Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Rose Collection 1

—by Kenneth Lee

By now, most anime fans have probably heard of REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA (originally titled SHOUJO KAKUMEI UTENA in Japan); and faithful EX readers will probably remember the excellent Maria M. Rider review of the original Japanese version or Peter Cahill's review of the U.S. domestic VHS release. After lengthy delay, Software Sculptors (Central Park Media) has decided to release the first 7 episodes onto one DVD! The good news is that this is easily the best DVD that CPM has released to date (which isn't saying much); the bad news is that it still doesn't compare to the industry standards set by other DVD companies, like Pioneer. Overall, though, the U.S. DVD release of REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA is still an outstanding disc to own, and the best way to collect this wonderful anime series.
In a nutshell, REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA is a story about a high school girl, Utena, who was once rescued by a prince when she was young. She was so impressed by his courageous act, that she decided to grow up and become a 'prince' as well, to save other princesses! Yet that is only one layer to the complex story that is woven, as the series takes us to Ohtori Academy and the Student Council, hell-bent on "revolutionizing the world," with the key being to possess the "Rose Bride," Anthy Himemiya. And while the series gets very serious at times, it is interspersed with light-hearted moments and slapstick comedy as well. While this may seem to be a jumbled collage of mixed genres on paper, in execution, it is nothing short of wonderful.
For the DVD release, CPM (the parent company of Software Sculptors) decided to go with Crush Digital Video—thank goodness they didn't go with Image—and the result is a solid, competent DVD. The video quality is decent, with it being comparable to Laser Disc CLV quality. The colors are solid and saturated, with little to no bleeding, and the artifacting is very minimal: most of the time you won't even notice it. The problem, though, is that by today's DVD standards, this UTENA DVD falls short. Never mind the reference quality video levels of today's Hollywood DVD's (such as THE MATRIX), but even compared to Pioneer's DVD's, this UTENA DVD is still lacking. It is missing the clarity and sharpness of detail, and that could most likely be attributed to the masters that were used by CPM. It is perhaps, unfair to compare them, as after all, Pioneer USA has access to all digital masters from their parent company, Pioneer Japan, unlike CPM, which has to use whatever master was given to them at the time of their negotiation.
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, and it is wonderfully recreated on the DVD format: The original Japanese language track is solid, with good highs and lows (when needed). The soundtrack is a wonderful combination of great piano melodies, light pop/synth arrangements, and outstanding opening and ending songs, both of which epitomize the 'classic anime theme song.' Of course, it wouldn't be UTENA without some strange music pieces as well, such as the fight songs which harken back to the wretched 1970's rock opera style of music. The original Japanese seiyuu are wonderful as well, with such talented voices as Mitsuishi Kotono (Misato from EVANGELION) and Hisakawa Aya (Skuld in OH MY GODDESS!).
If there is anything that could really be counted as a flaw, it would be CPM's blase attitude about the DVD medium. The U.S. anime DVD has essentially become the symbol for a fair, unified, single product that can satisfy both subtitled and dubbed fans alike. With dual language tracks and subtitles that you can turn on or off, the DVD medium can be used to solve all the bickering among the dub and sub fans, all while delivering the best video and audio quality out there; and U.S. companies only have to worry about a single product now. One look at Pioneer's products (e.g., the TENCHI MUYO ULTIMATE DVD Box Set), and the power of DVD is clear: high production values, sharp colors and video detail, remastered Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, extra illustration art galleries (full of sketches and artwork from the series), full credit listings, and more, and you can begin to understand how lackluster the UTENA DVD is. Sure these are just "extras" and peripheral to the real important aspect—the anime episodes themselves, but even in that case, they fall short with two major flaws: (1) horrible use of translucent subtitles so that in many brighter scenes, the video actually bleeds through and masks the subtitles at times; and (2) the lack of listing the original Japanese voice actors (translated names) in the End Credits. That is absolutely one of the worst flaws of CPM's DVD releases, from RECORD OF LODOSS WAR, to UTENA. For those who watch it in the original Japanese with English Subtitles, when the End Credits roll up, it is nothing short of a slap in the face, when all you see listed for the voice actors are the English dub actors. There is absolutely no reason for CPM to not give credit to the original Japanese voice actors other than pure indifference and disregard for the subtitled anime fans. After all, they already translated the Japanese voice actors' names for the VHS subtitled release, and they even put it in the liner notes of the DVD case—why not in the actual End Credits, where they belong?
REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA DVD Vol.1 from Software Sculptors is a solid product that, despite some flaws, is still the best way to collect the series translated. Considering that this contains seven TV episodes on one DVD, for a great price of $40 retail (which you can order online at most DVD stores for 30% off), it is a bargain compared to buying the vol.1 and 2 on VHS for $60 retail. As an anime series, REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA is truly in a class by itself: bizarre, strange, funny, charming, endearing, full of romance and action and intrigue. Let's just hope that Software Sculptors/CPM gets their act together and releases the rest of this series in a product that is worthy of the anime itself.

Released in N. America by Software Sculptors
170 minutes
English Subtitled/Dubbed: SSDVD-6041 $39.98
Available now in the USA
Where to buy