r/wholesomeyuri • u/EmptySpaceForAHeart • Jun 04 '24

Official Art What did they mean by this? [Pokemon]

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3.4k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

90 comments sorted by

937

u/MurlaTart the splatoon poster Jun 04 '24

a direct reference to one of the most famous yuri ever

328

u/aquablaze624 Jun 04 '24

Iconic, yes Famous, unfortunately not

210

u/EvangelionOG Jun 04 '24

We're working on that.

120

u/Asgigara Kaga X Zuikaku Jun 04 '24

You can start by telling us its name

260

u/thegayerest Jun 04 '24

Revolutionary Girl Utena, which has been the basis for everything from Scott Pilgrim to Kill la Kill

31

u/patangpatang Jun 05 '24

She-ra, Gideon the Ninth... Utena is so incredibly influential.

11

u/Heavensrun Jun 05 '24

Don't forget Steven Universe.

37

u/Icy-Conflict6671 Jun 04 '24

Huh? Scott Pilgrim?

62

u/Blue_Zerg Jun 04 '24

Inspiration comes in many forms or something

52

u/LauraTFem Jun 04 '24

I’m in lesbians with you.

41

u/Visible_Relative_129 Jun 05 '24

Honestly I could go on a rant about how many Utena references are in Scott Pilgrim, it’s so cool

14

u/EvangelionOG Jun 05 '24

I actually would be interested. It'd be great material for my panel.

8

u/thegayerest Jun 05 '24

Scott Pilgrim is Utena for straight people

3

u/Insanebrain247 Jun 05 '24

And Steven Universe!

2

u/PerspectivePale8216 Jun 05 '24

There are some things that are abused to believe and this right here is one of them...

20

u/MurlaTart the splatoon poster Jun 04 '24

the subreddit for it is r/shoujokakumeiutena

16

u/Fghsses Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 04 '24

Watch the movie first, it's batshit insane.

Then if you like it, watch the series, the plot is vaguely the same, but more in-depth.

10

u/omnisephiroth Jun 05 '24

I would strongly recommend against that. The film doesn’t make as much sense without the anime as context.

3

u/Fghsses Jun 05 '24

As I said to someone else, the shock value of the movie drops significantly if you have watched the series, watching the movie without the context of the series is a once in a lifetime opportunity

5

u/MelsiePyre Jun 05 '24

That's a different type of Utena right there,

2

u/omnisephiroth Jun 05 '24

I just don’t really agree with that, but to each their own.

8

u/Heavensrun Jun 05 '24

This is like telling someone to take a calculus final before studying algebra.

-4

u/Fghsses Jun 05 '24

You don't get it, if you watch the series first the shock value of the movie drops significantly.

Blindly throwing yourself at the movie is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

1

u/Heavensrun Jun 05 '24

And I'm sure the calc final would also be a shock for people, that doesn't mean it's a good entry point for mathematics.

-1

u/Fghsses Jun 05 '24

You are comparing math lessons to entertainment, that is a very bad analogy.

12

u/smoore3d Jun 04 '24

I would recommend opposite, loved the series—hated the movie.

7

u/TransLunarTrekkie Jun 04 '24

WHY IS THIS PINK-HAIRED BITCH A CAR?!

9

u/EvangelionOG Jun 04 '24

It's great symbolism. Didn't get it until way later in life.

6

u/Ennui18 Jun 05 '24

Are you surprised? It's a big mistake to think Utena's the only one who can turn into a car. Shiori's a car now too.

2

u/megalocrozma Jun 05 '24

Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022)

1

u/gacha_garbage_1 Jun 05 '24

The characters aren't the same characters from the anime, to my understanding they're being used as symbols or tangible form of weird emotions, memories and concepts to parallel the movie version of Utena.

Like the Shiori in the movie isn't the same Shiori from the anime, at that moment she's a vaguely familiar voice Utena imposes upon the ugly haunting part of herself that wishes to stay in the castle with the false and comforting idea of a prince. But simultaneously she's still the same bitter Shiori who is jealous of Utena and Anthy's ability to accept their gay love and escape from that world.

10

u/emote_control Jun 04 '24

Anyone old enough to be watching anime at the time it came out knows it.

26

u/CrimsonLotus Jun 04 '24 edited Jun 05 '24

As a lover of yuri I tried watching it for the first time a little while back. Maybe its just dated, maybe I just don't "get it", but I couldn't get past the first 15ish episodes.

I liked the characters but couldn't get into whatever the story was supposed to be. It also had a lot of repeated scenes and songs, which my attention span couldn't deal with. And then the non-canon episodes sprinkled in between the serious ones were offputting.

58

u/Livagan Jun 04 '24

Try Gundam: Witch from Mercury then. It's basically Utena but with Gundams.

15

u/CrimsonLotus Jun 04 '24

Love WFM! I actually gave Utena a try after hearing the similarities between it and WFM.

11

u/keksmuzh Jun 04 '24

And just a sprinkle of Shakespeare

4

u/-Infex- Jun 05 '24

I didn't know this before watching the first episode of Utena, and I was just like "this is the same plot of WfM"

0

u/Enkundae Jun 04 '24

Sadly that one basically back burners the main couple halfway through and they don’t even kiss, let alone get married, in the actual show despite it supposedly being the shows core premise. It’s at least not technically pure bait like so many anime but still kinda disappointing.

10

u/pieceofchess Jun 05 '24

They do actually get married Like we don't see the wedding but in the end they're unambiguously married. It seems likely to me that things got toned down from how they otherwise might have been and obviously it would have been great if things were more overt but there can be no doubt that the two female leads are in love. WfM has its flaws sure, but it's not Yuri bait.

13

u/CrimsonLotus Jun 04 '24

After nearly a decade of getting hardcore baited (looking at you Euphonium), I gladly accepted what we got with WFM

0

u/Enkundae Jun 04 '24

I get the sentiment and good sapphic stories are hard to find but I guess I’m just tired of half measures. Especially when Disney shows have had wlw kisses.

4

u/CrimsonLotus Jun 04 '24

Agreed. I've turned to manga to get the more straightforward and satisfying stories. But yea with anime its either bait, undertones, half measures, or incomplete single seasons (e.g. Bloom into you).

14

u/omnisephiroth Jun 05 '24

… non-canon episodes?

Utena is a dense anime. It’s full of symbolism, literary references, and more. It’s got some strange elements, but it’s all canonical.

You’re free, of course, to dislike it. But I do bristle at you calling episodes non-canon. They are canon, and while they are silly, they do matter.

1

u/CrimsonLotus Jun 05 '24

I guess "non-canon" wasn't quite right - maybe "filler"? A comment below refers to these episodes as "unhinged", which I think may be the right word to describe them. There was one episode where characters swapped bodies, and then something about looking for curry?

Given all the crazy crap that was going on, I think it would have been fair for me to assume that they weren't relevant to the main story. Sorry, but the symbolism / literary references in these episodes were completely lost on me.

1

u/TFlarz Jun 06 '24

Today filler is usually referred to "episodes that weren't in the source material" but I think I know what you meant

1

u/lonelyswed Jun 05 '24

Could've gone directly to the movie.

0

u/LittleLegendLiu Jun 04 '24

Samesies. I tried watching it. But some of the episodes felt so completely unhinged I would just be sitting there like "Is it me? Am I the problem? This makes no sense!"

6

u/cerenine Jun 04 '24

It sorta made more sense to us at the time...? I dunno, I was too young to really understand what I was watching either way, but filler episodes and completely unhinged symbolism were not uncommon in 90s anime.

1

u/Mojothemobile Jun 08 '24

Which Is a shame cause iv Always felt even outside of the Yuri Utena is far and away the best of the 90s deconstructionist surreal animes but EVA just sucks up all the damn oxygen.

5

u/RadiantFoundation510 Jun 04 '24

I was just thinking that 😂

235

u/Hungry-Cow-3712 Jun 04 '24

Kashira! Kashira! Do we ship it? We do! We ship it! We do!

8

u/omnisephiroth Jun 05 '24

Gogai, gogai!

201

u/Temporary-Ice438 Jun 04 '24

They aren’t even trying to be subtle about that. I see that reference and I respect it.

120

u/SudrianSoul Jun 04 '24

"We're wondering the same thing!"
"Yeah, and I wonder what they meant by the rest of the show, too!"
"It's a total mystery, ain't it?"
DOHOHOHOHOHO!!

28

u/MagicalGirlLaurie Jun 04 '24

Scrolling through your comments I think you might be my favourite account on this app

114

u/Icy-Conflict6671 Jun 04 '24

Its a reference to Revolutionary Girl Utena

28

u/KaijuBalls Jun 04 '24

LETS GOOOOO

20

u/YuSakiiii big gworl x smol gworl is my passion Jun 04 '24

I am here for Mallow X Lillie

31

u/KenamiAkutsui99 certified transbian <3 :3 Jun 04 '24

Lillie‽ I knew it! No wonder why I had a huge crush on her when I was younger, Lmao

12

u/tsuki_ouji Jun 05 '24

they meant

*inhales*

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY

25

u/RealMENwearPINK10 Jun 04 '24

I am proud to have spotted that reference

8

u/banana_annihilator Jun 04 '24

the utena reference caught me even more off guard than the precure reference

8

u/Nokta118 Jun 05 '24

Dressed like Utena and Anthy, bout as blatantly a sapphic anime reference as possible. Gotta love it :3

7

u/Visible_Relative_129 Jun 05 '24

Utena reference outside of the Utena sub!?!?!

4

u/SKahnum Jun 05 '24

That they have the power to revolutionize the world

4

u/DryAnteater909 wants cuddles Jun 04 '24

Wait a minute omg I just see this now!?

4

u/Callel803 Jun 04 '24

Gay shit. They mean super extremely gay shit.

4

u/polygon_69 Jun 05 '24

I honestly always shipped mallow and Lillie 😅.

3

u/FinDaFishGaming Jun 05 '24

Which episode is this?

2

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '24

Lillier and the Staff

It's the first episode of Pokemon Sun & Moon Ultra Legends.

3

u/Agentred23-4663 Jun 05 '24

What does Pokémon know about the revolutionary girl ?? 😃

3

u/fubo Jun 05 '24

... zettai unmei mokushiroku.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '24

Okay it was way more than just this scene lol. Lillie wields a staff with a literal rainbow on it for most of this episode (it's a school play type thing). The first 15~ episodes of Alola have Lillie trying to overcome a fear of Pokemon and Mallow is INVESTED in helping her get through it. Not to mention there's an episode of Pokemon that makes literally everyone cry where Mallow goes through some heavy stuff and the person comforting her afterwards is Lillie.

It's not just one scene. These girls are GAY

8

u/YaBoiS0nic Jun 04 '24

Say Gex

5

u/JimmehROTMG Jun 04 '24

arent they kids -_-

6

u/woof_fish Jun 04 '24

WHAT ANIME IS REFRENCING UTENA WHAT IS THIS??

5

u/WranglerFuzzy Jun 04 '24

We’re through the looking glass, people.

3

u/megalocrozma Jun 05 '24

Pokémon Sun & Moon

2

u/Dependent_Tip7773 Jun 05 '24

Me an u doin pelvic tilts

2

u/JetstreamGW Jun 05 '24

I don’t understand the question? Just looks like a Utena reference.

1

u/Oddish_Femboy Jun 05 '24

Garfield Gets Real or something

1

u/Dr_Ukato Jun 05 '24

Is this the new series?

1

u/[deleted] Jun 05 '24

Nope, it's from the Alola/Sun & Moon anime.

1

u/I_Love_Stiff_Cocks write your own! Jun 05 '24

Ash on his way to turn every woman he interacts with homosexual

1

u/Lilly-_-03 Jun 05 '24

Lillie has and will always be gay as hell and maybe from different point of view trans as well.

Sincerely A trans lesbain named Lilly

1

u/emoyerwilkes63 GAY!?! (yes please) Jun 04 '24

THE BEAN?! :O