Hi! I just registered but technically I'm not a new user! I had an account a while back. I introduced myself and made a few posts but I was never a regular or super active. I am, however, always an Utena fan and every few months or so I find myself reflecting on the series and developing some new idea or insight. I've been thinking about Utena so much lately that I thought it might be nice to share some of my thoughts with other fans.

I've been thinking about the ending of Utena and how ironic it is. Utena wanted to become a prince and save Anthy but she ultimately became a princess and failed (well not really. I mean she fails but she needed to fail so Anthy could save herself rather than be saved, and so that Anthy could go out and search for her and ultimately be the heroine of the series) Anyway, everyone has a different interpretation of the series finale but this is how I've always viewed it. I also like to think of the series as a metaphor for a lesbian or bisexual woman coming out and accepting herself (I'm a lesbian so I'm kinda biased toward that view!) I think it's so interesting how throughout the entire series Utena has this obsession with finding her prince, the one who saved her as a child, and in the end, Anthy leaves on this quest to find Utena. It makes me think that Anthy is Dios, that the spirit of Dios lives on inside of her, that her and Dios are one in the same. I actually wrote a little piece about this- it's sort of a poem but not exactly. I think it does a better job of articulating the idea i'm trying to get across than my current rambling though, so here it is:

Utena wanted to become a prince
But ultimately she became a princess
The prince who saved her
was never a prince
Anthy
Himemiya
Utena's failure
Failure to become a prince
was Anthy's catalyst
Anthy leaves Ohtori,
Swearing to find Utena,
Swearing to save the now Princess Utena,
To reunite
Anthy becomes the hero
Anthy was always the prince
Anthy everything
Witch, hero, heroine, Rose Bride, princess, prince
Compassion she gave
Compassion he took
The world condemning her
to a tomb of swords
And Utena thought she could come prancing in
save the witch, save the bride,
on her white horse, with her noble sense
No
Anthy needed to stop
To stop serving Dios
To start serving herself
To take her rightful place
Utena was the catalyst
But ultimately,
Anthy needed to smash her own tomb,
Rewrite the story
Restore her pride,
No longer the witch
No longer the bride
Utena's prince,
in an unlikely guise,
Every girl's prince
and not a sword in sight
Only Anthy walking
Leaves Blowing
Hair flowing
And Ohtori out of sight...
It was always Anthy who would break the world's shell
and smash our coffins

So what do you guys think of Anthy's role/ true nature?

*Edit- Another thought I had: In episode 13 Akio says to Dios regarding Utena: "if she keeps going, she could reach the duel called revolution, the day you will be completely released may be near." Interestingly, it is Anthy who is released after the duel called revolution. Also, apparently Dios glares at Akio while he is saying all of this. In addition, in order to access the power of Dios, one must pull the sword of Dios from Anthy's chest. Maybe then the rose bride and the prince are one in the same, within every prince there is a rose bride and within every rose bride there is a prince. This would also explain Utena's dual nature, as both prince and princess.

Last edited by UtenaAzul (07-04-2016 09:56:53 AM)