IukaSylvie

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I was disappointed to watch a decadent show, not the great Feminist Fantasy that Writing and Fighting for Love and Justice claims as is. Aside from how repetitive and formulaic the story is, I found myself actually feeling Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy alongside my mother by the end of the show because most of the characters were either unpleasant or miserable without subtlety.

While I did like Juri and Wakaba, it didn't change the fact that I found none of the characters particularly relatable and that the show felt decadent much unlike the following works, all of which deal with The End of the World as We Know It, genocide, and/or the loss of loved ones. In fact, I found Count Bleck from Super Paper Mario, Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist, Anton Herzen from Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, and Sigma from Tweeny Witches far more sympathetic than the boring Damsel in Distress Anthy had always been. I only continued to watch until the very end because I wanted to see Akio, who had made me angry to death, face poetic justice. The Grand Finale left me unsatisfied because I didn't get to see him subjected to a Fate Worse than Death where he loses all of his wealth, gets his beauty tarnished, can no longer speak forever, is run over by his own Cool Car, and gets a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown by the Swords of Hate, the World's Strongest Woman, and the angry parents of his victims.

While I love Feminist Fantasy works like Moribito, The Beast Player, Princess Knight, and Tweeny Witches, I don't think that the show lived up to its fame as one of these because it seemed to believe that Real Women Don't Wear Dresses. Anthy is the weak one in a dress in contrast to Utena, a knight in a modified boy's uniform. Whenever Utena becomes feminine, someone weakens her by manipulating her into conforming to gender norms. Enforcing gender norms is bad in itself, of course, but Princess Knight and Brave show that a girl can be both feminine and strong. But when Utena asks Anthy about femininity, Anthy replies, "In the end, all girls are like the Rose Bride" — an Extreme Doormat Stepford Smiler Damsel in Distress who stands around looking pretty and obeying her master. No other character I've ever seen was that pathetic, not even traditionally feminine ones like Queen Elinor from Brave and Atelia from Tweeny Witches.

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/review_comments.php?id=18441