/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Bump?

>>7016224
Ok admittedly Miyu is absolutely gorgeous as fuck but a caucasian girl with freckles =/= appropriate Anthy cosplay. Pic related is how Himemiya should look:

needs moar akio and juri

>>7016233
you're going to critique skintone and then post a person much lighter than the actual character as accurate?

>>7016233
I'm sorry but I disagree, it's a good cosplay but her sking looks uneven and weird.. Se has a nice face and nose for it though!

>>7016342
Skin*

>>7016267
You'd need an actual Indian woman to pull that cosplay off.

i wish more people would cosplay from Utena, especially from the manga.

saging for selfpost!

>>7016373
But the manga sucked.


Should I post the rest of this set? It hardly counts as cosplay.

What do you guys think about having Anthy cosplayed by a light girl and Utena cosplayed by a dark girl? My friend and I were thinking about it but we thought it might look too odd

I adore this show, but I have to ask everybody: how old are all of you?

I'm 27 going on 28.

>>7016471
I'll be 26 in September

And I cosplayed Utena last month, working on a second costume for her atm

>>7016497

I really wonder how 15-20 year olds would view SKU. The world really hasn't changed that much since the time it was released, which kind of makes me sad.

>>7016391
Is there anything they didn't shop to death?

>>7016471
I'm 20.
I read the manga when I was 16-17 and enjoyed it.

>>7016503
I'm 20 and I watched the show when I was young and I still love it.

>>7016471
22

>>7016471

25, first saw it when I was like 9 or 10.

>>7016391
eh, i liked the manga but that's just me (especially Utena's pink uniform, and Anthy's white rosebride dress!). the manga could never be on the same level as the anime or movie imho just due to the imagery/soundtrack, and so on.

>>7016471
just turned 24, i first started reading the manga in Animerica Extra in like.. 2001? so i was 12 or 13.

>>7016471
My old sista, I'm 29. My friend pulled me into the series when we were in tenth grade by showing me the scene with Miki's piano teacher playing grab ass and Kozue knocking him down the stairs. It was true love at that point. I cannot even tell you how much I adore this series. Wrote a 25+ page academic paper on it in college and didn't even get halfway finished explaining all the nuances in the characterization.

As for young people liking it... it's one of those series that you can enjoy on the surface level just fine but others can get some crazy existential analysis out of it. I mean, hell, the chick speech is taken from Hermann Hesse's Demian. Just read that novel and you'll have even more perspective on the anime.

>>7016663
Agreed. The manga was pretty enjoyable. I actually liked the huge differences since it felt like a parallel universe.

>>7016471
20. I found the first couple episodes on DVD ad a used shop a few years ago and fell in love.

>>7017186
I feel like the anime, manga, and movie were all alternate universes. I've never read the manga, but the anime and movie were completely different in so many ways.

The ending to the anime remains one of the best things ever though.

>>7016471
20, I watched it when I was 11 years old and still timeless to me. I recently spent the past week looking through my soundtrack collection and cataloging all the duels.

When I first watched it, I actually felt like I understood some of the principals of the story. I think it helped me figure out what genre I liked. I really am a Lynchian freak nowadays too.

>>7017200
I can't agree more about the ending!!

>>7016469
anyone?

>>7016469

I used to cosplay Anthy back in the day and my husband always thought that would be a neat idea if I dressed as Utena instead of Anthy.
I always meant to do that, so do it.

You can also do the black zentai look. Then it won't matter what color you are at all. See image.

>>7016471
I'm 33. I discovered Utena my first year in college in 1998. I picked up Utena's figurine box in a comic store and turned it over. Anthy's picture was on the back and I said out loud "I don't know who this is yet but I am cosplaying her." There were so few dark skinned characters I was all over that shit.

Ended up making school uniform, Rosebride, and duellist Anthy.

when I first heard about Utena, the only thing I could get my hands on was the manga. which was good, but...that fucking anime changed my life. I was going through a really rough time when I first watched utena, and a lot of what ikuhara imbues into the series--all that stuff about never losing your 'nobility', even when you grow up--as someone teetering on the brink of entering the adult world, and feeling very much disillusioned by the role I thought I was supposed to be filling, it spoke to me. it literally revolutionized my way of thinking at the time, and dragged me out of this whole deep-seated crippling depression deal... I cry every time I watch this series or the movie even though I've seen them both a dozen times over.

also the remastered dvd set version is bliss.
i flipped my shit over that shitty silver-plate crest ring, ahaha.

so the anime is much more different than the manga?
I read the manga a year ago and was unimpressed

>>7017559
The anime is more fleshed out on some parts. Some characters, especially in the Black Rose Saga and even Akio himself are barely covered in the manga but really explored throughout the series.

Also, Utena really finds its strengths through its incorporation between the amazing audio music and visuals. I reccommend the anime, and the pace is pretty good, as well as the character depth. You might find the dueling sequences repetitive, but it's a whole spectacle seeing them in the anime.

The anime also plays way more with an ambgiguous explanation of certain vital storyline parts of Utena. The manga tries to tie in the end some kind of logical explanation about World's End that the anime plays a little with, but adds way more to.

>>7016694
I'll be 29 in 3 days!

Would you care to elaborate on your academic analysis of the series? As someone obsessed with philosophy and cognition I'm seriously dying to hear about it. :) Thanks!

24. Got into the series in my mid-teens, and adored it. Still do. I love the art direction and character designs, and the way it approaches that period of life is just so perfect and thought provoking.

>>7016371
Perfect.

Bumpan'!

That's an odd image for an Utena thread, OP...

>>7018121
What?? How??? It's an official image.

On the topic, anyone have a suggestion for a pattern for the duel jacket or the bodice/top part of the dress? They seem to have the same basic structure.

>>7016471
21. When I was in middle school I remember seeing this on a DVD cover for the series and it was burned into my mind for years.

I didn't actually watch the series until a couple years ago but it was wonderful and quickly became one of my favorites. It's amazing to find all the little things you missed the first time you watched it, and like what's been posted on /a/ a million times - if it were aired today (without anyone having prior knowledge of its existence) it'd be one of the best anime ever to watch and discuss with /a/.

>>7018278
Dropped my image

>>7018278
Agreed! Bump for more Utena cosplay photos!

>>7018281
for a second there I thought that was G Gundam.

>>7018281
Really weird relationship..

>>7018405
Every relationship in this show is weird.

>tfw none of your dark skinned male relatives are tall (or attractive) or live in the US to cosplay Akio with you

>>7018409
No doubt.

>>7017830

Not the same, but I think the anime has more in common with Waiting for Godot, at least thematically speaking. The whole play's about waiting for a man who's important in some unspecified way to come by and give the main characters something they want, but nobody knows who this guy is, why the main characters want to meet him, or whether or not he even exists. Which is exactly how it works with Dios/Akio/"Revolution".

>>7018138

Not samefag.

Because it's the opposite of everything the series stands for, I guess.

>>7018425
I gave up on waiting for that and just cosplayed him myself. Still it was sad because I'm 5'9"... just, very wrong.

>>7017830
Well the "chick speech" is about Abraxas who must break through the world's shell. Abraxas is a god of both good and evil, and since he is both he is placed above God and Satan. Akio/Dios I'd say is the Abraxas they speak of. And really, neither is "whole" alone... Dios being an exaggeration of heroism that cannot exist and Akio's entire existence being out of resentment and in opposition of that delusion that he was born out of. The novel Demian is all about being one of those unique individuals who does not perceive the world normally (Hesse was a big Jungian-type, so people who glimpse the collective unconscious, do not fit the archetypes laid upon them, etc) The novel sets these special people above others as they are met. They are special like the Student Council is, but at the same time, none of them are completely awakened, or have "grown up" as Utena really focuses on. Also, many people perceive the protagonist's best friend Demian as symbolic,.. he disappears, so he may merely be a catalyst. My perspective of Utena is that Utena herself has that purpose for Anthy's growth, but then, I go to the extreme in my reading of the series and I think you can perceive all the characters and happenings within Anthy's own mind (each first arc duelist/duel is categorized as a single emotion, for instance). It is truly her growth that is the focus of the series, not Utena's. It is her childhood trauma that she must be able to shed to become a true "adult." The "revolution" is internal transformation. The ability to transcend our psychological barriers. Akio cannot merely stab through something like that, and so he could not open the door.

Gah, I'll never stop rambling if I don't quit now.

>>7018471
Good ol' non-existent Dios who still bothers to make a cameo sipping juice and riding a carousel in the last episodes.

>>7018201
Dress? You mean the Rose Bride dress?... because duelist-Utena has ruffles but no dress. I wish I had the pattern on hand, but there is a perfect women's jacket pattern for SKU duelist jackets. Proper Mandarin collar and everything. I'll look to see if I have an extra pattern when I get a chance.

>>7018515
Please continue. I am enjoying your rambling. You've just helped me understand the series for the first time since I watched it all those years ago. Thank you. :)

>>7018527
Haha well a lot of this is just my own perspective on the series. Ikuhara is notorious for not explaining much of anything. I bought the remastered dvds and there's some notes on the series but other members of BePapas are even somewhat in the dark on Ikuhara's meaning. I'd suggest checking out some of the essays on ohtori.nu - there's some nice discussions on character motivation and symbolism on there.

>>7018515
>>7018548
I have to thank you for offering your thoughts on the subject matter in this show. To be honest I watched the entire thing sometime last summer and was completely underwhelmed. I guess everything was just flying over my head and I wasn't thinking critically... but reading this has made me want to rewatch the show with an open mind.

Ginny is my favorite Nanami cosplayer

Does anyone have Railiens' Utena cosplay pics saved? She was the most beautiful Utena Tenjou cosplayer I'd ever seen.

>>7018727
i found a few -- including one of Rosiel's Touga.

>>7018519
Yeah, the rose bride dress has the same cut at the top, I think, or at least the same basic shape, as the duelist jacket. I'm debating which I'd like to make but I think the basic body part would be roughtly the same. If you find that pattern I'd much appreciate it, at least a name if it's commercial. Thank you!

>>7018727
aaand that's all i have. what a blast from the past, haha. Railiens, Arisugawa, and Rosiel were some of my favorite cosplayers when i first started out.

This thread gives me life.

>>7018940

>>7018940
that niggress is trying to steal her earrings

>>7018750

I like this, even with the trampy sukeban makeup.

>>7018763
oh man, Rosiel, that's a name i haven't heard in a long time. i met her at acen once in the early 2000s, she was cosplaying from my favorite video game, and she was so nice!

>>7018753
this nanami is PERFECT.

also, anyone else who has the DVD set...does anyone know what Ikuhara meant in his little poetry/blurb about becoming 'master of ceremonies' and 'disappointing a lot of people'? was there something that happened the previous time that he directed a show...?

Oh good lord more Rosiel pls

>>7018971
>>7019064
found more of her Touga! looking at these make me so nostalgic.

>>7019549
>>7019550
holy hivemind!

>>7018472
If you watch it, Utena's own hypocrisy is an extremely important characteristic about her and within the whole timeline of the series as well.

It is irony, but it makes sense considering the series is about her finding out who she really is and what she really wants.

I've got five more episodes of RGU to go before I finish the series and start the movie. Can't wait!

>>7018633
You really can get more and more out of it on each viewing. I didn't retain all that much on the first go around. There is so much done symbolically that is easier to catch when you know where the story is going. For instance, the later episode with Anthy holding the candelabra with a flame going out every time Utena is being seduced away from her by Akio, aka becoming a "princess" instead of staying a "prince".

>>7018760
Yeah I cannot find it. It was either McCalls or Simplicity. Over the years I've used a couple of different patterns that needed little modification, so if you look through the books you should find them. I'm pretty sure when I made my Anthy cosplay I found a sleeveless top pattern for hers. I throw out patterns once I use them, sorry.

>>7019808
Oh god how have you stopped watching long enough to post!? It's like a freight train of awesome at that point in the series. Also, don't be too excited for the movie. Seriously, just watch it expecting nice visuals and some randomly weird shit... have no expectations for plot and whatnot... basically Ikuhara just had a field day with a big budget.

>>7018201
I just started making her duelist jacket using Kwik Sew pattern 2896. It's out of print, but I found it very easily on eBay. Good luck!

>>7019896
>You really can get more and more out of it on each viewing.
I didn't even notice Saionji was crying in the OP until I watched the remastered DVDs, there's so many little things EVERYWHERE

>>7020031
OMG, I always thought that was sweat, and then I just paused the video to see that yes they are tears. Good eye!

Saionji has always been my favorite pity-character in that series. If he had not grown up with Touga, he would have become such a decent man.

Okay, to take this back. How about everyone post what characters they've cosplayed, and any planned ones. Sadly most of my photos died in the great computer death of last year. I plan to rewear Anthy soon and get new photos in that some time next year though.

Already worn:
Casual Akio
Movie-version Juri
Mikage
TV Juri
TV Anthy

The Future:
I keep considering Dios
I've had everything to make garish-casual movie Akio for years now, but I cannot bring myself to make the damn thing.

>>7020096
I'd like to cosplay from Utena someday, but my face is all wrong for basically every character, since it's round and not angular. If I could though, I'd do Utena or Juri.

>>7020121
Be one of the school girls like Keiko or one of the shadowplay girls if you're worried about your face. They have more of a "cute" design that accommodates a round face. Really, matching character design in Utena is an impossibility for almost everyone anyhow.

>>7020096
I cosplayed Utena, ballgown version. Going to make her uniform in time for next con.

>>7020145
That's true, there's some serious stylizing at work. I also remembered that Utena in Adolescence Apocalypse doesn't have the super long face, I might get away with that.

And this thread is making me want to watch the series and movie again, anyone have good sources for the sub? All I'm finding for the movie is one with messed up audio that drives me mad.

>>7020171
I know you're looking for torrents or links, but save up and buy the remastered dvds. You will not regret it.

>>7020182
I'll probably try and get the remastered DVDs for the series, but I can't seem to find the movie on Rightstuf. Did I just miss it?

>>7020096
I'm finally making Utena's movie duelist uniform for a convention later this month, though I'm starting to doubt whether or not I'll finish it in time.

>>7020214
It's included with the Apocalypse Saga.

The series also had a blu-ray release in Japan but I don't know if that will ever make it over.

>>7020224
Keep working on it, it looks good!

>>7019808 here
OMG THIS FUCKING SERIES I AM FREAKING THE FUCK OUT OMG

>>7020096
I recently bought the bridal satin to make the movie version of Anthy's rose bride gown. To think... I first got into costume design classes in high school just for the sake of being able to cosplay as her. Been leveling up my skills for the past 12 years just to do that costume well. I am so ready to start soon. Dream cosplay right there.

>>7020466
I want to give you an Utena fan hug right now. The ending still gives me chills 15 years later.

>>7019026
Dem Eyebrows

>>7020585
I am crying already, fuck my life.

Brb, halfway through the last episode.

>>7020613
Please return and report your many WTFs!

>>7020623
SEKJORG.KSEHRNGKTSERHHJS

Omg I loved it. Not how I expected it to end, which makes it even better.

Someone needs to cosplay Anthy's last outfit! I loved it!

>>7020652
I love her last words to her brother. And the symbolic glasses thing.

>>7020096
I've made her normal school uniform version and then a "goddess" version after reading the manga and seeing that one particular picture of her with a star flower crown and a robe in the scene where Akio confesses that he's into her.

I plan on making her duelist outfits soon, starting with her movie version, and then making a girl's school uniform to maybe cosplay both Shiori and Nanami. I'd love to be Mikage...gaaah.

>>7020677
I really want to talk more about the ending, but no spoilers for this board...

I saw on some forum about how Utena failed though...how can you grossly misunderstand the ending so much?!

>>7021036
Well I cannot tell you the number of anime-watching friends that I've loaned my dvds to who stopped somewhere in the Black Rose arc. Bitches just don't have the fortitude for Utena.

>>7021086
ZETTAI UNMEI MOKUSHIROKU

This anime is over a decade old, though, I'm not sure a spoiler tag is needed. But just in case, SPOILERS.

Am I the only person who was unimpressed with this series? I slagged my way through it during the early 2000s, and it was more of a chore than anything. I read through this thread and thought I may have missed something. So I watched the last episode. Yeahhh...still no.

>super repetitive
>let's bring in a character for one episode and then kill them off...multiple times
>motivations aren't explored, or they are overexplored to the point where they are conflicting
>shadow plays are annoying
>wtf all this incest
>wtf all this gay shit
>anthy is straight up retarded
>show can't decide whether there's "eternity" or not
>SPOILER if akio doesn't believe there is anything eternal or miracles or whatever, why does he still try to open the rose gate? isn't that an illusion too?

>>7021036
She kind of completely did. And yes, I understood the ending. But she could have done better/more.

>>7021927
>And yes, I understood the ending.
No, it's quite clear that you didn't.

>>7021927
>didn't understand almost anything in the series

>>7021927

>>7021927
I think you didn't like it because you didn't understand it, even if you think you did.

>>7021927
spoilerspoilerspoiler

the way that I think of it is:
everyone in ohtori high is trapped there in an eternal adolescence. the closest things that we have to authority figures are the student council and world's end. every duelist at the school thinks that by opening the rose gate, they will gain the power to 'revolutionize the world', right? for each character, what this means is different. It's not supposed to be a concrete thing that's the same for everyone, it's just a metaphor for being able to accomplish your goal or resolve some form of conflict in your life. akio is the closest thing we have in the series to an actual adult, who drives and holds a job and everything, but he's still just as trapped in the world of the high-school as everyone else because of Dios. For some reason, I get the feeling that Akio still desperately wants to play the part of prince. That's why he's so cruel to Anthy--knowing that he doesn't have the power to save her--but still attempts to adopt Utena as his new princess. Akio thinks that Dios is sleeping inside that coffin and that by using the right person as 'key', he can reassume his old prince persona and escape the curse of the thousand swords. But really, the source of Dios's ~princely~ power comes from Anthy's sacrifice, hence why Utena finds her in there instead.

Just how do you think she could have done better/more, by the way? she saved anthy when she literally was expected to lay down and die. are you forgetting that she's the only one who was capable of even making it to the castle?

>>7022241
Thanks for the tl;dr of shit I already know about the series that didn't even answer my one question.

>For some reason, I get the feeling that Akio still desperately wants to play the part of prince.
I wonder why you would get that feeling...maybe because it's extremely fucking obvious?

>she literally was expected to lay down and die.
She literally was expected to defeat Akio in duel. She didn't. True, she got tricked by Anthy, who was bitchy as all fuck, but she was also warned several times about both of them. At the end of the day, she couldn't beat Akio in combat. She lost. She lucked out in getting to the castle.

>>7022112
>>7022144
>>7022156
>>7022198
Sure, vapid cunts.

>>7023987
Christ. Not that we need their approval, but this shit is why /a/ hates this board.

>>7024009
Hilarious that you should say that, as I do my main posting on /a/. I'm not a cosplayer or a lolita.

Anyone know where I can get a rose crest ring at a decent price?

>>7024032
I'm also interested in this! The only ones I've been able to find look pretty shoddy.

And drama asshole get out.

>>7024136
>>7024142
Oh I love these!

>>7024179
I love the design of the costume even though it's made of satin, but the wig and face not so much.

>>7024236
Male Touga that isn't awful, nice.

>>7023987
she didn't lose, though. look, utena's desire to 'revolutionize the world'--the entire reason she receives the rose crest ring--is because she wants to save Anthy. & she did. Utena didn't want to become a princess, she didn't care about World's End, she wasn't part of the Student Council. Yes, she disappeared--she graduated from the school. Everyone trapped there remained in their static, cyclic roles, but Anthy leaves behind her role as the abused and malicious rose bride. That was the entire point. If you didn't get that, you're beyond clueless.

>>7024290
>she didn't lose, though.
What about losing the duel with Akio is so hard to understand? The show is based around duels, winning and losing them. She fought against Akio, sword to sword, and he won. He tricked her, but he won the duel.

The rest of your post is a bunch of shit that doesn't even address what I said before. You didn't even bother with my original question either. Could it be because the show's themes aren't as wonderfully developed as everyone in this thread seems to think?

>If you didn't get that, you're beyond clueless.
There's a clueless person in this thread, but it isn't me.

>>7021927
>>7024438
>>7023987

Different anon, but christ, here, an answer for your question.

Miracles and Eternity were never what he wanted. It was something shiny he dangled in the Student Council's faces to get them to play his game. He's not after either of them, or expecting them to be behind the gate. In my opinion, the whole point of the game is for Anthy. He may have wanted his Diosness back at one point, but I think he really just doesn't care much- notice how blase his reaction is when the Prince's sword breaks.

The whole thing is just a show he puts on for Anthy to keep her where she is: taking swords for him and doing his bidding so that he can keep having his way all the time.

I'm the anon who just finished the series. I just began the movie and I'm already very startled by how different it is!

>>7022112
Agreed, I've watched the series a dozen times and I would never claim that I completely understood the ending because that shit will never be a singular definite meaning. It'd be like trying to say the same thing about the ending of Mawaru Penguindrum.

>>7024032
>>7024046
Don't buy an official one. They're super overpriced now and they turn your finger green. I've seen decent fanmade ones on ebay and etsy before. Haven't checked in forever.

>>7024177
Dios, get some lotion, you ashy, boy.

>>7024576
Watched the movie twice and I'm still unsure of how to fit it together with the anime. I thought the anime was kind of confusing, but it doesn't have shit on the movie.

Some anon said earlier about alternate universes, and that's the only way I can wrap my head around the whole thing.

DON'T DIE ON ME.

>>7027710
The movie is an alternate reality for sure. It has less depth and more visuals than the tv series, because that's how anime movies roll (see the Escaflowne movie).

I take it as a retelling that basically occurs when you change around the catalyst moment of Utena's youth. Utena then becomes withdrawn and Anthy is the outgoing one... but all her hyper sexuality is also a front for her, just the complete opposite of the tv series. Also, Shiori is a cabbage moth that watches boys get raped, enjoys cleaning out the ears of ghost, then transforms into a lace-covered jeep that wipes out and crashes.

Only in Utena can a weird ass statement like that be 100% true.

>>7016471

I'll be 21 in September.
The movie is one my favorite films.

>>7016469
I think it'd be really funny switch. Actually it'd be cool to cosplay utena in her dress from the ED and make an Anthy ver. of her dueling uniform

>>7016471
Just started watching it; I can't believe im watching this after Penguindrum (which I love)

17 and I REALLY want to cosplay Utena

>>7034766
RETARDED PENGUIN ANON HAS MADE HER APPEARANCE.

>>7034794
Penguindrum is great tho

>>7034798
No one wants to hear you cry about how you can't find that skirt, fuck off.

>>7034801
What? Never mind

>>7034813
They think you are the same anon who posted looking for a skirt based on that series. It's obvious you're not. Just ignore them, they need a vaginal cleansing.