Utena AMV - Juri x Shiori - Water the Roses (

Описание: "When I bloom, it won't be for you."

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The song is Water the Roses, by ‪@FLAVORFOLEY‬:    • Water the Roses ft. GUMI  
It very quickly rose (no pun intended) to my top list of English Vocaloid songs when I first heard it. I mean, unrequited yuri pining with flower imagery?? Gosh, I need more of that.

With such a theme, I felt like the song was BEGGING to be turned into an Utena AMV focused on the deliciously toxic relationship of Juri and Shiori. I've had the idea for a few months now, and it finally became reality after I found this really great human-voiced cover by ‪@RhoAurelia‬:    • Water the Roses || Cover 【Rho Aurelia ଳ】  
Indeed, as much as I love GUMI, it felt a bit too distracting to have her more synthetic voice as a background here, and I was looking for something that could've somehow sounded a bit more like Juri. So I was delighted when I found this cover, and I kept playing with the idea of someday making an AMV with all this. Someday. Like, I had made enough Utena AMVs recently, right?

But, well... Recently I started a rewatch of Utena with one episode a week, just like I did last year. Reaching, mid-May, episode 7 again - which is honestly one of the greatest of the series in my opinion, aside from most of the third arc - I felt so full of Juri feelings that I just started making this AMV immediately.

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This AMV uses various Utena episodes, but most prominently the ones centered on Juri: episodes 7, 17, 28 and 29; and some elements from ep 37 and ep 39 for the epilogue.

Also, yes, this AMV reinterprets a little some bits of Juri's arc here or there. It also cuts out a lot of Ruka's involvment, both because I tried adding more but some of his presence obfuscated the narrative of the song, or didn't work with the flow as much and made it hard to follow... and because he's even more of a jerk than Shiori (which is honestly a high bar to clear) and from how I read it the series still kinda wants us to empathize with him at some point near the end, and I'm still angry about that. So, yeah.

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Once again, I hadn't really planned the Utena addiction to take over my brain this feverishly - I've been on a roll these past few months, whew. I promise I also have plans for AMVs from other things. Also maybe some wobbly animatics someday if my drawing skills get a liiiittle bit less crude.

That being said, if you're interested in more Utena AMV, I've made a few more that you can find in this playlist!!
   • Voyage's Revolutionary Girl Utena AMVs  
Be careful, though: all these other ones spoil the main narrative of Revolutionary Girl Utena, and deal with extremely heavy elements of abuse, just as the series itself does.

Anyway.
If you're a member or Flavor Foley, thank you for catalyzing this project and for Water the Roses!! You're very cool!! (and if you're Rho Aurelia, thank you too for your version that I now know by heart - it was such a spark in the realization of this idea!)

(Also I love the magnetic poetry aesthetic of the original music video. I had to do the same for the thumbnail.)

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As always, I own neither the images nor the music used in this Anime Music Video, which belong to their respective owners. This video is made for a non-profit purpose. Do not hesitate to contact me in case of any copyright-related problem: this video has mere recreational purpose.