Revolutionary Girl Utena's Third Manga Arrives in March

The third chapter of for the recently returned “Revolutionary Girl Utena” manga is officially set for the May issue of the josei magazine Monthly Flowers. It is Juri-focused follow-up story and titled as “Beautiful Rose.”

Set after the finale of the main manga, the chapter not only has noble Juri Arisugawa but also anime character Shiori. With the release of the first chapter of “Shōjo Kakumei Utena After the Revolution,” in the September issue of the Flowers magazine in July it was the new installment of the “Revolutionary Girl Utena” series after two decades.

The most recent new on the manga was that the second chapter would be making its appearance in the March issue of Monthly Flowers on January 27.

“Revolutionary Girl Utena” first made its debut in June 1996 as a manga by Chiho Saito. The year after the manga’s release, an anime adaptation of the series right after in 1997 with Kunihiko Ikuhara as the director, known for having worked on the “Sailor Moon” series as a Series Director. Actually though, both anime and manga had been created simultaneously, and while both hold similarities to one another, ultimately the two works went into different directions.

More than the anime and manga, a film for the series had been created as well and was released in August 1999. It was titled “Adolescence of Utena.” Followed after the film was the development of a video game in 1998 and followed after were a number of stage plays.

Over time, “Revolutionary Girl Utena” or simply “Utena” had made itself known as a highly metaphysical, surreal and allegorical shōjo series which contained  a mix of borrowed visuals from Takarazuka theater, shadow puppetry and classic douseiai-style (a theme of strong feminism and strong female emotional bonds).

The story of the series tells of  Utena Tenjou. She is a tomboyish teenage girl who in her childhood, was so impressed by a kind prince, decides neither to look for him nor become a dignified lady but rather a prince herself. This results in her not only growing up wearing male clothing but also developing a princely personality. She attends Ohtori Academy and upon meeting a student in an abusive relationship named Anthy Himemiya, makes the decision to protect her which results her battling all kinds of students for Anthy, the “Rose Bride.”

Source: Crunchyroll News