uiorra

Very interesting article! I personally haven’t read Dr. Faustus yet, but I’m just finishing The Picture of Dorian Gray, which in itself has alot of similarities with Marlowe’s play.
I wanted to point out that I think talking about how society itself, not the police and law-systems, reacted to Light, or ‘Killa’-worshipping this ‘new god’-could be an interesting addition to the article. Since, as you mentioned, religion in society today has little to no effect, this phenomena in the series of people rejoicing in this new righteous god that was imposing his justice on the sinful individuals is a very interesting and important point in the story, and could prove a great comparison between society today and society before; religion today and religion in the past, but maybe that in itself could be a whole article, not part of one.
In any case, Great work!

The Adolescence of Utena is set at an alternative universe of some sort, where the basis of the story is the same as the show but with many alterations. The movie will drive out three possible reactions: Either you’ve never watched the series or read the manga, and this could be a hell of a confusing ride. Or you’ve seen the show/read the manga, and here it could be either a disaster, or the best fan-service you’d ever get. Being a big fan of the anime series, after watching the movie I kind of hated it, but at the same time was confused, and also thanked god (Ikuhara) for making it. You’d have to watch it again and maybe read about it until you understand it more and come to absolutely love it. It would never top the 39 eps series, but I don’t think it was meant to top it. Since when they were making the series they couldn’t show the ‘gay’ more, I think the movie was a service for the fans who longed to see some LGBTQ action, and thankfully, we got 3 kiss scenes of Anthy and Utena. Whether you’ve watched the movie before the series or after, I’d recommend you still watch this beautiful series, and if you haven’t already do watch the movie, and try not to judge it the minute it’s over.

Reading this article took me back to a thought I always had since I watched Evangelion – what about Kaworu, that mysterious ‘Angel’? How would we define Kaworu, and what would it be like if they decided back then to include Kaworu in the ‘chair’ scenes? I’ve thought about it, but not enough, and I think Kaworu is a very complex character that deserves analysing, and could have many similarities with Rei. Though I’m afraid one episode appearance could possibly not reveal enough to answer these question; and should we consider the third Rebuild movie as a qualified source? That requires some thinking.

A brilliant, very informative and well written article. Sometimes you can enjoy a show or a book without its context, but I think in Mawaru Penguindrum’s case, knowing the context will add many new ways to understanding the show, and understanding Japanese culture and society. I send this article to anyone I’ve convinced to watch the show because I think it’s so important, and even if the person is not interested in knowing about the cultural context, it still helps in understanding certain elements that can be difficult to understand.

So thank you for writing this, I enjoyed reading it alot.