Utena's revolution was a revolution of perspective-it was an end of obsession and hatred. The duelists didn't exactly get what they wanted but they no longer needed it so bad that they couldn't function. The revolution allowed them to put away their adolescent behaviors (brooding, self-inflicted misery, etc) that had become addictions, which frees them to become adults.

The adults, specifically Akio, couldn't experience the revolution. Their perspective was too limited too be allowed freedom from their still clinging adolescence. Akio's cynicism isn't maturity, but a residue of teenage anger and disappointment with a world that holds you to your convictions and punishes accordingly. While the children are able to become more adult-like, Akio is left still wanting to play house in an attempt to get revenge on the world that disappointed him.

Perhaps the greatest change in perspective came from Anthy, who decides she no longer wants to be a doll for her brother to play with. Her childhood fantasy of a world were she would feel no pain trapped her from ever experiencing life, just as fear keeps many trapped. She finally decides to risk the hazards of life in order to actually live, hoping to find Utena along the way.

Utena is out there somewhere. Perhaps she is on a higher plain of consciousness or just in a place where her strengths aren't weakness. Maybe Utena is only an idea, a new archetype, like a female prince. Perhaps Anthy will find her if she truly looks for her.

Utena might be dead and gone, but that doesn't make much sense. If she is, Anthy is in denial and really isn't any better off than she was to begin with. Considering circumstances, Anthy is supposed to grow at the end, not just return to the beginning.

Anyway, Utena's revolution wasn't a desire to make something false real. It was a wish to set everyone free from his or her destructive fantasies and that is what made her the one to revolutionize the world.