in this last of meeting places

[meimichi]

Because ofadoration is watching Utena, I am on the verge of a rewatch. But I was in a picspamming mood, and the animation in TV isn't as pretty, whereas the movie is pretty much one long eyecandygasm.

PRETTIEST MOVIE EVER Y/N?!




















This rose is our destiny
The two of us were ripped apart
Our hands separated

Even when I sleep
I hold tight the the dreams I send to you
Let them reach you, all the way to the ends of the world!

At times, love is
So strong it can wound people's hearts, but
Within the courage that grants our dreams
It is always giving off a sparkling light
That becomes a single power

This rose is our destiny
The two of us were guided
To now meet once again

No matter when
Don't ever forget that promise we made
We've finally come this far!

At times, love will
Seek out as if to pierce people's hearts
The ones who are protected by the ones who protect
Are always giving off a sparkling light
That becomes a single power

At times, love is
So strong it can wound people's hearts, but
Within the courage that grants our dreams
It is always giving off a sparkling light

Love is
What moves people's hearts, and that is why
The two of us will stay together
And surely change this world
Then everything will become a single power


















LA LA LA RANDOM THOUGHTS

+ Dios was really the Prince of Flies, but Anthy tried to make him into a real prince. That's what the power of Dios is in this world: the power of illusion, the power of false princes.

+ Touga wanted the power to become Utena's prince. His ghost disappears when she tells him he already was.

+ Touga promised Utena to go to the planetarium together. Later, Utena says, "We were going to see the stars together." Anthy then shows her the real stars.

+ After Touga disappears, Anthy says Utena was her real prince. She offers Utena the power of Dios, but Utena doesn't want it because she doesn't want illusions, but to go to the real world.

+ tbh, the movie makes more sense to me as a sequel to the TV series than as an AU. Like Ohtori is an onion, and this is the next layer Utena fell into, and where Anthy had to go to look for her (because I don't think Utena went to the real world after that). I can definitely imagine TV!Utena and TV!Anthy sort of dreaming up this place in their subconscious together: Utena casts Touga as her prince instead of Dios, and Akio isn't a mastermind but is more of a pathetic laughingstock who never succeeds in manipulating Anthy. Plus Juri's story about the boat. And then they go to the real world together.

+ Especially the dance scene hits this home to me. I once asked Ikuhara at a panel (because I knew if I directly asked if the movie was a sequel he wouldn't say XD;) if the dance scene was intentional in its imagery from the end of the TV series coupled with the lyrics saying, "And now we meet once again." He said it was definitely intentional. I LOVE THAT SO MUCH, the imagery of them holding hands coupled with the lyrics saying, "Our hands separated."

+ Seriously, best sequence EVER. WATCH IT:

+ I remember ages back at the premiere, the taxi door magically opening and closing for Akio got huge laughs. I think this is the first time I've watched this movie (it's been a while) and really realized it wasn't intended as a gag.

+ KOZUEMOBILE + WAKABA AS A JEEP = A++

+ I remember this trailer cap being in Newtype back in the day, but so tiny the print was unreadable. But on the DVD it's big enough to see. I wonder why this scene got cut. Ikuhara said years ago he never planned to include it as a deleted scene. But I wonder if it made it onto the remastered version of the movie...?



Utena: "I am always going to be myself. No matter what, I won't become an adult anything like you."

Akio: "Don't make me laugh... I'm your future. So there's no possible way you two can become happy."

+ IN CONCLUSION I LOVE THIS MOVIE. HATERS TO THE LEFT.