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feeling: still stressed
listening to: Utena - Rose and Release
I have made a decision which, like all my other decisions, will probably end up falling by the wayside immediately after I take the first action led to by that decision (this blog). That decision is to post a series of Utena spoiler-blogs here, just like I did yesterday, with the Anthy's glasses thing. Why a series? Because Utena is the most deep, twisted, complex, twisted, insane, and utterly twisted anime I've ever seen. There's SO much going on, SO many things that need explaining, and even though some genuis people manage to come up with great theories for it all *bows to them*, there are STILL questions that will probably never really be answered, except by those exceptionally addicted and contemplative people who have little better to do than ponder the meaning of Utena. I envy those people. :3
Anyway... BIG Utena Spoilers Ahead! Proceed at your own risk!
Tonight's very long blog will provide my own answer to the question that nags all of us who've seen Utena through to the end: Did Utena revolutionize the world? Along the same vein, did she become the prince she dedicated her life to becoming? The things that are said in the final episode after the final duel all point to a resounding no. But I say yes. She did become a prince, she did free Anthy, and she did bring revolution to the world.
Ok... I should set up the story first. Once upon a time, a little girl named Utena lost her parents and became so depressed she hid herself in a coffin. While she was in there, a shining Prince, Dios, appeared before her and showed her a girl hanging impaled by lots and lots of swords. He told her the girl was a witch - the Rose Bride. He says she is condemned to suffer for all eternity because she trapped the Rose Prince to keep him to herself. The story: Dios, the Rose Prince, exists to save all the little girls in the world and make them his princesses. But then he falls ill, so his little sister, Anthy, refuses to let him go out and save more girls, even though the girls' fathers are violently demanding his assistance. So she traps him in a big castle to save his life, but this causes all the world to condemn her as a witch, and she is impaled by the Million Swords of Hate. Anyway, little Utena begins to cry for the "witch" and begs Dios to save her, but he says he can't be her prince - he has become corrupted, and is now Akio, sort of his demon alter-ego, while his Dios side is trapped in the castle. Only a prince Anthy believes in can free her from eternal pain. So Utena vows to become a prince and save Anthy. Dios gives her a ring that he says will lead her to him one day, if she keeps her nobility... and little Utena is thus saved by the Rose Prince. Then, when she's 14, she arrives at Ohtori Academy and has a best friend there, Wakaba. She still has the ring, but she's forgotten pretty much everything else about her encounter with Dios. So, Ohtori has a ruling student council who rules the academy as directed by letters from the mysterious "Ends of the World". Each council member has a demon or two in the closet: President Touga has his loss of belief in friendship, Saionji is pretty much the same, Miki has his sister who loves him a bit too much, Juri has unrequited love for her friend Shiori, and Nanami love her big brother Touga a bit too much. See? Deeeemons. Anywho, the vice president and the kendo team captain, Saionji, is the current "dueling champion" of the council, and thus has possesion of the "Rose Bride", who is said to give the duel champion the power to revolutionize the world. Saionji humiliates Wakaba, so Utena, being the great friend she is, challenges Saionji to a kendo duel. But he misunderstands her challenge, and instead they go to the dueling arena to fight a REAL duel for possession of the Rose Bride, Anthy, who Utena wants to save from Saionji because he abuses her. Utena wins the duel, thus becoming engaged to Anthy and trapped in the dueling game that the student council is all into. Later she meets Akio, Anthy's older brother, who is actually the Ends of the World guy pulling the strings behind the student council and, indeed, all of Ohtori Academy. He started the dueling game in order to gain the power to revolutionize the world, which he lost long ago when his sister Anthy trapped his Rose Prince form in the big castle. He also keeps Anthy in her position of eternal suffering in order to save himself from the world's hatred, and he manipulates her into doing this and pretty much controls her like a doll. Well, eventually Utena reaches the last duel in the game: her challenger is Akio himself. First things go his way, as he manipulates Utena by using her weakness (naivete, innocence) against her, but eventually Utena realizes her real reason for wanting to become a prince: to save Anthy. Then things start to go her way. But just as she's about to win, Akio grabs Rose Bride Anthy and throws her toward Utena, and the fighting halts as Anthy, manipulated by Akio, stabs Utena in the back. Utena falls, Akio walks off to open the gate to revolution, or whatever - but he can't open it. So he gives up. But Utena, determined to save Anthy even after her betrayal, struggles her way to the gate and pries it open with her fingers. Inside is Anthy in what I assume is her true form, naked, in pain, and in a coffin. Without glasses. :3 Well, they reach for each other's hands, but they can't quite reach, and Anthy's coffin plummets into... well, nothingness, leaving Utena thinking she really couldn't save Anthy after all. Then the Million Swords of Hate turn away from Anthy and plummet towards Utena. Fade to the next few days, in Ohtori Academy. Wakaba has a new best friend, Touga and Saionji have rediscovered their friendship, Miki and his sister have a healthy relationship, Juri has reconciled with Shiori, and Nanami is... um, better. *shrug* Anyway, everyone seems to have forgotten Utena ever existed. Akio, back in his tower/home base, decides he must start the dueling game all over again, since the last one ended in failure by Utena. He tells Anthy he's counting on her. But she says that Utena isn't gone, she's just left Akio's little world, and that she's going to go find her. Akio tries to get her to come back, but it's no use. Anthy, of her own free will, leaves Akio and the academy behind to seek out Utena.
That's pretty much the story. Now, the question: did Utena really fail? Did she not bring revolution and free Anthy? Did she not become a prince? People who just take this anime at face value will say no. She failed to pull Anthy to safety, she failed to beat Akio, and she was bombarded by the Million Swords of Hate; and since she wasn't immortal like Anthy (who was condemned to suffer for eternity, remember), she died. No one at Ohtori remembers her because she's gone, erased from their lives forever. But I say differently. You can't just take this show at face value; if you don't read between the lines, you're not getting the whole story. Nowhere near. The whole show is m ore symbolism and suggestion than anything. So my answer is: yes, she did become a prince, she did free Anthy, and she did revolutionize the world.
Why, you ask? Ok. Yes, Utena failed to grab Anthy's hand and pull her from the coffin. Yes, everyone forgot about her after that last duel. But think about it: the Million Swords of Hate flew toward Utena, which means they had to fly away from Anthy. Utena saved Anthy not by pulling her out of the coffin, but by taking the world's hatred upon herself, freeing Anthy from an eternity of suffering. And remember, Dios once told little Utena that Anthy could only be saved by a prince she truly believed in. Utena saved Anthy by freeing her from the Million Swords, therefore Utena was Anthy's prince. She was succesful. Now, about the revolution... after that duel, though everyone Utena knew seemed to have forgotten about her, they were all happy. Those demons in their closets seemed to vanish. Touga and Saionji found friendship again, Miki and his sister mended their relationship, Juri and Shiori found the friendship and trust in each other they they both desperately needed, so forth. And most of all, Anthy was no longer the focal point of all the world's hatred, which meant she was no longer under Akio's control. He didn't seem to realize this though, and tried to get her to agree to start a new dueling game. But he forgot that the student council was now free of the demons which had led them to duel; also, Anthy was simply no longer his puppet. She told him to go on playing make-believe prince in this comfortable little coffin forever, and then she removed all ties to him and Ohtori Academy (changed her clothes, removed her glasses, let her hair down), said that Utena had merely left his world, and walked out of his life. See, Utena's revolution wasn't one of those big deals that alters everyone and everything in history; it was a silent revolution that nobody really even noticed. But it was evident in the behaviors and new happiness that the student council members had found, and in Anthy's freedom. All the people Akio had manipulated and wrapped up in that dueling game were now free of his control. Utena revolutionized the world that she lived in, the world where all the people that mattered to her life existed, and that world happened to be the world that Akio had created. See, she was the prince, and she did bring revolution.
Which just makes me want to go "Yaaaaay!!!" XD
God, I love this show. You should've seen the goofy grin on my face when I watched it all the way through for the very first time. Not to mention the little happy squeals I probably emitted as Anthy stepped outside Ohtori Academy's gates and took off in search of her prince while the coolest, most triumphant sounding music in the whole series played in the background. Ahh, there can't be a happier ending. ^______^
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dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 5/16/2002 11:15:00 PM
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