#and so if he takes anthy he ultimately WOULD have control over her

[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

#I think touga does realize he's being used by akio but he's somewhat apathetic to that #thinking he can make it work and get ahead in this system anyways #but i can see him underestimating anthy's role in his potential downfall #particularly in the same way i think he KNOWS that anthy ultimately acts in accordance with akio's wishes rather than that of the duelists #but i do think he genuinely believe's he's akio's right-hand man #and so if he takes anthy he ultimately WOULD have control over her #which is true to the same extent that its true for the other duelists. but only to that extent #i think its its own form of naivety that anthy would hate... that he is aware enough to know he shouldn't be an exception #and yet takes himself as such #and uses that to excuse attempting to hurt and control her despite KNOWING she isn't just an empty shell #like picking apart what he said to her in the first arc about keeping her in her cage forever #he knows better than anyone what the shape of that cage looks like #and yet he still says All That #just bc he thinks acting akio's role will actually put him closer to power #take a closer look at your surroundings asshole! you're in your own cage!!!! #touga kiryuu #anthy himemiya #rgu

[specterthief]

so i just finished utena and it rewired my brain, as it does, and as i was watching i noticed some things:

i tweeted about this, but like. i already knew enough to have the impression before watching the series that there was probably a comparison to be drawn between maruki and akio but i can't get over the fact that the exterior shot of his palace looks like they just combined the staircase around the elevator to the dueling arena and akio's planetarium (which are really one and the same already) into one thing

and the whole nature of the planetarium, and what that reveals—that akio was always being dishonest about his work, that the planetarium wasn't about the stars as he claimed to endear himself to utena (and as it holds meaning to anthy, who says she wants to stay in the planetarium rather than see the stars outside in the real world) but about projecting the "fairy-tale illusions" to control the people within his walled garden—the same could be said about maruki's laboratory, and what's revealed about him. using cognitive psience to treat trauma was always a minor part of his goal. for a very long time—back to before he even first awakened his powers and used them on rumi—he wanted more than that, to preemptively control people deemed likely to commit crimes. controlling the cognition of all humanity was his expressed goal—a mission he thought he was chosen for by a god—before he had any idea that the phantom thieves would inadvertently grant him that much power. he can't even deny it when akechi accuses him of brainwashing sumire for his own self-satisfcation, merely argues that the ends justify the means if his reality is better for everyone. the "treatment" of sumi's specific trauma by destroying her real identity (and her being driven to such desperation that she'd attack the person she loves to stay in the false reality rather than face the truth) is just a byproduct, an experiment toward a greater end that places him in a position of godhood, of ultimate power to change the world in his image. to create his own garden of eden.

like, fuck, this certainly sounds familiar:

even on a more surface level—a member of the school faculty who's in the position with an ulterior motive, who the female students find extremely attractive (seriously, it's wild how often NPCs comment on maruki's looks or having feelings for him throughout his entire tenure at shujin—one even remarks on how good he looks in white.) a seemingly benevolent character who has a pre-established relationship with a young girl who's both the greatest victim of his schemes and violently devoted to protecting the fantasy he's created, who singles out the protagonist and bonds with them over time far more closely than would be appropriate for their positions, who uses that bond to try and achieve the power to change the world, only for the protagonist to refuse every temptation and take that power back...

and even looking at other symbols—in utena's duel with kanae, akio's fiancée (and the reason for him being in his position at ohtori,) she's surrounded by bouquets of white lilies that are identical to the one ella carries:

while in kanae's final appearance, she's shown catatonic as akio and anthy feed her apples—

—and apples are something that come up in relation to maruki constantly, whether the obvious presence of them as the fruit of eden in his palace (up yet another spiral staircase that resembles the path to the dueling arena):

or more prominently in the final boss fight:

or in his character art:

or references in various scenes, like in this bit of foreshadowing about making ryuji's "wish" come true:

or at more length with sumire:

and as the apples in utena can be compared both to the forbidden fruit of eden and the poison apple eaten by snow white, sumire, like kanae, is seen rendered unconscious (in a throne befitting a princess) in maruki's palace:

and despite her more obvious connection to cinderella via her persona, she has a weapon referencing snow white:

akio's obviously a much more overtly sinister character, as well an openly predatory one (which, to be clear, i definitely do not think is a supported read of maruki's actions in canon—manipulative, dishonest and terrible with setting appropriate boundaries with his teenage patients yes, acting with any legitimately predatory designs on anyone no) but the similarities are still striking to the point that they seem like they could be intentional, and i just wanted to try and get the coherent thoughts i had on all of this down in one place

and it is known both from statements from the guidebook interviews and from early content left in the final build of the game that significant amounts of maruki's story and palace were changed very late into development with the intention of making him more sympathetic and his deal more tempting, so i do wonder if this connection might have been even more clear in an earlier iteration of royal's story (though given they did have concerns about making him sympathetic from the outset, i don't think it's likely he was ever intended to be as clearly villainous as akio)

#mine #long post #persona 5 royal #revolutionary girl utena #meta #but not really #just a lot of rambling about similarities that might be coincidence and also might not #third semester brainrot #there are so many other random details just connecting to utena stuff in general that i could have gone on about #but i think this mess is long enough #utena brainrot

[yellowocaballero]

I know next to nothing abt utena but I. I kinda am extremely curious abt the utena vs mcu comparative analysis? if you feel like sharing lmao absolutely no worries if not

I love all of you because I will post obviously bait and someone will always indulge me in asking about it. NO I don’t want to unprompted just start rambling about my opinions, YES I will share them though. I will make this as short as possible because I can talk about Utena all day. I will add a disclaimer that I don’t super like the MCU so I’m very sorry to any MCU fans, Winter Soldier was good. Slight, vague spoilers for Utena ahead. 

TL;DR: MCU is constantly selling feminism in the form of palatable #bossbabes and Strong Female Characters, while Utena’s form of feminism is a more systematic and nuanced interview of how the patriarchy limits, exploits, and controls women. It posits that a woman CANNOT be a #bossbabe while she’s within that system, and only by leaving it can she find independence and identity. MCU is sponsored by the Air Force.

So for the uninitiated, Utena is a magical girl anime that I’ve been jokingly calling Evangelion: For Her. It deconstructs magical girl anime and fairy tales, and critically examines Japanese society, the patriarchy, heteronormative culture, and IN MY OPINION boarding schools. It deals with themes of trauma, toxic relationships, toxic masculinity, gender non-conformity, queerness, abuse, maturity, coming of age, gender roles, memory, and narrative. 

I’ve joked recently that Tumblr would find Utena problematic if it actually talked about the show beyond the killer aesthetic and sword lesbians. Every female character in it is obsessed with men. Most of them are in abusive, or at least toxic, relationships. It has several gender nonconforming, queer women, who view gender nonconformity as adopting the role of a man in society and thereby idealizing/controlling/abusing women, as men do. Every character is a hugely complicated person who hurts others. Men control women and women are either subservient and controlled by men, or they use their position of assumed subservience to manipulate men, or they attempt to regain power by taking the role of men. 

On the flip side. Utena demonstrates how every character is turned into this through the rigid and restrictive nature of (it’s Japanese, so Japanese, although it’s broadly applicable) society. Women who do not fit into these pre-set molds are punished and ostracized. Young boys are groomed by older men in order to fit these abusive molds, and otherwise well meaning men hurt women because they are not taught how to interact with women in healthy ways. The show is basically about how society takes the genuine need for love, intimacy, and human connection among children and beats them into societally accepted molds that keep power in the hands of powerful men. The patriarchy is ultimately a tool of powerful men that abuses and controls both men and women. Ever hear of no ethical consumption under capitalism? Try no ethical love under the patriarchy! 

So, no, Utena doesn’t really have a lot of ‘strong female characters’. But that’s really kind of the point - how can a woman be strong in this system? When a woman tries to gain strength, does she just try to imitate masculine values that we’re brainwashed into perceiving as strength? Is masculinity healthy? Can Utena really be gnc, or will a gnc woman never be accepted as a man by a society that profits off the victimization of women?

I’m not asking the MCU to analyze all of this, because they’re blockbuster movies and I don’t want or need them to get #deep. However, superhero movies will never look at the systematic and societal structures that build heroes and villains so long as the nature of superheroes inherently hinges upon the ‘Great Man’ system (basically an obsession with heroes and salvation through singular men instead of communities and movements). The MCU Spider-Man movies were so frustrating about this: it goes through the effort of saying that capitalism and injustice created the Vulture, but all that does is make a sympathetic villain - it never goes so far as to say that Peter is being fed into this system (by Tony Stark) like meat into a meat grinder that continues to prioritize the special over the collective. I don’t even need to get into Far From Home. The MCU constantly acknowledges these injustices (the way it acknowledges that the Air Force in Captain Marvel is sexist and racist) but it twists around that acknowledgement into assertion that superheroes and good guys CAN exist in this unjust system, and that they can utilize the power of this unjust system in order to provide salvation. Utena has Japanese Buddhist roots over this Christian ideal of the saviour/messiah: it encourages saving ourselves, and says that we cannot be saved by others, only aided and guided in that journey. 

Captain Marvel cannot be a ‘feminist’ film, no matter how much it celebrates Carol for embracing her individuality and autonomy in a discriminatory system, so long as Carol remains within that system. In contrast, the only way that Utena was able to live in gay happiness with Anthy was by rejecting the patriarchy, structure, and society completely. Carol is a shining, premier, ‘ideal’ example of a woman in the Air Force - tough and independent yet obedient and responsible to her system. Utena is also masc and gnc, but it actually explores how performing that masculinity isn’t a repudiation of the system, it’s just striving to attain status as the oppressor instead of the oppressed (absolutely crucial note that Utena doesn’t strive to be a man, she strives for masculinity). The #girlbosses in Black Panther are characterized by their complete and total loyalty and lack of ambition to authoritarian male figures and autocratic systems (Black Panther is really good and I like it a lot, this isn’t a criticism). Judi in Utena is also completely obedient and loyal to the male-dominated structure of the Student Council, but it’s shown as preventing her from accepting her lesbianism and pursing her desires. Black Widow, #girlboss extraordinaire, is devalued as a woman through her infertility and this is completely played straight and uncritically in a move that’s stunningly 1970s. Nanami in Utena (metaphorically) is confronted with her perceived lack of suitability for maternal life - and how the reason why she’s desperate for this is because it’s the promised unconditional love she never received. This isn’t even getting into the men - Tony Stark using tools of war to end war, which is an oxymoron. Peter Parker’s divorce from his working class roots into mindless imitation of authoritarian paternal figures and him literally being handed the cutsey drone strikes. Women in the MCU are ‘cool’, women in Utena are complex, flawed, and nuanced. 

We know the MCU isn’t woke. I don’t want it to be woke. But it keeps on pretending to try and it’s frustrating me. It continually just gets enough there to make me think about it and give the shiny sheen of that feminism while refusing to engage meaningfully with what they’re doing. I’d rather they didn’t try at all, because they consistently raise the question (hey it’s fucked up that the working class is getting screwed over and the Vulture’s doing what he’s doing for a reason!) and then refuse to answer it authentically or genuinely (but he’s evil so we don’t gotta touch that). I’m not gonna use the word pandering, but...that #girlboss shot in Endgame, come on...

Utena meaningfully treats the women as women who Live In A Society, and how that fucks them up, and how the only way they can be free is if they realize there’s no wizard behind the curtain, recognize the injustices, and repudiate the game. MCU says that a woman can be liberated and strong if she achieves specialness and strength within the system - if she ‘wins’ the game. But women don’t win this game. That’s the point of the game. Because when women win, men perceive themselves as losing, and that’s unacceptable. Captain Marvel and the MCU is a consolation prize for what women are consistently denied: complex and flawed characterizations. 

I’m normally uninterested by #feminism but Utena gets it. Thanks for the ask! 

#revolutionary girl utena #utena #marvel cinematic universe #meta commentary #mcu critical #TERFs do not interact with this post utena does not say men are inherently abusive it says that men are also damaged by toxic masculinity #utena did not give us touga saionji and miki to say that men are not hurt and abused by powerful people #i'm watching wandavision and I will say that it is the CLOSEST look the mcu's taken since jessica jones into this #but it's still falling a little short for reasons i'm still mulling over #also i forgot to mention jessica jones but jessica jones is more about 'spooky one evil guy' then talking about rape culture #im sorry this is so long im incapable of being concise it's in my bio #i write about gender a lot but kinda subtley #i mean except for the roleswap series where I hit the reader in the face with a 2x4

[malachi-walker]

What character(s) from other fandoms that you're a part of remind you the most of Catra? Personally, I don't think I've seen too many, aside from maybe Vegeta from DBZ and maybe Jason Todd from DC comics but that's about it for me

Ok, anon, thanks for your patience. Let's go.

Firstly, I have two ladies that do give me a similar vibe to Catra (though they aren't 100% matches as you'll see.) And I want you to take particular note of that: it's very telling that the characters you mentioned are both dudes. This is something I have been thinking about for literally decades because it is a deeply entrenched stereotype in our culture: male abuse victims are angry, frustrated loners who lash out until they find that one (girl) person that gets through their facade, female abuse victims are portrayed as either anxious messes (more common in recent years) or as just... These smiling caricatures who continue to pretend to be happy because that's what our societies expect women to be. And this is something I took note of at a very early age, because as someone growing up with an abusive birth father I looked to the MALE characters as a guide book on how to act, because getting angry and lashing out was what made sense to me at the time and I resented the hell out of that unspoken implication that I was supposed to just suck it up and plaster on a smile when I wanted to rage against the injustice of what I was dealing with. In hindsight it wasn't great behavior, but it was what I needed to keep myself sane at the time. I'm not even exaggerating when I say I have waited my whole life for a character like Catra: someone who is reflective of my experiences as an ex-abuse victim, someone who is angry and wrathful and still allowed to be sympathetic. Now on to our two ladies.

First up: Vriska Serket from Homestuck. (I know, Homestuck is a huge fandom with a lot of assholes, but I do still enjoy the original comic. I just don't interact with the fandom.) Vriska and Catra both have similar vibes in the way they project their outward personas of being the badass bitch who takes no shit and is on top of things, but we all know that's a lie. And they both come from abusive backgrounds: Vriska was forced to become a killer at a very young age because her parental guardian (a literal giant spider) would eat her if Vriska didn't feed her other kids. Doesn't excuse her jerkass tendencies or her terrible actions, but that was how she started out. And Catra's deal with SW needs no explanation.

They both have developed very similar gadfly tendencies in order to maintain a sense of control around other people (though Vriska is a lot more mean spirited about it) and both have moments when the facade cracks and they show actual sincerity and frustration at themselves and other people. The main difference between them is that Vriska's actions are driven by a sense of grandiose self-importance that she has cultivated and fed into as a way to avoid looking at her own actions (because she's the best, so everything she does is awesome, right?) whereas Catra's primary driving motivation is pain: either making sure she doesn't have to hurt anymore or hurting those who hurt her. Plus Catra grapples with her sense of guilt a lot throughout Spop and maintains those sympathetic undertones while Vriska's moments of clarity are so rare that you basically have to keep a chart to locate them. But you could totally picture them both teaming up to make fun of their respective frenemies, assuming they didn't kill each other first for reminding themselves of their deep underlying self-loathing.

Second candidate: Anthy Himemiya from Revolutionary Girl Utena. And boy howdy, if anyone is interested in this show and wants to avoid spoilers, skip to the end now, because we're going on a deep and dark journey here.

At first glance, she and Catra don't have much in common. In fact, she seems to fit the stereotype I described above: the placid smiling doll who takes the abuse and keeps going. Key word: seems to. Anyone who actually watches the show knows exactly where I'm going here.

We're introduced to Anthy as the "Rose Bride": the prize in a series of sword fights between students at a very strange school, with the ultimate promise being that whoever owns the Rose Bride at the end of the duels will gain some nebulous ultimate power. And yeah, I said "own" for a reason: whoever possesses the Rose Bride effectively owns her and some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the show reinforce the fact that Anthy tailors her thoughts and actions to whoever currently controls her. And as you can expect, this leads to BUCKETS of abuse. Literally everyone in this show is culpable in some manner for this, no matter how well intentioned.

But remember that "seems to?" Because that's only one side of Anthy; the outward persona if you will. On the other side of the coin you have Anthy the Witch, and that's where the parallels with Catra come into play and why Anthy was my go-to abuse representation before Spop rocked my world. Because the big twist we find out at the end of the series is that Anthy and her older brother Akio (formerly Dios) are the former literal personifications of the fairytale damsel in distress princess and the noble prince on a white horse, respectively.

But the balance was upset: having to constantly go around saving people was literally killing Dios, because one of the major points of RGU is that you can assist people in saving themselves but doing it yourself strips them of agency and traps them in a cycle of needing to be saved again and again. The more people the noble prince saved, the more people needed saving. When it became clear that he couldn't keep going, Anthy took a stand and prevented the people coming for Dios (angry that he wasn't saving them anymore) from getting to him, and thus incurred the wrath of everyone and got skewered alive by an angry mob in the process. This isn't hyperbole: the role of the Rose Bride is to instinctively bring out the disdain and hatred of everyone on the planet. It's a punishment for stepping out of line, for not being the placid princess who needs to be rescued anymore.

Because we're operating on fairy tale logic, no longer being a princess means that Anthy became a witch, and no longer being the prince made Dios into satanic archetype Akio. So behind the scenes of the entire show, Anthy is the witch assisting her brother in orchestrating the duels, and their ultimate goal is to find someone pure of heart enough to embody those princely virtues Dios once possessed and to steal that power so Akio can return to being who he once was. All of the psychological torments and head games are designed to weed out the potential candidates to find that special someone... Except it's an impossible goal because no human being can live up to that standard. And with each atrocity they commit it becomes even more impossible to return to being that person.

Ok, tangent done, here's where it gets interesting: Anthy is a character with two sides to her, the suffering Rose Bride fated to endure the hatred of the entire world and the Wicked Witch who manipulates and orchestrates the torment of those around her. But here's the deal: she's a victim too. She's a victim of a system that won't let her be anything other than these two binaries; she's a victim of her brother who has all the power over her and has trapped her in a codependent incestuous relationship, and I don't care how awful the things she's done are: nobody deserves to go through the shit she does. So with all of that in mind, the actions that she goes through as the witch make perfect sense. Why shouldn't she torment these people who do nothing but abuse her and deny her of agency? Even the best hearted of the duellists (aka the ones who don't hit her or abuse her sexually) nonetheless fall into the trap of projecting their own biases and expectations onto her, biases that her role dictates she carry out. Her actions as the witch aren't right, but nothing about this situation is. That's the entire point.

And that's where she ties into being like Catra. Catra does some truly fucked up things, but it doesn't cancel out the fact that she's an abuse victim that has been literally tortured for most of her life for no good reason and has received zero acknowledgement of that abuse in universe. And much like Anthy, she can't begin to heal until the situation is acknowledged, because that's literally step one of breaking the cycle: confirming that this is not okay and that no one deserves the shit she's been through. Just knowing that herself isn't enough: it's acknowledgement from others that enables that process to begin, because no one can recover from abuse in a vacuum. You need outside people to be touchstones, because so much of recovering from abuse is confronting the way it warps your perception and thought processes. You need at the minimum one normal perspective to give you that, preferably more, but one minimum.

Hurting the people who care about her is definitely not okay and I'm not excusing her actions in that category, but it doesn't change the fact that she is justified in wanting to rage and lash out, because she is still trapped in that cycle. She can't heal or let go because the process hasn't even been started. She's not off the hook for the things she's done, but neither should she be automatically condemned without taking those factors into account (which is the entire reason why the distinction between an excuse and a justification exists.)

And if I can be a little pithy... The other similarity between Catra and Anthy is I can guarantee that in twenty years people will STILL be arguing over whether or not Catra "deserved" to be freed from her abusive situation.

Good God this turned into an essay. Hope this makes up for how long it took, anon. And anyone else who makes it this far, treat yourself. You earned it.

#long post #anon #answers #comparitive analysis #yes virginia i am a lit graduate

[empty-movement]

The Comet and the Stars

CW/TW: Discussion of sexual assault, emotional abuse, events of episode 33, incest, um...everything? Look, it’s about Akio. :(

I discovered a comet earlier. It’s new. No one else knows about it yet. But I won’t tell anyone else about it. I won’t even name it. It’s amazing… The feeling of discovering a new heavenly body. You feel as though doing that makes it your property. But what’s in the heavens is in the heavens. It belongs to no one. ...It belongs to no one...

Goodnight, big brother.

Must you still torment me?

For twenty years, this scene has driven me nuts, and taking my cue from the man himself, I've just ignored it. The gist is obvious enough: Akio is gloating about seducing Utena and it backfires on him, but any dramatic weight or potential for analysis has been eclipsed for me by an unforgivable sin. In all previous translations, Akio uses ‘comet’ and ‘star’ interchangeably.

This is absurd coming from someone who, according to Ikuhara, probably teaches astronomy in the university. It also breaks the comparison he's making. I brought this up with our translation buddy at Nozomi, not asking him to fix it but more bemoaning my fate. After all, Akio does clearly use two different words…

It turns out that I didn't give enough credit, either to Akio or to Enokido, who wrote the episode, on why it’s worded this way. Though Akio begins by saying suisei, which is explicitly the word for comet, he continues into his little speech using hoshi. The latter is generally translated as ‘star’, but is actually not specific beyond ‘celestial body.’ (Had I been a Sailor Moon fan, I would have known this, as hoshi is used to refer to planets in it, apparently.)

As close as I can get to the experience after twenty years, this is like me getting to analyze a piece of Utena for the first time. It was a fascinating look at something I knew I wanted to explore, but couldn't, because it was broken. It’s fixed now. And I am digging in, because I’m Akio trash, toxic relationship trash, space trash, and analysis trash. (And also, this was homework/research for the Akio fic I wrote for the upcoming Utena Future Zine.)

This scene immediately follows episode 33, The Prince Who Runs In the Night, which ended with Utena and Akio having sex in a hotel room, an event framed by Akio and Anthy as ‘delivering roses’, and alluded to by Akio as ‘beautiful stars.’

Here, at the beginning of episode 34, The Rose Seal, having just had sex with his sister, Akio is in the mood to gloat. He begins to describe having found a new comet. This seems...unlikely. You’ve never seen Akio use a telescope. The entirety of his exploration of space is contained within a planetarium, a representation of the night sky, beholden to the accuracy bestowed by its creator. It’s incapable of letting him ‘find’ anything. Of course, that’s not a flaw. It’s a feature. Akio is choosing where the stars shine, even if outside of his world, this would not be up to him.

The stars are a metaphor, both in the context of the series, and Akio’s own use of them in conversation: the heavenly bodies he discusses are the people he controls. Everything Akio has said relating to the stars or the mythology surrounding them is ultimately about someone in the story, and there is always a contextual clue to indicate this. 

Later, he will go on to say “Actually, I have no interest whatsoever in the stars.” You can take this as him rejecting his own framing device, or you can take him as using the metaphor still: he doesn’t care about people at all. I think it's both. He never shows an interest in space that isn’t clearly bound up in its comparison to people, and he shows somehow even less regard for the people those stars represent. They’re at best playthings, and at worse, just a means to a repetitive, futile end.

It’s obvious that Utena’s the comet he has discovered, that no one else knows about. This is an unsubtle reference to ‘discovering’ Utena's virginity, and taking for himself the one piece of Utena that Anthy could not have ‘known about’ herself. Whether she wanted it or not is far less important than that it's something Akio was able to deny her. Right out of the gate, this is not nearly so much about his comet, as the person he's speaking to.

It is interesting though to consider if Akio is aware at all that Anthy's feelings for Utena could be romantic in nature. The choice of sex as a means to drive them apart does seem to speak to that, but it's also probably the move he'd make regardless of the nature of Utena and Anthy's relationship. Anthy's refusal to look at the ‘real’ stars Akio enjoys so much in the previous episode is framed rather like jealousy, but it's hard to say exactly for who or over what. Her reaction to this event is...complicated, despite her complicity implied by her assistance in “delivering the roses.” This is an especially eerie way to reference Akio's sleeping with Utena, given the bouquet, red and white roses mixed, follows them to the hotel room, sits on a chair, and is eventually is set in a vase. After all, the destination is already there. A similar bouquet is delivered to Akio’s office way back in episode 15, when he is first alone with Utena, suggesting Anthy’s awareness and involvement in Utena’s fate, including this rape, has been there from the start.

Having established this as a discussion about Utena, he goes on to say he isn’t going to tell anybody about this new comet, nor is he going to give it a name. A secret thing that’s yours because you found it… is no small power trip, and if he were talking about a comet, one could certainly imagine a few precious moments where the possession can be savored before the pleasure of sharing your discovery takes over. There is certainly some of this in how it pertains to Utena, but more pointedly this is an act of aggression. And this, the fact that comets aren’t stars, is why the mistake in translation literally destroys beyond repair this entire bit.

Comets are temporary visitors in the night sky, they flash brilliantly but ultimately will only be there for a little while before going on their way along a much larger orbit. (Ruka is another comet, shown coming down in the window in episode 28, then departing in 29.) Stars, for all intents and purposes, are fixed bodies. Things that reliably stay where you expect them to. They aren’t going anywhere.* Akio is reminding Anthy that Utena, sweet as she is, is a temporary visitor in their sky. She may shine brighter than most, but her path will eventually lead her away. Don’t get too attached, Anthy, to a thing that will soon disappear.

To Akio, there’s no point naming her. He only concerns himself with what's in his domain, and if she’s going to leave it anyway, she can do so namelessly. This is exactly what happens: the students forget her, struggling to recall her name not long after her departure. By refusing to name this comet, he’s rejecting her in advance of needing to do so, anticipating her departure, and planning her erasure. I’m not going to name her, because she isn’t going to be part of our world.

He goes on to say how wonderful and fun it is to discover a comet and then keep it to himself. No one finds comets if they don’t look for them, and if they’re looking for them, they’re doing so out of passion for the hunt. But he’s talking about Utena, making it about how much pleasure he takes in the hunt of innocence, and its subsequent destruction. Though certainly no excuse for his actions, this seems to me like it would be a satisfying preoccupation for the fallen prince, denied his former glory by the endless, fatal demands innocent princesses placed on him. Ohtori Academy could be read, cynically, as an elaborate mockery of a fairy tale world that he has created just to play out this story, over and over.

But what’s in the heavens is in the heavens. Or more simply “A comet is a comet.” On some level, Captain Obvious is aware of the nature of the coffin he lives in. He makes reference to the world outside and is to some limited extent in communication with it. He knows within his sphere, time is arrested. He knows, I think at varying levels of conscious awareness, that the world he’s the ends of is not the entirety of the earth. In this comment, he extends the temporality of Utena’s presence to not just being true for Anthy, but him as well. Utena will leave, and who will be left? Just the two of them, still together under the same sky, though their comet is no longer in it.

The comet belonging to no one is an elaboration of this point, and probably the closest Akio inadvertently gets to a moment of genuine self-awareness. The discovery of a comet makes him feel like it’s his...but it’s not. It’s a comet, and it will leave the sky they live under regardless of what either of them does to it.

He repeats this line again. It gnaws at him, because it strays too close to the subject of his own limitations. This started as a threat that he can ruin this creature Anthy’s grown fond of, and as he expanded the point, it became tinged with reassurance that Utena is a passing fling for both of them. But Akio, in a hurry to absolve himself of any real culpability, ends up admitting, certainly by accident, that Utena isn’t a passing fling because that’s what he’d prefer. Akio won’t keep her because Akio can’t keep her.

On some level, he is aware that his control is not absolute. This comet that has appeared is not his to keep, and while he may budge its trajectory to his own ends, ultimately...he can’t force it to do anything. He can’t force anyone to do anything. He can trick, cajole, coax...but his perception of his own capacity to control the world around him does not line up accurately with reality, and he knows this. Deep down.

Because while illusions may belong to him, reality belongs to no one…

Anthy leaves when she does knowing he’s been made vulnerable by his own contemplation. Not only does she not care to offer any comfort, she is ignoring both his empty threat and his hollow reassurance. After all this peacocking, and the dark place he inadvertently led himself, she tells him by her passivity that, oops, sorry. She wasn’t listening.

Must you still torment me?

Yes. Because I don’t belong to you, either.

The give and take of love and resentment in Akio and Anthy’s relationship reaches levels of toxicity that would make Chernobyl blush. They dance constantly around their codependency, swiping at one another, and then soothing each other in turn. “No one will ever know you as well as I know you.” becomes both a reassurance and a threat on their lips.

It’s Akio that does all the talking, and one could assume that’s usually the case, but Anthy wins this round by doing the one thing more dangerous to Akio than anything else: she ignores him. Hating him is a glue that binds her to him, and his rubbing her face in what he’s done to their young comet smacks of an attempt to reinforce that attachment, negative thought it is. As long as she’s wrapped up in her hatred and resentment of him, she’s not going to be able to move on. Their hostility to one another is heavy with that awareness on both sides: they both know the ‘love’ the other has for them depends on that hatred, and neither really believes it could mean anything any other way. Neither dares invest in the idea that they could be genuinely loved for their own sake, so neither tries.

A fair bit of Akio’s dialogue in the climax of the series also seems geared to elicit contempt from Anthy, seeking this bitterness as a validation of her attachment. There’s a bit of lip service to the idea of them loving one another, but the form that takes is a hostile one, and it’s that hostility Akio is trying to drag from Anthy now. Anthy, knowing why he’s doing it and what he hopes to achieve, denies him...and enjoys it. After all, it’s how she swipes at him in turn, by reminding him that her veneer of compliance, her passivity as the Rose Bride, is a weapon she can aim just as readily at him. And he sees every day what it does to others, just as she’s made to watch what he does to their makeshift prince.

Akio’s seduction of Utena is a military action ending a cold war, and this scene is our first glimpse at what open hostility between these powers looks like. The Akio Arc and the Apocalypse Arc are not a distinction officially made by the series creators, but the presence of a ‘recap’ episode implies it, and the shift from one story arc to the next marks a gross change in the tone of Akio and Anthy’s relationship past any capacity either may have to salvage it. Akio is clearly aware what he has done angers Anthy, but he misjudges the severity of her reaction, having let himself be pretty much blind up to this moment to the distance Utena is putting between them.

But...why does he change terms? Why not just continue using the term that appropriately describes the subject? Well, I used to think this was done because it sounds better or something, and that certainly could be the case. However, it also creates a double entendre that isn’t exactly necessary to the point, but certainly enriches it. Hoshi is ‘celestial body’, hoshii, with the extended vowel, is ‘want.’ They do absolutely sound different in Japanese, however, they don’t sound so different that a Japanese speaker wouldn’t notice their similarity. Consider this:

I discovered something interesting earlier. It’s new. Something that no one else knows about yet. But I won’t tell anyone else about it. I won’t even name it. It’s amazing… The feeling of discovering something new to want. You feel as though doing that makes it your own. But...I want what I want. Though what I want belongs to no one.

Reworded to this, his speech doesn’t radically change in meaning. He’s still gloating about a thing he’s found and enjoyed, and he’s still eventually tripping over an awareness that he can’t keep it. The flavor of it changes though, it sounds far more world-weary, like someone aware of how infrequently a new thing to interest them comes along. That novelty is rare, and Akio, selfish creature that he is, would make it belong to him if he could. He can’t, though...and why is that?

Perhaps he’s aware that the very act of possessing this comet ruins what he likes about it. Under any condition where Utena becomes his possession, she stops being the innocent, spirited little prince he’s having such fun playing with. He knows possessing her would destroy what he enjoyed in the first place. This is a conundrum he shares with his ‘competitor,’ Touga. This interest, this distraction, is one that is entirely impossible for Akio to keep. It will elude him, and the satisfaction he feels at the destruction of a noble thing will be fleeting, leaving him only with the wreckage of Anthy’s anger, and none of the pleasure he feels now.

This is absolutely not to say I think Akio is remotely in love with Utena. I actually kind of had a hard time typing that sentence even. He enjoys the pursuit, perhaps, but more importantly, Akio lives to bring others down to his level. If everyone else turns out to be total garbage, it validates his decision to take the easy way out. To be garbage himself. Utena interests and pleases him so because she has that much farther to fall, and he appears, against his better interests given Anthy’s reaction, compelled to push her. But if Dios’ fundamental ambition was to save others, it seems reasonable to assume Akio’s is the opposite--he’s compelled to destroy what innocence crosses his path, and whether that is out of the programming inflicted on him by his very nature as a living archetype, or whether that’s a retaliation against others for the wounds he perceives have been inflicted on him and what’s his, meaning Anthy...I suppose depends on your reading of what exactly he and Anthy are. The former has been used in the past to frame Akio as unable to help himself any more than Dios does. I’ve never really liked that reading, because it removes the burden of responsibility he has for his actions by removing his agency in deciding what he does or doesn’t do. That just feels cheap to me, utterly out of line with the richness and complexity to be found literally everywhere in the series.

I think the world Akio and Anthy inhabit, that they’ve created for themselves, is such a dark place because both of them feel most comfortable there. Akio lashes out madly in hostility toward literally everyone that crosses his path, and though it is smoothed over and made attractive by his methods, the fact remains that Akio structures everything around him to service this ambition. He misleads, hurts, and ruins others, and does so with the point of view that he has a right to this. (‘Foolish mortal’ is translated this way because the word he uses, ikimono, literally implies like...minimal sentience.) The vengeance he takes on the world seems almost an addiction at this point, one he indulges to his own detriment as Anthy’s approval shifts from irritation to far beyond tolerance.  

This moment of reflection, where he admits, albeit briefly, that the toys he plays with aren’t his own, is one of very few moments in the series where you could even attempt to read his behavior as self-aware or something he struggles with. It suggests on some level Akio is aware that the world at large buzzes about without him, and that his petty tortures are ultimately meaningless, either as a means to real satisfaction, or as revenge for a wrong as great as the one inflicted on him. People are not his in the end, and they are capable of walking away from a garden he cannot. This is an interesting insight for him to have at the beginning of such open hostilities between him and his sister. What has been obvious to us as viewers for a very long time is starting, maybe, to sink through to him: Anthy is capable of leaving him.  Not threatening. Not using the distance as a bludgeon...but actually leaving.

If Akio could be capable of regret for his actions, this would be a moment for him to be so. He begins by gloating, but ends this dialogue aware that something went wrong with this particular ‘discovery’...and his greed for its destruction, his selfishness, and his resentment toward all things innocent and pure are all little satellites orbiting what I think is the biggest insight Akio risks having here. Akio is not entirely sure what he just did to this girl will be without consequences. That he might have gone a bit too far, a bit too late, and left himself with an Anthy he can’t be nearly so sure of anymore.

The open hostility between the siblings from this point forward stems from that spiraling trust he has in his grip on what, so far as he believes, sustains him. The game played now aims as much to sever Anthy from her attachment to this little creature as it does to creating a prince out of her. Akio is starting to be afraid.

Thanks for reading, if your crazy ass got this far! I know Akio isn’t exactly the hot topic everyone loves to talk about, but I find him uniquely compelling for all the reasons we don’t want to talk about him, and if any of this was interesting to you, I’ll be glad of it! :D As always, any feedback or whathaveyou is welcome. If you need some seriousness bleach, here, have a stupid picture:

PS. Happy birthday, Akio! Sorry about the long essay totally ripping into your weaknesses and calling you a scared little man.

* Akio pointing out Venus (‘the morning star’) as a comparison to himself earlier in the series is especially rich given this entire framing device. Venus, like the other planets, masquerades as a star, and you can’t really tell the difference without a telescope. However, unlike the fixed stars, it moves about freely in the night sky, appearing to be one thing while behaving in another way. Just as Akio appears to be the Trustee Chairman of the Board, but moves about across his sky as Ends of the World. Just as he appears one of us, he is something altogether different, and altogether closer than we realize.

#SKU #RGU #Shoujo Kakumei Utena #Revolutionary Girl Utena #Anthy #Anthy Himemiya #Akio #Akio Ohtori #Analysis #Meta #Discussion #cw: abuse #cw: incest #cw: akio existing #cw: nerdy fucking space shit again

[iztarshi]

Black Roses as the Mob

There are four roles in the Tale of the Rose as we’re told it. The princesses drive the action by needing to be rescued but are so passive they don’t do anything themselves — or even appear. Dios is the Prince and Anthy becomes the Witch. But there is also the Mob.

The Mob is, at least in its pure, fairytale form, composed of men who are not princes (although there does appear to be at least one woman present). They idolise the Prince, believing he can do what they cannot, and because they believe this they also believe they are entitled to him doing it. As soon as he refuses, even if only because he’s unable to provide, they turn on him. Or, as it happens, on Anthy, who steps up to take the blame for why he can’t meet their demands.

I think there’s a reason the swords drawn by Black Rose Duelists have black hilts, like the Swords of Hate do.

A potential Black Rose perceives a person as special in a way they can’t see themselves. They attach themselves to that person, idolise them, and often help them in some way.

When the special person fails to deliver on what the Black Rose expected and felt they were owed, they become angry and turn on them, aided by Mikage who pushes them to act on their darkest feelings.

*

Kanae is, by personality and inclination, a princess. But Akio won’t make her a princess, constantly ignoring and rejecting her attempts at affection. Kanae fears he prefers his sister, although she’s probably unaware of the way in which that’s true, and blames Anthy for encouraging his coldness by not treating her as family. The things she refuses to see in Akio — the contempt for her and strange, almost inhuman, behaviour — she sees in Anthy and only in Anthy. Anthy becomes the Witch and the Witch must die.

*

Kozue feels that Miki was valued for his specialness, his talent, and that she was only ever valued when she could fake it. Even Miki fixates on how good her playing was in his desire to have her back making the real, non-special, person she is only capable of disappointing him. The unhealthy ways in which she tries to get his attention, the lie she lets him keep believing for fear it would break the bond between them completely if she corrected him, all of it becomes something she can blame on Anthy. It’s only because Miki has someone new to fixate on, not the underlying issues between them, that are pulling him away. If she can just get rid of Anthy everything will be fine.

*

Shiori’s lived her life in Juri’s shadow, unaware that she’s been on a pedestal for Juri the whole time. She knew, I think, that it wasn’t a friendship. She and Juri had nothing in common. It seemed like it must be pity that bound them, that brought Juri to pay attention to her, and finding out it was attraction doesn’t mend things. Shiori seems to blame Anthy the least. She still tries to kill her, but without much purpose to it. Drawing Juri’s sword seems to be more the purpose for her, a bitter, vengeful drawing, to take a part of Juri against Juri’s will.

In that way perhaps she’s more like Anthy than most of them. And Shiori wants to lash out at herself most of all.

*

Mitsuru is impatient. It’s not that he believes he’s lesser, that he’s inherently not special. It’s that he’s not special yet. Like all children he has little control over his own life and there are a lot of things he’s shut out of or doesn’t understand. Perhaps he could wait to grow into specialness, if Nanami wasn’t already ahead of him, if she wouldn’t always be ahead of him. It’s not so much Anthy herself he blames as “adults”. And, just as he sees Nanami as already adult, he includes Anthy in their number.

*

Wakaba is a sweet girl, drawn to those who are special in hopes that supporting them will let a little of that rub off on her. Utena is almost more her problem than Saionji. Utena’s a well meaning friend, but one who often leaves her overshadowed, or takes her for granted. Reaching out for someone special has the potential to make her special too, and Saionji needs her. Then he gives the present he’d promised her to Anthy, giving her good reason to think Anthy’s the one coming between them. Anthy becomes a lightning rod for all the times the special people have taken things Wakaba wanted without even noticing.

*

Keiko wants Touga. This is not, in itself, a difficult thing to have. Touga’s not there to save all the girls of the world, but he is constantly available to them. Keiko wants more than that, though. She tries to get closer to him through his sister, only to find that Nanami blocks anyone from getting close to Touga and ultimately takes revenge on Keiko for even trying.

Nanami throws off the pattern a little. Anthy is meant to take the blame, but Keiko seems confused about why she wants to hurt Anthy and gets distracted by the desire to hurt Nanami even as she duels. She has more actual reason to blame Nanami, who genuinely has hurt her, but also Nanami is her Prince’s little sister who tries to keep him from all the girls of the world.

Unlike the other Duelists, Touga brings his own Witch into the game.

#Revolutionary Girl Utena #meta

[desertdragon]

The fool

Does my muse like embarking on new adventures? Who does my muse aspire to be? What is my muse unwilling to do?

---

Moss did you pick this just bc it says The Fool fjdhdhd Vaste holding that tumblr post version where The Fool is a little mirror that reflects her face

I'd say first we need to distinguish between genuine adventures and "work" for lack of a better term, because everyone in universe would think Oh you get to travel the world and be politically involved and fight wars and end conflicts and find secrets and treasures and you have all these people surrounding you on your endeavors etc. and while by definition these are adventures, she wouldn't consider them that by much in reality, they meet the bare definition in structure but they're actually her job description, every activity as the WoL feels nothing like adventure it feels like pain and a slog and work and being ignored or unappreciated or traumatized and so on

At what point do you repeatedly go on life threatening world shaking "adventures", and not have it start turning into torture

So if it's for work, no, the adventures she was led on even if rewarding at times were largely ass and she had no real say in getting to participate or sit out, aside from her life and health constantly being endangered; she appreciates the few people she got along with and exposure to various cultures and landscapes beyond her original ignorant view

Adventures that happen because she chose to follow what she desires are different though, because she has free will over her involvement and can use her judgement to better effect without coercion or manipulation hanging over her (even if at times she's so used to that her brain will do it for her to continue something, usually through guilt)

In these latter cases she takes what comes as it happens, good or bad, and no matter how it gets she's safe in the knowledge that she chose this for herself, which turns it from a traumatizing obligation to a personal life experience that might make a great story to retell someday

-

She aspires to be people who are better or who seem like they're kinder and more in control of themselves and where they're headed compared to herself; she wants to be Ardbert who died fighting to the very end trying to save others, who lived as a ghost still trying to help others with even more nuanced experience, who never abandoned the gentleness he always had but rather leaned into it the longer he existed even during his biggest mistakes

She wants to be like his friends for the same reasons, even more in spite of their shortcomings

She wants to be like her dad despite his faults, for his willpower to continue through anything, for his wisdom to weigh the whole of a situation as much as he can before committing to action, for his kindness and desire to protect that laid at the heart of him in the first place; the same is true of her sisters and brothers, U'rahtalo's empathy and free spirit represents a state of mind that lives in the moment at peace even under constant struggle, never forgetting to determine her life as she wants to live it while helping those smaller than herself, accepting that in the end a person exists too at the mercy of nature and whatever happens, and whatever they end up doing

She wants to be like her friends and those who helped her in her times of need; who share their own version of each of these, she wants to be someone at peace, kinder, more understanding, more thoughtful, which would give her the inner strength to be one with and face the world; this is what freedom looks like for her, becoming her own master in full

-

Being Warrior of Light proved to her there's very little she isn't capable of, more bad than good but still some good of course, and the good proved her compassion persists even when buried; it's the trait that ultimately will solidify in her the will to pull herself from so much of the bad, for herself like Anthy my beloved, this was always the plan but Anthy doing it makes it hit harder 😭💖

I think one of Vaste's mental strengths is the ability to learn from her mistakes; she's already done enough evil and killed enough people to feel where her line is once she stands on her own, acts on her own etc. What she's unwilling to do are the same atrocities she's already done, and the atrocities she never broke enough to do; in short she's already lost part of her humanity and she won't lose any more, she will do everything to maintain it instead- nor will she suffer the lack or loss of it in others

I chose to put the Ideals of the Edgedancers from Stormlight Archive in her blog description for this very reason aside from its compassion resonating with me:

I will remember those who have been forgotten

I will listen to those who have been ignored

#hc #Sb: The Fool Vaste pointing at herself: Me? 😳

[askprinceakechi]

OOC Anthy/Akechi comparison

Wooooooo boi, I’m sorry this took so long. I actually rewatched the entire Black Rose arc and end of series before I wrote this so I could have it fresh in my mind. If only I had an easier time seeing all the Akechi scenes too. 

Thank you both for your intrest! Also I havn’t seen Evangelion in so long but please, Anon!!! I would love to hear their comparisons as well, please send them to me!!!! @reversalsun

I’m gonna preface this by saying this is not a “Akechi has done nothing wrong” post. Akechi has done many things wrong. Akechi has done some truly terrible shit. I do believe Akechi to be a tragic figure however and more so a product of a lot of shitty things. Despite this being, like, way too long this is only the bare bones of my analysis of both Akechi. Hahahaaaa, if you want more on Akechi and how I in particular view him and his bs lemme know. Though some will be coming out with asks on the blog depending what people ask. I’m so sorry I’m incredibly long winded, this is like, 5+ pages omg. Good luck reading all of this losers.

ALSO THIS IS LIKE ALL SPOILERS. YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN’T READ IT UNLESS YOU’VE COMPLETED AT LEAST SHIDO’S PALACE. BETTER YET THE TRUE ENDING TO THE GAME.

 The major similarity between Anthy and Akechi however is their position of power. Or rather, their lack of power. Both have crumpled under a much more powerful thumb. Anthy, who accepts her role and who even fears life outside of it; while Akechi has turned a blind eye to it. He’s not dumb, Akechi knows he is being used but he seems to view himself from an underdog position. He thinks it’s all just a matter of time until he can flip the script and turn it around on Shido. Akechi only accepts this power being held over him as a temporary thing, hell even something as part of his plan. No matter how untrue it is. Anthy knows she is being used as well, but rather than take it as a temporary thing she has accepted this as her role in life. It is all she knows.

 They both work through so many layers of masks. Neither Anthy or Akechi seem fond of revealing their true face. The only time Utena ever sees Anthy’s bare face are few and far between, most notably the time Anthy attempts to commit suicide and at the very end of the series after Utena tears open her coffin. Otherwise her true self is concealed behind a pleasant and demure face, only hints of herself showing through when she chooses or cracks a bit. Akechi is very much the same (hell he gets referred to as the “pleasant boy”). His mask is almost as unshakeable as Anthy’s, only she has had forever to perfect it while Akechi is only human. Akechi seems to have quite a few different faces. One of the public, one for ‘acquaintances’ and one for “””” friends””””, under that his true self very much like a matryoshka doll. They don’t like to say what they mean; their words are picked deliberately and often have double meanings that need to be dissected. Or, all they say is fluff. Soft pleasantries that are used for very little other than to pacify or distract from their true selves. Anthy and Akechi are both very manipulative especially when it comes to defending their true selves from any more hurt.

 They’re both used to pain to their masks. This is pain they know well, it’s expected, familiar, a demon they know as well as a lover. It still hurts but something they know how to handle it, and so they guard their true selves viciously. The only way they could truly feel the pain again would be from an injury to their true self. Thus, no one gets to know who they are. To know their true self would be to open up their only weakness. To know their true self would be an ultimate show of trust. Anthy gets hers, Akechi, starts but ultimately does not.

 Their tragedies also both started at a young age. Anthy starting even before she sacrificed herself to the crowd to protect her brother. Akechi’s started from birth and came to a head when he lost his mother. Both were only children when their path of misfortune was laid out for them, and both took the terrible path with stride.

 Anthy gave up her freedom, took on the mantel of rose bride and succumbs to the swords of human hatred in an ouroboros cycle as many times as Akio demands it of her. She is a puppet of Akio, a puppet of end of the world, a puppet of adolescence and a puppet of her own fear. She lets all of this own her.

  Akechi gave up everything in hopes of revenge, respect, and a will to actually be wanted. Akechi has to be, what? 17 in the game? Assuming it was the first, and assuming the whole thing with Wakaba happened roughly two years ago Akechi’s final turn down his path of ruin truly started at 14-15. Still deep in his adolescence, still a child in just about every respect. Akechi hands over all authority he had as a person to a monster like Shido before he ever had the chance to really understand what that meant. He put the puppet strings on himself and gave them to Shido thinking it was all part of his own plan for revenge. He was a child betting in an adult’s game and rather than the adults protecting him they ensured his ruin. Once he had established what he was capable of and the world of the Metaverse to Shido he had sealed his fate. There is no way a man like Shido would ever willingly give up that sort of power. Akechi was trapped to doing his bidding or to die, and he knew that. However, his own pride his want to be acknowledged kept him from just killing Shido himself. It would be a hallow victory if Shido died without ever knowing his crimes and without ever knowing who it was who bested him.

 Just as Anthy had ensured her own imprisonment to Akio. After all she was the only perceived way for him to regain the power he had as Dios. She was the only one willing and capable of being skewered by the swords of human hatred and letting Akio get off completely undamaged. She was the only way to get Dios back after she had sealed him away for his own protection. Akio wouldn’t willingly let her go. Not that it was something he ever had to worry about before the end of the series. Anthy wouldn’t leave him without her own revolution.

 Both were keys to the power of those who were using them and both were unable or unwilling to leave their abusive situation.

 A part in which he differs from Anthy but I still find it important to mention.

 Akechi truly has been a puppet all along, of Shido and more importantly of Yaldabaoth. He, who, just like Akira had been had picked by a god to lead these lives is given the absolute worst draw. Because, unlike Akira, Akechi suffered all through it alone. Akira has the Phantom Thieves, he has his confidants and most importantly he has Morgana. Akira got a guide though the world of the Metaverse and someone to teach him the ins and outs of how the heart worked. What would possibly kill someone.

 As far as we know Akechi got none of this. Akechi traversed the Metaverse alone and a bit of a head canon from myself it was a form of escapism for him. Suddenly Akechi was special. He had a power no one else ever could have, he had a world that he alone could enter and that he could control. After being such a lonely child, after losing everything and everyone and being an unwanted being from the beginning he could be special. Not to mention he get a persona with that, either Robin Hood or Loki or even both at once. Yes, they are a part of him, a reflection of who he is but in the same breath it was a voice that wasn’t his, and a mind that wasn’t truly his. He was no longer alone.

 We are not told exactly what happened with Wakaba. We don’t know if Akechi knew that killing her shadow would kill her in real life as well. We don’t know if he was just trying to enact a change of heart just like the Phantom Thieves would later do. We just don’t know. As a personal head canon, I don’t think he knew. I think he was trying to prove he could affect her as a way of showing his power to Shido and he ended up killing her. Without searching out whoever the person whose shadow he killed he wouldn’t have a way of knowing beforehand that it actually killed them in the real world. Or, perhaps he never fought those types of shadows in the first place. Another thing left up to speculation.

 “If it cannot break out of its shell, the chick will die without ever being born.” “We are the chick” “The world is our egg” “If we don’t crack the world’s shell, we will die without ever truly being born”

 A line that refers to actually, everyone. Every person is a chick stuck in their shell and until they are ready to pass from adolescence to adult they are unable to break their shell. Seriously one of the only straight forward lines that exist in the series.

 Anthy is stuck in her shell. She is doomed to die again and again because she refuses to break out. In the end, the world is an allusion to their passage from adolescence to adult. She refuses to grow up and rather is willing to stay in the school with Akio, and continue to be the rose bride for all eternity out of fear and love. She is scared of the outside world, and yet, no one can break the shell but her.

 The same goes for Akechi. His own fear, his own wants, desires and hurt keep him from growing as a person. They keep him from breaking out of his own shell and rather he rots, he festers in his egg and is doomed to die. He’s stuck in his own adolescence and the mistakes he made as a child because he won’t crack his shell to breathe. He’s also scared of the world outside of his plans, out of what he knows. Another head canon of mine is that Akechi has no clue what he would do with his life if his plans succeeded. If he killed Shido, if he made him acknowledge Akechi as the one who bested him and as his son. He has very little will and drive outside of that, he’s lost another reason he has put off his plans for so long.

 Anthy near the end of the series thanks Utena for letting someone like her. Someone hallow and empty with no heart have a taste of true friendship. Although, at this point she follows Akio still she is regretful about how this all has turned out, and is upset how she has hurt and betrayed Utena.

 Akechi gets a small taste of this as well. Although the Phantom Thieves never trusted him fully he was still on the team. Akechi still got to feel what it was like to be on a team with his peers and even laments that “If he had only met (Akira) a few years earlier…”. He got a taste for friendship and comradery and what his life could have been had he just had friends.

 Another point I bring up is Anthy stabbing Utena at the end of the series and Akechi shooting Akira.

 The reason Anthy stabs Utena is up to speculation. If it was because this is what Akio told her to do, if she really is evil (She isn’t), but the theory I like best is Anthy does it out of fear. Hope is a scary thing to someone who has been in a position like Anthy’s. She sees Utena fighting Akio and finds hope in her. She sees a chance of Utena actually beating Akio and is frightened of her hope. If she does win then, what does that mean for Anthy? Would she get to leave? Would the Rose Bride no longer be needed? Would Akio die? Would Dios really come back? What about the swords of human hatred? Would they attack Utena instead of her? She has no way of knowing. No one has ever come as far, ever actually cared for her, or was her friend like Utena was. She stabs Utena out of fear of the unknown and misplaced kindness. Better one sword from a friend and some harsh words than taking on all the world’s hatred.

 Akechi has wildly different reasons for shooting Akira. First being he was told to. This was part of the plan that Shido and himself had worked out. The second being that Akira was in his way. The Phantom Thieves were poised to be able to take out Shido before he ever could enact his full plan. He couldn’t let that happen because (head canon) everything he had done up until then, every murder, all the blood on his hands, would be for nothing if Shido didn’t know it was Akechi who killed him. Third (Also head canon) his own fear of the unknown, of the future has him wanting to protect Shido in an odd way. Shido is terrible and he hates him, he wants him dead. He however is also the only one blocking Akechi from the future.

 I swear I’m almost to the end of this.

 The adolescence of Utena, and Revolutionary girl Utena the titles are both huge points to the story itself. In the end Utena is a story about growing up. It’s a story about breaking the cycles of abuse. It’s a story about the how no one can save you but yourself but how someone else can spark that revolution inside of you. It’s a story about how revolution doesn’t have to be this huge world ending thing, but rather the revolution inside a single person. In the end Anthy realizes all of this. Utena doesn’t become the Prince because the Prince is dead. It’s an outdated and childish concept that is seeped deeply in toxic ideals of staying the way things have always been. The Prince is about staying in your adolescence and playing pretend that a magic castle would grant you power, would grant your ‘revolution’. Utena realizes this too.

 Utena isn’t the one who pulls Anthy out of her coffin because just like the egg no one can pull you out of it but yourself. However, Utena showed Anthy the way out and she showed Anthy that the cover can be removed. Utena sparked the revolution in Anthy’s heart and in the end Anthy climbs out of her coffin by herself. Anthy breaks the shell of her own egg. She herself is the revolution so desperately coveted. She leaves the school, she leaves Akio, she leaves behind her chains of The Rose Bride and becomes her own person. She has grown up.

 Just like Anthy, Akechi has a revolution sparked in his own heart as well. In the end, when the Phantom Thieves showed him kindness despite seeing who he truly is. Despite knowing all his crimes, they still show him mercy. They don’t abandon him and they don’t try to kill him when he has been defeated. He begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Had it not been for the Cognitive! Akechi showing up I truly believed Akechi would have had a revolution as well. In the end, Akechi had a chance to go back to his old ways. He could have just shot Akira like Shido and Cognitive! Akechi wanted him to. He could have given himself that second chance to keep going so that /he/ could be the one to kill Shido. Like he had always planned.

 He doesn’t.

 Rather he sacrifices himself to save the Phantom Thieves. This is his revolution no matter how small. This is his start at redemption even if it is cut short by death. Akechi climbed out of that coffin, he broke out of that shell, and though he was met with death he threw off his shackles with the help of the Phantom Thieves. Akechi finally had a taste of freedom.

*FINGER GUNS AWAY* I’m tired now

#OOC #Character study #mun talks #Goro Akechi #Utena parody #i mean kinda #dude holy shit please be gentle on me #I'm on so many painkillers #I just got out of surgery eariler today #I hope this actually makes sense #and isn't just a jumble of words cause i'm out of it #spoilers #p5 spoilers #persona 5 spoilers #utena spoilers

[altruisticenigma]

Anthy Himemiya’s Character

These past few weeks, my partner and I have been watching Revolutionary Girl Utena/Shoujo Kakumei Utena, and while I have a myriad of both critiques and praises for the anime and movie (I’ll be writing separate posts on them later), the one thing that’s been on my mind is the complex & interesting character that is Anthy Himemiya. Of course, if you’re intending to watch Utena, spoilers are ahead so turn back now. 

From the start, Anthy Himemiya is a very mysterious, ambiguous and complex character and remains that way for the majority of the anime. Her motives and her emotions aren’t ever explained fully; even towards the end of the anime, where more of the back story is revealed, her own personal emotions & motives are still confused by her actions. I found it interesting a majority of the fandom apparently does not like her, simply because she was so hard to understand (and because of course, the betraying act she does in episode 38). I found her extremely fascinating in this regard. I also saw a lot of myself within her, and it wasn’t until the end of the anime that I realized why.

I don’t know if Kunihiko Ikuhara had intended to do so but he wrote literally the perfect depiction of an abused person through Anthy. A lot of her feelings and actions, as well as how the outside world viewed her, really framed her as a genuine abuse victim- on the outside a reoccurring victim of persecution, victim-shaming and violence, but also responsible for the pain inflicted on others, ultimately Utena. Ikuhara says himself, “as for whether Anthy’s character herself is venomous; I don’t know the answer, and while I depict her in ways that make you suspect she is, I plan to never show you if that is out of ill will or not.” I personally believe she’s both jaded but also a kindhearted person inside, as many abused people tend to be. 

In the beginning of the anime, she’s the epitome of typical feminine standards- polite, obeys whoever she is currently engaged to (even if they abuse & disrespect her), always smiling, and takes pain with a sad, pitiful look on her face, never aggressively fighting back (although she will passively fight back, as shown when Saionji loses her in Utena’s first duel, calling him “Saionji-sama,” as in regards to a classmate & not her fiancé anymore). She is usually quiet and never speaks about herself. She only ever cares about other people. Later on I realized she was keeping everyone at a distance; whether this was due to the curse of the Rose Bride or if it was because she was abused and didn’t trust anyone, I’m not sure, but ultimately she kept everyone away from her inner world and was very guarded. She only opens up once to Utena later on in the series (around episode 14-16?), where she states rather solemnly “I wish I had more friends.” Even later on into the series, when she and Utena sleep together in the Chairman’s observatory, she wishes many times to open up to Utena but always gives up and instead says “never mind.” She continues to hide her pain and her harsh reality from her closest and only friend, finally telling her the entire truth in episode 38, the second to last episode.

Episode 38 is what makes me think she’s both a bad and good person, and it’s in this episode that we see how the abuse has seriously destroyed her sense of morality. She literally stabs Utena in the back- her only friend, the only person who cared for her as she is- because she knew the Duelist was being used as a pawn for Akio to regain the powers he used to have as Dios. Anthy originally sacrificed herself so that Dios wouldn’t die; however this resulted in Dios losing his powers, and thus his righteousness and nobility; he became corrupt and became Akio. Anthy probably stabbed Utena in the back for complex reasons and conflicting feelings. Although Akio was raping her, manipulating her and controlling her, Anthy probably believed she wanted it and that she deserved it, seeing how much he suffered because she had locked Dios’ power away and caused Akio so much pain. Akio even blames her for all of his behaviors and his pain, even though it’s his own choices that derive from his suffering. Even though he’s alive due to her sacrifice, he’s ungrateful. Anthy loved Dios very much; he was her prince. She was probably willing to face any persecution and suffering for him. She suffered immense pain and immortality in exchange for locking Dios’ power away; that is how much she loved her prince. Even if it meant he would abuse her, too. Being in love with your abuser is tricky because you excuse all of their behavior as it being your fault, or that them raping you is evidence they love you; that’s probably what Anthy thought. Seeing Utena and Akio fall in love right before her eyes must have been incredibly difficult. She probably wanted to protect Utena from Akio’s disgusting ways- how he’s playboy and has romantic affairs with pretty much all sorts of women- but also wanted to destroy Utena for taking away her prince, the prince she saved from death and the prince she suffers through a horrible existence for. Although Utena was the only one who truly loved her, Akio was there first; abuse pollutes and ruins your perspective and she prioritized her prince first. Her hesitation to hand over the sword also shows her confusion and her difficulty to make decisions. 

It’s only when Utena continues to fight, after being stabbed, after being betrayed and watching Anthy take on the Swords of Hate, does Anthy begin to see who truly her real prince is. Abused people have extremely high walls to cross, and distrust and isolation are the outermost layers; abused people (I especially talk from a personal place) like to challenge those who they think they can let in. It’s horrible to say, but if that person can continue to love them despite their incredibly ugly and selfish side, the abused person will realize there is more to life than what they already have. They see they can raise their standards, and that there is a love beyond the one they think they have right now. That they can truly trust this person to take care of them. Utena opening the Door to Revolution to save Anthy was to save her from the curse of the Rose Bride, and to save her from all the gruesome suffering she’s had to endure. Utena revolutionized both Anthy and Akio’s world, because she loved them both, saving them from the imprisonment of the Rose Bride curse. As Anthy is ready to leave, she also says “Very well. Stay in your coffin and continue to play prince.” He, too, is freed from his heroic duty of being a prince to all the women of the world and, if he chooses, freed from seeking that ultimate power that used to imprison him before. And of course, Anthy is truly freed from being the Rose Bride and seeks out the prince who saved her from the role. 

Anthy is this complex character whose motives were hard to read, but once I completed the series, it was clear to see that Anthy seems to be written from an abused perspective, or so I see it.

#Shoujo Kakumei Utena #Revolutionary Girl Utena #Anthy Himemiya #Utena #RGU #anyway here's wonderwall #anyway here's a text post #i'm obsessed with Utena rn okay

[kimabutch]

Revolutionary Girl Utena Headcanon Survey: Results!!!

Thanks so much to everyone who responded to my survey! There were a few troll responses, but those have been deleted. The results are below. May be spoilers — proceed with caution!

Other responses:

Queer

is into women, not sure if bi

Lesbian, but society have influenced her to view men as attractive (princes) as shown by how she forgot Anthy through the change in the "fairy tale".

Series: Kinsey 2—predominantly heterosexual, but she does seem to have feelings for Anthy. Movie: straight-up Kinsey 3 bisexual.

Other responses:

Bi, but prefers girls because men tend to abuse her

ace lesbian

Too hard to say without seeing her after being out of abusive situations for a while.

I dont think it is knowable, to herself least of all.

Bisexual but also, bisexual is Not the same as pansexual. Pansexual is liking all genders. Bisexual is liking same gender + other gender, ie a person can like the same gender + nonbinary, but not male/female, thus making them Not pansexual. They're two completely different orientations so please don't erase bisexuality/pansexuality by combining them 

Utenasexual

Demiromantic/demisexual

Series: demisexual/single-target sexuality on Utena; movie: bisexual/pansexual

Questioning but def into girls

Other responses:

Lesbian. She has never been attracted to that blue haired manipulative sexual harassing senpai of hers.

Demisexual

Other responses:

Not straight but Very Confused

Ace lesbian 

Demisexual

Nanami seems a bit too immature to know her own sexuality yet—see: Nanami's Egg

Other responses:

Queer

She does what she wants

Bisexual, not pansexual. 

Straight, but totally willing to make out with a girl for attention

Other responses:

Some flavor of queer -- I see her as falling heavily into compulsory heterosexuality without realizing it

She's gay but it's gonna take her a few years to figure that out

not sure if straight or bi

Bisexual, not pansexual.

maybe bi-curious?

Other responses:

Heavily closeted lesbian

Dr. Jekyll/ Mr. Bi

bitch

Other response:

Bisexual. It's heavily implied that she was the previous Duelist before Utena. She might have had a relationship with Anthy, which makes Anthy hate her even more after because she chose Akio.

(Neither Tokiko nor Keiko have any other responses.)

Other responses:

Queer, but mostly uses sex for power and not intimacy or gratification

Scum

who the fuck cares

asshole

Yes.

Hedonist

Pansexual but abusive/pedophilic. Is attracted to people not for their gender but for the extent of control he can wield over them.

rather than "no preference" can i put "no orientation" whatsoever because he is a bad manipulative man and attracted to revolutionary power alone

the devil

Toxic masculinity—sexuality is a weapon that he uses against women and men alike. I don't think attraction or orientation has anything to do with it. So maybe aromantic and pansexual?

Evil

Queer

Bad

Power that can be gained from their partner. Either over the partner or because of the partner.

He'd describe himself as Heterflexible

Biromantic asexual. He acts sexual throughout the series due to Akio's manipulation, not of his own desire to attract others sexually.

Other responses:

Queer

Hatefucksexual

Bisexual, but for the same gender attraction, he's very closeted and insecure about it.

Frustrated

Other response:

Mikage = Gay / Nemuro = Straight

Other responses:

Straight trans man

Trans lesbian

Greysexual

hyper-repressed trans lesbian

gay trans girl!!

Other responses:

He's Just A Kid Dude

He's prepubescent, so it's hard to say for certain

Other responses:

I Don't Even Remember This Guy

Likes girls, at least, but is so weird in approaching this that might be trans.

:D

Other responses for the survey in general are under the cut!

I think that the entire purpose of trying to fit these characters into specific sexualities goes against a lot of the point of the show. I see the show as very much a queer (and queered) narrative, and a lot of the characters would fall onto the queer spectrum, and it seems almost incompatible with the project of calling into question pre-received categories of self that the show itself has to even have a survey with questions like this.

I only gave their sexual orientation based on the interactions I saw during the series. All of the men are straight because I didn't see (or remember) them interacting with other men in a romantic/sexual way. I didn't base their sexuality on their appearance or their(especially touga's) flamboyant personality.

A lot of the heterosexual relationships in this show are explicitly shown to be Fucked Up so like, idk. Like, I don't really have a hc for Tsuwabuki bc his romantic involvement with Nanami was just Bad and I don't really see it as indicative of an actual preference and more of like, a vulnerability to manipulation? And I feel like that's true for a lot of the characters, like their really manipulative or abusive relationships can't be taken as like an actual indication of preference. Especially the incestuous ones.

chu chu is gay

I love my gay dueling kids

Some of these people's orientation is 'bitch/asshole' if you ask me.

Chu Chu is clearly gay. Come on.

???lol utena isnt straightttt

fuck akio ohtori

Literally everyone is bi in the Utena universe. Nice and simple. It allows for ease of storytelling, being able to explore gender/sexuality themes without getting all label-y in a narrative that doesn't really use (or need) labels. I like Utena specifically because it focuses on the more interesting storytelling aspects of romance and heterosexism without unnecessary diversions of "am I gay or straight? oh no I can't decide!" (But then again some people think of that as the driving question of the whole series! I think everyone just pulls out themes they relate to.)

this show made me realise i was a lesbian. also dont ever ask me abt chu-chu's sex life again

everybody thats a douche is straight i don't make the rules it actual canon

Chigusa Sanjouin - bi 

Shaddow Play Girls - sexualities indiscribable in our lowly human language

We Are All Wlw

you fool. chu chu is the Ultimate gay representation

chuchu is bi too

It's odd how I just assumed some of the characters e.g. Tatsuya and Keiko are straight just because they don't show attraction to anyone of the same gender in the show but honestly I don't care

Aro/Ace should be a modifier and not it's own category

Although I marked some down as straight, no one's really straight on this show. I can see everyone make exceptions, although they're still primarily what I marked them down as (as far as headcanons go)

I imagine that Utena, Shiori, and Saionji are on the closeted side of things at the beginning of the series.

STOP CHU-CHU ABUSE (also juri and miki are both aroace and platonic soulmates bc not everything has to be about romance i think)

Chu-Chu's orientation is frog.

What about the Shadow Players??? (Kidding)

Bisexual and pansexual are two completely different orientations. Please do not erase the two by combining them.

utena is very much in the closet and by the end of the series she comes to terms with being a butch lesbian thanx

Everything is lesbians

lesbean

Chuchu is chusexual (attracted to frogs).

nanami's orientation feels more complicated than straight but i feel like she'd live her life that way and say it as straight to simplify for people (and herself)

Didn't ChuChu date a frog?

honestly i dont really have an orientation hc for keiko either i was just really aware of the fact that i hadn't put "straight" for any of them and i was like "yea she's probably a straightie" but you dont need to factor that in to your results or anything its just a fun fact, a piece of trivia i chose to share here :-)

fuck i love these gays

chu chu is gay and i love him

#revolutionary girl utena #shoujo kakumei utena #rgu #long post