US DOMESTIC Of the Tv Series, episodes 1- 13 have been released by Central Park Media (henceforth known as CPM,or 'those idiots', or just 'idiots'), under the name Revolutionary Girl Utena. VHS is spread over 4 tapes, available both subtitled and dubbed. They are available as single videos or in the box set, which is considered the better deal. Volume 1- Crest of the Rose Volume 2- The Legendary Spice Volume 3- The Eternal Castle Volume 4- The Power of Dios VHS Box Set DVD has 2 discs. Volume 1-The Rose Collection 1- eps 1-7 Volume 2-The Rose Collection 2- eps 8-13 Information on DVD extras forthcoming. Episodes 14-29 are currently no longer obtainable from fansubbers. (see CPM rant below) Episodes 30-39 can be found at many online distros, until the purchase of the US distrubition rights is announced. CPM has released the movie on VHS and DVD. Revolutionary Girl Utena- The Movie A limited edition DVD was released- the only difference between DVD versions is the hot pink keepcase the limited comes with. The limited also came with a second DVD containing only CPM trailers. I've heard it's boring unless you particularly enjoy bad trailers. Personally, I never took it from the case. JAPANESE The Tv Series was first released on LD and VHS. VHS-no info yet LD- no info yet DVDs were released later, over only 8 volumes, and with new covers. Volume 1- Volume 2- Volume 3- Volume 4- Volume 5- Volume 6- Volume 7- Volume 8- The Movie was released on VHS and DVD, no LD was produced. Movie CPM Domestic CommeRANTy CPM has quite mangled the US release of Utena. Firstly, CPM has clearly lacked dedication to releasing this series, and has repeatedly blown off fans' inquiries into future releases. CPM began releasing the VHS volumes in late 1998(?), the fourth was released in spring '99. During this release period, CPM claimed that they wanted to see how the 4 volumes sold before committing to the rest of the series. Understandable. Sort of. For a few months following the final VHS release, CPM claimed to be tallying up the sales, and running the numbers to see if the Utena Tv Series was viable enough to justify picking up the rest. During this time, fan scripts for the Black Rose Arc were completed, and fansubs for those episodes (unlisenced by CPM, with no commitment from them) went into distro, something that would not have happened had CPM committed to the series, and to the fans. Some months later, CPM claimed they were still working on deciding if they would pick up the rest- scripts for the final episodes were released, and fansubs went to distro. Shortly thereafter, CPM claimed they were hesitant to purchase and release the rest of Utena, due to the availabity of fansubs! Of course, the fansubs would have never gotten to distro, if CPM had been sure of their inital purchase of Utena, and showed dedication to getting it all released domestically. For the 2 years following the US VHS releases, rumors have gotten around about CPM finally buying the rest of the episodes, and finally, in summer of '00, the rumor was finally official. That is, they bought the Black Rose Arc, still not willing to commit to all of the series. Fansubs for BR episodes are unavailable from reputable distros, as is proper. However there is no release information from CPM currently- we were once told 'early '01', however, as of May '01, the current status is 'no info'. CPM is back in negoitations with the japanese lisencer, Enoki Films. (CPM says Enoki reneged on a contract, and is refusing to turn over masters without a new deal. In theory, CPM could sue for breach of contract, but it would make it difficult for CPM to obtain any other anime title. Sometimes I wonder if that would really be a bad thing.) Yeah, I'm not happy, and I can't imagine a single US Utena fan who could be. Then, there is the issue of the promo and box art CPM chose for what's already been released. As anyone who has seen beyond the inital Arc knows, Utena isn't a kiddie-friendly series. (Japanese promo art makes that clear) However CPM clearly marketed Utena to the younger crowd- with its reference to Sailor Moon on the covers, the pink and baby blue color scheme, and multitudes of roses all over. The art work is nothing like the japanese releases, and if they wanted to pick innocent friendly artwork, they didn't even do a good job at that- the images chosen are, quite simply, terrible. Regardless of who I'm showing Utena to for the first time, I never let them see the US box art first. CPM's marketing strategy, and following hesitation on the rest of the series, makes me wonder if anyone from CPM even viewed all of the series before deciding to make the purchase. Did they even bother checking for adult themes, or seeing how it ended, before releasing the first volumes? I imagine not. Not unless CPM intended to only release the first Arc, period. One could only wish CPM would show the same eagerness to release the rest of the Tv Series, that they put into the Movie.