Manga Review - 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' by Chiho Saitō (Writer, Artist), Be-Papas (Original Creator), Fred Burke (English Adaptation), Lillian Olsen (Translator)

Funny, I bought this before I remembered that I already read it and owned it, as part of the 'Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set'. I had pretty much forgotten all about the manga version of the movie 'Adolescence of Utena'. Until now.

For what it's worth, 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' is an okay, if truncated, manga adaptation, with its own choices, traits, strengths and weaknesses. On its own, it is serviceable and enjoyable, with a great, classic shōjo art style that reminds me of Naoko Takeuchi's. It is nowhere close to the WTF factor as the movie, nor as subtle. What is going on and why is explained quite plainly to the reader. It certainly takes itself more seriously.

In addition, any character besides Utena, Anthy, Touga and Akio, such as the other duelists, they are completely forgotten about by the end. They end up serving no purpose. It is all about the foursome; they are the focus.

Speaking of focus, it is not much a deconstructed fairy tale, with a strong emphasis on subverting gender roles and identity (though it is present), like the original anime.

Still, it is a good, fantastical, brutal, grown-up little story and collectible for any 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' fan. It is especially refreshing to include it in the manga adaptation collection, which has been, sadly, a straightwashed, straightforward, watered down and less symbolic version of the anime. 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena' isn't straightwashed, thankfully. Slightly less incest than in the anime, too.

It's also weird how Chu-chu, Anthy's little pet monkey, does end up making an appearance here, but not Nanami, Touga's younger sister. She doesn't exist in this alternate reality.

I know I've said this time and time again, but poor girl.

Nanami just can't catch a break.

For more context, and further thoughts on the manga series and the anime series, read my review of the 'Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set'.

Then there's my recent review of 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution'.

Farewell, 'RGU'. Farewell, Utena. Till we meet again. May you keep revolutionising the world. Alongside your true love, Anthy.

Sapphic love revolutionises the world. Subtly.

Farewell to all the roses and stars.

Final Score: 3.5/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Botticelli's Apprentice' by Ursula Murray Husted

'Botticelli's Apprentice' - what a colourful, cute, poignant, meaningful, heartwarming feminist history lesson and art lesson this turned out to be.

I might not be that interested in Italian history, the Italian Renaissance arts, or how paints, powders, paintbrushes, panels, canvasses and portraits are made, but wow did 'Botticelli's Apprentice' manage to hold my attention and keep me invested for 257 pages in under two hours. In fact, I am now fascinated by how paints and brushes are made, at least originally. (All those eggs and crystals! And goose feathers!)

Humans are such fascinating, amazing, innovative, inventive, creative, and invigorative beings. Seeing how art is created - how classic works of art, like from the Renaissance period, were made - is an enlightening, soulful experience. I feel honoured and privileged.

And this is coming from a graphic novel that wouldn't look out of place in something like 'Hark! A Vagrant', or the works of Pénélope Bagieu. Don't let the cartoony and childlike art style fool you - it is a work of art in of itself. Beneath the surface, the cover, it's a smart, subtle, unpretentious, well-rounded, all-encompassing beauty.

'Botticelli's Apprentice' is a funny, touching and charming children's historical fiction graphic novel, full of heart, brains, and passion.

For all its educational content, at its heart it is about a chicken farm girl, Mella, who wants to be an artist - she is an artist - and her scraggly dog who chews and eats everything. A boy apprentice/reluctant partner is there too, I guess.

There are older female characters who inspire Mella; not solely and simply Sandro Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, the older women, including her mother and aunt, are Mella's muses, in more ways than one.

I love Mella. Such a strong, determined, intrepid, brave, wise, funny, temperamental, and sensitive young girl. And brown-haired girls FTW! I love too how loving and supportive her mother and her aunt are. I wish they could have received extra page time.

Oh, 'Botticelli's Apprentice', what a lovely masterpiece you are. It's funny how I read Ursula Murray Husted's previous comic, 'A Cat Story', first, and it wasn't until I got my hands on this that I realised it's by the same author. In my humble opinion, 'Botticelli's Apprentice' is a better work of all-ages art and fiction, and Italian art history lesson.

This year, I am going to Rome, and very soon, so it seems fitting that I read the 2025 graphic novel 'Botticelli's Apprentice' when I did, and really liked it.

It's brilliant, and a reminder of just how important art is.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Exquisite Corpse' by Pénélope Bagieu, Alexis Siegel (Translator)

I honestly don't know why I ended up liking this.

I am surprised, gobsmacked, flabbergasted by how much I like 'Exquisite Corpse', despite a lot of its content pissing me off.

I am absolutely not into meanspirited "comedies" where "everyone is an arsehole" is the crutch of their "humour" - and that goes for irreverent, "edgy", "shocking" "adult" "comedies" that are in reality just lazy, childish, regressive, hateful, toxic, and too easy to write. Yet, miracle of miracles, 'Exquisite Corpse' managed to charm me, and I find it strangely endearing and adorable.

It isn't lazy and cheap, either. There is cleverness to be found in it.

It is an adult French comedy graphic novel about writing, books, and people. It is simultaneously well written and yet not so - it can be contrived, trite, silly and inexplicable. It is funny, yet its "jokes" are often rote and predictable. None of its characters are particularly likeable, yet they are kind of relatable and realistic, with realistic, stupid flaws, and possible mental maladies. You can definitely tell that it is something that came out in 2010.

I dunno, maybe I'm won over by the cartoony, cute art and character designs, complete with the clever use of colours. In fact, it reminds me of what the first draft storyboard drawings at Pixar would look like. I know, 'Exquisite Corpse' is all kinds of weird and postmortem postmodern!

And maybe I find the twist at the end worth celebrating. It lives up to the comic's cartoony style, and comes right out of nowhere and is highly implausible. There are many holes and acrobatic swings and leaps in logic to it. However, after a breather from turning the last page, it is oddly satisfying and wonderful. A remarkable feminist twist (on a love triangle, which is itself a trite trope and cursed writing device) for its time.

The book's whole synopsis - its abstract form in every sense of the word - is like the term "Death of the author", told in many ironic, wiggly, squiggly twists.

And it's like a dark, twisted, less-academic, less-BDSM version of the film 'Professor Marston and the Wonder Women'. Conjointly, I'm sure it's like a lot of artsy French films, only fresher and funnier.

I won't dare spoil anything further.

Except: Despite the title, there is no corpse in this comic, nothing so gruesome and macabre, nothing resembling a black comedy, per say. Nothing so literary literal. It's metaphorical. Sort of...

It contains books, a bookshop, and a cat, too. Sign me the F up for those!

'Exquisite Corpse' - like a sitcom from the 2000s, it is... an acquired taste. It's a time capsule, that would, in spite of its flaws, stand the test of time. For me, it's like an adult, no-ghosts version of another late 2000s-early 2010s comic, 'Anya's Ghost'. Even the art style is similar. Then there's 'Page by Paige'.

I'd wanted to finally check out 'Exquisite Corpse' because I loved Pénélope Bagieu's 'Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked The World'. That is a masterpiece, and it certainly was an experience seeing how far she's come from one of her earlier works.

Well, regardless, 'EC' is unique, enjoyable, fascinating and charming to me. This corpse is far from dead, and also far from exquisite - but it is its own thing; it is its own well rounded, brilliant, satirical genius. A deeply cynical yet oddball, charismatic, delightful, poignant look at the human condition.

Here's a glass, a toast, to another guilty pleasure - the guiltiest of pleasures - graphic novel I read in 2025 (fifteen years after it came out, blimey).

Final Score: 3.5/5

Book Review - 'Watercress' by Andrea Wang (Writer), Jason Chin (Illustrator)

It's my 1100th review.

(And it's only been four months since my 1000th review.)

On this momentous, tremendous occasion, I'll look at a little book that's a little different.

'Watercress' is something not quite typical for me to read, but it's still vital in its themes and message:

It's a realistic, semiautobiographical picture book about China, Chinese immigration, Chinese Americans, poverty and famine. It's about family, and appreciating the nature around you, and what you have in the world, for free. It's about understanding what your parents (and grandparents, and previous generations) went through, when they did not have the luxuries and freedom that you take for granted now, and saving what you can now, regardless of whether they cost money, so that no one will go hungry again.

It's a timeless, universal message.

'Watercress' is a quick, but important read for everyone.

It ends up being heartbreaking, yet hopeful and loving, not bittersweet - thanks to the power of memory, communicating said memories and sharing them, listening to others, learning from history, never repeating the human errors and devastating tragedies of the past, and empathy.

True value and worth comes from human beings and what keeps them alive, not from things. Not from materialism.

Nobody should be made to think "Free is bad" in any context. Ever.

Anticapitalism is definitely a theme here. It is impossible to separate it from poverty, famine, and racism, and how those exist.

The art is magnificent - a triumph. It reminds me of the classic Shirley Hughes children's books I read as a child, only with Asian characters.

Thus ends my non-spoiler review of 'Watercress'. A quick overview of a quick, harrowing and beautiful children's picture book. It deserved every award it received. Highly recommended.

Now I want to eat some watercress.

Happy 1100th milestone for me, and a happy, safe, satisfying, sustainable day for everyone else and their families, on earth.

Final Score: 4/5

Graphic Novel Review - 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' by Mariko Tamaki (Writer), Javier Rodríguez (Artist), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer)

'Zatanna: Bring Down the House', by Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez, is a flawed, but magical and enjoyable new, Black Label retelling of the origin of DC's showstopping magician and superheroine, Zatanna.

The art is great, colourful, expressive, appropriately dark and shadowy when it needs to be, and just overall nice-looking.

The storytelling structure, pacing, aesthetic, aura, vibe and feel is fast, flashy, sporadic, spooky, action-packed, funny, and sexy. The comic is, in essence, all-go, and there is all manner of zaniness, wackiness, supernatural otherworldliness, shadiness, shiftiness, and rift-iness going on in the plot.

And rabbits. Lots and lots of rabbits.

Mariko Tamaki's Zatanna is confident, sassy, funny, and self-aware. But deep down, she is a troubled woman with a traumatic past - and power, her very magic - that she is trying to hide ("I do tricks, not magic."). She is a very human lady magician - she is no one's assistant, patsy or victim - who will learn of and accept her potential and worth, and thus come into her own amazing power, over the course of her story. She will learn to not fear herself and what she might do to others (she has anxiety as well as PTSD), and will never give up and hold back again.

No supressing. No repressing.

Like all women, Zatanna is so much stronger than she thinks; than she gives herself credit for.

Speaking of credit, I have to give it also to the creative team of 'Bring Down the House' for depicting Zatanna's father, Zatara, as the creepy, manipulative, villainous bastard he's in fact always been. Plus he's power-hungry and egotistical; rotten to the core. I don't care if that's a spoiler - it needs to be said, and it wouldn't be a review of mine if I didn't hold toxic, abusive men, fictional or not, accountable for their actions.

Men like John Constantine. Oh yeah, he's in this comic. Of course he is.

He's yet another creepy, secretive, diabolical, arsehole alpha male out to control Zatanna's life, and potentially ruin it carelessly. He doesn't deserve half the page time he gets here. Zatanna should just stop trusting him, and ditch him already. He's not worth it. What a pain.

The (other) major flaws I perceive in 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' are its too-fast pace, it being too short and in need of proper development in some areas, side characters who are given ridiculously brief appearances and then never show up again (in a few cases this happens suddenly, like in a few pages, or even a single page, and the characters get completely forgotten about, and you're left wondering what their point was and why they weren't cut during the editing process), and its rushed ending, that isn't nearly as flashy and cool as it should have been. Though the final page is an awesome sight.

Really, 'Zatanna: Bring Down the House' is a fun ride. It's like a Vegas stage show in comic form, with plenty of tricks, twists, turns, and easter eggs up its sleeve. It could have turned out far more chaotic as a result, but it managed well. And did I mention the rabbits? (Hey, Easter is coming up, isn't it? What a coincidink.) There are as many white bunnies as there are playing cards in this story. They are as important as Zatanna's top hat.

I would be remiss to not mention: 'Bring Down the House' is full of strong, complex female characters, who form complicated bonds with our own complex, three-dimensional, personality-filled main heroine. It's mostly female friendships and support all around.

Bring down the house - meaning, bring down the patriarchy!

Bring down the house of cards - bring down the house of cads!

In conclusion: Not as feminist or cohesive as it could have been, but as it is, I enjoyed the girl power trip. And show. And human display that is clearly affectionate and respectful towards Zatanna.

Zatanna - superheroine and witch/magician. She should be an absolute favourite character of mine. Sadly, due to her not being used much in any media, and me being unimpressed with how she's been written in the past - far too often as a victim and pawn of men's schemes and megalomania - she is not. But now, she might be getting there. She looks like Wonder Woman, but she acts like a magical version of Carmen Sandiego. She is like DC's version of Marvel's Nico Minoru, aka Sister Grimm, except she's an adult, and white, hetero, and a stage magician.


For more, in-depth thoughts on Zatanna, I'll link my two previous comic book reviews about her:


The good: 'Zatanna and the House of Secrets'

The bad: 'Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend'


Final Score: 3.5/5

Manga Review - 'Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution' by Chiho Saitō (Writer, Artist), Be-Papas (Original Concept), Adrienne Beck (Translator)

I thought I'd read more 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' content, as a fan.

'Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution' is pretty much exactly like the classic 1997 anime. It's strange, it's weird, its surreal, it's unconventional and challenging and proud of it, it's avant-garde, it's twisty, it's confusing, it's shocking, it's dark, it's cynical, it's existentialist, it's not easy to like and, again, it's proud of it, and it's wonderful and loving at the same time.

It's hopeful, yet kind of bittersweet about it.

It's creative, and also clearly borrows elements, storylines and character arcs from both the anime series and the subsequent movie, 'Adolescence of Utena'.

It's set twenty years or so after the events of the anime, and it tells three stories, about each of the former Ohtori Academy Student Council members/Rose duelists, and how they will, or won't (?), finally each reach their own revolutions. In their adulthood, and their relationships in their adult lives, carried on from their uncertain, maturing, unfinished and unresolved childhoods.

The manga is about humans processing past trauma, and coming towards something resembling a closure. To reconcile, communicate; interact with people properly again. To seek comfort, support, and love.

In revisiting the past, remembering, releasing and recovering - opening up old, painful wounds - it is possible to find peace, and move on in life.

Coming-of-age stories don't always end. They don't always conclude, even in adulthood.

Don't fret: Utena and Anthy are present... sort of. I don't know what to add further without spoiling anything, but I'll settle with this explanation, for all the lucid clarification (*pffft*) the manga gives us: Utena and Anthy are with these duelists, in their individual and independent lives, spiritually, and the adolescent, apocalyptic couple will, at long last, reach a happily ever after together, in this beautiful yet broken and brutal, not-fairy tale deconstruction.

Roses and sword fighting, as ostensive metaphors in a series full of metaphors of all kinds and layers, still factor into it.

I'm also fairly certain that, judging from 'After the Revolution', 'Adolescence of Utena', and the OG manga series, the creators don't like Nanami much. They don't care for her at all. Poor girl. And they've forgotten about Chu-chu, or they don't find him relevant and have no need for him anymore. As literally cartoonishly out of place as that tiny monkey pet and mascot was in the original series.

'Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution' - recommended for 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' fans, specifically the anime, as it is a direct sequel to that canon continuity (and unlike the OG manga, also by Chiho Saitō, it doesn't straightwash any of the characters, for which I am grateful). It's what you would expect it to be. Maybe nothing groundbreaking, or wholly satisfying, but it is enough. For now.

For, like any series and franchise, not just this one, we are always growing. Developing. Evolving.

Loving.



'No matter what kind of future it may be... I will always find you.

We are not alone.'



Beautiful ending. Beautiful message.

Never give up on this world. Nor the people in it.

Happy 20th/21st anniversary, 'Revolutionary Girl Utena'


Read my reviews of:


'Revolutionary Girl Utena, Vol. 1: To Till'

and

'Revolutionary Girl Utena Complete Deluxe Box Set'


for more 'RGU' goodness.


Final Score: 3.5/5

Book Review - 'I Am Lilith' by Melanie Dufty

'I Am Lilith' - An epic reimagining of the story of Lilith

The legend of Lilith.



I rated 'I Am Lilith' three stars out of five - like just over a half-moon rating - but in this case it doesn't mean that I think it's mediocre, that it isn't for me, or that I don't recommend it. On the contrary, I absolutely recommend that everyone, as many people as humanly possible, hear of it, and read it.

For while there are some things in it that annoyed me and made me very uncomfortable - such as the misfortune of hindsight on the reader's part and being frustrated by the main first woman Lilith's foolishness and disregarding of red flags, and the infuriating idea of a handsome, domineering and assertive man mollifying and successfully bringing a strong feminist woman to submission being perpetuated here, not to mention all the SA - 'I Am Lilith' is overall an important feminist book, containing so many universal truths, common sense, and profound and inspiring quotes.

It provides warnings on human errors, repeated throughout history, too.

(Some of my three-star books are like that, actually.)

'I Am Lilith' is not a long novel, but it is epic in scope, scale, themes, details, historical research, and in its reimagining the dawn of the patriarchy, and how it has shaped our civilisation, culture, and society as we know it all still even today.

It is epic in, *ahem*, biblical proportions.

It is like a female-dominated 'The Lord of the Rings'. It is Shakespearean. It is like 'The Women of Troy' by Euripides. It is a representation of a matriarchal/world order collapse. Epic. Tragic.

It is enchanting as well as relevant. Towards its end, it is especially somber, depressing, horrific, and overwhelming, but in a good, beneficial way. It is a cautionary tale. A warning to every human obsessed with dividing and conquering.

Subjugation, oppression, abuse, slavery, jealousy, envy, hatred, revenge, violence, war, and no empathy, compassion and kindness - these lead to the death of civilisation and humanity. We need to realise this.

'I Am Lilith' could help us to understand ourselves and each other, regardless of gender. It could even save us all.

We are all different, yet not that different. We each deserve respect. We are as one - human.

Oh, the negative notes are coming back: 'I Am Lilith' is a little overwritten and meandering, its chapters are too long, and nearly all the adult female characters around Lilith - the priestesses, the matrons, and the councillors - are not well defined and are indistinguishable. I thought and felt that Lilith, Adam, and Lilith's twin brother Sabium - the three key players of humanity's fate and "destiny" (Eve doesn't appear until much later on, and she is ostensibly a pawn and a tool) - had the most solid, three-dimensional characterisation. Well, except maybe for Lilith's little daughter Aea - I'll remember her for a long time.

But you know what? 'I Am Lilith' is still well written, and clearly written from the heart. It has passion and force. Melanie Dufty wanted to tell us something in planning it, typing it up, and putting it out there.

Indeed, it is radical, unconventional, bold, daring, brave, and blasphemous. It is soaring-ly, sorrowfully unique, unlike anything that has been written before; even less so in 2020. No wonder it was independently published, and subsequently marked as a banned book.

Of course I recommend it. And of course I am keeping it on my shelf, despite my own niggling, personal gripes.

'I Am Lilith' - feel the feminine power. And love. It is eye-opening, awe-inspiring, and terribly, brutally heartbreaking.

Lilith knows how the patriarchy came to be. She was there. She tried to stop it. Tried to prevent it. She tried to fight for equality between the sexes; to be a diplomat. She tried to stop man's world from seeping into our reality; from spreading globally - forcefully, violently, bloodily, persistently. She knows all about the curse on our world - the curse of the patriarchy; evil, power-hungry, insecure, fearful, desperate, unrelenting, fragile, broken men's power over everything and everyone.

Lilith knows that true equality - the merging and sharing between the feminine and the masculine, for us to truly become one, to get over ourselves already - to disregard societal concepts of gender - and see each other as equal humans with our own power and rights to simply be human, to be free - it is possible.

Someday.

We just have to let it.

Give equality and peace - of mind, body, heart, and spirit - a chance.

But really, we do need to get over ourselves, and stop obsessing over "superiority" and "inferiority" based entirely on genitalia. On genetics, biology, breeding and sexual reproduction. What nonsense. What a limited scope and views. Toxic, harmful rubbish.

Following this, I have to add that one of the novel's themes is all-encompassing love - and that includes queer love. Same sex love and couples are present. Sadly, I don't think there is anything regarding trans and nonbinary rep, nor asexual rep, and most of the women are also mothers. More flaws of the book.

At least it remembers menstruation.



I love Lilith. The first independent, indomitable woman. The first truly loving and passionate woman. The first feminine power.

No-- every power.

Lilith - the first and most misunderstood, contested, targeted, dehumanised, demonised, flawed, complex, complicated woman.

'I Am Lilith'

We are Lilith.

(Read it and you'll know what I mean. That is all I have to say.)

Final Score: 3/5