I would argue those ideas are still present even late into the series. Like Minami meeting Akira at the cafe in girl form, saying "It's just my preference". Or in the second to last chapter on the date with Karin thinking "Maybe I should have come as a girl so we could both be in high spirits"
Ironically, I think the original did engage with the gender themes. It just never got to see them through. I'm glad to see this one try to bring those themes to their conclusion.
It's hard to fight with Magenta like that. At the end of the day, Utena's goal isn't to win, it's to make the magical girls look good. And depraved Magenta is not a good look.
It's really funny to see how many spoilers are here because the WN is done & translated. It really does take a really long time for chapters to update lol.
Just go read the WN guys, it's worth it.
1. No, it's pretty much mirrored Europe. Framaille is France-inspired, and Eilis is more UK-inspired. It becomes more evident as the events unfold. There are even some neighboring countries that are inspired by Poland.
2. Sabbath Federation ends up being more Russian inspired, both climate-wise...