Imagine Me & Utena: Recent Episodes
Imagine Me & Utena
This is a weekly podcast about Revolutionary Girl Utena, hosted by Panda and Alice.
If you like the show, you should support us on patreon!
Banner art by Shannon Manor
If you're playing the Utena drinking game, take a shot every time she insists she's a normal girl.
Our good buddy Taz has returned to the show to do some post-Mawaru Penguindrum talk, as well as share with us his manifesto about how it's alllll connected.
WE RETURN FROM THE VOID! Despite being available on patreon this entire time, somehow this episode never made it onto the main feed. I'm sorry it's out of order!
After repeated reference to Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad throughout our Mawaru Penguindrum episodes, we finally decided to talk about it.
You're not going to believe it, but we do literally find out what a penguindrum is this time.
We were joined by friend of the show Taz to talk about the extremely normal one Tabuki is having, and how he's making it everyone else's problem.
We're back! This is an update about the hiatus we've been on, and some discussion about the future of the podcast.
In the wake of disgraced youtuber James Somerton's exposure for plagiarism, an unreleased video he made about Revolutionary Girl Utena was leaked to the public. Panda, Alice, Cass, Vanna from Empty Movement, and Lottie from the Empty Movement discord server gathered to talk about the controversy and the abysmal contents of the video. Happy holidays from the gays over at Imagine Me & Utena!!
Returning guest and Mawaru Penguindrum enthusiast Audrey has joined the show to talk about the Dune-esque assassination plots of one Masako Natsume.
The harrowing follow-up to the last episode has arrived! Alice, Cass, and Panda learn more about Yuri-- but at what cost?
Panda, Alice, and Cass talk to Empty Movement's own Yasha and Vanna, and their friend Laura, about Scott Pilgrim: the comic, the movie, and how it's just Revolutionary Girl Utena for Canadians.
Panda, Alice, and Cass are joined by previous guests Jeff and Maru de Cinco to talk about the latest Mobile Suit Gundam anime, The Witch from Mercury!
Ringo's getting desperate, but she has the power of internet witchcraft and anime on her side.
What a great and hilarious episode of Mawaru Penguindrum! Hopefully nothing horrible happens in the last 5 seconds (:
Panda, Yasha, and Vanna play through the Revolutionary Girl Utena fangame Castle of Blue Roses with its creator, Kita-Ysabell.
This episode is a recording from the Revolutionary Girl Utena 25th anniversary stream weekend, where Panda and the girls from Empty Movement got to talk to v-tuber Maru de Cinco about the formerly lost Latin American dub of the show!
Discord, we're howling at the moon as Panda, Alice, and Cass talk about the iconic 2003 anime Wolf's Rain.
In this episode, Panda, Alice, and Cass talk to new friend Nel about the Yurikuma Arashi manga and its mangaka, Akiko Morishima.
Panda, Alice, and Cass take some translated information from the Yurikuma Arashi Starting Guide, and discuss how they feel about it in the context of both the Yurikuma Arashi anime and manga.
A previous guest returns to talk about Yurikuma Arashi, and Panda and Alice only get distracted a couple of times!
Panda and Alice talk to Andy, an artist working in animation who is obsessed with all things Ikuhara.
Panda, Alice, and Cass are once again joined by the Shadow Play Gays; this time, to talk about Yurikuma Arashi!
This week, Taz joins the podcast to show Panda, Alice, and Cass why Yurikuma Arashi is secretly a sequel to Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Panda, Alice, and Cass talk to the hosts of The Shadow Play Gays, another Revolutionary Girl Utena podcast!
Cass does a Mickey Mouse voice, Yasha goes on a tangent about James Bond, and Panda unintentionally cackles like Gruntilda from Banjo-Kazooie more than once. So, y'know, business as usual.
Back from personal leave, Yasha and Vanna are here to explain to Panda, Alice, and Cass why Yurikuma Arashi is like Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), but better.
In this episode, Alice and Panda sit down with their friend Chelly to talk about all the various ways Revolutionary Girl Utena has been referenced in other media--including some by Ikuhara himself!
In this episode, we have a special guest co-host filling in for our dears Yasha and Vanna, and she teaches us about Japanese mythology!
Alice and Panda talk to a Revolutionary Girl Utena fandom veteran about his work with fan-translation of various pieces of RGU ephemera.
Friend of the show and Mawaru Penguindrum enthusiast Audrey joins the show to talk about her favorite fancy little lad.
This week, Alice and Panda talk to Serena, who just finished the Black Rose Saga and had a lot of things to say about her experience so far. We promise we talk about Yu Yu Hakusho a totally normal amount.
Kappa Connection is back! Kinda!
This is the first of several episodes where we talk to some Sarazanmai fans about their experiences in the fandom and what about the show means the most to them, starting with Cat, who loves those Kuji bros.
This one may have gotten a little away from us at the end. Panda and Alice talk to returning guest Ari Silvera about Revolutionary Girl Utena and the way fandoms treat canon.
In this episode, Panda, Yasha, and Vanna and take a look at some ridiculous things people have said about Revolutionary Girl Utena over the years.
Did you know there are students at Ohtori other than Utena and her friends? In a very special episode of Imagine Me & Utena, we follow the first half of the adventures of four Revolutionary Girl Utena original characters, in a game based in the Big Eyes Small Mouth tabletop rpg system. Also, a new merch announcement!
Chad Waller is an author, musician, and video game writer; he's also on another podcast with Panda! Find out how someone who hated the first episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena ended up watching the whole show.
Once upon a time, many years ago, there was a little princess, and she was very sad, for her mother and father had given birth to another child.
What does it mean to crack the world's shell? This episode's guests Sen and Kita are here to tell us.
Panda and Alice talk to YuriCon founder Erica Friedman about yuri, Japanese genre delineation, and why Juri just needs to move on.
Back when going out and doing things was a viable option, Panda went and visited frequent guests of this podcast Yasha and Vanna and helped them answer some questions from their very full CuriousCat inbox!
The time has finally come for us to begin watching Ikuhara's third anime, Yurikuma Arashi - Love Bullet. It's.....a lot.
Did you think the character episodes were over? So did we! But when Empty Movement comes to you with an idea, you can't help but run with it.
Like a kappa zombie, we rise from the dead. This is an interview with the veritable English language Sarazanmai fandom expert, Megan!
Panda and Alice are joined by Fukiko, an RGU fan from the days of Empty Movement's forum and longtime resident of Japan that Panda met while seeing the Black Rose Saga musical.
Returning champions Abby and Doc help Alice and Panda talk about the second of Chiho Saito's 20th Anniversary manga.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Revolutionary Girl Utena, artist of the original manga Chiho Saito released three chapters under the title After the Revolution, set in a post-series Ohtori world. This is the first of those chapters, focusing on Touga, Saionji, and--to a lesser extent--Akio. Previous guest and certified Touga expert Jenee has returned to help us talk about it.
The ReoMabu Crew cracks the Sarazanmai stage show wide open. What does that mean? Listen and find out!
This actually got uploaded to patreon last night, but never the main feed ^^;;;;;; Sorry! Panda and Abby went to Asakusa when they were in Japan.
Panda and IM&U all-star guest co-host Abby talk with new friend Adrian about RGU and race, as well as RGU crossovers with other series.
Panda and former guests Abby, Yasha, and Giovanna went to Japan to see the Black Rose Saga musical. It was really good!
With all the hubbub surrounding the big trip to Tokyo, I had to pull in a couple of guest co-hosts to help me talk about Sarazanmai so we didn't have to skip a week :P
This is part 1 of 2, talking about the episode and initial reactions to it. Vanna hates happy endings.
Even people who love the Godfather have not seen the Godfather 3, but Kunihiko Ikuhara has.
And with that, we finally finish up the main Revolutionary Girl Utena manga by Chiho Saito.
At least half of this episode is just Panda, Yasha, and Vanna s--tposting about Ikuhara dating Hideaki Anno.
This is the big one......or is it? After two episodes about Kazuki, we finally get some more insight into Enta.
Panda made a friend who doesn't watch anime watch Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie, to the delight and confusion of all involved.
We invited frequent guest Amanda back to talk about what makes Kozue her favorite character.
We finally get our first real look at Sarazanmai and it's......a lot. Listener discretion advised.
Kappa art by @OddLazdo on twitter
In this initial episode of Kappa Connection, we talked about all the promotional materials and information that's been put out in the months leading up to the release of Sarazanmai.
Kappa art by @OddLazdo on twitter
Renn is back from last week's episode to talk more about Revolutionary Girl Utena and gender!
Renn joins Alice and Panda to talk about what Revolutionary Girl Utena has to say about gender.
We're joined by Sen, the founder of the Empty Movement discord server, to talk about the Black Rose chapter of the manga and Mikage as a character.
It's finally time to talk about everyone's second favorite green garbage, second only to Panda. Featuring our new friend Abby! (But not that Abby)
After putting out a fanfic episode about Archimage, we were contacted by its author, Jude McLaughlin. So we decided to invite her onto the show!
We finally did it! We read the movie manga, and returning guest Amanda told us all about her secret reasons for wanting to come on this episode.
Friend of the show Jenee joined us to talk about Touga across the different versions of Revolutionary Girl Utena.
We're back with Gio and Yasha from Empty Movement to talk more about how Revolutionary Girl Utena began to take shape.
The girls from Empty Movement are back to tell us all about some of Ikuhara and company's original concepts for Revolutionary Girl Utena
It's finally time to talk about the best character in all of Revolutionary Girl Utena, joined by our friend Ludzu!
Panda and Alice talk to their new friend Terry about his history with Revolutionary Girl Utena!
Returning guests Jeff and Jenner join the show to talk about the protagonist of the Revolutionary Girl Utena Sega Saturn game, The Story of Someday Revolution
Sometimes you joke something into existing, which is how Giovanna and Sen ended up joining Panda and Alice to talk about Neon Genesis Evangelion and how it relates to RGU.
Klo from the Empty Movement discord joins the podcast to talk about Miki and not seeing Utena and Anthy as a romantic couple.
We're back on the Sarazanmai beat with a new trailer and some more information about the show's characters. Gio and Yasha of Empty Movement join to talk first impressions and continually get off topic.
Returning guests Alan Sells and Sam Krus join the show to talk about the elusive and enigmatic rose bride herself, Anthy.
The fanfiction discussion comes to a close with talk about Archimage by Jude McLaughlin. Spoiler alert: Panda actually read some of it!
It's time for more fanfic talk with Yasha and Sen, this time about Alan Harnum's Jacquemart.
Let's talk about fic, baby! Yasha and Sen join the show to talk about Revolutionary Girl Utena fanfiction, starting with an overview of the fandom's fanfiction history.
Panda and Alice were joined by Empty Movement's Gio and Yasha for a live question and answer stream featuring occasional guests from their discord server. It was a little crazy.
Doc from the Empty Movement discord server joins the podcast to talk about why Shiori is her favorite character!
Resident Juri stan Abby talks to us about why the disaster lesbian is her favorite character.
We've decided to talk to some friends! The first friend episode is with Amanda, a Sailor Moon sh-tposter who also loves Revolutionary Girl Utena.
Oscar and Yasha are back to talk about Anthy and Utena's relationship and why Utena is one of the least-analyzed characters in her own show.
Special guests Oscar and Yasha join the podcast to help talk about the dumb prince herself, Utena!
The only podcast on the internet brave enough to talk about Akio's foot fetish, featuring Gio and Yasha of Empty Movement.
And with that, the journey through the manga comes to a close. Shockingly, it's actually pretty good! Panda and Alice are joined by comedian and podcaster Ari Silvera.
Gio and Yasha from Empty Movement are back again, and this time everyone is watching the new Revolutionary Girl Utena Musical in the very first ever live Imagine Me & Utena episode, recorded with audience interaction on Twitch. It gets preetty spicy.
Alice is gone this week, so Abby has filled in to help Panda and new guest Sem talk about volume 4 of the manga.
CORRECTION: In this episode, the 20th Anniversary Blu Ray is mentioned as not having been released, because this was recorded before it was shipped
And so we reach the end! This is the last episode of our four-parter with Gio and Yasha from Empty Movement.
Back again with Yasha and Gio from Empty Movement, Alice had to leave at the end of the last episode so it's just Panda talking with them about Ikuhara and his upcoming project, as well as other stuff about RGU in general.
This is part 2 of Panda and Alice's conversation with Empty Movement's Yasha and Giovanna. Here, they mostly talk about their trip to Japan, including their visit to the Revolutionary Girl Utena 20th anniversary exhibit in Osaka and the new Revolutionary Girl Utena musical; why the manga is so different from the anime; and how they ended up getting married.
Alice and Panda are joined by Giovanna and Yasha, the mods of the Revolutionary Girl Utena fansite Empty Movement. Saying this episode gets off the rails would imply it was ever on rails to begin with. Here, we mostly talk about the website and their history with the series.
EDIT: In this episode we lament that the 20th anniversary blu rays had still not shipped out; however, the day this episode was posted, Nozomi announced that the blu rays would be shipping out. Yay!!!
We talk about the teaser trailers for Ikuhara's new anime, Sarazanmai, due out in 2019.
Siobhan joined the show to talk about volume 3 of the manga and, more importantly, the fascinating world of Revolutionary Girl Utena merchandise.
Jeff and Jenner join Panda and Alice to talk about Juri's non-canonical heterosexuality.
Friends of the show Teresa and Scarlet join Panda and Alice to talk about the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga!
Panda and Alice have watched and talked about the widely known Comédie Musicale Utena La Fillette Révolutionnaire, but did you know there was another Revolutionary Girl Utena musical? Imagine Me & Utena all-star Abby returns to help them talk about it.
Panda and Abby show Alice the Revolutionary Girl Utena movie, Adolescence of Utena, for the first time.
Panda and Alice try not to get emotional as they head into the finale and into Utena's final duel.
It's the calm before the storm as Utena decides whether or not to head to her final duel.
We had Jeff and Jenner on to ruin everything, but it turns out that they are actually lovely and great to talk to.
Alan Sells of Pokemon World Tour United and The Cool Kids Table helps us figure out if Utena is a magical girl.
The Rumor Come Out: Does Utena is Gay? A very important episode with a very lovely guest, friend of the show Abby!
Panda and guest co-host Karen attempt to tackle this terrible, terrible episode in which a terrible, terrible thing happens.
Part one of our extra long episode! Alice had to leave right when we finished the recap, so keep an eye out for part two tomorrow!
This week we start the second-to-last arc of Revolutionary Girl Utena with Alice threatening to take over the podcast.
It's all Nanami, all the time with this week's episode, featuring a surprise guest co-host filling in for Alice while she's out of town!
We've got an extra long episode this week, folks! Alice and I decided to chat about potential RGU crossovers and AUs while we drove back from seeing a show together. We hope you enjoy!
We're back from our impromptu hiatus with an episode about everyone's favorite onion princess.
In this episode, Mitsuru learns what it means to be an adult, and we do a lot of giggling about it.
In this episode, Panda and Josh get to know Kozue a little better.
She's still a bitch, though.
Panda and Josh met up in meatspace for an anime convention and tapas, and also to record a bonus episode in which they inexplicably reference religion, BoJack Horseman, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. With a brief guest appearance by Sound Guy Jimmy!
This week we meet some new characters, and Panda spends an inordinate amount of time complaining about not being able to say things because spoilers.
The end of an era! Er, saga. The Student Council Saga comes to an end in a sad episode where Utena has puffy sleeves.
This week Panda whines a lot because she's sad and emphatically urges you to support the arts.
We done goofed and weren't able to get this episode out last week, but here it is, re-recorded and actually decent to listen to!
Panda decided to release this episode early instead of working on homework! We got a BODY SWAP episode, folks.
Back again after a couple scheduling conflicts with episode seven! This week, Panda and Josh learn a little more about the most angsty member of the student council, Juri.
After a month hiatus for finals and the holidays, Josh and Panda are back to talk about Nanami inexplicably getting attacked by various animals.
This week Panda and Josh learn about the many ways Nanami wants to show people that Anthy's a weirdo.
This track is incredibly late and for that I am so sorry!! This week Josh teaches Panda about tropes from Western mythology.
Episode 2! Utena wants to escape the Student Council and their "dueling game," but who's to say she has a choice whether she wins or loses at all? Panda and Josh discuss.
This is episode one, where Panda squeals about things she does and does not like, Josh says some smart stuff, and the episode in question is barely summarized outside of the hosts reacting to it.
It'll be better next time, guys, I promise.