"Revolutionary Girl Utena" question

[darkoshi]

I've heard good reviews of "Revolutionary Girl Utena", so I want to get the DVDs from Netflix. But I'm confused as to how many disks there are, and the order of them.

"Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Black Rose Saga: Disk 1 thru 4" is unavailable.

Revolutionary Girl Utena (10 disk series, 1997): Vol 1 thru Vol 10.
Vol 1 is unavailable, but Vol 2 and 3 are available.

"Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie" is available.


Since Vol 1 is unavailable, is it better to start watching with Vol 2, or to watch the movie first?

Comments

[tlttlotd.livejournal.com]

First of all, watch the movie after you've seen the series. The movie is a retelling of the series, and if you watch it before the series it will make no sense at all. Utena: The Movie is called "The weird French film of anime" for this reason.

Utena is broken into three story arcs: The Rose Collection, The Black Rose Saga, and the Apocalypse Saga. Beginning, middle, and ending. I recommend watching them in order because the series is heavy in character development, and the actions of characters later in the series will not make sense because earlier context is necessary.

Try to get the 10 disk series in sequence. The first disk will set everything up, such as why Utena dresses the way she does and what the duels are all about.