Reviews - Utena, tome 1 | The StoryGraph

83 reviews for:

Utena, tome 1

Chiho Saito

3.68 AVERAGE

alphabetseeds's review against another edition

3.0

dark lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A weirdly remixed story from the anime. The adaptation streamlines some events and character interactions, and I think some of the charm is lacking in this rendition. The art is well done and beautiful, though.

chibiijazziie's review against another edition

3.0

I watched a little bit of this anime a while back, I wanted to read this to see if it really caught my interest. After reading this volume I really can't tell if I like it or not. Maybe volume 2 will help me be more decisive. ╮( ˘ ､ ˘ )╭

wlarianna's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

mardana's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

alle_kat97's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

thewonderelf's review against another edition

3.0

Unfortunately, my library has the first 3 Utena volumes in the old-school flipped artwork layout. A page was also ripped out of this volume, but neither thing, I think, really impacted my enjoyment of the first volume. I'm fairly used to the flipped artwork thing, as it was impossible to find manga in its original, Japanese format in the early 2000s when anime started to really find its American audience (and when I got into it as a brand new teenager).

As a self-professed otaku in my teen years, it's surprising that I haven't read Utena or watched the anime before. I adore magical girl anime, but somehow I could never quite get a hold of this one (my library back then didn't have much in the way of manga, and I only had so much money!). Thankfully I am correcting this grievous error now.

I did enjoy this first volume; my chief complaint was how slowly it started out. I would have preferred to start out at Ohtori Academy and get the background on the mysterious "prince" from there. That's really the only thing that's preventing me from giving this four stars, but the prologue was about half the first volume. The prologue also neglected to mention Utena's skill with the sword. We know she's good at sports, but being good at sports doesn't equal being a good swordsman. Considering how long the prologue was, that's a pretty significant oversight.

I really enjoy Utena as a character, though. She reminds me a bit of Sakura from Card Captor Sakura. I prefer my magical girls to be capable rather than total ditzes like Usagi from Sailor Moon or Miyaka from Fushigi Yuugi. I also really appreciate that Utena features a colored character (Anthy) who's not a total stereotype or sexualized to death. I expect future volumes to garner higher ratings.