. Anthy is an ExtremeDoormat DamselInDistress who stays this way for most of the series. [[spoiler:{{Exploited|trope}} by Akio, who ''counted'' on Utena and her chivalrous spirit, showing her Anthy's FateWorseThanDeath so Utena would be dragged into the dueling game. Utena is understandably devastated when she finds out, and also realizes that she had played the prince role ''wrong'', protecting Anthy to [[SecretlySelfish bolster her own ego]] without having any real consideration for her lady's feelings. It's only ''then'' that Utena starts to genuinely play the role of knight toward Anthy--by vowing to help save her "lady" from her curse, which ends with Utena vanishing from the world, but giving Anthy the courage to call Akio out, [[ButNowIMustGo walk away from him and Ohtori]], [[WillNotBeAVictim take control of her own life]], and [[IWillFindYou go search for Utena herself]].]]
* LadykillerInLove: [[spoiler:Touga]], but it depends on whether you think he's really in love with [[spoiler:Utena]] or not.
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Wakaba's speech during [[spoiler:her duel]] about how Utena, Anthy and the student council are all so important actually seems to be her jabbing not at them being important to Utena, but rather that they are the main characters.
* LethalChef: Anthy, who cooks up not poison but ''explosives'' with magical side effects. Unless she's making shaved ice, which is safe. Subverted with Akio, [[spoiler: whose magnificent cooking skills only belie his BigBad status.]] In the comic, it's Chu-Chu's fault.
* LetsGetDangerous: The Black Rose arc is pretty much comprised of the supporting cast bucking up and trying to kill the Rose Bride. Many a jaw dropped when this included [[spoiler:Tsuwabuki]] and even ''[[spoiler:Wakaba]]''.
* LightIsGood: Prince Dios is a sparkly, beautiful prince often portrayed with HolyBacklight, dresses in immaculate white regalia and lives in a [[ShiningCity shining]] [[BigFancyCastle palace]]. His CoolSword is likewise shiny and brightly colored, and he has a glistening rose FlowerMotif. To a lesser extent, Ohtori Academy is itself is a massive, brightly-lit landscape where marble columns and European architecture feature heavily. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope NOT]]. All the above is a thin veneer covering a [[LightIsNotGood very ugly, sordid reality]]. And most of the "light" elements are [[MasterOfIllusion just illusions anyway]].]]
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Miki and Juri's friendship has some hints of this; {{Fanon}} and fanfiction have been known to take this in [[CrackShip non-platonic directions]].

** Miki [[spoiler:pursues Anthy as a way to reclaim his childhood with Kozue. Kozue fools around with lots of boys, sleeps with Touga and quite likely Akio as well, but actually loves Miki. Miki may-or-may-not be attracted to Kozue in return.]]

* LoveTriangle: Juri-Shiori-Ruka and Utena-Anthy-Akio are the main ones, and several other less-prominent ones besides. The Juri-Shiori-Ruka one is a unusually messy for not featuring any of the main characters, and while these three come closer to understanding one another over the course of the story, [[spoiler:the triangle isn't really resolved even in the end. Of all the love triangles, Utena-Anthy-Akio comes the closest to being resolved by the end of the series. Utena and Anthy are definitely aligned with each other and against Akio, but whether or not they find each other in the outside world and live happily ever after together is up to personal interpretation.]]

For instance, meeting the Prince had a tremendous impact on Utena and she thinks herself as promised to him in some ill-defined way, but she doesn't actually remember him very clearly. All of these relationships are examined and have well-developed backstories to keep them from being repetitive, and no two of them evolve the same way. The Utena/Anthy relationship is especially unique.

-->Shadow Play Girl: "When that happens, the power of miracles will make me a real Prince!"
-->Shadow Play Girl: "[[ThisIsReality That's right out of some anime or something]]."

* MementoMacguffin: Utena's rose signet ring and Juri's locket represent memories that are important them.

* MentalWorld: The arena takes on aspects of this during the Black Rose arc; it becomes filled with school desks and atop each one are identical copies of some item important to Utena's opponent.
* MindControlEyes: When the Black Rose duelists are effected by Mikage's manipulation, EmptyEyes are used to achieve this effect.
* MindScrew: The series uses such surreal and over-the-top imagery that it's sometimes hard to tell what's really going on. While it's generally agreed that it takes place in a WorldOfSymbolism and that not everything happening on-screen should be taken at face value, the symbolism itself can be rather bizarre at times. The first arc starts pretty normal, ramps up the surreal imagery in the Black Rose arc, and becomes a metaphor/symbolism storm in the final arc.

* MundaneMadeAwesome
** Surreal shows are full of dramatic flourishes and objects suddenly appearing in thin air. Touga, Saionji, and Akio are particularly found of this kind of {{Fanservice}}, and Utena loves dramatic poses to show her powerful, princely nature.

** Virtually every [[BreatherEpisode Nanami episode]] will have this to some extent.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Nanami gets one [[spoiler: when she dropped the box with the kitten she gave to Touga in the river. She tries to justify it to herself by claiming that it was stealing her brother's affections from her, but she does not seem to be able to convince herself at all.]]
* MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours: Played with. Fighting ability varies depending on the user's motivation, but having superior sword skills definitely still helps.
* MysteriousWaif: Definitely Anthy, nobody else will ever be as complex.
* NeverGrewUp: [[spoiler:Ohtori Academy is apparently a twisted version of [[Literature/PeterPan Neverland]]. Akio, Mikage, and (possibly) Anthy chose to stay, and the metaphor for "growing up" is "graduating".]]
* NoblewomansLaugh: Nanami.
* TheNondescript: Played for drama with Wakaba, who is notable because she's pretty much the only "normal" person in the main cast. Over time, this causes her to feel very unhappy with herself, and she becomes desperate to break out of that role and become someone [[TheBeautifulElite "special"]].
* NonHumanSidekick: Chu-Chu.

* NoodleIncident: What, indeed, were Tsuwabuki's strategies for winning Nanami's heart? Especially Plan 24...
* NoodlePeople: Every single character has ridiculously long legs.
* NotBloodSiblings: Nanami is crushed after finding out she and her brother Touga are both adopted and not blood related after all. [[spoiler: This is then subverted when it turns out that Touga was just playing with her head -- while they ''are'' adopted, they were adopted from the same family and thus actually ''are'' blood siblings. For the record: This is the DoubleSubversion of the inversion of a trope -- a prime example of how {{Mind Screw}}y this show is.]]) Even further subverted in that [[spoiler:Nanami never finds out the truth (or if she does, it's never shown onscreen)]].
* NotJustATournament: The winner of the Rose Duelists' tournaments will hand over the godlike power of Dios to Akio, then be promptly disposed of.

* OddlyVisibleEyebrows
%%* {{Ojou}}: Nanami.
* OminousLatinChanting: Voices chanting "aaah-aaah-aaah-aaah" in the "Nectar Knife" song is beyond creepy.
* OminousPipeOrgan: [[http://youtu.be/rCJZ4ufr_Pc "Idea of Memory"]] and [[http://youtu.be/7Vw6_ARIC0I "Legend: The God's Name Is Abraxas".]]

* OnTheNextEpisodeOfCatchphrase: "The absolute destiny, apocalypse."
* OntologicalMystery: In a loose sense.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: When she lost her parents, Utena received a rose-crested ring from the prince and decided to become a PrinceCharming herself.

** [[spoiler:Mikage]] in the series.
** [[spoiler:Though she isn't dead, Anthy herself may possibly be some form of projected phantom. Her sudden disappearances and reappearances in the final episode, along with the reveal of her actual body being sealed behind the Rose Gate would seem to make this almost explicit.]]
** [[spoiler:Chigusa]] in the game.
* OutOfClothesExperience: [[spoiler:Anthy is in the nude as she takes the swords of hatred.]]

** The first ending credits sequence gives Utena a pink version of Anthy's dress, [[spoiler:which she actually wears in episode 38. The third arc gives a blue dress to Kozue and a purple dress to Shiori.]]
** [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy wield a black version of the Sword of Dios/Utena's soul sword during the endgame.]]
* ParentalAbandonment: Utena herself, the Kiryuu siblings and the Kaoru siblings. The parents that are not dead or absent are simply not mentioned.

* PerfectlyArrangedMarriage: Deconstructed, like many other tropes in this series. Utena ends up in an AccidentalMarriage (or rather, engagement) with Anthy after unintentionally winning the duel, and is quite surprised by the sudden revelation, as is Anthy when she realizes her "groom" is actually a woman. Still, they quickly bond and become friends, and slowly start to fall in love making it appear the trope will be played straight after all. Than the second arc happens and it all goes to hell.
* PersonalityBloodTypes: Discussed by Nanami and her GirlPosse, and later by Nanami and Utena. [[spoiler:This becomes a plot point because this discussion is what leads to TheReveal that Touga is not related to the rest of the family, because Touga and Nanami's parents blood type is B, and Touga's blood type is A, which would be impossible if he was their biological son. The fact that Nanami's blood type is also B allows Touga to mess with Nanami's head by making her believe that the two of them aren't related by blood when they are in fact, biological siblings.]]
* PersonOfHolding: Anthy initially, but [[spoiler: Utena and the other duelists also become this.]]
* PimpedOutDress: A few, like Anthy's dress for the duels, and the dress Utena wears in the introduction.

** Utena is heavily associated with pink, having pink hair, occasionally wearing pink dresses and associated with pink roses. It's one of the very few concessions to [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak femininity in an otherwise tomboyish character]], thus seemingly subverting the stereotype. However, it's played straight and deconstructed as Utena wears pink dresses when she acts/becomes more feminine. The deconstruction comes in that she's wearing pink and acting feminine because people like Touga and Akio manipulated her into doing so, taking advantage of her naive and trusting nature to subtly force her into a "princess" role.
** Played straight in the GrandFinale when [[spoiler:Anthy [[SignificantWardrobeShift trades her red dress and school uniform for a pink travel suit]]]]. It's a triumphant moment as she rejects [[LadyInRed the uniform and role that others have forced on her]] for her own outfit.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Most of everyone's problems could be solved if they would just sit down and talk. Shiori and Juri get this the most but it applies to everyone.
* ThePornomancer: Akio, and to a lesser extent Touga.
* PostModernism: You think a story like ''Utena'' could have been written any earlier? On the other hand, its visual flair also lends it ''just'' enough earnest romanticism to challenge its own post-modern bent.
* PrematureAggravation: In [[Recap/RevolutionaryGirlUtenaE05TheSunlitGardenFinale "The Sunlit Garden Finale"]], Miki and Utena duel because Miki reasoned that, because Anthy is engaged to Utena, Utena could order Anthy to give up the piano, and Miki wants her to be able to play the piano as much as she wants. However there's no evidence whatsoever that Utena ever planned to do such a thing.
* PrincessClassic: Anthy as the Rose Bride is a tragic look at this trope. She has no control over her future and it's passed to the current winner of the duels. Not to mention, when she confesses a desire of learn to cook like Wakaba, Touga laughs at the idea of the Rose Bride cooking and that her only priority is taking care of the roses. Like a princess who is just there to be pretty.
* PrincessProtagonist: Played with extensively, fitting the FairyTaleMotifs. There's a fairy tale repeated throughout the story, which allegorically tells the life story of Utena, about an orphaned princess who meets a handsome prince and decides to become a prince instead. A major plotline is Utena, the pink-themed protagonist living in a world of castles and seeming [[PrinceCharming Princes Charming]], trying to decide whether to become a princess or a prince. The series is also famous for postulating that all girls are princesses but there aren't enough princes for everyone. Alternatively, interpretation is that both princes and princesses are childish and false ideals, and that the way to grow up is to move past them.
* PrinceCharming:
** The Prince is the term given to the ''Utena'' KnightInShiningArmor equivalent. He ''always'' has to save the day; he has to be perfect. Utena specifically becomes one (and yes, she's a ''prince'', '''NOT''' a princess) as the show progresses, though this trope gets ''heavily'' deconstructed, both through her and...
** [[spoiler: Akio ([[UsedToBeASweetKid yes, Akio]])'s viewpoint, who ''used'' to be this through and through, as Prince Dios, but when he couldn't hack it anymore, [[FallenHero he became]] the BigBad, who ''still'' used the image of a PrinceCharming to manipulate those around him. (i.e, seducing women ''and'' men for his own purposes, posing as Dios to comfort little!Utena [[ParentalAbandonment when at her lowest point]])]]. [[spoiler: Utena tried to invoke the trope and protect Anthy, and it turned out she wasn't doing it for Anthy's sake, but more to feel good about herself, and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone she REALLY regrets]] having done such a thing in the end.]]

* QueerFlowers: Roses are used to depict the love and relationships between the largely LGBT cast. Anthy is a sapphic woman who is called the Rose Bride and is betrothed to Utena, another girl, and their relationship is described as "looking like a lily."
* QuestionableConsent: This is played deliberately several times, mostly for the purpose of FanDisservice.
** The paramount example is the relationship between [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy]], since the audience is initially led to believe at first that it's consensual and both parties seem happy with the relationship; it's only after one scene, in particular, where [[spoiler:Akio rapes Anthy when she hesitates to come to him]] that it becomes clear that it's really not, and in fact is almost literally [[note]]to the point that people have actually run it through a checklist used by professionals and hit pretty much every point[[/note]] a case study for DomesticAbuse.
** Due to the vast age differences between the parties, most of [[spoiler:Akio's]] relationships would be considered statutory rape in real life even ''with'' consent. There are some scenes where [[spoiler:Akio has sex with Touga (18)]]. Later, in the infamous episode 33, where [[spoiler:Akio has sex with Utena (14)]], leading to an extremely uncomfortable and awkward scene where [[spoiler:they're never fully shown having sex (we only see Utena from the shoulders up, babbling and later moaning), but the results are rather obvious by the time it's all done.]] The fact that there is also a massive authority gap, namely that [[spoiler:Akio is senior faculty at Ohtori Academy while virtually everyone else in the cast is a student]], would also make consent highly dubious even if everyone was the same age.

* ConspicuouslyLightPatch: Utena's locker in the Black Rose arc stand out from the other lockers, since it is not part of the background.

* CoolCar: Akio's car, which appears several times starting in the third act and becomes a major motif.

* EarnYourHappyEnding: The ultimate goal of all the Duelists is to literally gain the power to "bring the world revolution". [[IDidWhatIHadToDo How and why]] is an entirely different matter, but the Student Council model sums it well enough.

* ElaborateUniversityHigh: It is sometimes difficult to tell where Ohtori Academy ends and the town it inhabits begins.
* ElevatorSchool: Ohtori covers elementary through high school.
* EliteFour: The first arc has four Duelists: Saionji, Juri, Miki, and Touga. These student council members seem to control the school and have access to the special power of the rose seal, and are the primary antagonists. After Saionji leaves, Nanami replaces him as part of the group. Later on in the series this relationship falls apart as characters turn against each other and become less antagonistic.
* EmotionlessGirl: Anthy, although the trope is twisted and subverted in every possible way the way. After all, this is ''Revolutionary Girl Utena''.
* EpicFail: Nanami's attempts to frame Anthy as a weirdo during a study session fail miserably because Anthy's natural state is far stranger than what Nanami was planning to make her look like, and everyone else present already knew that.
* EpiphanicPrison: Ohtori Academy serves this for most of the characters, especially [[spoiler:Anthy]] in one popular interpretation.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer:
** Utena's got a ''legion'' of fangirls at Ohtori, and Wakaba goes so far as to call Utena her "boyfriend".
** Juri seems to have this effect on female fans.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: [[spoiler:Akio]]'s Super Seduction Skills lets him seduce most of the major cast... [[FauxSymbolism unless it really is just a ride in his car]].
** Just a ride in his car? Oh, come on. [[TheCasanova It's]] [[ManipulativeBastard Akio]].
* EveryoneIsBi: Most everyone is canonically or [[AmbiguouslyBi hinted at]] being bisexual, although lip service is paid to heterosexuality as being the norm ("I'm a totally normal girl who wants a totally normal guy!"). Hilariously lampshaded when Touga, who is sleeping with Akio, tells Nanami, his sister, that only boy/girl romance is normal. [[spoiler: And proceeds to make out with her episodes later.]]
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Nanami's various plots to humiliate Anthy in "The Sunlit Garden - Prelude" all have completely literal names, such as "Operation: Oh! Anthy Himemiya is a weirdo who keeps a snail in her pencil box!"
* ExtremeDoormat: Anthy. [[spoiler:Subverted when we find out that her [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless personality]] is just a cover for her collusion with her brother, [[DoubleSubversion double subverted]] when she actually ''is'' an ExtremeDoormat to ''him'', though she passive-aggressively rebels every step of the way. In any case, she's ''far'' from emotionless to the point where [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation some fans consider her worse than Akio.]] She theoretically ''can'' rebel against her destiny as a fallen princess / WickedWitch, but has to choose between eternal torture and returning to the outside world which brought about her torture into the first place.]]
* EvilLaugh: Saionji does this a few times. His English voice actor makes it [[DissonantSerenity rather crazy]].

* FaceHeelTurn: The Black Rose arc combines this trope with ADayInTheLimelight for several tertiary characters (and one secondary character). Most were previously introduced as friends or friendly acquaintances to Utena, but after a spotlight episode revealing their motivations, they turn to opposing her for their own ends. Once Utena defeats them, they forget ever having challenged her.

* FairytaleMotifs: The series opens with a fairytale styled account of the protagonist's motivations, casting her as a lonely princess saved by a kind prince in a moment of need, which inspired her to become a prince herself. The concepts of the "Prince" and the "Princess" are key to the story and are ultimately subverted down to the core. [[spoiler:Utena's childhood fairytale ends with a rhetorical question regarding her desire to become a Prince - "was that really such a good idea?" End the end, the answer is "no." Not because she couldn't succeed or that her desire to help people was wrong, but because the "Prince" and the "Princess" are ideals that hurt and entrap people, and clinging to them keeps her from achiving her goals.]]
* FallenAngel: [[spoiler:Akio]], depending on how literally you chose to interpret his backstory. [[spoiler:Metaphorically speaking, he's definitely one. His name even roughly translates as "Lucifer"]].
* FallenHero: Series Metatropes - [[KnightInShiningArmor What makes a prince?]] [[StartOfDarkness And what causes said princes to fall?]] [[spoiler:Just ask Dios...turned Akio!]]

* FanDisservice: As a show that walks a line between {{fetish}} and {{fetish retardant}}, [[FanDisservice/RevolutionaryGirlUtena it has its own page for this]].

* {{Filler}}: Mostly averted, as much as you'll see the term "filler" tossed around in the fanbase and on this page. A lot of Nanami-related episodes may not seem that important to the plot, but they actually help with establishing characters like Nanami and Tsuwabuki that otherwise wouldn't receive very much characterization due to their passive roles in most of the main plot, and this characterization is necessary for their episodes that ''are'' more plot-related. The clip show episodes avert this even harder, usually having a FramingDevice that contains ''very'' important plot details.
** The Black Rose Arc also plays with and subverts filler. A description of it seems like filler. The arc introduces a FillerVillain who corrupts minor side characters to fight Utena. The entire arc end with a [[spoiler: AllJustADream RetGone ending]] and is never mentioned again. However, the arc also introduces a lot of character development, ramps up the surrealism, brings in the important Akio and develops Anthy via multiple WhamShot.
* FlowerMotifs: [[TheTragicRose Roses]], [[SomethingAboutARose everywhere!]] Of every color! In your architecture! In your teacups! In your jam!

** From the final episode of the anime: [[spoiler: Juri Arisugawa tells the other duelists a story about a boy who tried to save her sister from drowning in a river. The boy didn't succeed and drowned himself, while someone else saved her sister. The tragedy was that the sister soon forgot the boy. Juri was upset by this, until she admitted to the duelist that she also forgot about the boy and his name. Not long afterwards, Utena fails to save Anthy, and all the students and her friends forget she ever existed. Akio and Anthy remember her however, and Anthy uses her memory of Utena to finally free herself from Akio's control.]]

* FreakyFridayFlip: In an early episode, Utena and Anthy switch bodies after a prank in home economics class goes arwy and causes an explosion. Utena walks a few miles in Anthy's shoes, dealing with her bullies and trying to negotiate Saionji's awkward courtship, but in the end, it turns out that the prank was not the cause of the switch in the first place. This is just the sort of thing that happens when Anthy cooks. Don't eat Anthy's curry.
* FreezeFrameBonus: While the show does like MindScrew imagery that may make viewers want to pause to contemplate what it's there for, [[note]]Why ''are'' we looking at an apple with a dozen forks stabbed in it, sitting on a saucer? Or how about a pyramid of red sportscars, stacked like a champagne glass tower at a fancy party?[[/note]] it mostly averts this trope by being very deliberate about what it what it chooses to focus on. But there are some EasterEggs and blink-and-you'll-miss-it bits:

* FriendlyEnemies: Miki and Utena are fast friends, and Utena is caught off guard each time Miki challenges her to a duel. After they duel, they quickly return to their friendly rapport. [[spoiler:As the series moves towards its close, the other Student Councilors follow suit.]]

** There is often some strange event going on during the student council scenes, like Touga using Miki as a knife throwing target for no reason except for RuleOfSymbolism.

* GambitPileup: Played with. Though all of the characters have their own agendas and minibosses Touga and Mikage would like to imagine themselves as {{Manipulative Bastard}}s, only Akio's machinations truly drive the force of the whole story.
* GambitRoulette: Avoided. The Myth of the Prince and Rose Bride is shown to have existed in a time where swords were the main weapons, implying that Akio has been trying for centuries to achieve his goals and is not just relying on some one-shot, throwaway gamble.
* GeodesicCast: Each Duelist has their own Black Duelist counterpart. [[spoiler:Even Akio, though Kanae isn't shown drawing his soul sword.]] Hmmm....
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: There are changes to the animation and sound editing for the remastered editions. The most noticeable are the addition of [[spoiler: bodies resembling the Black Rose duelists]] to the coffins in the Nemuro Memorial crematorium, which were originally empty in the older versions, and the removal of the decaying rose in the background of the flashback when [[spoiler: a younger Utena follows Dios and is shown Anthy's fate as the Rose Bride.]]

* GenkiGirl: Utena's best friend Wakaba is high-energy and enthusiatic. She has a MotorMouth, an overactive imagination, and almost knocks Utena out of a window more than once as part of a recurring gag sequence. And she is ''fast'' - [[spoiler:fast enough to make people who anger her regret it. BewareTheNiceOnes.]]
* GenreBusting: It's a complex, metaphorical coming of age story seen through the lens of Buddhism, Gnosticism, and Jungian philosophy. It also tackles issues such as gender roles, the incest taboo, and binary principle. It's a complex look at the dark side of tropes and imagery associated with European fairy tales, such as the prince, the princess, and the wicked witch. It's also a surrealist dramedy observing the complicated interpersonal relationships between the students. It's also about lesbians.
** As mentioned above, director (Creator/KunihikoIkuhara) is buddies with the [[Creator/HideakiAnno director]] of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' and shares a lot of his interests. If you know that, it's no surprise that the show turned out the way it did.
%%* GenreDeconstruction: Of {{Shoujo}} romance. Many stock "desirable" male characters (like the big brother, the mature older man, the pure heroic prince) are harshly exposed for how unhealthy a relationship they would make with a young girl (the shoujo demographic itself) in real life.
%%* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* GiantPoofySleeves: The female student uniforms of Ohtori Academy are SailorFuku with noticeably large, puffy sleeves. The girls' [[SchoolSportUniform gym uniforms]] also have similarly huge sleeves.
* GirlPosse: Nanami's three-girl clique mainly just follow her around and look haughty. Their names are Keiko, Aiko and Yuuko, but they are more-or-less interchangable [[spoiler:until Keiko gets ADayInTheLimelight, revealing that none of them particularly like Nanami, but hang around her in hopes of endearing themselves to her brother, Touga.]]
%%* AGodIAmNot: Anthy.
%%* GrandFinale: Should go down in history...
* GRatedSex: A number of different forms of it in the series, but the Akio Car sequence seems to be pretty much universally understood as a sexual metaphor--the fact that it ends with him stripping is kind of a tell.
* GratuitousEnglish: From time to time. The first ending theme as well:

** And the opening theme:

* GreyAndGreyMorality: Even the bad guys have their reasons, vague as they may seem. The fact that [[spoiler: everybody lives]] for the most part also tends to dull the seemingly malevolent natures of Touga, Nanami and Saionji later on in the show. The [[spoiler: only actual villains]] are Mikage and [[spoiler: Akio]], and even then they're just a darker shade of grey (albeit a ''very'' dark shade in the latter case). However, no character in the series truly is entirely pure, despite how they may seem.

* GrowingUpSucks: At the heart of all the [[MindScrew symbolism]] is the notion that growing up is inevitable and trying to avoid it has negative consequences. It takes a big effort for the student council to move beyond their problems/complexes, but by the end, it's clear that they either did move on or cope with their problems in some effective way. [[spoiler:One could make the argument that Utena refusing her romantic feelings for Akio and the final duel, and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence fading away]] is a metaphor of the previously equally immature Utena finally realizing she could not be a prince but still fighting to save Anthy anyway, allowing her to grow up, and therefore transcending the childishness of Ohtori Academy.]]
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Miki and Kozue are necessarily fraternal twins since Miki is a boy and Kozue is a girl, but they look nearly identical.
* HannibalLecture: Utena herself gets this from way too many people. Her usual response: ShutUpHannibal.
* HardLight: [[spoiler:Akio's planetarium projector can project it, if episode 38's duel is anything to go by.]]

* HeelFaceTurn:
** [[spoiler: Touga in the manga.]]
** It's implied that [[spoiler: neither Miki nor Juri have much interest in the End of the World]] since, after their personal problems are resolved, they stop being antagonistic to Utena (and in [[spoiler:Miki]]'s case, they're overtly friendly). Even [[spoiler:Saionji]] is not really evil, just an easily manipulable jerk. Only Akio and [[TheDragon Touga]] [[spoiler: in the anime]] remain villainous until the end, [[spoiler: though Touga has his reasons...]]
* HereWeGoAgain. SubvertedTrope. After [[spoiler:Utena's disappearance after taking the Million Swords for Anthy]] turns out to be a nine days wonder that quickly fades from the school's memory, the End of the World announces that he's planning to revise the Code of the Rose Bride to account for lessons learned, cultivate a new Prince, and start again. [[spoiler:Then Anthy shatters his plans by resigning as Rose Bride and leaving Ohtori to look for Utena.]]
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Akio was ''terrified'' of the idea of having to pay a high personal cost to regain his power (e.g. being impaled by the Swords of Hatred); hence why his plans and actions all revolve around forcing others to bear the cost in his place. In contrast, Utena's genuine desire to free Anthy above all other considerations - and treating the price as ''a worthwhile cost to pay'' - is ultimately the key to helping the latter break free of her abusive relationship with Akio, and leave Ohtori.]]
* HumanResources: [[spoiler:The Black Rose Circle's plot is apparently powered by the corpses of the 100 boys who died in a fire at Nemuro Memorial Hall.]]

* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: A twisted example of this trope is discussed when Nanami and Touga are [[spoiler:in Akio's car]]. [[spoiler:Akio]] implies that Nanami finds incestuous relationships disgusting because she has never tried that herself[[note]]At this point, Nanami is already aware of the nature of Akio and Anthy's relationship.[[/note]]. Then, [[spoiler:Touga makes sexual advances on Nanami, and her refusal and disgust at the idea avert this trope entirely]].
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Deconstructed. Aside from a small handful of exceptions [[note]][[MysteriousWaif Anthy]], [[BigBad Akio]], [[PhysicalGod Dios]], [[TeamPet Chu Chu]] and the [[GreekChorus Shadow Girls]][[/note]], everyone from the [[FacelessMasses students]] to the [[TheBeautifulElite Student Council]] is dealing with some sort of inferiority complex and wishes that they were more "special", which inevitably means tying their self-worth to a goal or another person rather than valuing themselves as they are. [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter This includes people who are "special" already]]. [[{{Sidekick}} Wakaba's]] [[GreenEyedMonster envy]] and [[SmugSnake Saionji's]] [[TheRival bitter (and one-sided) rivalry]] with [[TheAce Touga]] are just the most visible examples.
* IKissYourFoot ... [[SubvertedTrope So I Can Sinisterly Manipulate You Into Submitting To My Every Whim!]]
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: What the medieval townspeople do to [[spoiler: Anthy]] in flashback.
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Everybody, but especially the Rose Bride outfit. Utena's is famous for its visuals. Averted somewhat with Utena herself, as she has a perfectly reasonable outfit underneath the jacket -- a tank top and bicycle shorts. It's just the jacket that makes cosplay very hard.
* ImplausibleFencingPowers: Utena tends to do this during the duels, particularly with the Soul of Dios powering her up. Her biggest accomplishment is probably managing to slice multiple incoming cars in half.
* InTheBack: [[spoiler: Anthy stabs Utena in the back at the end of episode 38.]]
* InTheNameOfTheMoon: Played straight several times with Utena as part of her KnightInShiningArmor persona.
* IntertwinedFingers: Utena and Anthy do this quite a bit. Used at the end of the series for dramatic effect. [[spoiler: It's the final frame of the anime.]]
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Touga is implied to be a variation on this trope: it seems he likes girls for meaningless sex, and guys for emotional affairs -- Utena and [[spoiler:Nanami]] being an exception to that rule -- although Akio is the only guy he's really implied to sleep with. One could also make a case that this trope summarizes Saijonji's feelings for Touga, but just the same, it's possible to argue that it's purely platonic.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: This is Akio we're talking about!
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Akio has many of those moments.
** The moment where he's first implied to be [[spoiler: sleeping with Anthy]] is a defining one. As is the part where [[spoiler: Anthy is revealed to be a witch, with Akio as her 'jailor'.]]
** In his ''debut episode'', if you really pay attention to TheStinger, [[spoiler: the fact that he set his incredibly self-conscious girlfriend up to be MindRaped for the purpose of testing Utena.]]
* KickTheDog: Nanami's MoralEventHorizon is revealed in a flashback, when she [[spoiler: murders her brother's pet kitten]].
* KnifeOutline: Touga on Miki. During a ''student council meeting''.
* KnifeThrowingAct: One of the Student Council meetings had Touga and Miki doing this with Touga as the knife-thrower.
* KnightInShiningArmor: Played with in our leading lady knight.
* KnightInSourArmor: [[spoiler: Utena. By the last arc, Utena loses faith in her own goodness because she realizes that she only became a prince in order to find something to live for after her parents died. She loves Anthy, but is not sure whether she wants to continue fighting for a less than pure girl who sleeps with her brother. In the end, though, Utena realizes that no matter what Anthy does, she'll always get the short end of the stick as long as she stays in Ohtori. She can manipulate as many students as she wants, but at the end of the day, she'll still be the Rose Bride openly stepped on by every Duelist she comes across, and the only one in the world who is perpetually impaled by a swarm of animated swords.]]

* AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil: Almost every episode, the Council members ride in a fancy elevator to meet in a rose-decorated tower to discuss the upcoming worldwide revolution. Then they [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours swordfight]] for a chance to control said revolution. That's about as absurdly powerful as you can get. Beautifully subverted when it turns out that [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy created the Duels for the sole purpose of benefiting Akio, and not even Utena really had a fighting chance to become the final Champion as long as Anthy remained the Rose Bride.]]

* AccidentalMarriage: Utena and Anthy, though it's technically just an "engagement".

* AdaptationDyeJob:

** Anthy also originally had dark brown/black hair in the manga, but it was changed to violet in the anime and later colored illustrations, while her eye color changes from brown to green. Other hair color changes included Juri going from being blonde to having orange hair (while her eyes changed from brown to blue), and Touga's hair changing from black with red bangs to red with one paler forelock. Miki's hair also was originally brown in the first color illustration of him, but quickly changed to blue to fit with the anime (as did his eyes).

* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Deconstructed with Mitsuru Tsuwabuki. His confused relationship with the concept of adulthood leads him to [[spoiler:become a Black Rose duelist]].
* AdvertisingByAssociation: The newest release announces on the box that it's from one of the creators of ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Creator/KunihikoIkuhara.

* AgeAppropriateAngst: Played with. Though most of the cast are teenagers, reasons for angsting and levels of angst will vary depending on the personality and maturity levels of different characters. Then it's played straight with Akio and Anthy, [[spoiler: who've lived for what's implied to be centuries and have universal problems proportional to their humongous ages.]]

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: It seems this way from the students to Anthy at first, but as the story goes on it becomes clear that her real issues are much bigger than their petty bullying.

* AlmostHoldingHands: In the opening, Anthy and Utena's hands reach to grab each other but slip away, a few seconds after an AlmostKiss. This symbolizes the unresolved romantic tension that lingers between the two for most of the series, and also foreshadows a future point where [[spoiler: Utena holds Anthy's hand to keep from falling from the planetarium]].
* AlphaBitch: Deconstructed; Nanami positioning her social life on being the leader of a GirlPosse means that she doesn't actually trust any of her friends on an emotional level. She also is unable to affect anything she actually cares about because her older brother has even more social power than her.

* AnachronismStew: It's a fairytale story using roles like princes and witches, while taking place in a setting practically made of symbolism that roughly corresponds with a modern one, that has characters who are implied to be aliens and there's even a hint of the undead. One particular example stands out in a certain flashback to the legend of the rose prince; it's played up as medieval, with swords, monsters and pitchforks, but at the same time, there's an inexplicable fax machine prominently placed in the scene.

* [[AnimalsHateHim Animals Hate Her]]: Nanami is antagonized by various animals, including elephants on surfboards and a kangaroo wearing boxing gloves.

** Utena and Akio's [[spoiler:sex scene]] in episode 33. It is speculated that this is because Utena's movements in this scene were very carefully designed to convey her emotions on the matter.
* AntiVillain: Nearly every character that can be considered a villain at any point in the story is this except for [[spoiler: Akio]].
* AmbiguouslyBrown: Anthy and Akio have darker complexions than the rest of the cast, with hints of South Asian influence in their appearance. [[spoiler:This also applies to Dios.]] [[WordOfGod Chiho Saito noted]] that she took design cues from Lalah Sune of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' for Anthy.

* ArtisticAge: Type 1. It's easy to forget that Utena and Wakaba are 14 years old, and Nanami is only 13 years old, looking about the same age as their 16-18 year old upperclassmen. [[spoiler: Makes for added Squick during Akio's seduction of Utena]]
* ArtisticLicenseEngineering: That long, slanted support pillar really shouldn't be capable of holding the dueling arena up. [[spoiler:It only works because the dueling arena, the slanted support pillar, and the long, spiraling staircase are all illusions generated by the hologram projector in Akio's planetarium, where the duels are actually fought.]]
* AscendedExtra: Nanami, a major secondary character in the anime, only appears in a photo in the manga, where Juri more or less takes her place.
* AscendedFridgeHorror: A good rule of thumb with this series is that if something, especially a relationship, seems a little fucked up at first glance odds are it's not only exactly as bad as you think it is, but ''worse''.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Possibly [[spoiler:Utena, in the end of the series and manga]].
* AuthorAvatar: Chu-Chu. This ''is'' Ikuni.
* AutobotsRockOut: With OminousLatinChanting to boot. Try not to enjoy the Black Rose Arc songs.
* BackForTheDead: When [[spoiler:Ruka]] appears, the story establishes that he attended Ohtori Academy in the past and has returned after a long illness. [[spoiler:Once his plan runs its course, he leaves the school again and immediately dies due to his mystery illness.]]
* {{Backstory}}: [[CharacterDevelopment Everyone has one.]]
* BadassBoast: The songs during the duels sometimes contain these, like "My children, astronomical planets - five solid bodies are my descendants". Sometimes they're the namesake of the song, like "I Am All the Mysteries in Creation" or "I Am An Imaginary Living Body".

* {{Bifauxnen}}: In the movie, Utena looks very boyish dressed in a full ''[[SailorFuku gakuran]]'' uniform (as opposed to her ''gakuran''-jacket-with-bike-shorts look from the TV series) with her long hair concealed.
* BigBad: The End of the World, the individual or group that lays out of rules of the dueling game and directs the duellists via letters, is a mystery to most of the characters for most of the story. [[spoiler:There are early clues for the audience that the identity of End of the World is Akio as soon as he is introduced, well before the Student Council members (excluding Touga) get let in on it. The last person to clue in is Utena herself.]]
* BigBrotherAttraction: Deconstructed, most thoroughly with Nanami, who seems like a textbook case of this trope, obsessing over her brother and hating people who get his attention... until she actually confronts her feelings and it becomes clear that she doesn't actually know in what way she likes him, if at all.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Averted. Dios [[spoiler:ignored Anthy when he was too busy [[ChronicHeroSyndrome saving the rest of the world]]. Then [[FaceHeelTurn he became Akio]] and decided that he wouldn't mind having his sister stabbed by swords for all eternity.]]

* BigNo: Kanae at the moment of her defeat .
* BigOlEyebrows: Chu-chu has them. And he's supposed to be ''cute''.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: The official English translation by Neil Nadelman is [[https://twitter.com/fspls/status/1001007719048925184 rather infamously bad]]. There's countless translation errors, ranging from minor and relatively inconsequential mistakes to butchering character beats and plot developments. It's been noted that the official translation makes the plot much more difficult to follow than it actually is, because it creates plot holes that fans had to come up with interpretations to explain away (given the abstract nature of the show) and generally overcomplicates exposition. The songs in particular are subject to awful translations. The duel songs for episodes 14 and 20 directly reference Hamlet's Japanese translation, but you wouldn't know that from the official translation (though admittedly most fan translations also miss this). Listing every problem in the official subtitles (and the dub, which uses the same bad translation) would fill an obnoxiously long stretch of this page, so have some highlights instead:

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: More or less literally -- the asparagus sandwich may never be the same.
* BreakTheCutie: Weaklings in ''Utena'' either stay weak and get into severe trouble, or they try to seize power in incredibly unscrupulous ways.
* BreakTheHaughty: Everyone's haughty to some degree, but no matter how it seems from the outside, Akio does ''not'' live a happy life.

** In the first episode, Utena asks Saionji why there's an upside-down floating castle in the middle of the forest. He says, "It's a kind of mirage. Think of it as a trick of the light." ''Thirty-seven'' episodes later, [[spoiler: Akio turns off the planetarium projector.]]
* BrightCastle: The castle in the forest above the dueling arena is the classic fairy tale castle, with lots of spires and pointy turrets, all in red and white. Termed "the castle where eternity lies", it is the home of Dios, a spirit embodying the KnightInShiningArmor ideal. Like most fairy tale tropes at the end, the castle has a much darker secret behind it: [[spoiler: much of it is an illusion cast by Akio, and the castle is associated with the imprisonment and perpetual torture of the Rose Bride.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: Played with in Miki and Mikage. Neither are completely lazy, but they do not reach their full potential in the series.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Wakaba and Saionji take on this role in her Black Rose episode. It goes horribly wrong, of course.

* BrokenAce: While not immediately obvious, Utena, the Student Council, Mikage, and [[spoiler: even Akio(!)]] all have amazing skills, legions of admirers, and ''[[DysfunctionJunction a dumpster fire's worth of psychological hangups apiece]]''. Though certainly buttressed by magic and privilege, each duelist has reached acclaim through a massively unhealthy obsession with something from their past that (they think) will fix everything; actual fame and and social prestige are tertiary. The unasked question: [[WasItReallyWorthIt is "specialness" worth that level of emotional turmoil, especially if you didn't care anyway]]?
* BrokenBird: An overt example is Juri. She's the reason Ruka comes back [[spoiler:for the dead]]. A more [[ManipulativeBastard unconventional]] example is Anthy. Also, Kozue and Shiori.
* BullSeeingRed: Anthy presented Utena with a freshly knitted red sweater shortly after Nanami turns into a cow, resulting in a bullfighting scene.
* ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth: They're all over the place, especially in TheMovie.
* ButtMonkey: Nanami and Saionji are likely to become the butt of jokes, especially in the light-hearted Nanami episodes.
* CagedBirdMetaphor: Anthy's rose garden is inside a birdcage-shaped greenhouse, emblemizing her mysterious imprisonment as the "Rose Bride". [[spoiler: The fact that she can technically leave this "cage"--but chooses to stay--also hints that [[MoreThanMindControl she's imprisoned by more than physical or magical means]].]]

* CassandraTruth: No matter how many times Utena is told [[spoiler: not to trust Akio and Anthy]], she doesn't listen.
* CastFullOfRichPeople: Implied. The Student Council Duelists are implied to be made up of rich kids. Touga and Nanami are explicitly wealthy and live on an off campus estate, Miki and his twin sister live in an apartment by themselves and are shown to have a large house as well, Juri is a model, and Anthy and Akio have a SleekHighRiseApartment and are close with the namesakes of the school, with Akio also owning a sports car with a car phone (which was very fancy for the time the anime was made). The only exceptions are Utena, an orphan, and Saionji, who seems to have a bad relationship with his family and [[spoiler:has to ask Wakaba, a fellow student, to let him stay with her while he is expelled]]. The trope is downplayed in that the wealth of the characters rarely comes into play.
* TheChainOfHarm: A recurring theme is how abuse victims often turn around and abuse others.
** [[spoiler: Akio]] abuses [[spoiler: Anthy]] who passively aggressively attacks Nanami, Utena and others.
** [[spoiler: Touga is (according to Word of God) abused by his parents (this is made explicitly canon in the movie).]] He manipulates Nanami and Saijoni who take their anger and jealousy out on Anthy.
* ChainedToABed: [[spoiler: Kozue's]] husband does this to her every night in ''After the Revolution'' because he thinks she's in love with someone else. [[spoiler: She is.]]

** Remember where Mikage gets his [[spoiler:Black Rose Seals...]]?
* CharacterDevelopment: Everyone gets some over the course of the series.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: You don't want to know what it did to Dios and Anthy...
* Literature/{{Cinderella}}: Subverted, of course. At first, Keiko seems to follow this tale straight to the point of parody, Nanami being a sorta "evil stepmother". [[spoiler:But then her attitude to her "prince" appears to be much more "rose-bridish" than "cinderella-esque". And as she gets close to Touga at last, she switches roles with Nanami, starting to humiliate her. To crown the subversion, she ends up beaten and "princeless".]]

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: At the beginning of the series, Anthy seems prone to whimsical behavior, like spending a whole episode knitting a red sweater, or suddenly revealing that she is a skilled pianist. Later revelations about Anthy recontextualize her actions dramatically. [[spoiler:Many of the odd things she does are calculated to push the duelists into the arena, although she seems to torment Nanami out of spite. Not that Nanami didn't earn it.]]
** Nanami's overactive imagination and conspiratorial mindset converge to form epic and alarming flights of fancy, like convincing herself she has laid an egg and exhaustively going over the social consequences of having done so.
* ClothingDamage:
** During Utena's second duel with Touga, her uniform gets torn from the strikes. An analysis of the scene reveals that Utena is getting rid of the sense of false normalcy and clear discomfort the female uniform she was wearing gave her, in an attempt to get back her princely self.
** During the ball in episode 3, Nanami arranges for Anthy to wear a dress made from a fabric that disintegrates when wet, and then arranges for her to get splashed. Utena ends up making a new dress for her [[CurtainClothing out of a tablecloth]], which looks surprisingly good for an outfit made from found materials in under a minute.

* ConspicuouslyLightPatch: Utena's locker in the Black Rose arc.

* CompeteForTheMaidensHand: The duels for the Rose Bride. The way that Anthy drops all association with her betrothed if he/she loses a match the moment she knows that the loss occurred can be rather disturbing.

* CrystalDragonJesus: The series really toys with this trope. There's the deity Dios, a literal prince on a white horse, who occasionally comes down from the heavens to give Utena his strength. The antagonist is [[spoiler:Akio ("Morning Star", as in, Satan)]], who clearly defines himself as Dios' evil counterpart. It turns out [[spoiler: they were once the same person, who was worshiped as a god in a medieval society, but unable to listen to everyone's prayers and fulfill his duties as a deity. His sister Anthy took the blame and was symbolically crucified as a Jesus-figure, still to this day feeling the pain of her punishment, but absolving the people of their sins]].

* DamselInDistress: Deconstructed. Many stories feature damsels in distress who go through Hell and back, but remain sweet and nice and without many psychological marks because many writers won't know how to portray them otherwise. ''Utena'' points out that in real life, people of both genders stuck in these roles will ''stop'' being "pure" and "sweet" and start acting more passive-aggressive and manipulative if they're forced into situations where they can't seize direct power. This is ''very'' obvious in the cases of Shiori Takatsuki (looks sweet, gentle and demure, but is very malicious and has horrible self-esteem since her "best friend" Juri is a beautiful and strong LadyOfWar), Kozue Kaoru (repeatedly gets herself in trouble and flirts/sleeps with other guys to catch the attention of her twin older brother and "prince", Miki), and ''especially'' [[spoiler:Anthy Himemiya (once performed a huge sacrifice, paid the price by both suffering immense physical pain and becoming a passive figure as the Rose Bride, ultimately became a mix of BrokenBird and [[TheDragon puppet]] to her {{manipulative|bastard}} brother Akio a.k.a. Dios aka End of the World) and Utena Tenjou (she's ''not'' one since the beginning, but her insecurities and naiveté more than once play quite part into shoving her close to the "role")]]. This is not to say that BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil, or that it's stupid to remain nice after a tragedy. It's just pointing out a general trend: if weakness is imposed on people, it will bring consequences.

* DarkMistress: Kanae. Poor, poor Kanae.
* DeadAllAlong: The boundary between life and death is flexible in Ohtori, it seems:
** [[spoiler:Mamiya and Mikage]] in the series,
** [[spoiler:Touga and Akio]] in TheMovie and movie-manga.
** [[spoiler:Chigusa]] in the game.

* DeadManWalking [[spoiler: Ruka. When he shows up during the 3rd arc he only has ''days'' left to live.]]
* DeconstructorFleet: The point of the series, much like ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', is to tear apart character tropes that are usually portrayed as either adventurous and romantic, as endearing quirks, or just PlayedForLaughs (or FanService) in most anime, but are actually ''really, really messed up'' by the standards of any ordinary human being. See GenreBusting below.
* DepravedBisexual: [[spoiler:Akio]] is the manipulative kind who will seduce anyone as long as it will help his cause.

* DisposableFiancee: Kanae is either a hilarious invocation or an inhumanly cruel straight example of the trope, depending on how you watch the show.
* DisproportionateRetribution: Keiko offers her umbrella to Touga. Nanami's response? Remove her from all her clubs, positions of power at the school, and every other group she is involved with and basically ruin her life. Nanami loves her big brother...

** Most of the Black Rose episodes end with the Black Rose duelist happier off and with some CharacterDevelopment for their trouble; [[spoiler:Wakaba's]], on the other hand, [[spoiler:ends with her coming to see Saionji has left as she mutters an "I'm home" to herself.]] In short, it's implied that not only is she still discontent with her status as an ordinary person, she also ''missed'' her {{Aesop}} - which is that being attracted to a person of [[TroubledAbuser Saionji's character]] is ''really'' not a good thing.

%%* TheDragon: The Student Council, and later Mikage.
%%* DramaticIrony:
%%** The entire Black Rose Arc. [[LoveHurts Especially for Wakaba]].
%%** [[spoiler: Akio's plan to open the Rose Gate hinges on Anthy taking the Swords of Hate in his place so he can gain world revolution.]] Let's just say he's doing it wrong.

%%* DudeShesLikeInAComa:
%%** Kozue to Miki, when he's fallen asleep at the piano.
%%** Miki does this to Utena in the manga, when she's taking a nap on his couch.
%%* DuelsDecideEverything: But like everything else, it's subverted.
%%* DysfunctionJunction: '''Yes''' like whoa.

** In the second episode, the only person Utena has eyes for is the dream-like prince who saved her from her DespairEventHorizon. Everyone else, female or male, is only peripheral to her. By the last arc, [[spoiler:Utena loves Anthy, but isn't sure if she wants to continue fighting for a girl who is [[BrotherSisterIncest less than what she imagined her to be]]. Juri throughout most of the series loved and defended Shiori no matter how badly Shiori treated her, and the above quote refers to when Utena tells Juri that she doesn't want to become a LoveMartyr like Juri once was.]]
** However, Utena and Anthy's relationship in the anime [[IfitsYouItsOkay can be]] interpreted [[HeterosexualLifePartners in different]] [[PseudoRomanticFriendship ways]].

** However, Utena and Anthy's relationship in the anime [[IfitsYouItsOkay can be]] [[BloodBrothers interpreted]] [[HeterosexualLifePartners in different]] [[PseudoRomanticFriendship ways]].

* [[BloodBrothers Blood Sisters]]: Utena vows to protect and support Anthy no matter what the cost. However, much of the dramatic tension throughout the show comes from [[spoiler:Utena's vows being self-serving: she vows to "support" Anthy while making broad and sweeping assumptions of what "supporting" actually means, because she knows nothing about Anthy's history and circumstances, and makes little meaningful effort to bond with her and find out]].

* ManipulativeBastard: Akio is very charming, but his cynicism is bottomless. Touga admires the unassailability Akio projects and tries to imitate him, Ruka tries to be like him for [[spoiler:moral]] reasons, and Mikage believes himself to be one and succeeds for the entire second arc.

* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Akio, Touga, and Saionji.
* LoopholeAbuse: Ain't no rule a girl can't wear a boy's uniform! Of course, Utena's uniform is still noticeably very different from the boys'. This is given more detail in the manga, where the exact rule Utena is bending states that a student must wear a uniform from the school's designer. It may not match the normal girl's ''or'' boy's uniform, but it's by the same designer, all right.
* LoveDodecahedron: *Deep breath*:
** Utena [[spoiler:idolizes Dios and loves Anthy but gets tempted by Touga and sleeps with Akio, who is engaged to Kanae and sleeping with Kanae's mother.]]
** Anthy [[spoiler: mourns Dios, has love/hate feelings towards Utena, sleeps with Akio, and is pursued by Saionji and Miki.]]
** Saionji[[spoiler:, who may-or-may-not return Wakaba's feelings, also may-or-may-not love Touga.]]
** Touga [[spoiler:may-or-may-not love Saionji back, but seduces hordes of schoolgirls anyways, attracts both Keiko and Nanami and appears to fall in love with Utena. Also, Touga sleeps with Akio.]]
** Wakaba [[spoiler:loves Saionji and maybe Tatsuya, who definitely loves her. She also develops a schoolgirl crush on Akio later, and she may-or-may-not love Utena in more than a platonic way]].
** Tsuwabuki [[spoiler:loves Nanami, but Nanami has feelings for Touga, who has no problem with kissing her.]]
** Mari [[spoiler:is jealous of the attention that Tsuwabuki pays to Nanami and Tsuwabuki may-or-may-not like Mari back. Interestingly, Nanami seems to be jealous of Tsuwabuki's friendship with Mari, in spite of being in love with Touga.]]
** Kozue [[spoiler:fools around with lots of boys, sleeps with Touga (and quite likely Akio as well - at the very least, she goes on a date with him and rides in his car) and kisses Anthy at one point, but actually loves Miki]]; meanwhile, Miki [[spoiler:may-or-may not also be attracted to Kozue, and loves Anthy at least in part because he thinks of her as an idealized version of the person Kozue once was. Miki is also implied to be molested by his piano teacher, at least until Kozue pushes him down a flight of stairs.]]
** Mikage [[spoiler: once loved Tokiko, who was seduced by Akio, and now loves Mamiya, who is Anthy in disguise (kind of).]]
** Meanwhile, Juri, Shiori, and Ruka [[spoiler:have their own love triangle all to themselves, but Juri also has lots of subtext with Utena, and Akio manipulates the emotions of all of the above to keep them in the Duels.]]
*** In summary: Akio sleeps with half the cast.
* LoveRedeems: [[spoiler:Anthy to a huge extent, and Touga to a lesser extent, though whether or not the latter makes a full HeelFaceTurn is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up for debate]].]]
* LoveTriangle: Juri-Shiori-Ruka and Utena-Anthy-Akio are the main ones. Then they're the smaller canon ones, and the smaller non-canon ones, etc... The Juri-Shiori-Ruka one is a particularly messy one for being about a non-titular character. None end well, though that observation is extremely debatable.
* LovingAShadow: Everyone but Akio. Let's see..there's [[spoiler:Miki-to-Kozue, Juri-to-Shiori, Shiori-to-Ruka, Saionji-to-Touga, Nanami-to-Touga, Touga-to-Utena, Utena-to-Dios, Utena-to-Anthy, Saionji-to-Anthy, Miki-to-Anthy, Mikage-to-Anthy, Mikage-to-Utena, and finally Utena-to-Akio and Anthy-to-Akio for a time. Had fun reading that? Fortunately, all of the relationships are examined and have well-developed backstories to keep them from being repetitive. Not to mention that no two of them evolve the same way. Utena/Anthy is especially unique.]]
* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Miki loves Anthy, whom he sees as entirely virginal and passive, because he sees her as basically the foil of his promiscuous sister, Kozue, whom he is sexually attracted to. The theme appears to be that Miki sees Anthy and Kozue as two sides of one woman, and by extension seeing neither as a full person in her own right.
* MagicRealism: Part of the genre, a lot of probably magical stuff happens which no clearly defined border as to where the realism stops and the fantasy begins, even some things that are clearly magical at first are latter explained to be quite mundane but others aren't.
* MagicalGirl: Played for drama. The defining trait of all {{Sentai}} MagicalGirl series is that [[ThePowerOfLove altruism and unconditional love will always save the world]]. However, [[spoiler:the biggest prince in the story became the BigBad in part because he was [[ChronicHeroSyndrome incredibly altruistic]], and all of Utena's strength and purity can't save one DamselInDistress if said Damsel won't break away from centuries of abusive habits to save herself.]] Also, Utena is more of a Magical Warrior than a conventional MagicalGirl.
%%* ManOfWealthAndTaste: [[spoiler: Akio]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Akio. Touga aspires to be like him, Ruka tries to be like him for [[spoiler: moral]] reasons, and Mikage believes himself to be one and succeeds for the entire second arc.
%%* MementoMacguffin: The Rose Signets, Juri's locket.
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Aside from the setting's MagicRealism, there is likely at least something magical or supernatural going on at Ohtori Academy, fitting as it is also an AcademyOfAdventure. However, it's never entirely clear whether something is actually magical or just [[WorldOfSymbolism some kind of bizarre symbolism]].

%%* MindControlEyes: Black Rose duelists.
%%* MindRape: With everyone. Even Akio suffers.
* MindScrew: The series uses such surreal and over-the-top imagery that it's sometimes hard to tell what's really going on. While it's generally agreed that it takes place in a WorldOfSymbolism and that not everything happening on-screen should be taken at face value, the symbolism itself can be rather bizarre at times. The first arc starts pretty normal, starts losing it in the Black Rose arc, and becomes a metaphor/symbolism storm in the final arc.
* ModestyTowel: When Touga sees Dios's power for the first time and decides to get close to Utena to find out more about it, he joins Utena's household as a "shimobe" (personal servant). The first time Utena hears of this is the next day, when he waltzes out of her shower, clad only in a towel.
%%* MonochromaticEyes
* MoodWhiplash: The episode with ''the boxing kangaroo'' is followed by an episode where Juri agonizes over her sexuality. This is followed by a FreakyFriday episode, which is followed by a flashback [[spoiler: where eight-year-old Utena hides in a coffin and begs to die.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: The Black Rose Saga, and [[spoiler: Akio does everything in his power to keep doing this to Anthy.]]
* MrsRobinson: [[spoiler:Akio and his mother-in-law-to-be definitely get it on. Poor Kanae.]]

* {{Fanservice}}: Played straight given how the art sytle enforces idealized body types. The girls are uniformly cute, or if they are too serious for that they are graceful and prone to [[ShowerOfAngst showers of angst]]. The boys are uniformly willowy, or if they are too cool for that they are suave and will [[WalkingShirtlessScene lose their shirts at the drop of a hat]]. Then there's the Akio Car.
* FanDisservice: As a show that walks a tightrope between {{fetish}} and {{fetish retardant}}, [[FanDisservice/RevolutionaryGirlUtena it has its own page for this]].

* TakeOurWordForIt: Steadily less of the action of the fights are actually shown during the third arc.
* TeacherStudentRomance: Between [[spoiler:Akio]] and [[spoiler:just about everyone else]], though there arguably isn't any actual ''romance'' in the relationship, just meaningless sex.
* TechMarchesOn: Akio's omnipresent car includes a car phone. Back in 1996, this luxury helped emphasize how rich and important he is. Now... not so much.
* TenderTomboyishnessFoulFemininity:

** Played with and deconstructed for Utena and Anthy. Taken at face value, Utena and Anthy are stereotypes of "tomboy and girly girl" - rather tomboyish Utena fights in a knight-like way wanting to become a "prince," and the "princess-like" Anthy supports her with her Rose Bride magic. Utena, however, is [[BigGood always affable]] and [[PluckyGirl overall sweet]] around the [[ExtremeDoormat emotionally isolated]] Anthy, which over the course of the series is what helps develop their friendship into something more genuine. [[spoiler:As the series goes on, it becomes very apparent that there's [[JadeColoredGlasses more going on with]] Anthy BeneathTheMask, and at the same time, that Utena has a lot of hypocrisy she's not confronting. By the time they do confront those sides of each other, Utena's [[SecretlySelfish shown herself]], and [[TheDragon the witch]], Anthy, has stabbed her in the back. But Utena still doesn't give up hope in Anthy or herself.]]
* TeenGenius: Miki is a young piano prodigy, and Mikage is reputed for having a brain that works like a computer.
* TemporarilyAVillain: Pretty much all the Black Rose Duelists are normal (or at least morally grey) people around the school who have a really, really bad day, and decide the best way to fix things is to kill the Rose Bride.
* ThemeNaming:
** In French, but the themes overall are more complex than usual.
** Lots of references to flowers and botany are made. "Utena" (萼) means "calyx", which is the part of the flower that ''protects'' the petals. "''Ánthos''" (Anthy) is Greek for "flower".

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Utena, a brash, sporty girl who wears the boy's school uniform, is "engaged to" and develops a deep friendship with Anthy, a demure and shy girl who wears a PimpedOutDress as the Rose Bride.
* ToplessnessFromTheBack: In StockFootage of ascending to the dueling arena, Anthy loses her normal school uniform at the beginning and is implied to be totally naked until the end of the TransformationSequence, though only her bare shoulders from behind are shown.
%%* ToTheBatpole: Goes with the StockFootage.
%%* TournamentArc: The whole series. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools But don't you dare try calling it cliche!]]
%%* TragicHero: [[spoiler:Utena, Anthy, Dios, Ruka, Juri, and Mikage can all be argued.]]

* TransformationSequence: Changes slightly between the first and second arcs; the third arc has a completely new one.
%%* TravelCool: With Akio and his car, it's played way too straight in the series.
* TroubledButCute: Saionji. Kozue is a rare female example.
* TriumphantReprise: The very end of the show, when Baiser slams into "Rose & Release", which is Okui Masami scatting to the tune of the opening theme. After everything that has happened, it is incredibly joyous.
* TwoTeacherSchool: Akio's the only authority figure who really matters.

* MadonnaWhoreComplex:
** Gender Inverted with the male cast, as [[http://ohtori.nu/analysis/05_akio_and_the_fangirls_that_hate_him.htm an analysis essay called "Akio and the Fangirls that Hate Him" shows]]. The young Miki and Tsuwabuki are virginal, naive, and sweet. Meanwhile, the older Akio, Touga, and Ruka provide Fanservice during their {{Shirtless Scene}}s, and they happen to be {{Domestic Abuse}}rs who use their sex appeal to manipulate women.
** Miki loves Anthy, whom he sees as entirely virginal and passive, because he sees her as basically the foil of his promiscuous sister, Kozue, whom he is sexually attracted to. The theme appears to be that Miki sees Anthy and Kozue as two sides of one woman, and by extension seeing neither as a full person in her own right.

%%* Really700YearsOld: [[spoiler:Both Akio and Anthy. Mikage, meanwhile, is merely [[OlderThanTheyLook older than he looks]].]]
* RealWomenDontWearDresses: Utena is an assertive ActionGirl in a modified boy's uniform. In contrast, Anthy spends most of the series being a demure DamselInDistress in a dress whose lack of SilkHidingSteel prevents her from being a YamatoNadeshiko. Later in the series, when the former asks the latter about what femininity is, the latter replies, "In the end, all girls are like the Rose Bride" -- an ExtremeDoormat StepfordSmiler DamselInDistress who [[NeutralFemale stands around looking pretty]] and obeying her master.
%%* RecapEpisode: Surprisingly relevant to the story.
* RedOniBlueOni: There are multiple contrasting pairs
** Utena and Anthy. Utena's a HotBlooded ActionGirl who wants to be a prince while Anthy is an ExtremeDoormat DamselInDistress. It's reflected in their hair colors - Utena has pink hair while Anthy has blue hair.
** Touga and Saionji. Touga is a cool ManipulativeBastard while Saionji is HotBlooded with a HairTriggerTemper
** Miki and Kozue. Miki's reserved and introverted while Kozue's much more outgoing and expressive.
** All of this is examined and played for drama. A lot of tension is because the Red and Blue Onis have different communication styles and end up talking past each other. It contributes to a lot of unnecessarily destructive and self-defeating behaviors.
* RedStringOfFate: Shiori steals the boy she thinks Juri likes. The actual string appears in flashbacks to these events.
%%* RefugeInAudacity: You know how a lot of shojo anime romanticizes behaviors and traits that would be unacceptable in real life? Well, here those actions and character traits actually have consequences, because Utena subverts the ''hell'' out of this.
%%* RefusalOfTheCall: Utena tries to lose her second duel on purpose. [[spoiler:It proves too difficult.]]
* RetGone: Sort of. [[spoiler:When Utena defeats Nemuro, it appears that Nemuro wasn't erased from history, but all signs of the plot he carried on after his death were.]]

* SailorFuku: The standard girls' uniform at Ohtori Academy is a sailor fuku, though theirs is notable for also having GiantPoofySleeves.
%%* SamaritanSyndrome: Inverted in the most horrific fashion. Ever heard of [[ShootTheShaggyDog Shooting The Shaggy Dog?]] [[spoiler: No wonder Dios becomes [[FallenHero Akio]].]]
* SatelliteCharacter: Season 2 deconstructs this archetype. Every Black Rose Duelist's "trigger" reflects their resentment over how their lives are merely in service to a more "special" person.
%%* SaveThePrincess: The basic idea turned on its head.

%%* ScaryShinyGlasses: Anthy, which serves to underline [[spoiler: when she's being complicit with her brother's manipulative plans]]. Also when she's ''pissed'' with him - once he even snaps at her with something almost approaching fear when she does this to him (along with a seemingly innocuous goodnight wish that really clashed with the scene).
* SchoolPlay: The Shadow Girls' rendition of the Tale of the Rose.

%%* {{Sexophone}}: ''Akio Car''. Very yes.

* WordSaladLyrics: The soundtrack has a bit of a problem with this.

** The duel songs for the first two story arcs (except for [[spoiler: Mikage's]] duel) weren't written specifically for the show, and most of the ones that were manage to be even more obtuse than the ones that weren't.
** They do, however, sometimes offer commentary on the plot and its themes. One such song comments on the binary principle and the gender binary.