#the first one is juri second one is mikage

[subjectnamemissing]

The first set of duels all involve seeking a return to a comfortable stagnation or projection. The character has left a state that they wish to return to. The second set all involve seeking to reject the current surrounding world for one that matches their desires. The third set of duels is finally closest to the truth of what 'Revolutionizing the world' is - seeking to prove a change exists in the perception of the duelists - that a level of maturity has been reached and the duelist has grown up - but this change only occurs upon the duelist losing the duel. Without the loss all the third duel accomplishes is the completion of a Rotation on the Revolution. The duelists seek ‘adulthood’ in the belief that doing so will grant them the power to continue to exist unchanged even in new circumstances. Revolution has two meanings within the narrative - a break from stagnant conditions or states, and the completion of a cycle that returns to the start - like a carousel’s spin.

I think that the power to Revolutionize the World that all the characters fight for in Revolutionary Girl Utena is primarily a power to change oneself and break free of the eternal revolution offered by Ohtari and embodied by Akio. Part 1/2 - Mikage & the Black Rose Duelists, Saoinji, Miki, and Juri.

Nanami post link

Black Rose

Mikage in the Black Rose arc keeps trying to kill the Rose Bride and win the power of Dios, but he fails every time since every duelist he chooses is attempting to Reject the world and revolutionize it based upon changing other people. A miracle achieved though sacrificing other people - they pull their swords from others and bear the rose crests of others.

Mikage and the duelists are working on an entirely flawed premise - so each duel ends with another corpse in the crematorium and another chick that failed to break their shell and a return to status quo. Each person dueling is attempting to seek a revolution entirely defined by the perceptions or actions of others - Kaene wants Anthy’s judgement of her (perceived or not) gone. Wakaba wants others to look at her as special (especially Saionji). Kozue wants to protect Miki's innocence, but she also keeps wanting to taint it - her sweet love towards her sibling has turned curdled and she also wants to return to the 'Sunlit Garden'- so everyone who can taint it needs to go. Shiori wants to 'Win' over Juri because she can't believe in Juri's feelings in their clash with her abysmal self-worth and she can't accept her own feelings towards Juri. Tsuwabuki wants to be perceived as an adult and grow up already - though he isn't sure what it entails. Keiko wants to know Touga, and perhaps it is a plain desire common to most of Ohtori, but it’s not one that can be fulfilled while she is the lowest girl on the totem pole and Nanomi is in the way. Mikage himself seeks connection but the person he wants to connect to is terminally ill - so in the ultimate conclusion of this theme of rejecting the world he is seeking Eternity in these memories and reliving the past literally - he is a trapped ghost in a burned down building. The one person rejected is the Onion Prince boy whose basal confession is that he believes the problem is in him - not others.

Saionji

Saionji wants his status symbol back and to have something special that his 'friend' Touga doesn't have and Utena confronts him in revenge for her friend Wakaba first and revenge for Anthy's treatment once she is already committed - later episodes make it clear Wakaba still loves Saionji so it is doubtful that she would have wanted the duel in her honor. As Saoinji scoffingly points out - Utena is the archetypical prince protecting the honor of princesses here. Saionji's 'revolution' is related primarily to his status in the system - without Anthy as his rose bride he is no longer special - just an average upperclassman. His second duel is much the same because despite his belief that he has changed - he utterly fails to articulate 'how' and no other character can even notice how or if he is different. He still seeks to possess the Rose Bride as a status symbol of being 'an Adult' and gaining something that designates him as special - most specifically in regard to Touga. He is the only 2nd time duelist that comes without their own Rose Bride. He's not fighting with his own power/strength of will at all. He's repeating lines said by Touga in the first set of duels, Saioinji is an imitation of an imitation, and it's not very surprising he missed the memo on the change in duel format.

But he seems to have found the route start for the process of growing anyways after being beaten again. Refuting Touga in his desire to be like Akio and accurately pointing out the central premise of Ohtari. He repeats with Touga there is no such thing as True Friendship- but it is still evident that his relationship with Touga only improves again after they fail to complete their revolutions on Akio’s stage.

Miki

Miki wants to recapture his “sunlight garden” through Anthy. He is seeking a return to a state which was simple and joyful for him and believes if he can possess Anthy then he can return to that state. Of course, this simple state in his memory doesn't exist. He loses the duels both times because his illusion of how things were was shattered - first by realizing Anthy was cheering for Utena - she was not an empty vessel for his fantasy, second by realizing that both his sister and Anthy had elements of 'adulthood' - he thinks that he is ready to 'get dirty to get what he wants' in regards to maturing his relationship with Anthy and finally the stability and strength to make his place in the world secure. Both he and Kozue wants to have the strength to return to the Sunlight Garden, but only Kozue seems prepared to grab the power to hold the illusion together - in which case she chose an excellent model. Akio is a professional in the art of maintaining an illusion.

Miki ultimately seeks to return to simpler times because he feels estranged in the present - a chick without a home.

The problem is that his Sunlight Garden is a fragile thing since it is only a facade. Kozue seeks to grant her brother the power of 'Revolution' and take him to the 'world of adulthood' but his sword is still a 'child's sword'. Realizing that he can't return to the past he sought the ability to create a comfortable present - but he can't follow-through with the 'adulthood' embodied by Akio and complete his revolution on the carousel. Perhaps his Revolution requires him to stop trying to fit himself to the dichotomy of either a powerful prince ‘who takes what he want’ or an innocent and pure child ‘who has what’s his taken’ since no such thing as a 'pure prince' who exists without subjecting others or getting subjugated. Perhaps hope exists, he does know a friend or two who also don't fit comfortably into the defined archetypes of princess or prince.

Juri

I understand Juri's issue in regard to her personal coffin - but I'm not actually sure the motivations behind her duels with Utena or what she is hoping to achieve. Juri's issue is that she doesn't believe in miracles (Shiori returning her feelings) but she really wants to believe in miracles (She can't give up her feelings for Shiori anyways). Her issue with miracles is "Believe in miracles and they will know your feelings" In this context, her duel with Utena is triggered by Utena telling how her Rose Crest links her to her 'Prince'. The parallel between miracles is the power to bring about connections - Juri challenges Utena to show her proof that her miracle - she will be led to her prince through her ring - is real while the camera focuses straight on Juri's locket - linking the two symbols. Juri believes there is no hope of her feelings or her being accepted if she communicates them to Shiori.

If she wins, she can continue to deny miracles exist while secretly hoping they exist - being engaged to the Rose Bride who is said to grant miracles - quietly locked into believing her feelings can’t be expressed. Losing - she still refuses to say out loud she believes in miracles - but it is still clear she is less hostile to the idea they can happen.

Juri's second duel starts with coercion - her anguish on seeing Shiori's humiliation and obsession with Ruka/Juri is outweighing her anguish on the uncrossable distance between Juri's feelings and Shiori despite their reciprocity. Ruka seems to love Juri and knows Juri loves Shiori and that Shiori can't and won't reciprocate with her issues, Juri loves Shiori but will neither reach out nor give up, Shiori loves Juri but refuses to believe that she is worthy so she must make Juri hate her. Juri and Ruka seem to share the idea - it's fine if they hate me as long as they are free from this toxic debasement that they are trapped in. Juri's growth hinges on accepting she shouldn't sacrifice herself for the sake of Shiori's miracle - love doesn't justify abuse. It is only by losing Shiori’s locket and letting her feelings (and fears) lay bare that Juri can break away in a new direction from the interruption into her cycle instead of a repeat of her past misfortune with Shiori.

It seems that Ruka succeeds in his goal of letting Juri move on from her obsession with Shiori - though to what degree he intended anything is ambiguous since he goes and dies afterwards. Juri can accept letting Shiori leave her locket and accept it doesn’t need to require her suffering to love Shiori. Unrequited (or believed to be) love can be left to grow wistful - instead of a constant thorn in the heart. Juri has been given a direction to go for when she is ready to Revolutionize her world. She can still love Shiori, but she can't keep letting the rose parasite use its venom.

[cleave-and-plough]

IT'S NO USE

jesus christ, what an opener. this really is a second season, huh? new locations, new characters, new order - the world is changed. beneath the reference hall, a black rose waits, soaked in poison, feeding on shadows and the suppressed vices and sins of the heart. secrets kept in an airless room until they sour. "nothing bad happens at ohtori," it's set. an evident lie given all that's happened and all that is yet to be revealed...

anthy has a secret herself - a previously unmentioned older brother, whom she visits on saturday nights, slipping off into the rain alone. how classically utena to need to see him immediately - with her heart on her sleeve, utena is the antithesis of the secrets permeating this episode. it's not the best first impression - interrupting a makeout session with his fiancee - but utena and akio seem to reach good terms, though he pretends to have no knowledge of anthy's role as the rose bride. as the acting chairman and a devout stargazer, he cuts a striking, enchanting figure and poses himself as a scholar of the esoteric - "the stars are unknown to all but me." meanwhile, unspoken tensions mount between his fiancee, kanae, and anthy, who gives her future sister-in-law a surprisingly cold shoulder.

alongside akio, two new faces enter the scene: mikage souji, the genius of the high school who, like juri, helps prop up the school's reputation and prestige, and mamiya, the would-be rose bride/groom who nurtures the black rose in the dark basement. the pair seem an off rhyme to utena and anthy, especially in their hair colors and inversions of gender. just as utena insists on being a prince, souji insists that mamiya should be the rose bride, though mamiya suggests rose groom. this ambition would come at a dear cost to our heroes: to install mamiya, they need to defeat utena in a duel and kill anthy. the stakes have become considerably higher.

to achieve their goals, the pair must recruit duelists, and one of their candidates is miki. souji invites him to join his seminar, the circle of the black rose, but miki declines, saying he feels unworthy. the disjunction in the scene is evident - as the pair sit to discuss, an enormous stone pillar stands between them, carved with black and pink roses. souji asks that miki continue to think on it but doesn't press further. as miki leaves, he encounters utena and anthy and tells them of the grim history of nemuro memorial hall - at some point in the past, 100 boys were buried alive there. this ghastly setting serves as souji and mamiya's lair, full of horrific signs and symbols: empty pairs of shoes, a taxidermied black butterfly, dozens of pointing hands, and most morbid of all, morgue drawers emblazoned with the sign of the black rose, which is eventually revealed as a corrupted, rotted form of the pink rose.

corruption figures prominently in this episode's duel, and many layers complicate the new tone of utena's opponent. the professors who visit souji mention that his seminar supposedly hosts notable politicians, expanding the scope of the antagonists beyond the student council and into the world beyond: souji, who dismissed touga as a source of distraction from the school's mission of study, seems to be concerned with and possessed of a grander power outside of the school walls. thus, it seems charged that when kanae arrives at the hall, she's there for an interview. for students and graduates, an interview is a threshold: a test leading them into a new career, opportunity, or world. kanae's interview proceeds more like a confession, held in a descending elevator. before a small window, she describes her life, painting a warm picture of her feelings for akio and their future together. "deeper," a voice says. as the butterfly on the wall reverts to a chrysalis, kanae admits her deep-seated disdain for anthy. the more she tries to be polite and friendly, the more anthy pushes her away, and the more she must suppress her anger. it could all be so perfect, save for this one thing. and as much as she tries, she can't be rid of this thorn inside. "it's no use."

the elevator descends. souji welcomes kanae to the place her suppressed torment has brought her - the tomb of the boys of the black rose. former duelists now deceased, they leave behind their tarnished rings and their will to seize power. this is kanae's only option, souji says. she must revolutionize the world that she cannot endure. it's a horrific sight, and kanae tries to leave, but the door cannot be closed once open. mamiya appears, and pierces kanae's heart with the black rose, bringing her fully under its spell. now, to defeat utena.

as cruel and heartbreaking as the student council duels were, there was a distinct element of passion to them, even if a perverse one. saionji, miki, juri, and nanami fought to reclaim something precious to them: anthy, their nostalgia, their security in a loveless world, their brother's love. each had twisted in some way to become destructive, but the root was, deep down, an apparent sense of love for something. by contrast, it seems the duelists of the black rose are led by a sense of opposition, a sense of hatred. kanae fights not for her love of akio, but for her hatred of anthy and of herself for being unable to navigate that tension. while the student council duels featured twisted forms of love, this duel twists even farther into abhorrence.

fortunately, utena is capable as ever and makes short work of kanae, who screams as her ring shatters and the dead duelist's body is ejected into a crematorium. despite this ghoulish imagery, she seems to recover easily but has amnesia of what led to the duel. utena understandably wants answers but seems content enough to wait for now - having become accustomed to this strange lifestyle, she can safely assume kanae won't be the last agent of the black roses to challenge her. of course, she also misses another secret just under her nose: anthy departs to visit her brother, but the tone of their meeting is very particularly troubling. akio lounges on the couch as anthy removes her glasses. he turns off the lights, revealing a sky's worth of stars overhead. "did you miss me?" he asks. "yes, big brother."

while still disturbing, the openness of nanami's feelings towards touga kept them in the light of day and less potent. this encounter, out of sight and under cover of darkness, feels chilling.

stray thoughts:

the theme of concealed secrecy echoes throughout this episode: wakaba claims to be bored, since nothing ever happens at the school, the professors acknowledge that their debts to souji mean they can't question his business, the seminar is in essence a secret, cult-like society, and utena is kept in the dark about akio's knowledge of the duels. on top of all this, there were apparently 100 (o n e h u n d r e d) deaths at ohtori that now are only remembered as some kind of urban legend.

souji mentions that end of the world is aware of his efforts: given the motto of revolutionizing the world, it's reasonable that end of the world would encourage all comers and aspirants.

much like touga, souji seems content to wait for now and gather data as he refines his plan; unlike touga, he seems to have no desire to build an idolized public image and reputation outside of the seminar.

akio gives off the vibes of a young gendo ikari, encroaching his way into his fiancees family and taking her name while surreptitiously seeking to gain access to her father's resources.

disquieting as it is to think about, i wonder if the reason anthy rejects kanae is because she sees her as an interloper between herself and akio, not unlike nanami and the kitten. eugh. even more disconcerting, i wonder if this is some twisted form of rebellion for anthy, rejecting her duties as rose bride by being unfaithful to her betrothed. i really hope that they aren't actually related, but i fear the truth.

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V2 16

Noragami Aragoto - Watched the second episode, where Kugaha begins scheming with Nora behind Bishamon’s back and the dude we were introduced to just last episode, who gives us some more backstory in this one, gets abruptly and insultingly killed off by a pack of phantom wolves. But the thing that wasn’t doing it for me here was the conflict introduced where Yukine is worried about the possibility of Hiyori forgetting all about him and Yato, which yeah, was in the manga but...this is literally coming off of the anime-exclusive Rabo arc of the first season, where a lot of the conflict was based in Hiyori losing her memory. Yet there’s no mention of it at all! I hate it when anime does this, adapting the manga’s story word for word even when it ends up not matching up with original anime-only content that was included earlier. Shame that Noragami couldn’t avoid that trap.

Hunter x Hunter - Not much to say since the episodes of both anime again covered the exact same ground as each other, but I will say that it’s impressive how the 2011 version had a cut to daybreak and played out its later events in broad daylight, thus stripping it of the spooky, suspenseful atmosphere that the 1999 version had...and yet Hisoka still manages to be so much scarier in the later adaptation compared to the first one! A big part of it is the animation on him, another is the voice Keith Silverstein does, but also helping is that he doesn’t at any point start acting like he’s gonna werewolf out on us for no discernable reason. Seriously, what was up with that part?

Fruits Basket - Like the above, both episodes of both series’ covered the exact same ground, but in this case they were done in somewhat different ways. In the 2001 series, the focus was kept on Tohru the entire time she was back with her family up until Yuki and Kyo came to take her back to Shigure’s house so she can rejoin her new found family, but in the 2019 series, we get Tohru’s POV first and then are shown how Yuki and Kyo struck out together to retrieve Tohru, leading to some great, classic interaction between the two. My preference here is slightly for the latter version, but one thing I think the first anime got better was Grandpa Honda - he lacked the weird senile quirk of calling Tohru by her mother’s name and was voiced by the late, great Brice Armstrong in the dub, which made his part in the story come off with a much stronger impact compared to the remake.

Rozen Maiden - Two episodes this week, the first one adding yet another new Rozen Maiden doll to the cast, Suiseiseki, and we took a trippy ass trip into the world inside Jun’s mind, in his dreams....and somehow even that wasn’t as trippy as the following episode, where the series suddenly became a Seiji Kishi anime where everything is wacky and cartoony, and the characters are having these over-the-top reactions while getting into crazy shennanigans! The latter episode is ultimately a filler episode, but a very fun one that also served to really solidify Suiseiseki’s characterization. Also, I’m now wondering if Megan Hollingshead is going to turn up in the dub at some point since we’ve got the old dub voices for Rena, Satoko, Takano, and Rika all here - might as well get the Sonozaki twins too!

Fate/Stay Night - While the break-in to Caster/Medea’s temple, redesigned with magic to even ressemble Ancient Greece, was cool and all, when it came time to save Sakura, the connection between her and Rin came right out of nowhere! Seriously, if there was any foreshadowing to this “long lost sisters” twist in this anime, I must’ve missed it. Which I suppose is a most notable flaw in this adaptation.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Got back to the Black Rose Saga proper with Mikage and his badly voice acted boyfriend creating a toxin from the Black Rose that can expand their reach even beyond just the Student Council’s relations. In the meantime, they make Shiori, Juri’s ex-friend and romantic interest who still misunderstands the love triangle she was a part of, into their next duelist and oh boy, this might be the most fucked up character on the show to date. Turns out she’s always resented Juri, and when she finds out that Juri’s had feelings for her the whole time, she is as elated as she is startled, ‘cause this means she’s weighed on Juri’s mind all along, that she has a sort of power over her and can flaunt that in her face. Indeed even after she loses her duel to Utena, Shiori still wins simply by keeping herself unattainable to Juri and exploiting her feelings of rejection whenever she can. Man, do I really pity poor Juri now...

Sound! Euphonium S2 - Welp, that was the end of the series. At least until the third season comes out later on, but how they’ll make that work is anyone’s guess since they played this up as the end of the story so much, calling back to Episode 1 and contrasting it with how things are with Kumiko and Asuka now, which I guess makes Asuka the big Arc Character of this series, getting a title drop, and even displaying the word “END” before special end credits set to euphonium music. I know there’s another movie besides Liz & The Blue Bird and also some special shorts to still watch, but the series proper pretty definitively concluded here, and it was a really solid ending. I particularly liked how a large section of the episode was dedicated to just one final classroom band performance as memories from the show played - slow, steady, and poignant. Sort of describes the series as a whole; I still enjoy it the least out of any of the Jukki Hanada anime I’ve seen, but I do respect and appreciate it a great deal, so I’ll gladly accept more time with these kids and their music.

MAR - None this week. Will get back to Phantom’s big plan later.

AMC: Moriarty The Patriot - Got back to this with the “Scarlet Eyes” two-parter, which detail the origin story of William James Moriarty, as well as the backstory of his adoptive brother Albert, and the other brother Louis (though his deal is still sketchy). And I can best describe young William as “Kurapika if he had the scarlet eyes full-time and was a brilliant-minded demon child with a vision for being a Lelouch vi Britannia type revolutionary, waging war on Britain’s noble class in secret so that the nation may be “cleansed” and society rebuilt into one that is just, fair, and equitable for all people.” Like, HOLY SHIT does this character not fail to mesmerize and horrify with every new turn taken with him, and you sort of have to remind yourself that this is fucking Moriarty, soon to be the Napoleon of Crime for not just Britain but the entire world and the arch nemesis to the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. So this makes for quite a compelling moral connundrum where you might agree with the Moriarty brothers intentions and root for them to take down the despicable scumbags of British aristocracy, but also feel that them doing so through CRIME makes them hypocrites of epic proportions, and sooner or later they may end up hurting far more people than they’re helping. And it didn’t have to be that way for Albert and Louis, but they got sucked into Liam’s black hole and he ain’t letting go!

The one misstep I can criticize here is how for some unfathomable reason, Part 1 had a post-credits scene that jumped right to the burning mansion, which totally spoiled the climax of Part 2 and neutered the big, anxiety-inducing suspenseful buildup to it ‘cause you now knew exactly what the brothers were going to end up doing! Like, what logic is there in showing us your hand early like that???

[spiribia]

other rgu characters, even mikage, thinking disdainfully of saionji as just some kind of court jester to them is so funny

[ladyloveandjustice]

Thoughts on Utena: Blooming Rose of Deepest Black (THE MUSICAL)

Saw the Utena black rose musical and it was great! did a ton of cool things and additions to the arc. Gonna list my favorites.

-They did this really cool thing where when the Black Rose duelists were on stage the person they took the sword from was on stage too and Utena would be fighting both of them (and sometimes they would cross swords with each other too). You’d have both duelists saying things and going into their issues at the same time, so you could see how they mirrored each other. This REALLY paid off at the end when Utena was fighting Mikage, Dios showed up and Mikage was able to see him and was fighting both of them. The theme of duality and parallels between people was just emphasized super well.

-It is WAY more obvious in the musical Shiori has feelings back for Juri (but is expressing them in a truly fucked up way because she thinks she can’t keep Juri’s attention unless she has power over her) than it was in the show. While she and Juri are fighting Utena near the end, they both just kind of have a breakdown and Shiori lets her vulnerability actually show, they pull close to each other and straight up kiss (!!) then they both break away frantically with Juri saying “I don’t believe in miracles” and Shiori saying “I believe in miracles”, honestly I’d have to watch the whole thing again to give a full breakdown, but it was really interesting.

-Shiori’s actress was SO GOOD, she could alternate between sickeningly sweet and truly unhinged, you could just always FEEL she was a second from losing it. Akio did really well at giving me the creeps in every single scene as well.

-Like in the last musical, Saionji’s dorkiness is amped up in a way that makes him pretty fun to watch despite still being hot garbage, my favorite bit was when Utena knocks on the door while he’s living with Wakaba, he just STRAIGHT UP IS TOO INEPT TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO HIDE in his panic, and poor Wakaba has to frustratedly shove him into a hiding place. Also, he later pretends to be a statue when Juri sees him. Also at one point Miki and Juri just straight up shove him out of the way, such is their disdain, it’s great.

-during said incident where Utena comes to visit Wakaba, Wakaba not only does the “I’M PRAYING! I’M VERY RELIGIOUS!” thing but also pretends she was “practicing transforming like a superhero” and yells “HENSHIN!” Utena offers her Anthy’s casserole which she says “tastes like the inside of a kendo mask” wow how could she NOT want it when you sell it like that Utena.

- the musical also gets more into the fallout of Wakaba’s duel! At the end of it, Utena cradles Wakaba in her arms, sobbing and shouting “WHO WOULD DO THIS? UNFORGIVEABLE!” Afterward, she’s worried Wakaba isn’t coming to school and isn’t answering her when she knocks on her dorm door, and says “I’m sure like the others she doesn’t remember the duel, I wonder if it has something to do with Saionji coming back.” (WOW BABY MADE AN OBVIOUS CONNECTION! I’M SO PROUD OF HER! no i really am) 

but then Wakaba comes to visit with her own (better than Anthy’s of course) casserole all cheerful and Utena’s like “oh i didn’t have to worry!” (oh honey why must you always accept everything at face value) and they sing this WHOLE CHEESY SONG about the power of friendship while Anthy just sits there with her empty glassy eyed smile CLEARLY DYING INSIDE but near the end Utena nudges her into participating and she seems to kinda start to enjoy it, because she keeps singing it even while going to sit beside Akio on the couch and he looks SO ANNOYED. 

-THEY INCLUDE THE NANAMI COW PLOT BECAUSE HOW COULD THEY NOT. There’s a part where Utena asks Miki why he won’t just tell her and he’s like “well she’s so confident now!” and it’s a genuinely funny asshole moment from him, LIKE LACK OF OUTWARD CONFIDENCE WAS EVER NANAMI’S PROBLEM. 

I guess the main nitpick I have about the musical(s) is Nanami’s role IS pretty much completely reduced to comic relief, and the cow thing is her only real plotline in this- I was kinda hoping they’d fold her first duel into the Black Rose arc since it’d be pretty easy to, just have her be Touga’s duelist, but alas (I can see why they didn’t, it’d be a time crunch). Her arc was one of my favorites in the anime, so its a shame. Like yeah, a large part of her screentime were the comic relief episodes, but even those often gave us a look at the underlying insecurities that drove her. Even the cow episode has that sequence where she dreamed that now that she was fully a cow, her brother was sending her to the slaughterhouse. It showed that she was (rightly) terrified her brother would discard her at the slightest provocation, and was well aware of how he was. But even that part wasn’t in the musical.

There WAS a great moment however, when she ascended as student council president and Miki’s like “uhhhh are you a duelist? since when” and she was like “yeah I dueled Utena Tenjou last time” and looked at the audience and is like “JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T SEE IT DOESN’T MEAN IT DIDN’T HAPPEN” so that at least confirms her arc still takes place in the canon of the musical it’s all just offscreen lol. I love that Nanami has the ability to break the fourth wall, she also thanks the stagehand at one point. There’s also an ongoing arc between her and Wakaba of all people, she kind of bullied her in the first musical, but in this one she got jealous of Wakaba during the moment she was “special” and tried competing with her as she sang. Then Wakaba successfully berated her into CARRYING A SETPIECE OFFSTAGE so they could change scenes.

- Anthy remains fantastic, she still has that super-lowkey creepy laugh that she did when Utena asked if the projector was her brother. You could also just REALLY see how uncertain and guilty she was about the whole Mamiya thing, and at the end there’s this part where while Akio is talking to her about her role in all of it, Utena’s running around looking for her, and then Anthy finally runs to her, and Utena says “I’ve got you” while standing behind her and kinda cradling her in that possessive/princely pose and Anthy just has this thousand yard terrified stare that’s full of guilt and conflict and a million other things and it cuts to black and it’s SO UNSETTLING, I got chills.

Anyway yeah, it’s a FANTASTIC show uttely fully of love for the story and good understanding of its themes, and I can’t wait to watch it again, there’s a million little things I missed or can’t remember enough to post about here, so maybe next time I see it I’ll try writing down some more stuff right after.

[fabrickind]

Revolutionary Girl Utena Episode 3 Liveblog

Join me this week for episode 3: social anxiety, heteronormativity, authenticity, and schools with way too much goddamned money for their own good.

This one starts again with the fairytale framework, which was missing in episode 2. I’m making a note of this because I’m going to keep track of which episodes have this opening and if there are any similarities between them. inb4 ‘this is the episode where Nanami is introduced and that’s why there’s the fairytale since her episodes tend to have that opening

For this episode, I think it’s a combination of things. One is the somewhat obvious answer that we, as an audience, need to be reminded of this backstory. I think that it also speaks to the themes of this episode, though, in reminding us that Utena’s goal is to become a prince. Of course, as we come to find out, both the flashback and the goal of becoming a prince are false ideals, and the brilliance of this show (as I keep saying) is that it outright tells you this from the start, but in a way that makes you want to take it at face value. We will keep this idea in mind throughout this episode -- everything is precariously constructed, there’s a lot going on behind what we actually see, but we’re cued to take it all so earnestly, at face value.

And here we introduce one of Utena’s major concerns for the first arc: Anthy has no friends! We should give her some friends!

On the questions raised last liveblog about whether to take Chu-chu at face value or not, I think that we should take Anthy’s assertion here fairly literally, and this is one of the few times that I think I’m going to advocate taking anything in this show literally. I think that Chu-chu is her friend.

This exchange is interesting to me

Utena asks Anthy to stop calling her “Utena-sama,” and all of Utena’s fangirls call her that, but Utena writes it off as “a joke.” This scene seems to be calling attention to a weird sense of performance going on here. For the fangirls, it may be a joke on the surface level, but there seems to be something more authentic underneath that, especially considering that they all do it and that it seems to be a recurring thing. Oh, and Wakaba exists, of course. I’m not sure if this is Utena wanting to think that the probable actual thirst of the schoolgirls is a joke, or if it’s seen as a joke on all sides but they’re actually quite parched.

With Anthy, this seems almost inverted. Sure, she’s completely serious about being the Rose Bride. But she has no actual respect for Utena at this point, and while on the surface it may seem like she’s being deferential to her fiancee, deep down, she’s simply performing a surface-level role. It’s much more a “joke” to Anthy than it is to the fangirls.

(On a side note, my browser is flagging “fiancee” [the feminine form] as possibly incorrect spelling when I place “her” in front of it, but if I place “his” in front of it, it doesn’t. I get what it’s doing, but it’s still quite the heteronormative spell checker!)

Speaking of heteronormativity

Throughout this series, especially early on, “normal” and “heteronormative” seem to fully converge. Here, Utena wants to be seen as perfectly feminine (despite her clothing choice and fiancee) and as, more importantly, straight. To her, “normal” means “wants a boy rather than a girl.” Yes, there’s shades of “this whole dueling system is weird and I’d rather have a lover I met in an everyday way than someone I accidentally won in a duel” but I feel like the emphasis is placed on the gender of the love object here, and on Utena fitting into a model of heterosexual femininity.

Of course, no one believes her. At least, I don’t. The way to seem “normal” isn’t to parade around in a so-called “boys” uniform and declare your desire to be a prince. Her actions are seriously at odds with her words here.

  And then this asshole shows up.

That hair says otherwise, Touga. That’s major character hair right there.

And Utena provides one of her better reaction faces at what has to be one of the worst pick-up lines in anime history.

[insert joke about Anthy knowing him in the biblical sense]

(Though maybe that joke is more appropriate for the movie, where that’s actually a major plot point)

I wish I could edit out the snippet of video where Touga tries to play with Utena’s hair and she slaps him away and dramatic music plays. Everyone in this series is so extra and I love it. 

Oh no! Touga is wearing the ring! We have to go from “this guy is a total fuckboy who deserves to be slapped” to “could this guy be my prince?????” in the span of a few seconds! I guess Utena being the most oblivious character ever is part of her charm, though...

[insert joke about how Touga definitely means it in the biblical sense]

In this Student Council meeting, Miki uses the stopwatch almost right away, after Touga says that Saionji lost again. I think he’s timing when his own line should be. As per last episode, Saionji himself is still not present. Also still no weird antics at the meetings.

Anthy slap count: 3 For those participating in the drinking game ;]

So the latest Anthy rumors are about “what she did to a popular boy” (Saionji), which...middle school rumors often get things wrong, yes, but this is also the role of the Rose Bride. She’s taking on the blame for everything that went wrong, even if Saionji is the one who was an abusive asshole and is now being dramatic and refusing to leave his room.

This does make me think, though...do you know? do you know? Doesn’t that sound like the start of someone about to share some juicy gossip? I wonder how much of the Shadow Girls plays are basically the level of highly allegorical, surrealist rumor, and if we should take them as such?

I am a firm believer in the idea that Nanami is the only other character in this series who has the potential to be a protagonist, only she’s the protagonist of the wrong show (that and she doesn’t interact with the system in the way that Utena does, which is what allows for Utena to make it to the end of the dueling game). (I never said these liveblogs were spoiler-free :P) I think that her introduction here is an indicator of that -- she’s introduced in much the same way as Utena is, only without quite as much pomp and circumstance to her unveiling. There’s a strong visual parallel here, though, and to my memory, the only other character to be given this type of introduction. That is, she’s given the slow tilt up her body, starting at her feet, with the spinning rose frame, much like Utena was. Other characters may have the rose frame, but not that same level of “self-important theme music and the slow reveal of the character” that Nanami is given here.  (I know Juri has her very sad theme music mostly used in highly emotional moments, Anthy has theme music but she’s a more major character, Miki sorta has theme music but it’s mostly used in other places...do Touga and Saionji have theme music at all? Do any other side characters have theme music to the level of Nanami? Maybe Nemuro [not Mikage]? It seems as it it plays almost every time there’s something related to her on screen.)

I always go to beat up girls I don’t like with the school’s Forbidden Forest™ in the background.

Actually, I wonder if this is some sort of really weird foreshadowing -- that’s where the dueling arena is, and this is pretty much a cropped (and daylight) version of the shot that opens the Shadow Girl plays for this arc. I’m probably reading too much into it and it’s just a nice, convenient location to get into fights at. You know. In front of the big, ominous forest that all schools have.

The editing and angles in the next scene are nice -- of /course/ Anthy is playing cards with Chu-chu and Utena is just sitting in the corner, stewing. Isn’t this how most friends spend their evenings?

That is exactly the reaction I have to all of the party dresses in this episode.

Utena insisting that Anthy go to the ball and make lots of friends is an interesting moment for me

There’s that fake Anthy smile we all know and love.

I can’t remember my first watchthrough of the series and how I reacted to this particular moment. I wonder how many first-time viewers (who don’t yet realize just how complicated Anthy is) take this response at face-value, and how many realize that Anthy is quite literally obeying orders here, even if Utena didn’t intend it as such?

This scene seems to really align us with Utena’s perspective, though, in wanting Anthy to go and make friends, and having us feel sorry for Anthy for being shy, not for...well, being the Rose Bride and having been abused and tortured her whole life. Utena is trying to make Anthy into that perfectly normal girl that she so desperately wants to be herself, and is coming at this from the perspective of having average problems, not highly symbolic magical problems.

The Shadow Girls play here is a bit obscure. On the surface, it’s about how the ball is just an excuse to catch a man, and how the girls are shameless for wanting to do so, and yet our actors move back and forth between playing the town gossips and actually participating themselves as the prince and princess archetypes. That all seems relatively straightforward -- words not lining up with actions, judging others but having the same desires (even if someone queered by the fact that the prince is one of the same actors as before), setting up what happens between Utena and Anthy as explicitly romantic.

But why are there two dogs? There’s one dog when the SGs are playing the town gossips, and then two dogs when they’re the prince/princess at the ball. 

Another question of “just how rich is this school?”: they sure do seem to have a /lot/ of fancy dress parties. No industrial-looking cafeterias or gyms strewn with cheap steamers and girls in JCPenney dresses here. Nah, we have classical music and champagne. I bet the tuxedos the boys are wearing are ones that they own, not even rented.

On the point of the fangirls “joking” about calling her “Utena-sama”: clearly, they’re all /hella/ thirsty. I don’t think they’re joking as much as Utena wants to believe they are.

Yes, Utena. Yes it is.

Besides being one of the best visual representations of social anxiety I’ve ever seen,

this is also something to keep in mind come episode 34. As we get more information about her backstory, this comes to be a surprisingly authentic reliving of trauma for Anthy, and not just a display of anxiety or shyness for its own sake.

I’m actually fascinated by these moments, since they seem to be one of the few places, especially this early on, where we are allowed to see something authentic from Anthy rather than the mask she wears. Of course, we don’t realize it yet. I wonder how much of this is her allowing the mask to come off for a bit, and how much is that her trauma is too difficult at this moment to keep hidden? She does a very good job of hiding it the rest of the time, so it’s interesting that we get this scene. Or is it simply a performance of trauma, and not authentic at all?

Back to shitposting: Yuuko is the only one in the entire goddamned episode who has a passable dress.

I’ve actually looked to see if there’s a fabric that dissolves in alcohol, and the closest I can find is a rare type of rayon that dissolves in a combination of alcohol and...something else, ether maybe? It’s been a while since I’ve looked it up. Still very impractical for a garment, and nothing is going to dissolve that quickly unless that dress was made of rice paper or something.

Though, it’s mostly to give Utena an excuse to act the Prince and save her girlfriend from being humiliated and naked in front of a bunch of strangers.

I love these kinds of early series pranks, though. I feel like as we get further into the series, the whole thing becomes almost like a giant prank somehow (the cars. the cacti. the severe shortage of men wearing shirts.), but all of the problems are very serious and heavy, so it’s interesting to see the early episodes seem to take themselves so seriously and yet all of the problems are things like “someone spilled wine on someone at a party.” 

I would do the [insert obligatory joke about how she was wearing the uniform underneath that dress somehow], but that’s not actually what happened here. She’s not in her school uniform. She had her magical girl transformation. 

Of course, this is to visually set up the idea that she’s acting as the prince here. But it begs the question: whose powers cause her transformation to happen? Does this solve the mystery of why only Utena seems to get a transformation, no matter who is in possession of the Rose Bride, if those powers are somehow inherent to Utena, not to Anthy? And if so, what would that mean for the framework of the show?

Cosplay goals: make the tablecloth dress actually out of a tablecloth. Is it possible? No. But I can try.

Actually, the quick change seems to be another magical girl transformation, rather than an actual outfit. ~Suspension of disbelief~ is overrated.

And our main ship is established. Now, for the delicately constructed life of these two to come crumbling down over the course of the next 35 episodes once we learn more.

That concludes this week’s liveblog! Congrats if you made it to the end, as usual. Next Sunday (July 2nd) is the scheduled date for our next liveblog. 

A quick closing note, since I never actually talk about the next episode bits unless they’re somehow important -- it seems significant that Utena mentions that Miki has only fought one duel before this, but I can discuss that next week. Or, probably, the week after.

[raguna-blade]

Revolutionary Girl Utena 13-15

I’ll give overall thoughts like...later. Tomorrow. or whatever. God.

God.

Episode 13

Just realized in the intro that Anthy and Utena are not spinning in sync. Almost in sync, but not quite.

Can't believe I didn't think about this before, but Juri is also something of a Ditto fighter. Not quite as blatant as Touga sis, but kinda.

...The...The Recap of the Thesis again? Wait are the colors of the roses different?

What shit is about to happen oh god.

WAS IT SUCH A GOOD IDEA?

Shadow Girls immediately? UFO?

...Is..Is toga listening to a recording of himself?

Egg time but uh... Uh this feels way fucked up.

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS

Dios...?

Also, seven trials? Self Duel? What?

Friendship 1 (saionji)

Self 7 (Touga)

Slap on Beat. It is a thing. No way this is on accident. CONFIRMED

Also, Saionji actually had reads on Utena? Uh...Not sure how to feel about this.

Never Lose the Strength and Nobility even when grown.

Also, Anthy was legit shocked this first duel huh? First awakened and all but...Huh.

That really was just a soul crush there though damn.

Choice 2 ( Saionji)

Keep fighting the duels? Yeah man.

THIS CLIPS EP THOUGH. Can't even have just a cheap review of things without it doing something huh.

It just occurred, but do any of them know WHY they do the sword drawing thing with Anthy?

...Are these slaps gonna stay on beat? Can...Can we not?

Choice breaks the seal on Dios power? Not just friendship, but choice? Choice made by friendship? Hm

Reason 3 (Miki)

The need of the bride thing still remains weird and unexplained yet.

Toga taking things away and uh...being on the bed like that is...Not painting a great image

...Wait, is the Rose Mosaic supposed to be a violation thing?

Love 4 (Juri)

Wait, Revolution is impossible because they lost hope? Wait wait wait what?

Also, with this being full blood light imagery, these night darkness gods, some shit went down here didn't it.

Gynous?

Certainty of Death Namely Light. Absolute Destiny Apocalypse? Huh....

These...Inside i'm hollow.

Adoration 5 (Nanami)

Also, just realized, Sword with Power turned pink. So...Is pink the power color here?

Increasingly sure that the rose mosaic is doing SOMETHING. And that these songs are well

Conviction 6 (Touga)

Wait...She cleared Seven duels?

uh...Black roses huh.

Uh yeah where were you anthy?

Not ominous clouds at all.

WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE SHADOW GIRLS

...Oh that's ominous.

HOW DOES HE NOT KNOW ABOUT THIS DUEL SHIT

WHO ARE THESE DUDES

WHOS THIS GENDER BEND UTENA AND ANTHY?

Episode 14

...Going Down?

Anthy Genderbend?

Utena Genderbend?

….Darkness absorbing rose...Uh...UHHHHH

Utena Elevator Action? Uh...?

Regular action on Saturdays for Anthy? Huh.

Exploring.

Her Big Brother. Explaaining this..Now...? OK

….What the fuck. The Chairmans house? Literla Planeterium

Akio what the fuck. I mean your room your rules.

Akane...marrying.

SHES IN HIGHSCHOOL

SHES IN HIGHSCHOOL AKIO WAIT A FUCKING SECOND

….No I do not like this.

NEVER BAD HERE HUH THATS A BALD FACED LIE

HELD THAT SILENCE FOR A FEEW SECONDS JESUS

How is Anthy the most brutal character this series with like the LEAST dialogue. Everything is a murder. Hot Fire Only.

Is that Akio on his desk or his bud?

Shadow Seminar. Mikage Seminar. This is uh..Ominous.

Recruiting Miki...?

So it's a secret...?

….100 people buried.

...Making boya as bride...? So it's not...Gendered? What.

So they're collecting strong duelists?

Kanae Ohtori so, keep an eye on her.

Not ominous the pointing at all.

What's with this...anti elevator.

Ok, so Akio is 10000000000000000000% a fucking predator right? We're not gonna get a reveal he's not. This isn't supposed to be a secret right?

What's with the butterflies?

Kanae recognizes Anthy's Weirdness. She just wants anthy to be her friend and nope.

Only choice is to revolutionize the world and...THIS SHITS HORRIFYING.

That's just a corpse?

Wait, they turn black when they die?

Can't escape.

Oh no is he YEP STABBING HER IN THE CHEST

THIS EPISODE IS SO UNCOMFORTABLE

WAKABA NO

WAKABA NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU SHADOWS GIRLS NEW SHADOWD GIRLS

NEW DESTINY APOCALYPES MIX?HEY WAIT A SECOND THAT LOOKED DIFFERENT?

Am I shadow Jumping? Can't be sure.

But...Is utena about to kill this girl? That's what this feels like it's going to.

….Oh that's ominous. Flowers on desk are death things right?

….Another Utena Ditto?

Ok, but...How...?

SO MANY DEAD STUDENTS

Murder Anthy?

So wait, did she invoke dios on purpose there?

Ring Broke. Sword Broke. And...she's on the floor dead....?just. Hot DROPPED INTO THE INFERNO?

Freezing the heart of a girl?

Anthy is cool with murder I guess?

I DO NOT BELIEVE SHES FINE AT ALL ANTHY

UNCANNY ANTHY

Chuchu doesn't like Akio it seems.

NOPE

NOOOOOOOO GOD DAMNIT NO

AKIO WHAT THE FUCK

GODDAMNIT021

Episode 15

Ok, before this gets weird, Is there a SINGLE brother sister group that's not weirdly incestuous? Miki? Please no. Don't do this.

Kozue what are you even doing.

Jesus god Every adult is MAD SUSPECT IN THIS SETTING.

Literally the only adult who seems legit is the hall monitor lady.

Touga in his depression room.

Nanami doing her best.

Also, confirmed, Heart to Heart.

Ok, so Purple Hair Dark skin dudes and...Anyone I guess Are all on the mad suspect frame right now.

MIKI IS A GOOD BOY. PLEASE REMAIN WHOLESOME I BEG YOU.

He's trying so hard and anthy is so fucking scary.

...Does Chuchu only stick around where anthy is cool...? Calm I mean.

YEAH UTENA CHEER THE BOY ON! HES A SWEETHEART.

Uh...what's with the running? From...Kozue?

...Did Kozue merc someone?

Who Hurt Her bro. Ok. Seems...

oh, that's hate alright.

Oh god. The hellavator. No no please no.

Student Council! Nanami, Being the hero

we need...And they changed the speech. It seems...more hopeful.

PLEASE LEAVE UTENA. JUST GET OUT OF THERE

Please. Please just one sibling relationship that's not vaguely incestuous....Why the focus on the mlikshake.

Anthy: This literally is so goddamn wholesome compared to my bullshit so you know what weird.

INTERVIEW TIME GOD THE MUSIC

Kozue, intentionally doing shit to make bro mad to make him look at me.

This is WAY less concerning than last time but also

...Am I gonna have to start watching where those roses pop up? Cause...hm.

Black Ring Kozue.

PLEASE STOP TOUCHING HIM LIKE THAT

DAMNIT

Wait, did...it

DID IT TURN MIKI INTO A ROSE BRIDE THING?

SHADOW GIRLS YOU CAN'T SAVE THE MOOD NOW

What are you even...

Why does the Staircase theme sound LESS melancholy, but more ominous? How the hell do you pull that off.

just realized that the pauldrons on utena and Anthy's outfits have shown up on others and...i'm not sure how to take that.

….Vases on the tables? Milkshakes.

Time Machine. Finally a song I can get on first run.

Anthy is taking the threats on her life pretty well.

...Did she drink all those milkshakes.

Utena with the sick flips

Which actually seem to be her thing, she's stealing dio's thing.

Another one bites the dust.

And Miki wakes up after her heart(???) is broken.

And she remembers nothing.

Moon thing. Look at it,

Squeak Squeak. NOPE NO GODDAMNIT NO.