* Setting Differences *

Probably the most subtle differences come in the setting of the movie. This is an Ohtori Academy like you've never seen before. The school in the television series is static except for the dueling grounds and Akio's planetarium. Different places have different meanings; Nemuro Hall, the setting for the Black Rose Arc is set apart from the rest of the school and has a mysterious, almost sinister air to it. The dueling ground is spectacular, with the castle spinning in the sky above it, decorated with whatever accent the daily duel requires (ranging from desks to cars to other strange objects.) To reach it one must climb a dizzingly high spiral staircase or take an elevator. The tower where Akio lives seems to be in perfect order where brother and sister live in harmony, but is revealed to be hiding a number of terrible secrets. Akio's planetarium is the scene for specatular views of stars - and other things as well. The place where the Student Council meets is reached only by elevator, standing high above the school grounds with a wrought-iron image of the rose over them - the perfect place to plan and watch over the happenings of the students. The rose garden is inside a glasshouse, perfect for getting away from everything else.

By contrast, the Ohtori Academy of the movie is fluid, liquid, and always moving. The first images of Ohtori are of the bells ringing, bronze bells surrounded by red struts. Then come images of the buildings itself, with stairways and balconies and towers endlessly sliding past each other in a mysterious dance. Television-Ohtori was painted in muted colors often emphasized by sunset, which painted it bold, earthy tones. Movie-Ohtori is almost exclusively two colors: White and Red. These colors are liberally splashed everywhere in strange yet balancing shapes. When Utena and Juri duel above the school, they stand on a narrow platform that is half red and half white. The dueling platform is also different. It's reached by stairs and elevators - but not the spiral staircase. Instead, there is a single staircase that arcs upwards. Instead of being a wide, enclosed circle it is a square platform with no railing and a small portion slightly below the rest. Its covered in roses, so much that the ground cannot be seen (unless you break a water main and wash them off the side.) Even the bells are red and gold with a deeper, fuller tone than the greyish silver, brassy bells of television-Ohtori.

The rose garden is no longer in a glasshouse but lies outdoors, only partially protected from the rain by surrounding buildings. It has more of a abandoned, forlorn look to it, especially in the rain, and is open on all sides for a person to walk up to, as Utena does when she discovers her rose signet. There are several new places, including a garage where Juri and Miki talk before Shiori insinuates her plans into Juri's head. The road, according to Juri, leads to the ends of the world, and travels off into inky blackness. There are also places reminiscent of the series. The most powerful one is Nemuro Hall, where Utena is searching for Anthy after the duel with Juri. She finds a chair with an arrow, and than a hall full of chairs with arrows, and then finds herself in a small elevator not unlike the one where Mikage interviewed people.

The new Ohtori Academy is alive with life and bright with colors, and although it's thoroughly like and unlike the Ohtori Academy from the television series, it's a wonderful backdrop for the battle for the world revolution, and a pleasing new sight for the eyes.

How the school operates is also different. In the television series, everyone is dueling to win the Rose Bride, for the person engaged to her will be able to enter the castle and find eternity and miracles in the castle that rotates above the platform. In the movie, the duels are a game. Akio instated the game after he lost his powers, when Anthy locked Dios/The Rose Prince up from the world. The school world depends on a prince. However, because the prince is not there in flesh, the dueling game was instated to keep the idea of a prince alive. It was also begun because Akio was trying to regain the powers his sister lost.

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