• Review: Revolutionary Girl Utena-Black Rose Saga-Nozomi Release

    August 14, 2011 /

    Again, this is a review of the Nozomi release; not the series itself.

    This set contains episodes 13-24, which include the last episode of The Student Council Saga and all of The Black Rose Saga (I don’t get it, either). This set comes in a nice art box, which contains three discs in slimcases, as well as a booklet.
    Extras:
    Disc One: Animated Storyboards-1997 Utena Japanese Promo-Nozomi Trailers
    Disc Two: Kunihuko Ikuhara Interviews 1 & 2, Nozomi Trailers
    Disc Three: Kunihuko Ikuhara Interviews 3 & 4, Nozomi Trailers
    Booklet:
    *Ikuhara’s episode commentary on the episodes included in this set
    *The Art of Shichiro Kobayashi, Art Director Interview
    *The Two Be-Papas: The Making of Be-Papas Studio, Part 1
    *Shinya Hasegawa, Character Designer Interview
    *Character Art Gallery
    *Rose and Blood: Utena’s Art Style
    *Key Art Gallery
    *Laserdisc Liner Notes from the Japanese Archives
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  • Review: Revolutionary Girl Utena-Student Council Saga-Nozomi Release

    July 1, 2011 /
    Note: This is a review of the Nozomi DVD release, not the series itself, which is fantastic.
    Around the ten year anniversary of the original airing of the ending of the Utena series it was announced that the series would be remastered and released on two DVD box sets, along with a CD box set. These were released in Japan in 2008. Now, Nozomi has started to bring this remastered set stateside in three box sets. This is my review of the first box set.

     

    Video: The video here looks amazing. Having seen this series on VCD, unofficial DVD, and official DVD, I can say without a doubt that this is the best Utena has ever looked. The remastering paid off. Colors that once looked muted and faded now look vibrant.
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