Despite the date on this review, this is no trick - it's not only a sequel manga to my favorite anime (and its rather underrated manga adaptation), but it's one of the rare ones to do so in a really substantial sort of way.
REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA: AFTER THE REVOLUTION (Shoujo Kakumei Utena: After the Revolution), by Chiho Saito, based on the original concept by Be-Papas. First published in 2017 and first published in North America in 2020.
PLOT:
20 years after Utena brought an end to Akio's endless duels, the former members of Ohtori Academy's student council are still grappling with old problems. Touga and Saionji are working as art dealers, but still find themselves in competition with one another. Juri's an Olympic fencer, but can't shake the insecurity she feels about her troubled relationship with Shiori. Miki is an accomplished pianist, but can't understand why his comatose twin sister Kaoru has been rising from her bed to complete his unfinished composition. In turn they all find themselves back at Ohtori and caught up in mysterious duels, where a strange pink-haired girl is waiting to help them.
STORY:
Now this is more like it! Utena: After the Revolution gives me what the previous manga spin-off of an Ikuhara anime couldn't. It follows up on the stories of some of the supporting cast of Utena in a satisfying (if somewhat redundant) sort of way.
That passage of time means that this spinoff was published in a josei manga magazine instead of shojo one. This has some major benefits, the most obvious being that Saito no longer has to dance around any implications of homosexuality. That means Juri can finally be a lesbian again, along with Utena and Anthy. This also means she can confront some of the more uncomfortable undertones from the show as well, including Kaoru's weird incestuous feelings for Miki and a ghostly Akio who seeks to manipulate others and possess his sister even from beyond the grave.
It might feel like a bit of backtrack to see all of these folks still grappling with what are basically the same problems, as if their own progress as people disappeared when Utena did. Yet Saito finds a way to either put a new spin on things or explore some other facet of their backstory. The first story is easily the most inspired of the lot, as Touga and Saionji get caught up in a ghostly mystery. In Juri's story we learn how she met Shiori and what motivated her to start fencing in the first place. In Miki's...well, it's mostly just a continuation of the way he represses himself and Kaoru overcompensating in turn for her need for affection and affirmation, just now with a dramatic coma on top of everything else.
What unites them all is how Utena helps them overcome their troubles. Despite appearing as her child self, she seems to have taken on the role of Dios, the angel to Akio's devil. When she's not doing her best to chase Akio's skanky ghost ass down, she's dropping into duels to help her former classmates. True to form, she doesn't outright save them so much as give them the boost they need to be honest and ultimately save themselves. She may not be physically present, but Utena remains the heart of this story.
ART:
In many ways Saito's art has not changed all that much from the 1990s. This is most obvious in the character designs, who retain the pointy chins, skinny limbs, and eyes peeking out of see-through hair of the time. This isn't just Saito trying to keep this manga visually consistent with the previous one, as even her more modern series tend to look like that. Still, she's had two decades to refine her skills, and you can see it in everything from the elegant and dramatic panel layouts to the liveliness and dimension in the characters' eyes. It's gorgeous stuff.
RATING:
This book is published by Viz. It is currently in print.
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