As Kunihiko Ikuhara"s 1997 TV series continues, it grows increasingly surreal. Nanami recruits three "assistants," then dismisses Keiko as a "vermin" for developing a crush on Nanami"s older brother Touga. The Black Rose Circle continues to recruit students to duel with Utena, including Keiko, but they invariably lose. The story takes a bizarre turn when Utena encounters Souji Mikage, a high school "genius" who tells her that Nemuro Memorial Hall is named for a professor who burned to death there with 100 of his students. But Mikage is Professor Nemuro. He shares a strange bond with Board inspector Tokiko and an even stranger one with her brother Mamiya--who may have set the fire that killed the Professor. Utena magnifies student crushes, friendships, and quarrels to portentous heights that will delight adolescent girls. (Not rated: suitable for ages 14 and older: violence, suggestions of homosexuality and incest) --Charles Solomon