Sailor Moon Meets Evangelion In The 1990s Anime So Good, It's The Decade's Best-Aged Series

The 1990s are often seen as the most iconic era of anime, and it’s easy to see why. Not only is that the era that made most people anime fans, whether it’s because they grew up in it or watched anime that debuted during it, with anime like Yu Yu Hakusho, Cowboy Bebop, and Dragon Ball Z, some of the most iconic anime in history either premiered in or took off during the 90s, and decades later, many of them still hold up amazingly well both visually and narratively.

Among the various anime to come out in the 90s, two of the most iconic are undoubtedly Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion, the former attracting people with its lighthearted, magical girl action, and the latter doing it with its dark, deconstructive storytelling. The two couldn’t exist on more opposite extremes, and that makes it all the more surprising that one of the best-aged and all-around amazing 90s anime is a show that combines both of their aesthetics, and it somehow makes it work.

Revolutionary Girl Utena Is The Sailor Moon And Evangelion Crossover We Didn’t Know We Needed

As incompatible as Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion might seem, the one 90s anime that perfectly combines their aesthetics is J.C.Staff’s Revolutionary Girl Utena. On the Sailor Moon side of things, Utena is another magical girl anime with over-the-top action and explorations into themes of family, friendship, and love, even making the usual homoerotic subtext that features in magical girl anime far more blatant and unambiguous, especially when it comes to Utena and Anthy. Sailor Moon director Kunihiko Ikuhara created Utena, so if anything, it can be seen as the ultimate evolution of everything he did with Sailor Moon.

As for how Revolutionary Girl Utena relates to Neon Genesis Evangelion, while Utena obviously isn’t a mecha anime, not only are they both deconstructive works with dark storytelling built around personal and psychological issues, but those ideas are often expressed with abstract and surreal imagery to the point that it might take multiple viewings to understand everything. The Revolutionary Girl Utena movie, Adolescence of Utena, even parallels the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy as both a remake and a grand finale to the franchise, and unsurprisingly, it’s just as successful.

Why Revolutionary Girl Utena Is Still Amazing Almost 30 Years Later

It’s been almost 30 years, but sure enough, Revolutionary Girl Utena is as amazing as ever. Not only does it do an amazing job of telling an emotional, character-driven story about love and overcoming trauma that works because of how many different interpretations it has, but the way it’s expressed with gorgeously surreal imagery makes for a wonderfully unique experience as well. Kunihiko Ikuhara is famous for his surreal storytelling, and decades later, Utena remains his biggest achievement.

What especially helps Revolutionary Girl Utena hold up, of course, is its stellar exploration of queer themes. Between Utena and Anthy’s relationship, the way Utena constantly fights against traditional gender roles, and how generally queer-positive the series is, Revolutionary Girl Utena excels in its themes of non-conformity and the importance of being true to yourself when it comes to gender, sexuality, or simply living your life. Utena’s themes laid the foundations for queer storytelling in animation, and even now, it’s impossible to imagine what the medium would be like without it.

The ‘90s Were Built Better & These 10 Anime Masterpieces Prove It

As anime’s explosive growth continues, new hot titles are establishing themselves as modern classics, but they don’t hold a candle to these ’90s hits.

Whether it’s in terms of strong animation or emotionally resonant storytelling, few anime from the 90s are as impactful or overall great as Revolutionary Girl Utena, and that would be true even without its surprising overlap with both Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis Evangelion. There’s never been an anime quite like Revolutionary Girl Utena, and anyone who hasn’t already seen it would be remiss to ignore it any longer.