#akio arc

[prayantis]

The theory that Kanae used to be like Utena to Anthy (a duelist who cared about her even if they were selfish) but ultimately became Akio’s “bride” at the end is SO depressing

[saionjeans]

i love how during nanami’s drive she’s like “touga you gotta listen to me this guy is fucked up i just saw him performing some of the most horrifically unspeakable acts of violence” and akio is like [chuckling smugly] “hmmm….. what you saw….. yes, of course, a child’s mind is clouded by their limited perception….. and yet…. what you think you saw is merely an illusion…… due to solipsism.” and nanami doesn’t even pause to consider it, immediately she’s just like “what the fuck is this evil freak talking about.”

[transmascutena]

i'm going to THROW UP !!!

[aroanthy]

i love how fraught and complicated discourse around various utena characters ‘dying’ is when anthy is literally stabbed to death eternally by a million swords imbued with human hatred. and then utena gets stabbed to death by them also. like. ‘death’ is incredibly interesting in rgu because most of the time it’s this ambiguous figurative thing that has interesting implications re: ohtori as a closed-off world one can escape. we are all trapped in our coffins. mamiya is the only named character with a grave. nemuro memorial hall functions as one all the same. ruka is implied to have died in the hospital— was he dead all along? who was the boy we saw for these two episodes? is this dead boy the same boy, or is this just another coincidence from the shadow girls, cutting like a knife? it’s heavily implied that akio and anthy murder kanae by poisoning her, adding to the previous implication that they were poisoning mr ohtori too, but there are no perceptible consequences of this. kanae’s absence is not felt. she’s fed an apple slice. what happens to the bodies? we know what happened to the 100 boys, but what about everyone else? and so on and so forth. ‘death’ is a tricky thing in utena, i think it’s constantly functioning on figurative and literal levels in very different ways for very different purposes. dios died. dios was dying. dios didn’t die. he grew up. etc etc

[fairymascot]

[eldragon-x]

I love when RGU utilizes light-hearted background music to pretend it's a normal show which only works to make the situation at hand even more unsettling. Perhaps because the background music reflects the characters being unaware of the weight of their situation.

[number1villainstan]

FUUUUUCK i just realized that that shot when Mikage's standing up against the wall so that his shoes are part of the lineup of all the dead boys' shoes it's to hint at the fact that Mikage's already dead

[sillybayo]

Bayo's Black Rose Arc Analysis

Some notes before I begin:

-This ramble/essay contains heavy discussions of CSA, general sexual themes, and incest. Also, keep in mind that the characters discussed here are 12-17. While I will be looking into how sex affects them mentally and such, I will not tolerate child sexualization here. I will block anyone who makes a single weird comment or make me uncomfortable. We'll be talking about this from a pure psychological standpoint.

-This is a thought dump rather than anything formal, so I won't be dropping episode titles or numbers. I'm also going purely off of memory, and things I said in group chats. So if things lack clarity, this is why.

-I'm not saying I "cracked the black rose arc code" or anything, this is purely my interpretation that I wish to share, due to not seeing many black rose analysis', and being displeased with what some people have said and concluded. I just want to put what I think out there for others to enjoy :3.

-To avoid being repetitive and cluttered, I'll be generally referring to any character who pulls swords out as "wielders", and any character who has had a sword pulled out of them as "sheaths". Any scene where this transpires will be called a "sheathing scene."

-Once again, due to the material of this analysis, I will be blocking anyone who sexualizes the characters in notes, or anyone who I see as creepy.

With that out of the way, let us begin :3!

So I was watching rgu video essays one day, and I stumbled across one about Miki. About halfway or late into the video, they begin talking about how Miki and Kozue had sex in the black rose arc, due to the way she touched him before the sheathing scene, and the way he turned beet red when Nanami asked how it felt for the sword to be taken out. And I thought it made sense at the time, as I was still new to utena, and I only watched it once. And the allegory is clearly there in other black rose sheathing scenes (besides with utenanthy), right?

But then I thought about it more when I rewatched the juriori black rose episode a year or so later, and caught Juri blushing when Nanami asked her the same question. And...wait. Because doesn't all of the black rose sheathing scenes look..uncomfortable? The sheath cries in pain as the sword comes out of their chest, and Wakaba even forced it out of Saionji. And this weirded me out, because why would a show thats so clearly against rape of any kind go on to write something like this? Why did Miki and Juri blush about something that was so forceful? And even if they were under a mind controlled like state, why would they write the wielders to be rapists? With the way rgu writes sex and rape, it didn't seem right, y'know?

So a few months later, when I decided to continue my rewatch and reached the Wakaba black rose arc episode, thats when I truly started to think about it more. And thats when I reached a conclusion: Miki and Juri are more influenced by Touga and Saionji than they realize. And by extension, they're all influenced by Akio.

You see, Touga and Saionji clearly view Anthy as someone to be sexualized. Shes their wife, who would fulfill their every request. Even though they might not know Anthys and Akios relationship, and/or how the latter treats her, this is an undeniable shared mindset.

Even though the boys and Utena uses Anthy as a sheath in the exact same ways on the outside, you know that when its with Touga and Saionji, its sexualized. They own her. When Touga demands Anthy to kiss his sword, it feels so off that Utena couldn't bare to watch. You could argue that its because it would hurt Anthys lips, but in later episodes its clear that it isn't the issue, as Utena uses the same powerup but in a more supportive fashion rather than sexual. So whats up with that?

I say; in (most of) the wielders view, the sword is like a penis.

I know, a very silly thing to say. But I don't mean exactly. And I, of course, don't mean literally.

Do you know that scene from the scream movie, where the two guys are stabbing each other, begging for it and all? It definitely has sexual undertones, because of the mood set by the characters, and heres where I'm getting at; the idea of a long pointed object being thrusted in you.

What I think is that Anthy is so sexualized by the student council, that the idea of a simple sword being pulled out of her 14 year old south asian brown girl chest, is arousing.

So when each of the student council members become sheaths themselves, of course they think that its one of the most sexually intimate things to experience. And its so stupid, right? Its just a sword. a SWORD.

And I shouldn't be referring to the student council so generally, because Nanami is the only one who sees through this. As far as I remember, she wasn't weird in the slightest when she was Tsuwabukis sheath. And even in the apocalypse arc, shes uncomfortable when Touga kisses her, and disturbed when walking in on Akio and Anthy (but then again I haven't rewatched that episode yet, so I could be wrong). She purely meant to ask how the sword felt, with no sexual intent. Miki and Juri were just pure idiots on that part.

So then, wait, if the sword pulling in the black rose arc wasn't a metaphor for rape, then what is it?

Well, I argue that it black rose wielders follow the same mindset as some sexual assaulters when they're under the effects of Mikages reverse therapy, in a way. Its the strong feeling of thinking the sheath owes the wielder something, and that the wielder deserves it no matter what they say.

Another reference to a different piece of media, but remember when its revealed that Pearl continued to fuse with Garnet for her own personal wants, which crossed Garnets boundaries? People interpreted that scene as Pearl raping Garnet, when....no. What? Of course she isn't. Its just the general idea of your wishes being disrespected, and boundaries ignored. Do you see where I'm going with this?

The black rose wielders see something in the sheaths that they want for themselves, whether it be their love, their attention, or some secret third thing. So with nothing but entitlement and desperation in their heart, they force the sword out of their hearts, where their desires lie.

But, wait. How about other scenes with swords? Like when Anthy is Utenas sheath, and when Anthy has a thousand swords stabbed into her? Do swords still represent desire?

Well, yes! Very easily. Utena fights for the pure sake of love and friendship. She fights Saionji when hes cruel to Wakaba, and she swears to protect Anthy with all her heart. She duels with the strongest ounce of care in her soul. Thats the desire to keep her loved ones happy.

What about when Anthy what continuously impaled? Well, that was the villages desire to get to the prince. And it was Akios desire to finally revolutionize the world after so long.

I may be missing a few scenes, but this is the general idea, and I hope I got the idea across. Thats the end of my little ramble :3. As an acespec hypersexual, I already spend a lot of time deconstructing the truth behind sexual things and feelings. So this was fun to think about. I hope y'all liked this, and understood it most importantly. Toodleeess

[caligarish]

Revolutionary Girl Utena, 1997 // The Passion of Joan or Arc, 1928

[asalesbian]

blooming rose of deepest black -> duelists

"That stance, it's the same stance Miki uses." "That stance, it's just like Juri's back then." "Her attacks, they're..."

[the-cooler-king]

Akio's first introduction to utena is actually really telling.... he instantly makes her uncomfortable and doesn't act ashamed, abashed, or apologetic. If anything she is the one who is all of those things within these first few moments. Which is also a stark contrast to her character! Its probably one of the first times we've seen her like this too. How curious that akio continues to make the viewers feel ashamed, abashed, and apologetic every time he is on screen

[harrowmachine]

utena AU where touga is an overly eager car salesman

[cafeleningrad]

remember Anthy dropped a line how Akio's behavior reminded her of their father. And then Anthy asks Utena, in episode 27, if she thinks that reincarnation exists, and Utena thinks that memories and aspects of adults are passed down to their children. Ooof...!

[transmascutena]

i don't dislike the black rose arc don't get me wrong but i really don't understand why it won in every "favorite utena arc" poll i've ever seen. i feel like that's just objectively incorrect

[calypsolemon]

anthy and touga like probably hate each other like fr fr but i cannot stop thinking about all the awkward and intense interactions they MUST have had whenever akio would call touga over to the tower. The way that both of them probably feel like they have some sort of "im closer to him/ i know whats going on more/ i have more power than you" advantage over the other. Passing by each other on touga's way out with the iciest glares of all time. uaghhgh

[mel2530]

When i watched rgu i didn't ask to be invested in saionji, touga and nanami and their childhoods. Or how the kiryuu siblings were screwed over from the start by the adults around them. But these three, man. Their stories are like a wrecking ball hitting my face

Like, every terrible and grooming shit Touga did to Nanami, every cruel thing Nanami did to Anthy and Tsuwabuki and Saionji hitting Anthy is still there, it's not an excuse for their behavior and they grow in the end. Even if in touga's case it's still baby steps and he should probably be receiving psychiatric help in jail. But my god, these teens really were fucked over by every adult and then ak*o exploited their toxidity and history of csa and neglect into his games. Because what is that bitch going to do if he can't exploit traumatized teens and pit them against each other. It's just sad and probably why makes thinking about their childhoods so interesting and bittersweet.

Saionji remenbers everything for the most part as perfect, but sometimes there are cracks and it scares and confuses him because they seem to happen out of nowhere, which is why he can't see the whole picture. He admires Touga as much as he cares for him, in his eyes his friend was amazing. Touga always had everything, so why would he walk away in the church ? He must have shown something to that girl without him, that must be it. He would not agree with her. There are pieces missing from the puzzle and after their friendship falls apart he's angry. Angry because he thinks that means he needs to catch up to Touga and angry because he can't figure it out what was wrong, what went wrong with them.

Nanami was very isolated, to the point that she killed a kitten because she needed touga's attention, which is probably the only attention she ever received from her family. She sees the adults in her flashbacks as empty faces, people that want her away from him, so she must not have had much contact or moments with them. The saddest part is that, considering what we see in the movie, it was a good thing. But it leaves her clinging to Touga like a teddy bear. They are everything the other has and needs in that house, therefore no one is going to take him away from her.

And then there is Touga, agreeing with what Utena says in the coffin about life and then chasing after the one who had the power to make her get up again, the power that will solve his problems. He's the older one, having to assume a near parental role to Nanami and, even if Saionji is his best friend, the one who rides the bike. He protects them, but he's also the one who gets abused by his "father" every day without any of them knowing, the one who knows they were sold instead of adopted and, as much as some of his memories with them might be happy and he cares for them, he can't shake the feeling of anger and hurt. There is no true friendship, no true mutual understanding.