* Manga Differences *
There is a one-volume manga drawn by Chiho Saitou, that goes by the name Gekijouban Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Adolescence Mokushiroku. It was published 9/99 by Flower Comics, and has Utena and Anthy in movie garb on the front cover as well as Touga in movie garb on the back. The ISBN number is 4-09-136089 and costs from $2 (used) to $6 (new), and you can probably find it in a local Japanese bookstore.
The manga tells basically the same story as the movie. The character designs are those from the movie as well, so Utena has short hair, Anthy has long hair, and so on and so forth.
The story begins as Utena arrives at Ohtori academy, and Wakaba takes her for a tour. Much of the plot is similar, but there are some noticable changes. Utena sees Touga and then meets him in the rose garden, where he gives her a rose and tells her the rose signet led him to the school. Utena gets her own ring in the garden and then notices roses falling from the dueling platform. She goes up, meets Anthy, and duels with Saionji. Touga is a much more active person in the manga. He's seen chatting with the other Student Council members about the sudden appearance of the Sword of Dios. That night, Utena is moving in the dorm, and Anthy makes her moves, which Utena rejects.
The next day everyone's cleaning the pool and Touga shows up. He and Anthy flirt, making Utena walk off in a huff. Then Utena has a strange dream. Here is one of the major differences between the movie and the manga. In the movie, it was Juri who fell off the boat. In the manga, it was Utena, and Touga rescued her at the sacrifice of his own life. Utena wakes up and wonders why her dream felt so real, then notices Anthy walking to the dueling platform.
There Utena confronts Anthy, who says she came to water the roses. Utena accuses Anthy of making Touga act so weird and throws her to the grown, the watering hose flying the other direction. There is the mention of seeing stars, to which Anthy replies that there are plenty of stars on the dueling platform. Utena comments she can see stars in Anthy's eyes, and she replies that she also sees stars in Utena's. Then Utena falls asleep with her head in Anthy's lap as the watering hose floods the dueling platform. Another difference shows up: Touga appears on the dueling platform and smiles at Anthy.
The next day is the scene where Anthy and Utena draw each other. However, before things go very far, Juri and Miki show up. Juri wants to duel Utena, but then Touga shows up, and Anthy reveals that she went to the dueling platform not to water the roses but to meet him. Utena's shocked, and then challenges Touga to a duel.
So the two duel. Touga is the stronger of the two and knocks Utena to the ground, his sword poised to cut off the rose. Utena laughs and tells him she really loves him, and as he begins the final blow, she slides out of the way. Anthy gives her the Sword of Dios and Dios himself comes down from the castle that appears over the dueling platform, allowing Utena to defeat Touga. As the rose comes off, Touga suddenly disappears, leaving only his jacket. When Utena asks Anthy what happened, she replies that Touga is dead. Part One ends with Utena clutching the jacket and screaming Touga's name.
The second part begins on the dueling platform, with Utena holding Touga's jacket. She stares at Anthy, then says Anthy must be lying. Anthy smiles, and when Utena asks why, she counters, "Don't you want to see him? Follow me." Utena follows her down, and they run into the Student Council members. Juri is pissed and wants to challenge Utena to a duel, but Utena's in a hurry to catch up with Anthy and doesn't make a move to accept or decline the challenge. They go to the pool, where Touga is standing. Utena asks him what happened, when suddenly the jacket she's holding becomes drenched and falls into the pool.
Utena remembers how she broke up with Touga. The dream was really a supressed memory, she really did fall out of the boat and Touga saved her, but drowned himself. This was too painful for her to handle so she forgot the event. Then comes a *cough cough* scene where Touga is sleeping with Utena. She wonders why she can feel him, and he says it's because her love is so strong.
Outside, a body is found in the rose garden. It's Akio's body, and Kanae, his finacee is distraught. She blames Anthy for the deed. Inside, Touga tells Utena of the story of the Rose Prince and the Rose Bride. Utena then searches for Anthy, going back up the observatory where she sees paintings of Anthy. One of the paintings starts fading away and a scene appears in it. Akio is painting a picture of Anthy, then gives her a drugged drink. He starts taking off her clothes *cough cough* while Utena screams from the other side of the painting until he suddenly realizes Anthy is awake. She says that because he is her prince he can do what he wants, but he insists he isn't that kind of person and stabs her with a palatte knife. He's shocked but she says it's okay. Akio, in a fit of guilt or something, jumps off the balconey and dies.
Anthy comes up behind Utena and Utena asks if what she saw was true. Anthy says it is, showing the scar over her heart. Then Akio shows up as well as Touga, and they talk some more about the Rose Bride and how the castle appeared in the sky when Akio died, etc. Anthy says that Utena is the prince of this world and asks her to draw the Sword of Dios. Utena does not take it, saying she feels sorry for Anthy who is locked in this world, and then grabs her hand and encourages her to escape to the "outside."
Anthy wonders where "outside" is, but Utena pulls her along and they run, suddenly finding themselves on the dueling platform. Roses attack Utena, smothering her and making her remember the time she was drowning and Touga saved her. She sees him coming to rescue her again, and he tells her the only way she can escape is to forget about him. She's trapping herself in this world by trying to remain in the past where she will go see the stars with him, and she has to let go before she can move on. Utena finally does, and when Anthy asks why she is crying, Utena replies she doesn't know. The roses attack Utena again, and Anthy pleads with Dios that if he's going to kill Utena he has to kill her, too. He refuses of course, telling her to stay in this world with him, where she's a princess. Something snaps in Anthy and she becomes determined to revolutionize the world.
Anthy says good-bye to Akio, her prince, and then screams, "Disappear, my illusion!" Akio disappears into a bunch of roses and the entire castle and school breaks up into whirling rose petals.
Anthy and Utena are in a planetarium looking at the stars. The narrator talks about the various constellations and then says that you can see your future in them before the show ends. Anthy notices Utena crying, and asks her why. Utena isn't sure, but she says that the stars make her want to live with all her might. Then the two step out, and Anthy says, "We made it to the outside." Utena says, "Yes." And thus the manga ends.
As you can see, it's both similar and different, and it's a really fun read and the art is quite nice. Mokushiroku.Net has translations available if you have the Japanese/Chinese/other language version and can't read it, so go check it out today!
