Revolutionary Girl Utena is a Deconstruction of Love and Relationships rather than LGBTI+ Affirming Story

Not LGBTI+

A lot of people seem to associate Revolutionary Girl Utena with LGBTI+. 

While there are some elements in this show that can be considered LGBTI+ related, such as Utena and Anthy being a 'lesbian' couple. However, if one pays attention to the story then it is rather clear that this is merely a surface of their relationship.

Both Utena and Anthy were eventually shown to have slept with Akio. Anthy was doing this all along from even before the story begun as she prefers him to everyone else. In Akio Ohtori Ark (the end of the story) she makes it rather clear that she does not accepts a female 'prince' no matter how much Utena reminds her of what Dios used to be when he was younger.

Yet despite these glaring contradictions, people still seem to think it is somehow LGBTI+ affirming story.

Deconstruction of Love and Relationships

Since time immemorable there were relationship with significant age differences. However, in these kinds of relationships it was almost always a man who was older and not the other way around.

Despite men with young 'trophy' wives are common there were never a study or even a fictional story that would reasonably deconstruct such a relationship, show and explain to viewers why men prefer younger women. 

Revolutionary Girl Utena does just that and explains. exactly that. It does that through the story of one of its main characters, Akio Ohtori, as well as some other duelists who challenged Utena as certain points of the story. In fact, it is stories of all these other duelists that are much better and more insightful that that of the Utena herself, but I will not go into details here as each of them deserves an article on its own.

How to watch Utena for Akio's Story

To understand my point, you have to watch (or re-watch) Revolutionary Girl Utena from a different point of view. With a focus on Akio as if he is a main character. Akio's story is not written in a typical American fashion where main protagonist is first introduced and then their story is told.

While main part of Akio story is at the very end of the story (last 6 episodes), the whole story is important to understand his character. 

Analysis of Akio's Character

Akio is fundamentally a person who is nostalgic about his past self as well as about Anthy how she was back then. The times when she sacrificed herself to save him, this allowed him to be this surreal and magical Prince Dios. He is nostalgic of the times when he could still believe in Anthy as well as this something 'eternal'. It is a trait he shares with a number of other duelists such as Miki or Saionji.

However, Akio is older and more experienced that the duelists. He does know that this eternal he promised to the duelists is fundamentally an illusion, a lie he created. Yet simultaneously he yearns to see it as much as they do.

Akio used to love Anthy because he believed that she sacrificed herself to save him. However, overtime he grew to know her better and by the beginning of the story knows that she is not as innocent an pure as he once believed she was.

As Utena battled other duelists Akio started to believe that may be Utena is the kind of pure and unspoiled girl he always wanted, so he decided to seduce her and turn her into new Anthy. New Rose Bride but this time for him exclusively.

However, what Akio liked about Utena was not her playing a prince for Anthy, but rather her clueless naivety. That is why he told her to give up a sword and become a girl again. Akio thought that a naive simpleton of a girl is much better than multifaced cunning schemer that Anthy is. Anthy too deserves a separate article which I do plan to write soon.

That did not end well as Utena choose her pride and duty over her love for Dios.