Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumeisareru Monogtari

      By genre, the Utena game is what is Japanese call an adventure game. In their pure form, Japanese-style adventures have no gameplay system to speak of, and require no skill but an appreciation for story and art. They are seldom, if ever, released in the west because of their lack of action and other such features that are conventionally considered engaging. An adventure game can be equated to a digital choose-your-own-adventure book. You make decisions at points throughout the story and at the end you find out if they were wise or not. The major difference (and, perhaps, the major draw) of these games over their print predecessors is the abundance of pretty pictures throughout, and the Utena game does not fail in that department.

      Two new characters are introduced:

As the player, you interact in Ohtori Academy as this character, whom you name. This cheerful and innocent girl has only just transferred to Ohtori at the request of her parents, who previously attended there. Like Utena, she is in the 3rd year of middle school (8th grade), and is even placed in the same homeroom. The Chairman personally assigns her to the East Hall dorm, even though she is neither a duelist nor trained in any form of combat.

This elegant stranger transfers into Utena's class the day after the main character does. Sanjouin Chigusa has an air of maturity uncommon among junior high students because she is just returning from a lengthy absence related to illness. Before she left, she was a member of the fencing club. Mystery surrounds Chigusa. Why does she antagonize the student council members? What motivates her strange, almost grudging attraction to the main character?

      Mechanics: An average trip though this game lasts 5-6 hours, which isn't much, but it has lots of replay value. Playing is basically making response choices that influence how much Utena and the Student Council members like you, which in this game is called Heart's Nobility. Nobility determines many of the possible endings as well as the outcome of the climatic series of duels. Unlike many similar games, it is difficult to lose nobility through response choices. Rather, the character's nobility is subtracted from every few scenes in what I call the Chigusa Effect. There are a couple of ways to counter the Chigusa Effect. Naturally, you can keep boosting the other characters' nobility, but the amount of nobility stolen in the Chigusa Effect varies depending on your response choices with Chigusa. If you please Chigusa, more is stolen, and if you upset her the opposite is true.

      Impression: This game is solid Utena. It's got the esthetics that define Utena: the beautiful people, the beautiful school; It's got the paradoxes that comprise Utena: it pulls the rug out from under things we think are true; it's got that ambiguous (most of the time) sexual innuendo that permeates the show. Masquerade balls! Shadow Play Girls! The main cast SINGING to the tune of Hikari Sasu Niwa! ^_^ All of the in-game dialogue is preformed by the TV series seiyuu, the graphics are comprised of stills and brief video clips from the TV series (with significant amounts of new art too,) and the soundtrack is direct from (guess) the TV series, plus two new duel songs and the opening song. Since it takes place in the Student Council Saga, it lacks some of the bizarre imagery of the later portions, but the cast is here in full force. Almost all of the major characters from all the arcs appear, excepting some of the feature characters of the Black Rose arc and Ruka. Nanami fans may be disappointed with her minor role, but Saionji fans won't - he's been given an equal part with the rest of the Student Council. While Shoujo Kakumei Utena seems fairly well tailored for other video game genres (a fighting game springs to mind,) an adventure best reflects the heart of the show - the characters' interactions with themselves and their relationships with others. Besides, you can't steal the heart of your favorite duelist in a fighting game.