Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution is a collection of three short stories to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Revolutionary Girl Utena. If you haven’t watched the anime or read the manga, I definitely wouldn’t recommend starting here. This acts more like an epilogue. Utena is an almost impossible series to describe: it’s about a boarding school with a secret dueling club, a Rose Bride, and an upside down castle that descends from the sky. It’s deeply metaphorical, often surreal, and (in the case of the anime) sometimes comical. All versions of Utena are fundamentally about the relationship between Anthy and Utena (pictured on the cover). Some versions of that relationship are subtextual, and others are blatantly romantic. If you like fairy tales with lesbian subtext, or dark and strange headscratcher stories, or just want to dive headfirst into a completely engrossing world, I highly recommend Utena–just start with the anime.

It feels a little absurd to review After the Revolution, because you probably already know whether you’re going to read it or not. I’m a big fan of Utena, even if I can’t say I understand it, so I knew I’d be picking this one up. If you’re on the fence, I’d say this is classic Utena: beautiful, confusing, and a little frustrating. It follows some of the characters 20 years later, though whether it’s the characters from the anime, manga, movie, or a unique version is hard to say.

Of course, all Utena versions are dreamlike, but these stories step it up a notch. It feels like the end of the cycle here: the spiral is getting tighter. The centre cannot hold. Anthy and Utena flit in and out of the stories, but most of the page time is devoted to the other characters: Touga and Saionji, Juri and Shirori/Ruka, Miki and Kozue. I’d recommend picking this up without knowing a lot else about it, but if you want the details, here are the basic premises of each story.

The first story is the most surreal of the bunch. Touga and Saionji are rival art dealers, who each get a letter saying, “You who seek revolution… Return to the academy.” It turns out that “The Revolution” is a painting that Akio painted, and after his suicide, the value skyrocketed. Akio appears as a ghost and tells Saionji and Touga that if they find and protect the painting, he will lead them to a version of his will that bequeaths his whole art collection to them.

Juri’s story as well as Miki’s feels familiar, though it’s a different telling. In a way, they’re simplifications and distillations of their stories. In Juri’s story, she is explicitly in love with Shiori (she starts fencing to try to be the “prince” Shiori would like). Each story has a duel between characters (Touga and Saionji, Miki and Kozue, etc). It’s unclear, though, whether this is the end of their stories, or just a continuation of an unending cycle. They are fairly optimistic, as far as Utena goes.

In these stories, Utena has taken on the role of Dios. She appears in other people’s stories to push them along, then disappears. It’s unclear how the stories connect, but it seems as if she’s walking through each character’s dreams, on her way to find Anthy again. It feels as if she keeps reaching back farther and farther, to stop the cycle of abuse before it starts. (I saw someone on tumblr point out that revolution, as in “the power of revolutionize the world” can also be interpreted as literally revolving once–a circle. It blew my mind!)

This is Utena, so there is some disturbing material. Trigger warnings for suicide, death, child abuse, kidnapping, incest between siblings, and physical abuse.

If you’ve read this version of Utena, I’d love to hear what you think! There are so many threads to pull on here, so I’d love to get different perspectives.

While this isn't a good entry point for new fans, it's a solid continuation of the Revolutionary Girl Utena franchise that embodies the themes of the original anime and manga. Chiho Saito's artwork is simply stunning, and meticulously captures the world of Utena in its best light. I'm very happy that this title was brought over into English, and I hope Utena fans seek it out!

I'm a big fan of the original Utena manga. Unfortunately. this sequel didn't live up to my expectations. Something from the original work just felt like it was missing. Sadly I often find that sequels made to long after the original series have a whole different feeling and often aren't enjoyed by the former audience. The art style is still lovely, but I would probably suggest this for someone who hasn't already read the original and doesn't have a pre-existing expectation for the story.

Fantastic. It was a treat to drop back into the world of Utena. I love the continued allegory and the darkness wrapped in Utena’s themes from the original. What is at the end of the world? Very well done.

Utena is my absolute favourite anime of all time. I have the original mangas as well and it was great to see the artwork and characters again. That said, the story is incredibly weak. I was hoping for a glimpse into life for Utena after the end of the anime/manga but we just get an update on some of the other characters who make passing references to Utena. Maybe I'm just not pretentious enough anymore but it was just completely wishy washy and vague and not in the compelling way it used to be. I've still bought it because I'm a completist but it felt like a big disappointment.

Utena has successfully rescued Anthy by defeating Akio in the final duel which results in her disappearing from the world. After that event, student council members at Ohtori Academy find themselves in their own revolutions.

I'm not sure what it was about this manga but I couldn't get into it and just did not enjoy it. I ended up DNFing it half way through.

Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the most iconic mangas of all time and a lot of that is thanks to how it offered up representation for readers. From a brown lead character to a magical girl with the goal of becoming a prince and the overt queer coding of the story, Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic that holds up today on rereads. So, when I heard that VIZ Media would be publishing Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution in English, I was beyond excited.

From the original mangaka, Chiho Saito, Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution was written in celebration of Revolutionary Girl Utena’s 20th anniversary and takes place in real-time, 20 years after the series’ end. Similar to the current publishing Vampire Knight Memories, which provides an anthology of one-shot stories expanding and telling more about the characters, Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution consists of three stories that follow a different former member of Ohtori Academy’s student council.

The first short story is focused on Kyouichi Saionji and Touga Kiryuu (who co-star). They have been called back to the academy by a mysterious message to help Utena rescue the Revolution. The following two stories focus on Juri Arisugawa and Miki Kaoru respectively. Each of the characters is struggling in different ways, and they all find themselves called to a dream where Utena steps in. Having vanished from the world after saving Anthy by defeating Akio in the final duel, her appearance in each dream isn’t immediately recognized. But with her intervention, each former member has their own revolution.

Now, it’s important to note that each of these stories is less about Utena and more about the change she can inspire. The themes of this volume are change, revolution, and that the power can be found in yourself. This is a message that is important to hear right now; in a time where it’s easy to feel helpless Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution offers up catharsis. These stories are a salve for existing fans of the series and while its themes are accessible to newer fans, this volume can be confusing to those just learning about Utena. That said, those who have only watched the anime will be able to jump right in.

COMICS & MANGA
REVIEW: ‘Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution’
11/08/2020 - by Kate Sánchez
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Reading Time: 2 minutes
Revolutionary Girl Utena



Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the most iconic mangas of all time and a lot of that is thanks to how it offered up representation for readers. From a brown lead character to a magical girl with the goal of becoming a prince and the overt queer coding of the story, Revolutionary Girl Utena is a classic that holds up today on rereads. So, when I heard that VIZ Media would be publishing Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution in English, I was beyond excited.

From the original mangaka, Chiho Saito, Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution was written in celebration of Revolutionary Girl Utena’s 20th anniversary and takes place in real-time, 20 years after the series’ end. Similar to the current publishing Vampire Knight Memories, which provides an anthology of one-shot stories expanding and telling more about the characters, Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution consists of three stories that follow a different former member of Ohtori Academy’s student council.

The first short story is focused on Kyouichi Saionji and Touga Kiryuu (who co-star). They have been called back to the academy by a mysterious message to help Utena rescue the Revolution. The following two stories focus on Juri Arisugawa and Miki Kaoru respectively. Each of the characters is struggling in different ways, and they all find themselves called to a dream where Utena steps in. Having vanished from the world after saving Anthy by defeating Akio in the final duel, her appearance in each dream isn’t immediately recognized. But with her intervention, each former member has their own revolution.

Now, it’s important to note that each of these stories is less about Utena and more about the change she can inspire. The themes of this volume are change, revolution, and that the power can be found in yourself. This is a message that is important to hear right now; in a time where it’s easy to feel helpless Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution offers up catharsis. These stories are a salve for existing fans of the series and while its themes are accessible to newer fans, this volume can be confusing to those just learning about Utena. That said, those who have only watched the anime will be able to jump right in.



For the art alone, I would recommend picking up Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution. It’s the wispy shojo of the 90s that feels both nostalgic and fresh. While elements are pulled 20 years into the future, the art itself exists like a delicate time capsule.

Discussing the plots of each story would give away too much. While they are pretty straight forward, there are elements that are necessary to experience without prior knowledge, especially in the last two stories. What I can say, however, is that Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution is a volume that makes a great addition to fans of Utena and what she represents. As a symbol of power and change, this volume is a wonderful celebration of Utena’s legacy.

I found this as weird and unpleasant as the original Utena series. A lot of it is confusing and nothing is explained, which is what you'd expect from an Utena sequel. I think it'll be popular with fans of the original series, but if you haven't read that, then all of this makes no sense at all.

An amazing add-on for any fan of the classic, this will need some attention brought to it in shop a little bit but plenty of die-hard fans would love to pay for them.

“Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution” shows that there are still battles after the duels (Opinions portion of Article)

“After the Revolution” is a must-read for fans who missed the dramatic stories of the series, but should be read after finishing the first pair of books. Those that may pick it up without finishing the main story may not understand some of the situations even though the book provides a brief synopsis. While it was made 20 years after the manga’s first release, artist Chiho Saito definitely shows that she still brings readers into the world she helped create. The original characters are easy to recognize even though they aged and it brings a wave of nostalgia to fans. Each of the chapters tackle a problem the protagonist has within them, questioning their morality and alliances. Though they reach a conclusion, it seems that it’s more open-ended to what happens to the characters. The stories may contain some traumatic content such as death and abuse. Readers discretion is advised.

One question for everyone, how do you follow up the finale of something? You know, like something crazy like Revolutionary Girl Utena. An ending defined by the strongest character plots possible and is infamous? The first answer I have is that you can’t. One could say that even touching anything after a finale can ruin it all by destroying the text behind it. The second answer is changing the story itself in the form of a movie and creating another ending with a different context. The last answer is focusing on the side characters from a story and seeing how their lives have changed after the finale of the anime. Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution tries to do the third option but doesn’t add anything to Utena at all.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution takes place twenty years after the manga or anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. I’m not sure which one this manga takes place in. I haven’t read the manga, so I have no idea how different they are. It’s split into three chapters where each one focuses on a different group of people 20 years after they left Ohtori Academy. I mean, this was supposedly made as a 20 year anniversary project to Utena so it happens. Saonji and Touga are the focus for chapter one, Juri is the focus for chapter two, and Makie and his sister Kozue are the focus for chapter three. Saonji and Touga are auctioneers, Juri is a world class fencer, and Makie is a pianist.


I do think that this manga is a good concept because it doesn’t mess with the finale of the story with the main characters at all. A very good way to do it and think about. The problem is how each story is written. Each one is more like a recap of the Utena from their perspective and memories than anything else. Well, Juri’s arc has a point but still. All of this shows that none of the characters have changed since they left Ohtori Academy despite their career options because of this. I know the school they went to was no normal school and such, but they were all young teens and twenty years have passed. They have had more experience after Ohtori Academy then before it so there is so many ways to take that. This feels too cheap and easy.

Look, I know that no one is asking my opinion about this but you are reading this, right? I have an idea on how it could be done better. All I would do is just have this be a Student Council reunion of some sort. Three chapters would be enough to do that. Have the characters meet, talk about where they have been since they have all seperated, and then that’s it. Instead, they had each character show up at the Academy causing a flash back to Utena storylines and the mystical figure of Utena show up that no one seems to remember for some reason. I mean, they have something for that. It’s called Revolutionary Girl Utena. Once again, I can’t help but wonder why I asked to review this manga. It’s just kind of a thing that exists with no value to it. At least the art looks good.

It is far too difficult to fairly judge the story or the characters because this is my first that I have read in this universe (arguably, this is not where you want to begin, so seriously don't-just too confusing). My comments will be restricted to illustrations and more general story topics. I felt the illustrations were a strong selling point. They are pretty standard and what I expect from a manga. The themes were fine, but not really my area of interest.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution is a compilation that was put together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution
Written by: Chiho Saito
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: October 6, 2020

This release collects three short stories that were published in Flowers magazine in the September 2017, March 2018, and May 2018. All three stories are set 20 years after the events of the original story.

The first story focuses on Touga Kiryu and Kyoichi Saionji, the president and vice president of the student council at Ohtori Academy in the original series. Both of them are now in New York, working as a galeriste. They run into each other on a regular basis at art auction houses to try to acquire artwork for their clients. They both receive a mysterious letter, which reads: “You who seek revolution… Return to the academy.” This missive comes after news comes out that a secret room was discovered under the manor at Ohtori Academy, which contained valuable furnishings and art pieces.

We find out what happened to Akio Ohtori in the intervening years, and the events that unfold when Touga and Kyoichi return to the academy are… interesting. At one point, they relive a memory that we saw during the original Revolutionary Girl Utena anime, which shows when Touga and Kyoichi first encountered Utena. We also get a throwback to the original dueling arena. As someone familiar with the anime, this was a nice throwback moment. But some otherworldly events take place that help bring this story to its conclusion. This story also shows that even though 20 years may have passed, the relationship between Touga and Kyoichi really hasn’t changed much during that time.

The second story focuses on Juri, another member of the student council. This story focuses on the crush she had on Shiori, another girl she knew during her school days. Juri has become an accomplished fencer, although she finds herself wondering if maybe she’s getting past her prime. But this telling changes some of the timeline and facts. Ruka Tsuchiya, who wasn’t introduced until the final arc of the anime, is presented here as being a fiancé for Shiori, and that they were betrothed at seven years old. In this story, Shiori is given a role serving as Juri’s manager. While it was interesting to revisit Juri’s unrequited love for Shiori 20 years later, it was kind of jarring as a viewer of the anime just how much the backstory for this unrequited love was changed.

The final story focuses on Miki, who had been the youngest member of the student council in the original Revolutionary Girl Utena. His twin sister, Kozue, has been in a coma for years. Miki discovers that she’s doing some kind of sleepwalking and catches her heading to Ohtori Academy. In the original anime, Kozue had an unhealthy desire to want to have a relationship with her brother. This plays a major role in Miki’s story in this volume. Of the three stories, I felt that Miki’s was the weakest. The best part of this story is what happens right at the end of it.

Utena, who disappeared right at the end of the anime series, plays a pivotal role in all three stories in this volume. At the end of the series, it was shown that everyone except Akio and Anthy had forgotten that Utena ever existed, and this is an important story element from the original that is utilized in all three stories here. Seeing Utena again reawakens some hazy memories of her. It should be mentioned that in all three stories, the characters encounter Utena when they are Ohtori Academy. Perhaps this definitely tells us Utena’s fate, with my guess being that at the end of the anime, Utena somehow became part of Ohtori Academy itself, and has been lying in wait for the right time to summon the former student council members.

The art style captured the look of the characters from the original. The main character who looked noticeably different 20 years later was Miki. Considering he was the youngest of the group and still had a bit of a “baby face” on him, it’s not surprising that he would have looked like that he aged the most. The others have also aged, but the difference between the character designs for the original series and these set 20 years later are a lot more subtle.

While it was kind of nice to revisit the world of Revolutionary Girl Utena, I’m not sure these three stories were as strong as they could have been. I think the biggest disappointment is that we don’t truly learn what happened to Anthy. At the end of the anime, we see her leave Ohtori Academy to try to find Utena. At the end of the first story, it appears that Utena and Anthy are reunited in a picture, And in the final panels of Miki’s story, we see a younger Utena finding a younger Anthy, and Anthy has no idea who she is. It begs the question: have Utena and Anthy reunited or not?

After reading Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution, I really have a mixed opinion. On the one hand, it was an interesting idea to revisit the series and some of its characters. But on the other, I’m not sure that these stories truly added much to the franchise. If you’re satisfied with how the original Revolutionary Girl Utena series ended, you may want to avoid this volume if you don’t want to potentially be disappointed. But if you’re really eager to get more stories set in this world and to find out what happened to some of the characters 20 years later, then I would recommend reading this manga.

I’ve heard a lot about Utena all throughout my life as a wee manga/anime nerd. Unfortunately I’ve never read or watched it. I know, I know. Double shame on me.
I requested this because I’ve always wanted to and thought why not! It’s never too late.
Er, this might not have been the manga to get started on.
I found the story and the characters hard to follow. I was a bit more than confused. Still that seems more on me than anything.
If you’re a Utena fan I would definitely recommend that you check this out :) as for me i’ll start from the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

What a fantastic return to the world of Revolutionary Girl Utena. It's definitely not something that can be understood without having read the original series, since the characters are their backgrounds are so specific and there's not much in the way of an explanation for newcomers. The artwork remains appealing, and each story is quick and deeply engrossing.

I found this book a little hard to follow, just because I wasn't entirely sure how it fit into the story as a whole. Utena as a specter who haunts her friends and former classmates pasts despite their complete loss of memory regarding her is an interesting concept, but it took a second to figure out what was going on. That being said, I did enjoy the short stories, especially the Juri story, which I felt was the standout one in the volume.

I'd recommend this for Utena fans with the caveat that it definitely takes an end of Madoka approach to Utena, so be forewarned. None of the characters remember who she is, except as a kind of guardian angel coming to help them create revolutions in their own lives.

I read (and watched) Utena years ago. Based on my confusion with revisiting the stories of the characters now I would recommend that you re-read the Mangas if you haven't them recently. I think I would have enjoyed this addition more that way.

Still love the artwork.