Now, it's not to say the series is flawless. For one, the animation looks sort of old (while still being alright.) For another, it suffers from an abundance of generic anime devices. There's the cute animal character (Chuchu). There's the main character, who has maybe a driving point, and generally acts friendly, but is otherwise somewhat bland in flavor. There are all the supporting characters who have greatly exaggerated character traits, to make Utena seem more normal (and, by extention, more sympathetic to the viewer.) There's the Sailor Moon-esque re-use of key animation sequences in a large portion of episodes. There's the slow unveiling of plot points scattered across all the episodes (though this is probably one of the defining elements of anime in general, so it can be forgiven.) The editing of the series seems a little odd some times as well. There are frequent jumps from one scene to another without much segue.
All that being said, the writing is good, and the characters are all multi-faceted. The interaction between the relatively large cast makes for good drama, and good watching.
Once I get done with Utena, I guess I'll have to see if I can plow through Steel Angel Kurumi as well. The other night Bill wanted to watch the first couple episodes, so I watched those with him, and I watched the rest of the disc (4 eps total). It seemed maybe a little contrived, a la Oh My Goddess, but none the less, it looks like it ought to be amusing. The opening theme is catchy (though I have to admit to developing a strong fondness for "revolution" as well, Utena's OP.)
I guess that's about it for now.
