By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

Revolutionary Girl Utena is not your typical anime. It has several different iterations, all following a magical girl, Utena, as she encounters a complex, weaving tale of love, identity, and revolution, set within the enigmatic walls of Ohtori Academy, her new school.

It’s a classic that broke new ground in storytelling by challenging societal norms when it released. It also incorporated traditional storytelling techniques into its modern animated narrative. One such technique, which I’ll briefly discuss here, are shadow plays.

Shadow plays, alternatively referred to as shadow puppetry or shadow theater, are a traditional storytelling and entertainment form that has historically emerged in diverse cultures worldwide, though its roots are believed to trace back to China.

In a shadow play, performers manipulate flat figures crafted from materials like paper, or leather, against a backlit screen. The light source typically resides behind the screen, illuminating the shadows cast onto its front for the audience to observe. Through the manipulation of these figures, performers narrate stories featuring shadow characters, often accompanied by music and/or dialogue. These tales typically draw from folklore, mythology, religion, or everyday life.

For centuries, shadow plays have held significance as a storytelling form tied to cultural heritage in numerous societies, serving as entertainment and a way in which cultural values, traditions, and narratives can be passed to future generations. Presently, shadow plays persist as both a traditional art form and a mode of artistic expression in contemporary theater and multimedia performances across the globe.

Having said that, I originally planned to discuss the use of shadow plays in Revolutionary Girl Utena in this post, only to discover that someone has already completed a comprehensive analysis of this distinctive element within the series. Specifically, Jay Scott’s essay titled “Utena – shadow plays,” wherein he provides an in-depth analysis, which can be found here: https://satirist.org/essays/utena/shadow-plays.html

Scott’s essay, I believe, really is essential reading for fans of the Utena anime, as it offers an a deep exploration of the intersection between modern and historic storytelling in the narrative. Such an analysis adds layers of meaning and symbolism to Utena‘s already rich story and defines for the reader/audience the intricate connections between the shadow plays within the series and the larger themes found in Utena.

While it’s an essay, which may not be the most thrilling read for everyone, it certainly proves to be engaging.

I hope you will check it out!

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Copyedited by: Krow Smith | @coffeewithkrow and Katherine Cañeba | @kcserinlee