catching the big fish

the rich symbolism

the suspense

starting in the middle and not expositing the rules of the crazy world they live in, so we the viewer are as baffled as utena, our POV character

not explaining it clearly to the audience, not making it easily digestible to the audience

you have to pay attention. you have to look for clues. in order to understand it fully, you really have to watch it more than once

the references to specific art movements (that leave a deep impression even if you're not familiar with them, even if you've never seen Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)), references to Japanese theater and shadow-puppetry.

pulling off such a sophisticated, stylish story on a shoestring budget. leaning into not being able to afford that many frames by intentionally using repetition of scenes, and scenes with limited movement

so good. so relevant to this day.

and then getting a budget to do a movie version of it, where they retold the story in its enterity rather than doing some goofy one-off side quest story. (or a sequel. a sequel is impossible. a sequel is a different show.)

i am ~schgain on there

i would like to draw couples/small groups dancing this year