* Plot Differences *

The Utena movie is not a sequel nor a prequel. Truthfully, it's not all that deeply related to the television series. The movie and television series can be seen as two entirely valid but entirely different adaptations of the same story.

The television series is 39 half-hour episodes, adding up to 19.5 hours of story telling time. In this amount of time there are four distinctive arcs - the first arc, where the story and characters are introduced (aka the Student Council Arc), the second arc where Mikage is attempting to influence the outcome using the powers of the Black Rose (aka the Black Rose Arc), the third arc, details begin to be revealed about the mysterious Ohtori Akio (aka the Ohtori Akio arc), and the last few episodes, where everything finally comes to one majorly stunning end (aka the Apocalypse arc.) There are wonderful threads woven throughout every episode, and a number of episodes that are little more than silly character development (how else would Nanami turn into a cow, or think she laid a filigree egg?) There is plenty of time to hint at things to come before they happen, little subtle tricks that are interspersed, all leading to the final episode and the final revelation.

In contrast, the movie has 1.5 hours to tell the same story. The basic premise is the same: Utena wishes to become a prince, meets up with the Rose Bride, and together they fight the Ohtori Student Council and Akio for the power to revolutionize the world. However, while the movie is not exactly rushed, it's certainly very hurried in its pacing. Character introductions are placed quickly, bang, bang, bang, and everyone's a part in the story (or not in it at all.) Where the television had duels in nearly every episode (at least 30, to my knowledge) the movie has only two, and neither of them have cars or desks in them.

Utena's reason for being a prince is entirely different. In the television series, when her parents died a prince came and rescued her from despair, showing her "something eternal." This made Utena want to become a prince. In the movie, her parents did die when she was young, but she had Touga to comfort her. Her wish to become a prince is fueled from her desire to become like her own prince, Touga. She is haunted by his disappearance from her life, and is trying to make up for his loss by living by his ideals.

The story of the Rose Bride is also different. Akio tells the familiar story of Anthy locking away Dios because she was the only one who truly loved him, much to the dismay of everyone else, but then says that Anthy was a witch, and that Dios was really only the King of Flies. When Anthy lost her powers, Akio lost his own power and he had to substitute the dueling game to try and regain them. Later, Anthy reveals a hole in her heart to Utena, where she was stabbed and killed by her brother. The moment she died, the castle in the sky appeared (no illusion in a planetarium for this castle), the wishes and desires of everybody embodied in it. Akio killed her in fury when he realized she was only pretending to be asleep when he was about to sleep with her. Akio is also concerned not for a Sword of Dios or a Rose Signet but for a key.

The biggest change in plot comes with the ending. There is no final battle between Utena and any of the Student Council members. Instead of becoming the school's prince or bringing about the world revolution, Utena merely wants to escape to the outside world. She is transformed into a car, and Anthy discovers the key her brother was searching for is in her hands - previously Utena's rose signet. The final battle is between Anthy and the Utena car versus Shiori (also a car), the Locust Cars, and the Castle Car. The Student Council members don't hinder, they help, repairing some of the damage wrought by the locust cars and promising to meet them in the outside world. However, they return to Ohtori Academy. The Castle is no longer the destination - it's the final obstacle blocking them from escaping, until Anthy drives under it to freedom. Akio is not interested in the world revolution as he encounters them outside of the Castle car. He's only interested in bringing Anthy back to the former world, where they will live while being dead. He wants her to regain her magical powers in the world of the school. The power to revolutionize the world (or rather to escape the former world) comes not from the Sword of Dios but from the determination of two girls returning home. This is very different from the battle between Utena and Akio, the wish to become Anthy's prince, and Anthy's leaving Akio to find Utena that ended the television series. Still, it is in its own way a very satisfying finish that puts a good end on a good movie.

There may be those who cry foul at this rather strange interpretation of the Utena story, but I believe it is a wonderfully different and highly entertaining view of a story that seemed to be all worked out.

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