Revolutionary Girl Utena (Collector’s Edition Parts 1-3 Blu-ray with Shop Exclusive Box & Nozomi Ultra Edition Items) Unboxing

Revolutionary Girl Utena (少女革命ウテナ, Shōjo Kakumei Utena) is a 1997 television anime series based on the manga by original writer Be-Papas and author/illustrator Chiho Saito. The anime was adapted by studio J.C.Staff with director Kunihiko Ikuhara, writer Yōji Enokido and music composers Shinkichi Mitsumune (for the score) and J. A. Seazer (for the songs). The series aired during the Spring 1997 anime season in April.

Also included is Adolescence of Utena (少女革命ウテナ アドゥレセンス黙示録, Shōjo Kakumei Utena Aduresensu Mokushiroku), also known as Revolutionary Girl Utena the Movie or Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse, a 1999 theatrical anime film also worked on by the same director, writer, music composers and studio. It was theatrically released in Japan on August 1999.

Background:

“”Never lose that strength or nobility, even when you grow up.” When Utena was just a child and in the depths of sorrow, she found salvation in those words. They were the words of a prince, who wrapped her in his rose-scented embrace and bestowed upon her both a ring and the promise that it would lead her to him again. She never forgot the encounter. In fact, she was so impressed that she aspired to be like the prince and also help those in need.

Now a spirited teenager, Utena attends the prestigious Ohtori Academy. However, her strong sense of chivalry soon places her at odds with the school’s student council and thrusts her into a series of mysterious and dangerous duels against its members.”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, July 2020.

Considered one of the most iconic shoujo anime ever made, Revolutionary Girl Utena is beloved by the anime community for its visual spectacle, characters and story. I watched a glimpse of the show’s first three episodes a couple months back at my University’s anime society and it was very intriguing. While the 1999 anime film Adolescence of Utena received a UK release by distributor MVM Entertainment, the fact that the series itself never got licensed in the past is a surprise. But then again, considering Sailor Moon flopped so hard that it nearly destroyed MVM, I guess it makes sense that big titles like Cardcaptor Sakura and Utena would not be considered marketable back then (even though English edited versions for both Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon did make it in some form).

Times have changed since. Central Park Media once distributed the series for North America on DVD with an English dub, but eventually the company discontinued and Nozomi Entertainment took over to distribute the series. Nozomi had both the North American rights and the United Kingdom rights, despite releasing the DVDs in Region 1 only and eventually a Blu-ray release in Region A only. Revolutionary Girl Utena was even one of the first Blu-ray titles by Nozomi to receive a special edition set, known as the Ultra Edition.

Originally scheduled for December 2017 but got delayed to around June 2018 due to events beyond Nozomi’s control with one of the physical items, the Revolutionary Girl Utena Ultra Edition was packaged with a box housing the standard edition part sets, a 250+ page hardcover artbook and replica rings of Rose Seal and Black Rose Seal. This whole set was given the SRP of $224.99 (£179) with the individual standard edition part sets going for $49.99 (£40), $49.99 (£40) & $79.99 (£64) overall. The third part has a larger retail price because it also includes the 1999 anime film Adolescence of Utena.

Anime Limited’s 80 Unit Bundle:

Now you’re probably wondering why I’m mentioning the Nozomi Ultra Edition release. Well this is because Anime Limited acquired the United Kingdom rights in October 2017, and are releasing both Revolutionary Girl Utena and Adolescence of Utena on Blu-ray. When they announced pre-order plans in May 2020, they were able to acquire 80 units of the Artbook and Rings from the Nozomi Entertainment Ultra Edition release which is now out of print for their collector’s edition part sets bundle. That bundle sold out in 2 minutes and I was one of the lucky few to actually order it at its £114.99 early bird price point (SRP was £199.97).

In addition to the bundle, there was also a shop exclusive collector’s box for the first collector’s edition set to house all three parts together. The size of the box is the same as the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Movie Trilogy release. That shop exclusive box had 300 units available, which also sold out in about 90 minutes. I am aware that some fans, mainly those from America, weren’t pleased by the short window of the Anime Limited pre-orders. This was a series that was not expected to receive this amount of demand and the fact that it sold out fast is good news, considering we have Cardcaptor Sakura and Neon Genesis Evangelion incoming from the distributor (both are likely to be released in 2021 if things go to plan). There’s also the fact that the Nozomi Ultra Edition had been available for two years so they had plenty of time to grab that release.

Unfortunately, the distributor confirmed the Nozomi Ultra Edition items had to be shipped separately due to the global situation. Fortunately, in an update post-publishing this unboxing, I did receive them as of Tuesday 20th October 2020. It took a few weeks longer due to the item being shipped to the flat address than the current one.

The Nozomi Entertainment Artbook and Rings can be viewed below the Anime Limited Collector’s Edition Photos below this page.

Collector’s Edition Contents:

Now let’s talk about the contents of the Anime Limited collector’s edition sets for Revolutionary Girl Utena. As previously mentioned, there’s at least three in total, one covering a story arc for the anime series. Each collector’s edition set has a similar design to the Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Movie Trilogy, with a rigid box that has clean artwork, a Blu-ray Amaray case housing the discs, and a few mini physical items such as a 34x40cm fold out poster and 5 art cards. The discs are the same as the Nozomi Entertainment release, and like that release, Adolescence of Utena is included in the third part.

The first part covers the Student Council Saga, containing episodes 1-12, the second part covers the Black Rose Saga, containing episodes 13-24, and the third part covers the Apocalypse Saga, containing episodes 25-36. Each part has an SRP of £59.99, totalling £179.97. Each part will also have 1000 units in total, however because the bundles sold out fast, there’s about 700 units left for each set. While the bundle was released on 13th July 2020, the individual collector’s edition sets have different dates. The first part is scheduled for 13th July (20th July for other retailers), the second part is scheduled for 17th August and the third part is scheduled for 14th September.

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 13th July 2020 (Bundle Date), 20th July 2020 (Part 1), 17th August 2020 (Part 2), 14th September 2020 (Part 3)

The collector’s edition releases for Revolutionary Girl Utena has 10 Blu-ray discs in total; 3 for Part 1, 3 for Part 2, and 4 for Part 3, each of them using the Nozomi Entertainment author. The audio options available include the main Japanese language with English subtitles and the English dub from Central Park Media’s release. The yellow subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 5.1
Video	Revolutionary Girl Utena: 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio Adolescence of Utena: 1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	Revolutionary Girl Utena: 9 BD-50s Adolescence of Utena: 1 BD-50

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

Disc 1: Student Council Saga

• Clean Opening Song “Rinbu Revolution”
• Clean Closing Song “Truth”

Disc 2:

• Japanese CD Box Set TV Spot
• Japanese Remastered DVD Box Set Character TV Spots
• Japanese Remastered DVD Box Set 30 Second TV Spots

Disc 3:

• Rondo – Revolution TV Spot
• Rondo – Revolution Music Video

Disc 4: Black Rose Saga

• Animated Art Boards Part 1
• Japanese Utena Promo (1997)

Disc 6:

• Interview with Director Kunihiko Ikuhara Part 1
• Interview with Director Kunihiko Ikuhara Part 2

Disc 7: Apocalypse Saga

• Interview with Director Kunihiko Ikuhara Part 3
• Interview with Director Kunihiko Ikuhara Part 4
• Animated Art Boards Part 2

Disc 8:

• Interview with Cast and Crew

Disc 9:

• Clean Closing Songs “Virtual Star Hasseigaku” & “Rose & release”
• Dueling Themes Karaoke
• Japanese TV Spots
• Japanese Staff Commentary for Episodes 37-39

Disc 10: Adolescence of Utena

• Director’s Commentary
• Behind the Scenes: Recording the English Dub with Kunihiko Ikuhara
• Japanese Remastered DVD Box Set Movie Spoiler Spot
• Adolescence of Utena Trailers

Unboxing Photos:

Part 1: Student Council Saga:

Part 2: Black Rose Saga:

Part 3: Apocalypse Saga & Adolescence of Utena:

Nozomi Entertainment Ultra Edition Artbook & Rings:

Final Notes:

Revolutionary Girl Utena is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. You can grab the collector’s editions for each part over on Amazon UK.