I don't really find it very relaxing....I guess I get too worked up either about my ideas, and then I argue with people over them, which isn't relaxing, or I try to hard to make things consistent and my head explodes. So analyzing SKU isn't really relaxing for me. But I still do it because it's fun, and even after 9 years of being in the fandom I find there's always something new to find and a new interpretation to come up with.

Relaxing?  Well... yes and no.  Analyzing Utena is fun and fascinating, but also a lot of work.  I guess you could say it's relaxing in the way that jogging, say, is relaxing; you're exerting yourself, but another part of you is taking a load off.  On the other hand, defending my analysis once it's out there isn't relaxing in any way.  That part I do out of obligation.  The problem is that I have an unhealthy mindset that demands that I protect my point of view while attacking any who stand in its way, an attitude I don't recommend to anyone.  I do better when I approach analysis with humility, asking questions and synthesizing new ideas instead of insisting that my own original answers are the Gospel.  The only problem is the part of me that says that if I turn out to be wrong, I shouldn't have betrayed my ignorance by opening my mouth in the first place.  I feel this way even though I know we learn partly by making mistakes.

Yeah, when I have nothing better to do, I may delve into some more essay like analysis as if I was in one of my literature courses in the university.  I've done personality analysis with some more fringe theories which I've done some hefty research on for a few years and that is a world of its own.  I may or may not share it when I do.  I don't really care either ways since it will merely be an exercise to maintain my expository writing abilities.  SKU is meaty enough material to satisfy my intellectual standards, I suppose.

satyr: Relaxing?  Well... yes and no.  Analyzing Utena is fun and fascinating, but also a lot of work.

Yep, that's how it feels for me too. Quite tiring - I rarely write lengthy analysis in threads, and personally I don't enjoy the responsibility of defending it (or how heated analysis threads can become ). I tend to prefer jokey analysis that looks at the lighter side of SKU (and lightens heavy threads), although I believe in the value of the deeper stuff that generous people put on offer in my own passionate way.

But I do enjoy the exchange of ideas, and picking up brand new SKU ideas from my lovely fellow fans. Thus I enjoy reading analysis threads, and I LOVE analysis (including SKU analysis of course!) in real life, when you have the opportunity to talk your ideas out properly without the space and waiting and possible miscommunication of forums. And all the fan-girly/boy-y screaming. Oh wait...don't the rest of you incorporate screaming into your analysis?

I'll tell you what's relaxing for me though...writing fanfic. You never have to defend fanfic past a certain point: your ideas and experimentation seems more free than in strict analysis. But it's still analysis, just a slightly more hidden form. Or at least I find myself analysing as I write it.