The two girls' relationship is mysterious but has sapphic overtones that are pretty hard to ignore. Anthy is currently in an abusive slave-like relationship with her current fiancee, Saionji, but Utena quickly beats him in a duel and 'acquires' Anthy. She wears typical boy clothes and dedicates herself to protecting people from danger. Girls can only receive rings from princes, but Utena decides that she's going to be a prince instead. The school's Student Council also seems like some sort of luxuriously exclusive mafia group with rose rings that prove their membership.

Enigmatic is a good way to describe this academy- it is never really explained why students have to do this. This is a relationship that isn’t necessarily canon, but Revolutionary Girl Utena is definitely a series with a queer cult following.Ī junior high student named Utena attends the enigmatic Ohtori Academy, a school that has a curriculum based on duels between students in order to win the hand of Anthy Himemiya, also known as the 'Rose Bride'.