This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#1 | Back to Top12-01-2006 02:53:33 PM

Sevelle
Yaoi Pet #2
From: Virginia the Great
Registered: 11-07-2006
Posts: 1615

The Secret Designer to the School

The lay out of the Ohtori Campus has always mesmerized me for its beauty. And in another thread, tied to another Private Academy and it's same basic lay out, someone questioned what they were modeled after (or something to that nature.). Well I'm an architectural buff, and better yet a major European Palace freak. Thus forth where Ohtori Academy most likely got its campus lay out from.

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/931/versailleson6.jpg

Here is an image of the Palace at Versailles.
(It's the best birds’ eye view I could find.)

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8066/ohtori2ts2.png

Now be amazed at the blurry Ohtori Academy!!!

Now notice the same basic lay outs of the two, how each has a central horseshoe shaped centre; and then to both the sides two long narrow buildings. Not to mention both have the same basic building design: the ground level is arch after arch, the rest of the floors are ornate windows, and the roofs are the same curved shape.  Hell! Just slap a huge tower in the centre of Versailles you have the Academy.

http://img112.imageshack.us/img112/167/ouranprivateacademyea5.jpg

And here is the last and really insignificant Ouran Academy

Well I hope this helped out somebody.

Last edited by Sevelle (12-01-2006 02:55:05 PM)


sometimes you make me feel
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"it's just the way I smile"
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#2 | Back to Top12-01-2006 08:09:38 PM

brian
Atlantean Singer
Registered: 10-22-2006
Posts: 589

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Fantastic!
I just noticed that the outer boundary of Ohtori resembles a keyhole. The entrance to the Student Council platform also looks like a keyhole, and, in the movie manga, the mark on Anthy's forehead is keyhole-shaped -- although not all the time.

Last edited by brian (12-01-2006 08:11:57 PM)

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#3 | Back to Top12-01-2006 08:11:55 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

I could swear someone told me once that the school is built to imitate ancient Japanese burial grounds or something, but I never really did my homework on it...

This here is no surprise though, SKU pokes its nose in and out of France repeatedly...


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#4 | Back to Top12-01-2006 08:13:49 PM

brian
Atlantean Singer
Registered: 10-22-2006
Posts: 589

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

BTW, someone else noticed a long time ago that Anthy's greenhouse resembles a bird cage.

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#5 | Back to Top12-01-2006 08:21:07 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

It is definitely an interesting observation to compare different places to Ohtori, but it would be even better still if we could a real life place that has a much closer layout, especially the tower and the forest setup.  I had been trying to google search for any other pics that might match it better but I haven't really done too well as of yet.

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#6 | Back to Top12-02-2006 03:06:27 AM

Lightice
Azure Paleontologist
From: Finland
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 1255

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

brian wrote:

in the movie manga, the mark on Anthy's forehead is keyhole-shaped -- although not all the time.

Considering that the sign implies a third eye, I've always interpreted it as third eye weeping. It's in the movie, itself, as well. It's like that when she's wearing her Rose Bride dress. In school uniform it's just a dot.

I could swear someone told me once that the school is built to imitate ancient Japanese burial grounds or something, but I never really did my homework on it...

Well, it could - it's not like there needs to be just one layer of symbolism, in there. I haven't seen any pictures to confirm it, though.

BTW, someone else noticed a long time ago that Anthy's greenhouse resembles a bird cage.

Well, it's even called the Birdcage, in the series, itself.


Hei! Aa-Shanta 'Nygh!

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#7 | Back to Top12-02-2006 10:31:08 AM

Sevelle
Yaoi Pet #2
From: Virginia the Great
Registered: 11-07-2006
Posts: 1615

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Giovanna wrote:

I could swear someone told me once that the school is built to imitate ancient Japanese burial grounds or something, but I never really did my homework on it...

I've read that some where aswell, but I think it was the fact it sat up on a hill, though I could be totally wrong.


sometimes you make me feel
like I’m living at the edge of the world
"it's just the way I smile"
you said

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#8 | Back to Top12-02-2006 12:07:40 PM

Sskessa
New Student
From: Eugene, OR
Registered: 11-26-2006
Posts: 8
Website

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Sevelle wrote:

Giovanna wrote:

I could swear someone told me once that the school is built to imitate ancient Japanese burial grounds or something, but I never really did my homework on it...

I've read that some where aswell, but I think it was the fact it sat up on a hill, though I could be totally wrong.

Oh, this sounds familiar. I took a history of Japanese art course last year, I'll look it up in my book.

Ok, here is a link to the type of burial mound they were probably thinking of: http://www.hogaku.it/storia/yamato/kofun_nintoku.gif
It's called a Kofun, it's shaped like a keyhole, and it is indeed a hill, just like Ohtori is on a hill.
I don't know whether the artists were thinking of this when they designed Ohtori, but it does seem kind of similar. And similar to the Palace at Versailles, too.
And actually, I always thought the academy was kind of like a giant sex symbol, with the big phallic tower on one end and the giant bush on the other.

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#9 | Back to Top12-02-2006 05:44:32 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Sskessa wrote:

And actually, I always thought the academy was kind of like a giant sex symbol, with the big phallic tower on one end and the giant bush on the other.

Crikey! You noticed the hermaphrodite like look to the Ohtori academy as well? The symbolism here is starting to take an unusual payh with keyholes and body parts and things, if you think too hard you will hurt your brain. school-freud school-sherlock

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#10 | Back to Top12-02-2006 08:18:40 PM

Sevelle
Yaoi Pet #2
From: Virginia the Great
Registered: 11-07-2006
Posts: 1615

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Sskessa wrote:

And actually, I always thought the academy was kind of like a giant sex symbol, with the big phallic tower on one end and the giant bush on the other.

And I have put all hopes of building that giant tower out of my mind forever and ever.


sometimes you make me feel
like I’m living at the edge of the world
"it's just the way I smile"
you said

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#11 | Back to Top12-07-2006 09:44:20 PM

StarlightArcher
Miki Molester
From: Texas
Registered: 12-06-2006
Posts: 30

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Giovanna wrote:

I could swear someone told me once that the school is built to imitate ancient Japanese burial grounds or something, but I never really did my homework on it...

One theory a friend of mine had, was that the school is shaped to resemble a coffin. And considering the number of times a coffin is shown or mentioned in the show, it's not surprising that the entire world would be a fashioned like one.

The following link leads to an interesting page concerning Japanese coffins and burial mounds, which are apparently well known for their key hole shape.

http://www.ozlab.osakac.ac.jp/KOFUN_E/


Why yes, I am made of Fabulous!

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#12 | Back to Top12-10-2006 06:52:38 PM

Sevelle
Yaoi Pet #2
From: Virginia the Great
Registered: 11-07-2006
Posts: 1615

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

That key hole grave thing is very creepy.


sometimes you make me feel
like I’m living at the edge of the world
"it's just the way I smile"
you said

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#13 | Back to Top12-10-2006 07:35:22 PM

Xu Yuan
Sunlit Gardener (Finale)
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 190

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Hmm, they do a sort of pull back effect twice in the series, one is in Episode 23 where Utena's in the Rose Garden then it pulls out to what simply could be the inside of a window, but they make sure to emphasize it is not the next shot shows the graveyard and that "piece of window" turns out to be a grave. I think what they are getting at is that the school and the graveyard are one in the same. This same scene is also shown later in Episode 37 I believe.

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#14 | Back to Top12-13-2006 04:45:13 AM

Teatime
Miki Molester
From: Lost Angles
Registered: 12-13-2006
Posts: 37

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

I'm sorry... and this has probably already been talked about but... Does anyone else see the extreemly sugestive layout there? I mean... just look at the tower... and around the tower... and then the forest....

I always figured it was one of the most blunt things in the show... All other symbolism aside......

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#15 | Back to Top12-13-2006 05:23:13 AM

Almaser
Qualified Duellist
From: Brisbane
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 727

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

*Puts up hand* Anecdotal evidence here, but I've been to the kofun site in Miyazaki (one of the better-preserved ones), and they really really resemble the shape of Ohtori.

Also, anyone noticing the interesting placement of the forest, which is the entrance to the Duelling Arena, where the coffin itself would go? And Akio's tower, the source of all the illusions, being right in front of the entrance/exit of the burial mound? Symbolism aplenty!emot-biggrin

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#16 | Back to Top12-28-2006 09:19:27 PM

BioKraze
Faceless Master
From: Yuma, Arizona (USA)
Registered: 11-26-2006
Posts: 8282

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

Is it just me, or has anybody else noticed how the entrance to the Duel Arena changes from a stone relief of a phoenix to a rose when the gate has completely opened? The phoenix's wings fold in on themselves to create the sides of the rose petals, while the body and head serve as the center wedge.

And I like the security system Akio has on that thing: only a Rose Seal, worn on the proper finger, will pass the water test. Maybe it's a form of hand scanner designed to look like what an ancient archmage would produce, or something you'd see in a RP session.


Roses have thorns to stop those who would dare deny their right to live.
Razara's Postulate: For every lover of lesbians out there, there is an equal and opposite attraction to Dippin' Dots.

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#17 | Back to Top12-29-2006 02:17:59 AM

Lightice
Azure Paleontologist
From: Finland
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 1255

Re: The Secret Designer to the School

To me the gate to the arena looked simply like a stone spiral, not a bird, before Utena opens it. If it's a phoenix, it's so abstractive that my eyes can't see it.

And I like the security system Akio has on that thing: only a Rose Seal, worn on the proper finger, will pass the water test. Maybe it's a form of hand scanner designed to look like what an ancient archmage would produce, or something you'd see in a RP session.

It's fairly pointless to give "modern-day" explanations for the fairy-tale events taking place in the series. Illusions and impossibilities are everywhere and even the architecture of the Academy itself defies reason. You might just as well suggest that Touga's voice booms over loudspeakers in the elevator-speech and the duellists teleport to the elevator one by one.

The purpose of the gate is to create border between the more, though not entirely real enviroment of the Academy and the purely fantastic enviroment of the Duelling Arena. It also mirrors the Rose Gate, both by appearance and the implication that one must walk through it and encounter what's inside in order to Revolutionize the World. It's technical features, if they even exist, are largely unimportant. No offense meant, but you're kind of missing the forest from trees, by concencration on the possible modern explanation for the gate-mechanism. Whatever Akio is, he isn't an engineer - the only thing he builds is illusions.


Hei! Aa-Shanta 'Nygh!

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