There is a new girl named Utena at the mysterious Ohtori Academy who attracts a lot of attention with her masculine uniform and boy like charms. Interestingly, she wears a ring which resembles the emblem of the school, but this is no class ring. It was given to her when she was young by a prince who told her to keep her noble spirit and they would once again meet. As a result, she decided she would become a prince herself.

Although many in the school admire her, it is Wakaba, a young, ordinary girl, who befriends her. When a member of the student council publicly humiliates her new friend, Utena challenges him to a duel, but she is unaware of the strange happenings at the school and that this simple act will pull her into a lurid world of duels and deceptions. He tells her to meet him in the dueling arena where Anthy, a purple haired girl in a red bride’s dress, places a rose on each of their breasts. The winner of the duel is the one who knocks the rose off his or opponent. While dueling, however, a mysterious power falls out of the sky—the spirit of the prince—and brings aid to Utena. She wins the duel, but in doing so, she also wins the mysterious girl in red.

Anthy is called the Rose Bride, and she possesses the power of Dios, which includes the ability to produce a sword from her chest. She is the prize won by the victor of the duels—a sort of key to bringing the world revolution. The student council members are those who wish to find something eternal, something shiny, or something miraculous. Utena isn’t terribly concerned about “revolutionizing” the world, but she doesn’t like to see a girl being traded around like a trophy. She wants to make this strange, quiet girl be herself, instead of a puppet, but does she really understand her at all?

She continues to duel and is victorious until a young playboy on the student council, named Touga, learns of her prince and her desire to see him again. He pretends to be the one she is looking for, thus distracting her enough to win the duel. At first she is lost, unsure of who she is, but she decides to face him again, but this time she fights to gain back her identity.

More duels await her when a new set of duels are started in order to replace Anthy with a new bride. Those who are close to members of the student council fight Utena, although it is usually they were really fighting against their council counterpart. Even though Anthy is being “threatened,” these duels are simply more manipulations by her and her brother Akio, the chairman of the school, who happens to be the prince of Utena's childhood.

Akio has a fiancé, but still flirts endlessly with Utena, who eventually falls for him. He is a sinister force however, and one of his many sins is the sexual relationship he has with his sister. Eventually Utena learns of the relationship, but she is in too deep. Akio seeks to make her a princess, but instead she tries to be a prince. Perhaps she fails, or perhaps she becomes more than a prince. She is pierced with swords of hatred and disappears from the school. Anthy, however, is no longer interested in playing princess and leaves the school and the control of her brother to find her real prince.

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