Written by Hairong Long 2022 Cohort<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many fairy tales talk about the princess and the prince. In Sleeping Beauty, the pretty princess is kissed by a destined prince to rescue her from eternal sleep. In Cinderella, a hard-working girl who suffers from her family is saved by the prince through marriage. In Rapunzel, the princess with beautiful long hair is released from the tower by the prince. In all those stories princess always plays the role of being rescued by the princes. What if the so-called princess wants to become a prince?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Revolutionary Girl Utena (\u5c11\u5973\u9769\u547d\u30a6\u30c6\u30ca) is an animation series directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The story follows Utena Tenjou, a girl whom a prince promised to meet again in the future. Encouraged by the engagement ring, the prince gives her; she looks upon the prince and desires to be a prince herself. Years later, she enrols in Ohtori Academy and is drawn into a duelling tournament with the student council, whose members all wear the same ring as hers. The \u201ctrophy\u201d of the contest is a mysterious girl named Anthy Himemiya, also known as \u201cRose Bride,\u201d whoever claims Anthy will have the \u201cpower to revolutionize the world.\u201d In search of the actual prince and figuring out the secret behind Anthy\u2019s identity, Utena has to win until the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story is staged at Ohtori Academy, surrounded by Rococo-style castles and rose bushes. In the center, a giant tower hides in the clouds; at the top of the tower is an iron door locked by chains. Utena will climb to the top of the tower to start her tournament for Anthy. Following the rules of the tournament, when Utena uses her swords to win, she will become the real prince and cut off chains to open the door; behind the locked place is the \u201cpower to revolution.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The story is \u201ca <\/a>surrealist story that makes heavy use of <\/a>allegory and <\/a>symbolism, with many aspects of its plot, revealed indirectly or in a manner that is open to audience interpretation.\u201d To illustrate, the tower represents the phallus, and the swords symbolize man\u2019s power. The secret behind the door in the tower is supposed to be the prince\u2019s power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, audiences find the whole rules for the tournament are a lie; Utena finally reaches the closed door \u2014 it is Anthy sleeping in the wooden coffin, not any kind of power. She tries to use the swords to open the coffin and save Anthy, but the power she uses is not answering her because Utena thinks the only way to rescue Anthy is to become the prince, but how could a girl be a prince? At last, the sword she uses is broken, meaning becoming a man isn\u2019t the solution for saving a girl, and she uses her own hands, her power to painfully open the coffin where Anthy is asleep. Becoming a prince is not a real solution to winning the tournament, just like a girl can not be a prince, but all girls can have their own power, strong enough to use their own hands to rescue themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Hairong Long 2022 Cohort Many fairy tales talk about the princess and the prince. In Sleeping Beauty, the<\/p>\n