In the eighth episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena, elephants on surfboards. I’m not even remotely exaggerating, I swear. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Utena.
WELL, THAT HAPPENED.
- This has to be the most unique take on the body swap trope I’ve ever seen. And for all the silliness and absurdity, there’s actually something kind of touching about Utena getting to understand – first-hand! – what it’s like to be Anthy.
- And that’s pretty damn important! Once Anthy and Utena switch bodies (due to a completely unexplained magical curry BLESS THIS SHOW), Utena realizes just how frequently Anthy is violently bullied. Not only that, but she’s constantly on the receiving end of Saionji’s ridiculous and creepy obsession with her. Saionji still isn’t over Anthy and is plotting to get her back. For real. WITH CREEPY DIARY ENTRIES.
- You know, “Curried High Trip” subtly shows us how unhealthy some of these relationships are. Saionji’s pursuit of Anthy is inappropriate. And then we’ve got Nanami’s continued bullying of Anthy and her weird obsession with her brother???? Plus, this episode furthers support that Anthy is quite literally dependent on Utena to give her instructions on what to do and how to feel. That’s so unnerving!
- But it’s also got that moment where Anthy, in Utena’s body, comments on how it’s nice to see her own body perform well at sports, which is about the most soul-crushing thing here. Anthy gets to experience acceptance and adoration when in Utena’s body, and I think that’s why she is kind of reluctant to leave Utena’s body. But perhaps I’m reading too much into this. This episode does have moments of introspection and empathy, but it’s also relentlessly silly about the concept, so I don’t know how well I can speculate to some of the character motivations here.
- I mean, let’s be real. The journey that Nanami goes on is so absurd that I don’t know how else I can describe. She goes on a literal trip to India with her friends to track down “nine-billion-fold spice,” which she believes is responsible for the explosion that caused the body swap. This is all done to win her brother’s favor, too, so we can’t forget that.
- I know that I will never forget this episode’s unreal running joke: that elephants are determined to prevent Nanami and company from finding the curry powder.
- Elephants.
- Everywhere.
- Falling off cliffs, balancing impossibly on bridges, and surfing in the middle of the fucking ocean.
- I gave up trying to understand it and accept these elephants as my personal lord and savior. It’s the only thing I could do.
- I think that this is also why I’m having a hard time coming up with anything serious to say about this episode. It’s deliberately a filler episode in the sense that nothing here can truly affect the canon, can it? At the end of “Curried High Trip,” Saionji is switched with Chu-Chu and there is absolutely no solution to their predicament. No one seems interested in switching them back, and the joke is so funny as it is that I don’t even think a solution should be considered. Just leave Saionji within Chu-Chu forever because HE’S SUCH A CREEP.
- This episode was a trip, y’all. HAHA GET IT? Okay, I’ll shut up.
The video for “Curried High Trip” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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