there’s a post going around of somebody, i believe, attempting to explain what they think the “fan theory” about the utena movie being a sequel is, but not only are they misreporting it, but to call it a fan theory is a bit foolish given that, from the standpoint of actual analysis we would call it an interpretation.
the utena movie being a sequel cannot be explained through any in-universe connection. that’s very important. the utena movie is not another dimension, and it is not inside of utena’s head. the utena movie is the utena movie. it’s another continuity. but it’s still a sequel. it’s all in the themes, yet with little bits and pieces of evidence that the characters ARE aware on some level of what they’re in.
utena is postmodern. you have to be thinking with the idea that the in-universe events and out-of-universe events can exist on the same level, because that’s basically what’s going on with the movie. anthy is more open with her emotions because she left akio. the fact that that is not exactly the case in the movie’s continuity doesn’t matter. because the movie knows that you’ve seen the show, or at the very least knows there was a show, and doesn’t pretend. it doesn’t try and present a story that you can just jump into, (even though watching it alone can still be enjoyable,) instead it just throws the same themes and characters into the new continuity like nothing happened. and that’s what makes it good and what makes it and the show inseparable.
also, anthy’s the instigator because she’s looking for utena, at the end of the show. so she initiates the relationship, being very openly gay for utena, because she’s looking for her. and i wouldn’t say that the characters can “see beyond the fourth wall” because that’s not true. they’re just the same characters because they ARE. they exist in a production published after the previous one and continue their roles and functions.
so i mean, it’s not as though i mean to discredit others’ interpretations, but to say that utena and anthy are the only real people in the movie as this person’s post says, while a valid interpretation in and of itself, is a simplification of the postmodern analysis that makes up what i think the connections between the different continuities actually rely on.
