gorgeousshutin wrote:The light generic-shoujo first arc is there to set stage for the dark and genre-desconstructing later episodes. The ordered repetitions between the episodes in the story arcs also serve to highlight the characters' change/growth . . . that, or maybe I just like this show too much. I'm now juggling two ongoing Utena fanfics, that's how good the show is for me :D
Yeah I'm actually growing to love the show more and more.
I watched Yurikuma Arashi as well (it's on Crunchyroll), and whike it definitely wasn't on the level of Utena imo, it was a good show. And damn, I just love Ikuhara's color choices.