Utena is very influential. There are shows it is well-known to be a major influence of. I want to point out a few convincing specific references in shows that don’t have well-known major influence from Utena. Others may have noticed these references before I did, but if so I haven’t found evidence of it.
I like the show, because I see it as more a cold satire than a loving parody of shallow power fantasy isekai stories. (There’s a reason my domain is satirist.org.)
The image is from episode 12. It is a memory prison; compare the cage of memories from the episode 1 duel song. It is represented as if printed on a pane of glass, because it is only a memory itself. The glass is broken because the prisoner has escaped. Compare Utena’s illusions, which can be dispelled.
It is a reference to Anthy’s greenhouse. You could try to tell me otherwise, but I would only smirk at you. Too many points fit. It is suspended from above. The people in white are maintaining the system. The walls are marked up with asterisms, like Akio’s stars. The prisoner was a witch.
One of the great anime scenes of all time is in the 2006 series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Anime News Network Encyclopedia), the episode “Live Alive,” where Haruhi sings the song “God Knows” (Haruhi wiki). The wiki provides the full version, longer than the version that was animated. The vocalist, the musicians, and the animators all gave their best.
I love the scene, but I don’t recommend the show as a whole. It has long boring parts.
The series sets down a metaphor for authorship. Haruhi the author directs an amateur movie which is beyond awful and imagines that it will win awards. Then she subs in on short notice for a sick vocalist, and gives a spectacular performance that deserves awards—and she’s dissatisfied with it. Dissatisfaction helps quality. She feels that her authorship was incomplete: Unlike the movie, she did not have time to put all of herself into it.
Compare the typical helium-voice female vocals of anime songs (and not only those). The unnaturally high female voice not only destroys singing power, it destroys expressiveness. It’s the kind of patriarchal shit Utena stands against.
I haven’t found any real-world evidence that Utena influenced this scene. But it’s clear:
The animated version is a flawless fit for Anthy as she leaves the Academy. The longer full version includes stuff that doesn’t fit, though.
That’s Nagato Yuki on the left, playing electric guitar. It’s also Anthy, wearing a witch’s hat. Yuki is an emotionless space alien, socially isolated, and highly skilled at everything she does. Kanae calls Anthy an alien in episode 14. Anthy hides her emotions, is socially isolated, and is highly skilled at what she does. Suzumiya Haruhi is in the middle, singing and wearing a bunny girl outfit. That’s Utena, who is the rabbit in the moon and sacrifices herself, winning a challenge. She disappeared from the Academy in dissatisfaction. Dissatisfied Haruhi is also sacrificing herself and winning a challenge. Alternately, you could say it’s a second copy of Anthy, that works too. Anthy and Utena are two halves of a whole, after all.
Utena may be singing, but the words are Anthy’s. The key words are “I will follow you,” but the other words fit too. Utena takes all blame on herself and won’t share it; loneliness; the darkness of the bitter world; you will shine; the faint dream and the scar. It all lines up.
The second song, “Lost My Music,” can also be read as Anthy’s words. It starts with a starry sky, and again everything fits.
Of course Utena influences later yuri anime. How could it not?
Another yuri anime with quiet references to Utena. (Or course it’s a yuri anime. One of Bocchi’s first thoughts on meeting Nijika is that she smells nice. One of her first thoughts on meeting Kita is that she’s cute.)
Bocchi’s long pink hair and blue eyes are close to Utena’s colors. Bocchi wears her track suit rather than (or over) the school’s standard uniform, ignoring the dress code like Utena. Bocchi is a hero—“guitarhero”—and commits occasional heroism to keep her band on track. Well, she has severe social anxiety, so ordinary actions can be heroic for her. Her first heroic act is in episode 3, where after an Utena-like hand-bandaging incident she brings Kita back into the band. First she falls on her front, like Utena when backstabbed, then she rises to the occasion like Utena opening the Rose Gate. Bocchi reaches out to suffering and self-isolating Kita and helps bring her in; Utena reaches out to suffering and isolated Anthy and helps bring her out.
Another heroic act is in the band’s first concert. The band plays badly in the first song. Bocchi won’t let it stand and inspires them by playing an unplanned prelude to the next song, with her full guitarhero skills. A clock behind her head becomes a halo of hours as the blue light of heaven shines on her (actually it’s the venue’s lighting effects). The religious symbols and reference to time struck me as Utena-like. It reminds me of Utena as Jesus.
Seiza ni naretara. The last song of the season, “To become a constellation” is most naturally read as a love song from Bocchi to Kita. Hints in the words and animation support it. But I can also read it as from Anthy while searching for Utena. I think all the details fit.
Jay Scott <jay@satirist.org>
first posted 2 June 2023
updated 31 July 2025