Hey friends, it’s Revolutionary Girl Utena day. But instead of watching RGU I went out and bought some flowers to plant in my garden and ordered a plum tree so I could have all the plums.
I also went to the fabric store and purchased four yards of this fabric
It makes me so happy that I’m literally weeping tears of joy right now. #CrocodileStyle
But I’m gonna watch the videos now okay? I’ll edit this post soon!
Whoops I fell asleep. Ok let’s try this again:
Episode 25: Cars for Miles.
Touga and Akio just out for a cruise.
Akio instantly flusters Wakaba.
Are they… moving in with Akio?
Can they not?
Akio’s look at Anthy enjoying herself. Yikes.
The End of the World is a who not a what? Well that seals it.
Akio: I got my name from that star which is also called Lucifer. Also I’m going to make moves on you.
Anthy just watching with shining glasses, geeze.
RIP BUNK BEDS
Episode 2 - Episode 24
::toots the pennywhistle solo from My Heart Will Go On.::
Utena asking Anthy to come to her if she needs help. That’s an order the Rose Bride will almost certainly not follow.
Also yes, just friends. Ha ha ha ha.
Awww they’re holding hands. :3 Just kiss already.
Akio can just pull his car into the kendo club like nbd.
Saionji is smart to not trust Touga.
Shirts are officially optional.
Saionji status: Still shit.
Hey it’s a new ascension sequence and the song has been remixed a bit? Neat.
Well that’s… something.
I guess they’ve seen each other naked now.
Woah, Utena has her own sword.
Eek and yuck.
Hey new end credits music too.
Episode 26: Family Road Trips.
Two scheming boys scheming together.
Kozue saving some birds? Eh. I’m having a hard time believing she gives a fuck and that this isn’t just some plot.
Akio: “What do you think of her?”
Anthy: ::Fidgeting:: “In what way?”
Gosh gosh gosh.
The tea cup broke
We’re never seeing Akio’s fiance again are we?
I wonder what happened to her.
I don’t really have much to say here, I apologize.
I don’t agree with that. Becoming impure because everything else is impure. You have to hold yourself to a standard and try not to sink to a level that is beneath you. We’ll all have our moments of weakness but we’ve got to try.
Okay so Kozue gets to smooch Anthy but Utena doesn’t? Meh.
Episode 27: The Egg is a Metaphor for Many Things.
Alternate title: The best fucking Nanami episode ever.
1.) Laying an egg is like waking up to blood in your bed, having gotten your period in your sleep.
2.) An laying an egg is like losing purity which is far too highly treasured, in my honorable opinion.
3.) Laying an egg is like being unique. Sometimes it’s dangerous to be too unique.
4.) Again, laying an egg is like getting your period. Or maybe even having sex.
5.) Laying an egg can be like… getting/growing your breasts?
6.) Laying an egg is like having a baby.
7.) Laying an egg is like being homosexual.
8.) Laying an egg is like having something you can eat. Lots of protein in an egg.
9.) Laying an egg is like… The shadow girls are fucked up sometimes but I still love them.
Oh no, Nanami’s egg!
10.) Laying an egg is like having something precious that you genuinely regard. Saionji could never understand.
11.) Laying an egg is like falling in love.
12.) Laying an egg is like finding an… egg… lit up by spotlights… in the middle of the woods…
Oh no, Nanami’s egg!
Laying an egg is like puberty and maturity and–Goddamnit Chu-Chu is back!
Yesterday I planted an entire flower garden. I Tweeted about it here:
(Don’t follow me on Twitter I’m way too political and my shit posts are really bad.)
Today I drilled holes in the side of my house.
ON WITH THE POST:
Episode 28: The New Kid in School.
Oh no, someone with bluer hair. This can’t be good.
How did this fucker get up here and how does he know all this shit?
Kinda ick.
INNUENDO.
Damn he just goes for it! Anime can’t handle that!
Juri you should get over Shiori and date… oh I don’t know…Wakaba or something.
I like that Utena and Anthy are having these deeper talks. Relationship building stuff.
Ruka is awful and he’s starting shit.
Juri is not the worst but Shiori is complete shit.
Why do so many people in this anime romantically entangle themselves with shitbags?
Being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Bleh. I look forward to Utena and Anthy mopping the floor with the pair of them.
Ruka sucks but it’s nice to see him dunking on Shiori.
Episode 29: Hate is Not a Good Foundation.
Ruka sucks and I feel quite bad for Shiori.
I’m torn seeing Juri not care.
Because she does care.
She’s making herself not care.
Oh man, Anthy almost got really real there.
She really is, Juri. Ruka is right.
##YIKES!
Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew!
Ruka really sucks.
Juri knows Utena can beat this guy.
I still don’t get how Utena can be so chill with all this weirdness in the elevator. I guess she’s just used to weirdness by this point.
Let her go, Juri.
Go away, Ruka.
Nobody can free Juri but Juri.
Like Anthy, Juri needs to free herself.
Shioris are never worth it.
Episode 30: Love in Violation of Love.
I’m just going to say the cake is a lie so @Fefnir can’t.
Wakaba still has terrible taste in men.
But she’s still got some of the best wisdom.
They have a sister school in Amsterdam?
Is this kind of shit happening in Amsterdam?!
This is getting really complicated.
Utena has bad taste in men.
Teens make bad choices.
Ah, Akio reminds her of her prince.
Pretty damn sure Utena loves Anthy too
“Buh bye”? Creepy.
Akio being hella inappropriate.
::irritated noises::
If dancing is sex than the Shadow Girls are wrong.
There is nobody Akio won’t try to fuck.
::unhappy noises::
ALSO!! @LoakaMossi come back we can finally talk about:
OKAY SO,
A trick of the light is a common idiom in Japanese and it’s obvious that Saionji knows that eternity is in the sky castle and seems to believe he needs the Rose Bride to get it. But he’s had Anthy for a long time before Utena came along. Why didn’t he try to bust in sooner? End of the World shenanigans? He definitely knows quite a bit. But he ultimately allows himself to be manipulated. It must be because of what Akio shows him on the car ride.
If someone IRL has a license plate that says Ohtori I’m not getting in that car under any circumstances.
Soon we’ll be ending the anime of Revolutionary Girl Utena and I would like to have a special, thread wide event where I stream the movie for us all to close out the experience.
I need to know when best works for the most thread particpants so please let me know:
That color inversion.
. Now kiss.
.
I really like the dance queen episode!! (Why am I getting weird code under this one?!?! Whatever I don’t care.)
.
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.
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Time to play the catch-up game again! So anyway, starting from episodes 19+20:
[spoiler]Other than the whole “she’s gonna date someone bad if she doesn’t date me” thing, I kinda feel bad for Tatsuya. I can chalk that up mainly to: A) Grief, considering he immediately insults himself and B) Foreshadowing, because freaking Saionji. I still think Touga is the worse of the two, but Saionji has basically just shown that he can’t change. Except now he’s taking advantage of Wakaba on a more personal level, so I’m even less fond of him. With Tatsuya, it seemed like he was just a generally clueless kid who didn’t (and still kinda doesn’t) understand Wakaba. Saionji’s just the worst, and I hate that he’s making a comeback from this. Also I keep nearly typing his name as ‘Sainji.’
You know, this is the first time someone’s ended off worse after their fight. Considering how delicate Keiko’s friendship with the other three is, I’d feel better if she just moved on. Also, I was kinda hoping she’d just forgo the fight with Utena and just go attack Nanami.
22+23: These two episodes were a bit strangely paced, by which I mean the first one dwells for a bit then the second goes by way too quickly. I also kinda like Souji a bit? He’s awful to everyone, but after a two-episode brood session I kinda pity him. His elevator section is my favorite thus far; nobody else speaks to him and he barely speaks to himself, he just sits there and dwells for a bit. I think he’s also a pretty good foil for Utena as well; while Utena let her experience with the Prince shape her as a person, Souji went the other way and actively tried to change his memory of Chida, to the point where he still believed Chida was alive and with him. Still a confusing couple of episodes, though.
Recap, wo-oo. I guess Nanami fell out a window, so… silver lining???
The new duel sequence is pretty rad. And probably the least subtle thing on the planet. They got a higher budget for the animation AND the gay, it seems. Oh right, the Worst Boys had a car trip. I guess that was most of the episode, huh? Though to be fair, the car theme means that Saionji got run over by absolutely fucking nobody, which is great. That was, uh, quite the ending, though. Yikes.
(I miss the old credits theme.)
It didn’t even occur to me that the car rides were the new elevator sequences. Now with double the manipulation! Anyway, good to have the usual reminder that all of Miki’s episodes are based around his weird relationship with his awful sister. Somehow this managed to be the worst one thus far, because now it paralleled Utena and Anthy. That being said, I appreciate that this season may have a ‘couples battle’ theme, and Saionji fought alone.
Nanami
Did
You
Lay
This
Egg
?
I have no idea what just happened, other than the fact that Nanami went to jail for Egg Crimes.
On the next episode of: Juri Knows the Worst People. Juri continues knowing the worst people, and Shiori just delights in being awful to her. Even Shionji isn’t that cruel, he’s just inept and doesn’t care about anybody but himself. And the episode ends with Shiori learning that Ruka cares about her in the same way she cares about Juri. In that he doesn’t.
Juri Knows the Worst People, Part 2: Ruka Fukin’ Sucks. I’ve already said enough about him, other than the fact that I’m really disappointed he wasn’t run over in this episode.
Ohhhh no, an episode where Utena realizes she loves Anthy, then assumes she’s wrong because she’s waiting for her prince. And she rationalizes Worst Dude Akio as her prince. Nothing good can come from this.[/spoiler]
Okay, now I can actually follow the thread on time for once.
Nanami episodes that aren’t predominantly shenanigan-focused? Now that’s unusual.
[spoiler]Okay, putting aside the cat murder thing, I’m starting to feel sorry for Nanami. Her relationship with her brother is weird, but it definitely seems like a lot of that is manipulation on his end. Especially since Nanami reacted to Akio and Anthy with disgust, it seems like she has some disdain for the relationship from the outside, or she can see the parallel and resents it. Either way, it’s clear that she feels trapped in her weird incestuous relationship, and has nothing outside of it. She definitely worsened after the ‘ol road trip, considering she straight up beat her friends, so it seems like Touga influences a pretty good chunk of the worst parts of Nanami’s personality. Kinda hoping she develops more as a character during the last few episodes, seeing as she almost pulled away here.
SGCBEIKAJILFA TIME! Blood Types:
In Japan the occasional excessive importance of one’s blood type can occur. It’s often used as a horoscope or personality test. It’s assumed your blood type says a lot about you and can help in match making and such. Blood type A was like the best blood type but I’m sleepy and don’t remember anything about the other types. Anyway, I’m not sure how big of a deal it is now but it used to be a kinda big deal.
But it’s Utena time now.
Episode 31: BUT MY FETISH
Oh man rotary phones.
All man, giant cell phones.
“Care to join me?” Lmao damn Touga.
Um. Nanami…
Hahaha. Nanami making a mess of things. Nice.
Haha, bye girls.
That banana
…
Yup.
Akio: I warned you about those stairs bro.
Oh dear.
Ick.
Nanami knows how brother sister relationships work in RGU.
Still so phallic.
Oh nooooo.
RIP HER FETISH.
This actually makes things more appropriate, Nanami.
Touga just fucking with her, geeze.
Is it always like this?
It’s getting to wacky sitcom levels now with all these people living in the same residence.
“Go home.” Damn nice Nanami.
Awww, Nanami.
Where’s Anthy sleeping-- oh.
Oh yeah.
Bleargh.
Episode 32: A Family Affair.
I’m glad RGU depicts the incest as fucked up. Because it is.
Oh wow, Anthy hasn’t been slapped in awhile.
Everyone is in some kind of fucked up relationship.
Uh oh.
Touga you dick.
Girl fight!!
Damn Keiko.
Poor Nanami.
Oh hey it’s Kanae. What’s up with her?
Anthy knows something is up.
Nanami trying hard to explain things but is it because there’s good in her or because she wants to fuck things up? Things are already pretty fucked up.
Is Chu-Chu knowingly facilitating the plot? Sinister.
Akio actually saying more than his usual shtick this time. Interesting.
The slapping has returned!
I did not miss the slapping.
Utena is right.
But so is Nanami because shit is fucked up here.
Poor Nanami.
Touga and Akio are totally fucking.
Episode 33: Speed Dating.
Hey friends, Akio is the End of the World. Act surprised.
I don’t think Saionji ever really considered Anthy’s feelings. He just thinks he did.
Miki should probably find a healthy relationship.
Utena is dimly aware of rumors and gossip.
Ruka sucks.
And Juri is a lesbian. She has terrible taste though.
In before it’s Juri’s sword that she polished.
The clip episodes in this anime aren’t that bad.
Who are you talking to Utena?
Her memory is fucked up. :ohdear:
She’s having some kind of breakdown?!
Did they fuck?!?!?!
##FUCK.
GROSS.
I’m not okay with it.
I’m driving to Tennessee on Wednesday but I’ll still watch the three episodes when I can. Please take the polls, I’m serious about streaming the movie.
Anyway, I’m not sure how big of a deal it is now but it used to be a kinda big deal.
It’s still pretty popular for anime/manga characters to have their blood type in info books and such, and there was a while where video games did it too, though that seems to have died down significantly, though they pop back up in dating sims on occasion. There are also dating sites in Japan and other parts of Asia that include or focus on blood type matching. I believe they’re also used for horoscopes and filler info in women’s magazine compatibility quizzes.
I think it’s still relatively popular as a pop culture thing, in the same way astrology is, but my info may be a bit out of date. Last I checked a majority of Japanese people believed that blood types play into personality types to some degree. At least one politician has stepped down while blaming his blood type for his irritability.
This is why I named that segment what I did, folks.
I recall characters blood types being listed in a few fighting games too. And like Chorps said, many animes/mangas (and video games) list character blood types in supplemental materials and such. Sometimes it lists their measurements too…
SGCBEIKAJILFA ADDENDUM:
Now that I’ve slept I went and looked it up and here we go: Blood type A:
Positive Traits: Earnest, sensible, reserved, patient, responsible and cautious.
Negative Traits: Fastidious, overearnest, stubborn, tense, obsessive and pessimistic.
I speculate that at the time blood typing took off the majority of Japanese people had blood type A since it has all the best traits. (Or, at least, I’ve heard complaints that you’re culturally pressured to conform to these standards in Japan.) In addition, with the exception of pessimistic, the flaws in type A remind me of how I was told to list my flaws on job applications in my teens, as secret good things!
Blood Type B:
Positive Traits: Passionate, active, creative, animal loving, flexible, cheerful and optimistic.
Negative Traits: Irresponsible, forgetful, selfish, lazy, impatient, unreliable and “going own way”. This is the blood type Nanami claims to be, but she doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of animals (or, at least, animals are not huge fans of hers (especially elephants.)) But it’s okay to not meet every criteria, just like a real horoscope the folks making this up just have to get close enough. As a side note, the positives of type B aren’t too bad but based on what I’ve learned (from anime) the negatives of type B would have one really getting looked down on in Japan. I wouldn’t be surprised if blood type B people were discriminated against back when blood typing was all the rage and taken more seriously.
Blood Type AB:
Positive Traits: Cool, controlled, rational, sociable, adaptable and intelligent.
Negative Traits: Critical, indecisive, unforgiving, two-faced, aloof and “split personality”. Some might have thought, if A is good and B is less good then AB must be the best of both worlds! You might be right but if anime has taught me anything (it’s taught me very little) this is the worst one yet! A lot of Yandere characters often have this blood type.
Blood Type O:
Positive Traits: Confident, self-determined, ambitious, strong-willed, intuitive, agreeable, competitive and athletic.
Negative Traits: Self-centered, cold, aggressive, unpredictable, arrogant, envious and ruthless. A savvy person can tell right out the gate that a lot of villains/rivals in anime and manga are gonna have blood type O. I don’t really have much to say about it.
I linked the whole Wikipedia article up above but blood type stuff has, as far as I’m aware, largely been debunked and, as Chorps has said, now mostly just happens as pop culture/entertainment.
Have you folks seen the Doctor Who episode where they’re just eternally going around in circles in traffic?
That might be my life right now.
I’m not sure if/when I’ll be able to watch Utena today because I am still on the Death Road to Tennessee.
I’ll edit this post with Utena when I can.
Edit: We’re still driving and there are no Medieval Times in Tennessee.
Edit 2: Good news, I made it to my mother-in-law’s home in Tennessee. Bad news, I’m way too worn out to watch Utena. I’m gonna crash and then try to squeeze three episodes in tomorrow before I get devoured by my sister-in-law’s nuptials.
I had three ceremonies when I married my spouse, I thought it was silly then but went along with it. She’s having five. How many fucking times do you have to get married?!?!
Edit 3: I finally found the time to watch some fucking anime. Assuming my mother-in-law’s slow ass old lady internet doesn’t shit itself at the audacity of YouTube videos. LET’S DO THIS!!
Episode 34: Introducing Eternity
Incest is gross.
Omg do the theater girls have the same voice actresses as the shadow girls?
ARE THEY THE SAME PEOPLE?! omg yes
Wakaba: Pick one you like.
Utena: But there’s none of Anthy.
Me: I see what you did there.
Anthy sent her with roses to get sexed upon by her aggressive as fuck older brother but now she’s standing between them? What gives?
It’s time for a new story friends.
Oh my gosh the Shadow Girls rule and I love them so much.
Yes that’s right, whatever is in that castle contains what everyone of the student council wanted. How convenient.
Gosh this play just seems incredibly relevant. (By the way, one of the unique aspects of my mother-in-law’s home is that, regardless of temperature outside or on the thermostat, it is always cold. I am very cold. )
HOW SUSPICIOUSLY RELEVANT.
I’m sure it’ll never come up again.
Akio asking the right questions here.
Loyalty to her prince? Maybe they just made out real hard and didn’t bone.
I can’t tell how Anthy is taking this.
The constellation in the sky looks like a person with a sword.
Hey look its Anthy.
It’s Anthy suffering eternally.
You can’t fight forever, friends. They even rotate out soldiers on the field.
Utena knows suffering too.
And she can’t abide this.
That’s right Utena.
Become her prince.
Become a prince she can believe in.
(I’m sorry I’m away from my laptop right now. I’ll edit in a bunch of Anthy pictures later unless someone beats me to it.) (Somebody should beat me to it.)
Episode 35: Something Worth Remembering.
She doesn’t remember Anthy…
Does Anthy remember her?
Akio interrupts a possible revelation. Rude man. (Did you know that when you sit in a chair with head phones on while watching a smart phone you become a beacon for children? Like, they just can’t not disrupt you?)
Folks… I think Anthy knows.
Schemers scheming. I don’t like it.
Wakaba, a helper and yet not a helper.
Oh man, Akio’s using Touga to Touga Touga (and Utena.) Master manipulator!
Touga is not happy about getting out Tougaed.
Saionji is right.
WHOOPS I’VE BEEN AMBUSHED INTO MORE WEDDING PREP, BE RIGHT BACK!!
Edit 4: I’M BACK. Now where was I?
Episode 35 continued:
Horses are actually fucking awful. They’re not very smart, incredibly fragile, and are prone to spooking at pretty much everything and killing themselves.
My maternal grandfather raised Peruvian Passos, a prize stud of his froze to death because he was too prissy to go into the heated barn. My grandpa’s workers assured him the horse would not be dumb/stubborn enough and would let himself in. Anyway, back to Utena.
Does Anthy miss her? Is she worried?
Saionji is still right.
This is interesting. It’s like an interview.
They’re having shirtless pose offs. Shit is getting real.
Anthy doesn’t look like she likes this.
I have complicated feelings about this too.
Like you can be a girl with or without liking girly things. This is showing us that Utena is being feminized by Akio’s antics and it’s going about it is a very symbolic fashion that I’m not exactly enthralled with but also don’t hate.
Episode 36: The Real Deal.
Coffins a metaphor for something.
BLEARGH!!!
I do not like these princess games Akio plays.
Juri knows what’s up. But not enough.
##HEY FOLKS, IT’S TIME FOR SOME GAY SUBTEXT.
I can’t believe Saionji is fucking saying this shit. What a redemption arc.
Utena isn’t falling for your usual shit, Touga. She’s too wise to it. You gotta be authentic.
Is this… legit?
I think this is legit.
Wow, I’ve got feelings about this.
Like, he doesn’t see her as herself but as this fantasy, a princess (She isn’t) who is noble and beautiful (yes, but flawed) and he’s fallen in love with that fiction, not her.
Utena believes him. I guess he was legit enough but meh. How permissive.
SAVE HER FROM WHAT?!
You’re not trying to save her Touga you’re trying to keep her! You’re trying to possess her!! If you truly loved and respected who she was you wouldn’t be helping Akio with his games or playing your own. You would let her be who she is.
AND WHO SHE IS IS SOMEBODY WHO SHOULD BE GOING UP INTO THAT FUCKING CASTLE AND DUNKING ON THE END OF THE WORLD!!
Not okay with this “deal” either.
She still doesn’t care about the power.
She just cares about Anthy.
You don’t need to fucking protect her, Touga.
You need to believe in her.
For fucks sake.
Believe, Anthy!
##BELIEVE!!
…she knew she’d be followed and that they’d be caught and seen.
Way to show her a bit of the true Akio, Anthy.
The last three episodes are the literal last three episodes. We’re almost finished. So please catch up if/when you can and please take the quizzes so I can figure out when to stream the movie.
I won’t be back from Tennessee until Tuesday and I’m not sure if I can squeeze Utena in on Monday but I’ll do my best.
You can see my synopsis right here. However I want to make a new post, just in case.
Specifically:
I hope to see you all Monday, assuming I survive this trip. I want to thank you all for going on this gay anime adventure with me. Whether you’ve been here since the beginning or you come in months after we’re done. I’ve got more plans in the works so I hope you stick around.
One of those plans is even to update and finish my LP!
Friends I just learned that today, yes today, nothing is going to be happening until 5pm. But that’s not so much the case for Monday which I’m being told will be, “Explore Nashville Day.”
So I’m gonna watch the last three episodes of Revolutionary Girl Utena now. Like, right this very moment while I know I have the time (unless my sister-in-law is knowingly or unknowingly lying to me) and I’m going to post up my live blog too. HERE WE GO:
Episode 37: I’m My Own Master.
::Unhappy sounds::
More gay subtext.
Utena stop and please get it together.
Akio you are already engaged to Kanae. Whatever the hell happened to her.
To Akio, yes, all girls are like Rose Brides.
And more girls are like Rose Brides than I’m happy with.
It’s not even about you, Akio. You shit.
No you don’t, Anthy.
Why are you sabotaging this.
Why is Akio sabotaging this?
I often can only think about myself and also have feelings I can’t set free. We’re told thinking about ourselves is selfish and bad, but it isn’t. Or, at least, it isn’t always. Someone has to consider your interests, and consider you, and only you know you best.
Your love for Anthy is not much different from Juri’s love for Shiori, Utena. You need to be honest with yourself.
This is the first time I’ve been happy to see Nanami.
You better not fuck this up, Nanami. Because Juri and Miki are trying really hard and I feel they were on the verge of a breakthrough. Which you just interrupted.
I want to explain what’s happening in this scene. Miki and Juri are both starting to let go of the things that have them trapped and ineffectually spinning their wheels. They joke about replacing them with Utena but this isn’t serious, it’s endearing. They are acknowledging and thanking Utena. That it was Utena who set them free. Utena who revolutionized their worlds.
Even the Shadow Girls have dreams and have bonded!! Things are really shaking up.
Um.
Yes, the car rides were like having sex.
We knew.
Thanks.
Incest is gross.
Wow this is rapey, um, take it easy with this scene friends.
Anthy: I’m poison.
Utena: I’m poison too.
This is deep. I always flip back and forth over how much they’re being serious and how much they’re playing around here because this is a really real conversation they’re having and they’re both being really honest with each other here, but they’re so jovial about it. They are both poison and this relationship is not exactly healthy, far from it. They realize this. I don’t think any relationship is ever 100% healthy because people are complicated. But you work at it, you grow together and learn to be better people from each other and to yourselves and to each other. Utena and Anthy’s relationship is super fucked up, not just personally between themselves but because external forces are also meddling, straining, and fucking with them. Sometimes you shouldn’t put the work in to make a relationship work, and sometimes you should. Only you know which is the case, not anyone else. But regardless of whether you work or not, or how much you work, Relationships change you. They leave their mark upon you whether you stick them out or not. Sometimes… Sometimes you gotta fight for it. I hope Anthy and Utena fight for each other. It really sounds like that’s what they’ve decided on in this exchange. I’m rooting for them.
But then this. They just made this oath to try but it’s too much for Anthy.
Be safe with yourselves during this scene, friends. This one is going to be very hard for me but I’m with you. And if it’s hard on you or not? Whatever it is, I’m right here, okay?
No. You. Don’t.
Yes you do. You have a date in ten years. (Oh god… in ten years those bans on same sex marriage got overturned…We could have done it. We could have had each other.)
Shut up, Touga.
Nice comeback.
That’s right, Utena.
We’re both fools. (I can’t let go, won’t.)
No. There is no turning back. (I wish I could have been there to catch her… to slap those pill bottles away from her. Hundreds of miles separated us, and all I have now is the loss, emptiness she left behind, and my memories of her… of us.)
Episode 38: Thy Enemy? Thyself.
This opening sequence is the usual ascension sequence. But there’s some difference at the end, so if you’ve been skipping these consider not skipping this one.
Not true, she most certainly did not. That was never her mission.
It’s not about you, Akio.
That is also untrue.
Nope, I don’t like it.
PROTECT HER FROM WHAT?!?! BECAUSE THE ONLY THING SHE NEEDS PROTECTED FROM RIGHT NOW, AKIO, IS YOU AND YOUR BULLSHIT!!
I have a letter for you, Mister End of the World. Have a read:
Salutations Fucker,
This is not happiness.
This is not an eternity worth having.
None of this is what she wanted.
This disgusting perversion is not love.
And she is not a princess.
Nor are you her prince.
This is sickening.
You are sickening.
##You are the worst character in this show.
Signed,
Jenner
That’s right, Utena, ask the important questions. What about Anthy, Akio?
Akio: “She’ll remain the Rose Bride forever.”
Me: So you want Utena to abandon Anthy for you? To sell her out and be complicit in her eternal suffering for you? That’s unacceptable and you’re not worth it.
Maybe Anthy doesn’t remember because all this nonsense wasn’t exactly against Utena’s will. Some of it was, but not all of it.
I mean, you did realize the pain she was in and the suffering she was in once upon a time, Utena. That’s why you made the oath. But, you forgot. And I think you had some idea of how much she suffered (though definitely not the full extent) because you tried to fix it. Willing her a normal life.
But like, at the same time I get what they’re both saying. This is some seriously Deep Honesty here. Utena was using Anthy to stroke her ego and play out her fantasy of being the noble prince. Her association with Anthy wasn’t exactly selfless or noble. And Anthy was using Utena the same way she’s used every other duelist, to pursue her brother’s goals. Up until Utena, Anthy probably didn’t care much for any of them, she simply couldn’t, but she did and does care for Utena. Despite that, she still fed Utena to her brother, why?
The answer? Because it made her [Anthy] suffer more and Anthy feels she deserves nothing but suffering. So she used Utena to punish herself more, to make her life worse, because it’s what she thinks she deserves.
But hey, here’s a hot take from me, Jenner, to you, the reader. There isn’t really such a thing as deserving, not really. The world is just the world. It is cruel, amoral, and unjust but also kind, ethical, and merciful. It is also much more than that, it is all the things and it is all the things to everyone arbitrarily regardless of their “goodness” or their “badness.”
Things are rarely happening to you (good, bad, and everything in between) because you are deserving of them. (Though you can bring things down upon yourself, stack the deck so to speak, and manipulate things such that certain things are more likely to happen to you. Also other people can sabotage you or empower you.) Things are largely happening to you because things happen, and it really isn’t about you.
Sigh, I could talk more about this but it would be so long. Instead, after all that–with full acknowledgement that there isn’t exactly a deserving, I shall now state with utter certainty and all the authority you will permit me that nobody, nobody, no matter how reprehensible they are, no matter what they have done or how they have sinned, deserves to suffer for eternity. (Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go back to agonizing over my deceased loved one for the rest of my living days and also watching this anime.)
In this scene, they’re confessing their wrongs to each other and coming clean. They’re trying to mend it up, and possibly giving each other closure and strength. The most important thing I think is happening here is that they’re trying. I believe they’re fighting for each other.
Anthy is trying to save Utena, trying to convince her to just go, to just save herself and leave Anthy to her fate. But Utena can’t do that. She’s not leaving this place without Anthy. You go Utena.
Shit is about to get real, maybe.
See, I don’t trust a man so committed to, and defined, by lies to show any reality that is true to anyone but himself.
Warning, dear readers, I’m about to type some triggering words!
Utena: I didn’t come here to chase some fantasy! I came here because this is the place where you keep abusing and incest-raping my girlfriend!!
Akio: Oh you’re upset about that?
Utena: YOU’RE DAMN FUCKING RIGHT I’M UPSET ABOUT YOU ABUSING AND INCEST-RAPING MY GIRLFRIEND!!
Akio: But it’s just like, nbd.
Utena: omg fuck you.
Me: Please kill him.
Akio: You think I’m so bad but you’re the real abusive incest-rapist.
Me:
Akio: Allow me to show you how much we both suck.
(Friends, I would have busted the everloving shit out of that projector by this point.)
##Akio’s Rationale for Why They Both Suck:
(AKA: No, you suck, Akio.)
1.) Victim Blaming + rape culture: He comes onto her. He ignores/disregards their established boundaries. He’s pushy and he practically forces himself on her. But, in typical Man Logic, since she stops fighting him and relents to his obscene bullshit she’s just as guilty (or better yet, it’s all her fault.) That’s not how this works and frankly it’s disgusting. Yes, Utena pursued you even though you were engaged and that is shitty but what about your actions, Akio?! You were also aware that you were engaged, yes? And that you are an older man and she is a much younger woman, which gives you power over her? Oh, and you also have a position, as acting chairman of this school, which gives you even more power and authority over her? Akio, if you wanted to respect your engagement and not have affairs with students in your school you had the power to stop it, to put an end to it, the whole time. For example, you could have simply respected Utena’s earlier statements about not wanting that kind of relationship instead of persuing her and pressuring her. Or hell, you could have rebuffed her when she started pushing boundaries back and ended it there too. What I’m saying, Akio, is there were literally over a dozen points where you, a grown adult acting incredibly inappropriately towards a teenage girl, could have stopped. Yet you, yes you, persisted and encouraged this. This is like maybe 10% on her, at best. But you wanna put it all on her. You. Are. The. Worst.
Also, yes Akio turning away from the truth and blaming others is extremely unfair. And yes, pretending ONLY YOU are noble and right is bullshit…you ENORMOUS HYPOCRITE.
I think I’m done being intensely triggering now! My apologies!
2.) Taking Credit for All The Things: Utena just had a hugely tragic event happen, like, she literally just lost her mom and dad and became an orphan overnight. She is understandably despairing and suicidal. Then this guy shows up and is like:
“Wow Utena, suffering sure sucks a lot huh?”
Utena is like, “It sure does.”
Akio: Well come here a moment, check this shit out. ::pulls back the curtain to reveal a foreverially suffering Anthy.::
Utena: Damn, that is some shit alright, who is that?
Akio: Oh that’s just my sister and it’s nbd.
Utena: Dude no, this is awful and unacceptable. You really should do something about this.
Akio: Can’t.
Utena: WHAT?! Why?!?!
Akio: Legistical Bullshit.
Utena: Okay well I’m not okay with that so fuck you I’m gonna do something about it.
Akio: Awesome, now everything you do from here out is all my doing.
Friends this is not how this works.
Brief Jenner Fact: I once convinced a friend to stick it through grad school because grad school was hell. I supported her and was there propping her up and rooting her on the whole time but I am under no illusions about just who it was who did the real work and graduating here. Now she’s a fucking cardiologist and making more money in a year than I will probably ever make in a life time and good for her. I am proud I was able to help her, to support her and give her that extra bit of strength she needed to push through. But she did it, not me, and I don’t expect any payment or credit for being there for her in her time of need because that’s just what friends do. Also I’m not an asshole.
Wow I’m talking way too much. It’s so TL;DR here. My point is, Akio may have pulled her out of the hole and given her renewed strength and purpose but she’s the one who walked, she’s the one who worked, who chased the goal, who went for it, and who is making it happen. Not him. He can’t take this much credit, he’s not allowed to steal her agency like this. He’s a rude man. The very worst.
Akio: Gimme the sword!
Utena: What’ll you do with it?!
Akio: Whatever I want.
Utena: You’re not gonna help your sister?
Akio: WHAT PART OF WHATEVER I WANT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!
Me: Woooow, you suck.
But Utena is challenging him on every level and he’s lashing out viciously by renouncing his prince self. Basically trying to own her (and also owning/attacking himself) by telling her her prince never even existed. He’s very shitty.
Yes, Akio, she knows what a prince is.
I just can’t even how full of shit he is.
AKIO YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT SHE WANTS YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT AND WHAT YOU WANT IS UNACCEPTABLE!!
Please corncob this terrible man with impunity.
So you can see here, he projected the Black Rose duel rooms. So how much of it was Souji and how much of it was Akio is really muddied. I like to blame it all on Akio because he’s the worst.
Utena speaking truths!
Akio still full of shit.
You already are a prince, Utena. You already are and always were.
##BREAK. THAT. BULLSHIT. DOWN.
Tear the world down around you!
Fuck your patriarchy! Fuck your reality! Fuck you!
TEAR IT APART.
TEAR IT DOWN. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT YOUR CHAINS!
She’s got him on the ropes!
Look at him scramble!
See the lightning in her eyes?!
See him squirm, see him panic?
YOUR. SHIT. IS. NOT. WELCOME. HERE.
Are you seeing this Anthy?!
Go ahead, throw Anthy at Utena you piece of shit. That’s where she belongs anyway!!
PREPARE TO GET CORNCOBBED YOU–
Anthy?!
ANTHY?!?! ANTHY!!! (Where did she get that sword? Oh yeah, from the infinite numbers that she is foreverially being impaled by.)
RRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!
##NO.
Episode 39: We Make Our Own Realities Here.
Why indeed.
Oh FUCK YOU!
She is your prince!
SHE IS YOUR GODDAMN PRINCE YOU FUCKING-- grrrrrrrrrrr
Memories are fickle.
You gotta hold on tight.
Make as many as you can.
And treasure them while you have them.
NOW he admits it! I mean, it’s a bit more complicated than that but FUCK IT PRETTY MUCH YEAH IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT YOU SHIT.
Akio doesn’t feel nor understand her pain, not really.
He doesn’t love her either, not really.
This. Is. Bullshit.
Let’s take a minor spoiler break.
Hello folks outside the spoilers, sure is a lot of words blurred up there huh? I hope you can get to them soon. But, as always, prioritize you okay?
Now then, about Anthy. Why is she doing this? I mentioned one reason in the spoilers above but I believe there are many more reasons why. (I just feel like the “deserves suffering” reason is the biggest reason.) Maybe you disagree?
Let’s talk about it together. After all, we’re supposed to discuss this anime too, aren’t we?
Back into the spoilers now, hope everyone can join me soon.
Episode 39 continues.
Stab him.
Stab him! Stab him!
You can do it! YOU ARE VERY GOOD AT STABBING PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT.
Booooooo!!
Don’t do it, girl.
Don’t you do it.
…
This sucks.
Now Akio recognizes her as a prince. God he is just the absolute worst.
OMG OW FOLKS THERE IS A LOT OF IMPALEMENT COMING UP PLEASE BE CAREFUL
OW!!
::WINCES AND CRINGES REPEATEDLY::
OW OW OW OW OW!!
::SQUIRMS UNCOMFORTABLY::
WHO WANTS THAT?! WHO WANTS THAT?!
##NOBODY WANTS THAT!
She chose this?! Holy fuck.
NO WAY! NO FUCKING WAY!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!
No. Nononononononononono.
It’s hurting her? I think both having her sword callously savaged on that doorway and seeing Anthy just filled with swords is causing Utena extreme pain. Empathy and all.
With you, Anthy! She wants to be with you! She’s happiest with you!! YOU MADE AN OATH, A PROMISE! You don’t need to do this!
Akio could never understand.
True caring.
True love.
He never cared about Anthy.
Utena did.
And it opened the way.
Pull, Utena.
Heave!
You can do it.
Put your back into it.
Put your heart into it!
Hands bloody?
Don’t care.
Body broken?
Don’t care.
Shaking and quaking?
Don’t care.
Where ever you are.
I wanna be there.
Hello.
Is it me you’re looking for?
It’s her.
It’s the real her.
The show lied to us, my friends. And I was complicit in that lie. It, and I, told you Anthy needed a prince she could believe in. That wasn’t true, I apologize. Anthy’s belief would have been nice, but it was an incredibly high win condition. Anthy’s belief was not required, because Utena believed in herself, in them, enough for them both.
Take her hand, Anthy!
Just take her fucking hand!
Do it! Do it!
YOU’RE WRONG! YOU’RE WRONG!
You are a prince!
You’re her prince!
… there is no mad but crying emoji.
##BREAK IT DOWN, TEAR IT APART!
##NO MORE! NEVER AGAIN!
Everyone pursuing their dreams.
But they appear to be forgetting about Utena.
So many rumors…
Hey guys I hear Utena Tenjou came in here like a fucking Mongol Horde and upturned everyone’s fucking lives, tore everything apart, and absolutely owned.
Life goes on.
Black Rose academy status: Still ruins.
Akio: No revolution here.
Me: BULLSHIT.
Oh wow. Omg Anthy.
She might not have believed in Utena then, but she definitely believes in her now. (And that belief is important.)
Thank you for watching gay late 90s anime with me. It is now 5:33pm and I have to get my mehndi done now. Maybe I’ll post pics! Maybe not!
Also it’s looking like some time in the late afternoon/early evening on a weekend for the Stream! I’ll start scheduling it and setting it up when I get back from Tennessee on Tuesday. Until then, please vote.
[spoiler]It’s Akio’s sword, they both have the same handle:
Akio’s right hand isn’t visible in any shot after he pushes Anthy towards Utena. Most of them are close-ups but also:
Looking through all this I did notice an error in 39: Anthy throws away Akio’s sword and takes Utena’s, but after the Student Council scene she’s holding Akio’s for a single shot. It’s back to Utena’s from then on.
[/spoiler]
edit:ALSO while Akio’s giving the “I was like you once” speech in 39, his rose disappears. Nice job being the only chump to unintentionally forfeit a duel?
)
They just made this oath to try but it’s too much for Anthy.
in ten years those bans on same sex marriage got overturned…We could have done it. We could have had each other.)
