BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

MissSimonetta If you've never watched the TV series Revolutionary Girl Utena, then this movie will not make one lick of sense. The plot line is so full of abstractions and references to the original series that it will no doubt be incomprehensible to anyone unfamiliar with any of it, who will only take away the breathtaking animation and music once the credits crawl by.For those who have seen and loved the TV series, then this is an interesting, but not essential, work. It's an alternate, even more dreamlike version of the original show's story, with an older-looking Utena and Anthy. There is more of an examination of Utena's relationship with Touga and Utena and Anthy's implied romance is made outright explicit.Overall, an interesting and visually beautiful film, but I'd only recommend it to fans of the series.

ackey I'm a big fan of the series and watched the movie when I had seen most of the episodes. Basically, they tried to put in most of the meaning and ideas of the series into the movie. But they changed some major points - so much that a person who has never seen the series will see a very different move than a die hard fan. Unfortunately, there are many "shout outs" to episodes which are randomly scattered in the movie and make no sense.The movie's style is similar to the series, but it does many things just for their aesthetic value. That and the randomness of certain things makes it a very strange movie to watch. It feels more akin to a work of art than a movie (think Titanic of the Matrix). Every time I have watched it I have enjoyed it more and come away more emotionally moved.If this is your first exposure to Utena, just accept that some things won't make sense. If you are familiar with the television series, pretend that the movie takes place in a different universe.

staryub Adolescence Mokushiroku (Adolescence Apocalypse) is an amazing movie that require the viewer to have at least a passing knowledge of the Utena series and who the characters are or what it means to be who. But only vaguely. The characters in the movie are variably different from their series counterparts (especially Akio) and it takes a clear mindframe to comprehend the movie.The surrealistic setting with a constantly-moving school and blackboards allows the characters to seem even more imaginary and set apart from reality. Although the big finale of the film is probably the most critiqued part of it, it is a true reason that Ikuhara doesn't give credit to. *semi-spoilers* The amazing chase scene with the Utena-car and the Shiori-car and all those other strange vehicles is one of the most stunning and incomprehensible movie scenes ever. But the essence of the metaphor of driving and the ability to move forward is constant with the film's central message of growth.And as far as the yuri/shoujo-ai kiss between Utena and Anthy at the end goes, it's nothing that wasn't deeply hinted at during the series (it shows what would happen if Utena and Anthy stuck their heads forward a little bit farther during the opening sequence... of course, it's also a bit different anywa)... But it's still a beautiful story that should be appreciated outside the series.

erebus53 I first saw this at a friend's place. It has quickly joined other anime greats such as Neon Genesis: Evangelion and Ghost in The Shell (to name some well known titles) as a Personal Favourite. The characters both male and female are beautiful and the soundtrack is both striking and complimentary.I fear however that the plot may seem a little too tenuous for a western audience and they may not understand what is happening. I do look forward to seeing more of this sort of thing readily available outside of Japan. :)