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 Top08-26-2009 07:36:05 AM

Riri-kins
World's End
From: Cloud Nine
Registered: 09-22-2008
Posts: 2354

Best Line Ever

It's just as the title says. What's the best line out of all of Utena in your opinion and why? It doesn't matter if it's from the series, movie, or manga, and it doesn't necessarily have to be your favorite.

Mine is when Akio says, "Oh no. You see, I've been planning to turn the Chairman's wing into a harem." Normally he's such as serious character, so I almost fell out of my chair laughing when he made that joke.


Proud Saionji and Mikage fangirl
My Utena fanfiction: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2000115/Riri-kins

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#2 | Back to Top08-26-2009 08:45:37 AM

Alexandra
Covert Diarist
From: Dreamworld
Registered: 04-07-2007
Posts: 808

Re: Best Line Ever

"Girls... girls are all like the Rose Bride in the end."

After 30+ episodes delving into princes, princesses, witches, and who needs rescuing and from whom... from Anthy's point of view, we see that when we get right down to it, as a girl, the inevitable outcome is ending up just like her, a Rose Bride.  Ironic, though, that such a grim observation is still in the realm of fantasy, though it's perhaps as realistic as is possible in a place such as Ohtori, where everyone's perception is a bit skewed.  I think there's some truth to it, both in the characters in the show and in our real life.  But as Anthy has shown us, even a Rose Bride has a choice in the matter.

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#3 | Back to Top08-26-2009 09:56:12 AM

Nanami's Rose Groom
Rose Assignee
From: Czluchow, Northern Poland
Registered: 04-07-2007
Posts: 1717
Website

Re: Best Line Ever

"Stop and see for yourself, Souji. Back then, who was there, who wasn't there? Who was it that really set the fire?"
I think it's really tragic. I almost cried, when I saw poor Mikage's expression... emot-frown


"Get back to the surface, where the sunlight is so dazzling"

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#4 | Back to Top08-26-2009 10:43:34 AM

Nights1stStar
Ballgoer
From: Clawing Out of Her Coffin
Registered: 02-04-2009
Posts: 157

Re: Best Line Ever

Riri-kins wrote:

It's just as the title says. What's the best line out of all of Utena in your opinion and why? It doesn't matter if it's from the series, movie, or manga, and it doesn't necessarily have to be your favorite.

Mine is when Akio says, "Oh no. You see, I've been planning to turn the Chairman's wing into a harem." Normally he's such as serious character, so I almost fell out of my chair laughing when he made that joke.

And in the end, you realize that he wasn't even joking. He has absolutely no problem sleeping with whoever he wants to. emot-rofl


"To copulate is to enter another...and the artist never emerges from herself."
-Charles Bauldelaire

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#5 | Back to Top08-26-2009 04:28:24 PM

dollface
Postmistress Elf of Subtext
From: North Carolina
Registered: 11-17-2006
Posts: 5086
Website

Re: Best Line Ever

Oh, I have such a hard time picking favorites. My favorite lines usually come in speeches, but here are some of the shorter ones. Reciting from memory, which means they might be a fusion of the sub and the dub. The point in still valid! emot-tongue


"Did you expect me to come crying to you, begging for help? Too bad. I won't do what you expect."
-Shiori Takatsuki, from Azure Paler than the Sky

This is one of my favorites lines from Shiori (which is quite a feat, considering how much I love her dialogue). I just... I don't know. I love the whole package of Shiori, her good and her bad, but there's just something so incredibly unsettling about watching her peer out from behind a chained door, her eyes expressing such utter malice. At the same time, seeing her hair a little messy and her conservative sweater, it really brings the gravity of what she is feeling into perspective. Shiori feels absolutely helpless, but she's too insecure to let Juri see that. She hates herself so much more than she hates Juri, yet she directs all of that seething misfortune into this line. Oh, Shiori. Even if this scene turned half of the fandom against you, I feel your pain. emot-frown

"A marvelous planetarium, isn't it? With it, I can project fairytale illusions onto the walls and show the innocent their dreams. A shadow play for those who desperately wish for something eternal, for the power of miracles... but no place exists above this room."
-Akio Ohtori, from The Ends of the World

The best of his lines, in my opinion. It's always struck such a chord with me. This quote is actually word-for-word from the dub (sorry purists!), as I've just committed it to memory that way. The idea that is expressed, that no place exists above the planetarium, has a double-meaning to me. On one hand, it implies that the ideals of a miraculous power or the gift of eternity have always been false, just manipulations from his own hand. Perhaps that these things have never existed in the first place, but were merely imagined by the hopeful, or created by the powerful. It also seems to imply that the Chairman's tower may even be a higher plane of existence, that this room contains the highest existing power. I think that the first is a little more probable, and it fits better with the plot of the series, but I've never been able to completely dismiss the second.

"Eternity means lasting forever, right? For years, decades, centuries, millennia, eons... on and on.... My life may be just a moment, but... Eternity means that this moment lasts billions of years, without end. I want eternity."
-Mamiya Chida, Qualifications of a Duelist

I've always wondered if this memory really happened, or if it was just another fabrication that Mikage created from his days as Nemuro. I don't really think that it was authentic, as Mamiya is shown earlier, with the frosted roses, wondering if things really wish to be preserved, to go on forever in their most fragile state. It seems as though the original Mamiya understood the consequences. This new vision of Mamiya was the perfect motivation for Mikage-- to gain eternity for another, instead of his own memories. Of course, that path is a winding one. But, still, I love this line.

"No need to be ashamed. The memory you possess is a worthy one. Only those with beautiful memories are allowed to wish, to wish for that time to last forever, to never change from what you were. I understand. I know that you're the same as myself. I can see it in your eyes; your eyes are like those who wish to make their memories eternal."
-Souji Mikage, from Qualifications of a Duelist

Just an addition to the previous line, from Mikage himself. Although Utena saw Mikage as teetering on the edge of madness here, I always thought that his view of the Duelists, of Utena, and of himself made perfect sense. It was an ugly truth that Utena did not wish to see, and would not come to understand until the night before the Revolution. Saving Anthy from jumping might have opened Utena's eyes, but Mikage knew this tale long ago. +10 for brilliant madmen! etc-love

Last edited by dollface (08-26-2009 07:13:39 PM)


ah, man does not exist; ah, within the darkness; ah, the sound of the waves

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#6 | Back to Top08-26-2009 05:32:56 PM

OnlyInThisLight
KING OF ALL DUCKS
Registered: 01-15-2008
Posts: 4412

Re: Best Line Ever

dollface wrote:

"Eternity means lasting forever, right? For years, decades, centuries, millennia, eons... on and on.... My life may be just a moment, but... Eternity means that this moment lasts billions of years, without end. I want eternity."
-Mamiya Chida, Qualifications of a Duelist

I've always wondered if this memory really happened, or if it was just another fabrication that Mikage created from his days as Nemuro. I don't really think that it was, as Mamiya is shown earlier, with the frosted roses, wondering if things really wish to be preserved, to go on forever in their most fragile state. This new vision of Mamiya was the perfect motivation for Mikage-- to gain eternity for another, instead of his own memories. Of course, that path is a winding one. But, still, I love this line.

I've always thought everything but the last line was what the original Mamiya really said.  The part where he says, "I want it" shows his mouth and most of his face obscured by roses, which have represented dreams conflicting with reality or an imagined desire in SKU, both of which apply here.  (And on the body language front, we sometimes hide or touch our mouths or lips --children moreso than adults, adults learn to try and mask it by aiming for their noses-- when we are lying.)

As for my own favorite quote, Utena's ambiguously hopeful and depressing, "But don't you know?  I am a fool."

After that, I steals Alexandra's.  There is so much meaning and emotion in that simple revelation.  How Anthy is that?

Also.

"From now on, the path before you is not prepared.  You, graduate now." -Akio.

Both ironic because it is coming from Akio, and deceptive.  There is that fear and sadness until you realize, even though Akio himself may not, that this is a happy thing.

Then I believe I have already mentioned my love for the SPG line, "And so, at least I still have UFOs... "

etc-loveetc-loveetc-loveetc-loveetc-loveetc-loveetc-loveetc-love

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#7 | Back to Top08-27-2009 04:21:16 PM

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

Re: Best Line Ever

"It wasn't for you, but for Chuchu." - Utena showing how much better she thinks things are with monkeys.

"Utena-sama came in drag?! How cute!" - Random Girl who seems to be under the impression that Utena in a dress counts as crossdressing.

"No, it's not normal! I mean, what's not normal is what's normal for Utena, so this normal is not what's normal for Utena. Oh, this is so complicated!" - Wakaba showing her mastery of the English er I mean Japanese language.

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#8 | Back to Top08-27-2009 07:03:01 PM

hollow_rose
Egghead
From: Ohio
Registered: 10-26-2008
Posts: 1074

Re: Best Line Ever

"It's you." -- Juri, "Thorns of Death"

This is right after her conversation with Shiori. What makes it such a great line is just before that, as she's leaving, Shiori asks something like: "But who's the picture in your locket?" just as Juri is turning away. Juri stops at the top of the stairs. The camera pans to Utena briefly. Juri says "It's you." It's one of the best lines ever because of the way it is framed, Juri could either be answering Shiori's question or saying "Hey Utena, it's you." They mess this up in the dub/subtitles on the DVD and it makes me sad evey single time. They have her say something like "Oh hey Utena, it's you." which ruins the beautiful double entendre of simply just saying "it's you." I wish they'd have just left it alone!


20 threads dead so far.

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#9 | Back to Top08-27-2009 08:46:57 PM

Itsuke
Pathtracer
Registered: 12-08-2008
Posts: 341

Re: Best Line Ever

"Take it easy, Saionji... sempai."

Ouch! Add that with her expression at the time...man, this is Anthy in all her glory, icy cold!

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#10 | Back to Top09-05-2009 10:52:30 PM

sharnii
Pharaoh of Phanstuff
From: Melbourne Australia
Registered: 08-10-2008
Posts: 2416
Website

Re: Best Line Ever

Aw I love reading the lines you guys pick. They bring back such powerful memories. emot-keke

All my very favorite are from the final episode. I've put in the contextual lines and bolded the parts that hit me like a truck.

Anthy:  You remind me of the Dios I once loved.
But you can't become my Prince.
Because you're a girl.


Utena:  Himemiya...Himemiya...
Anthy:  Who are you?
Utena:  I came to save you.
Anthy:  But, you're a...
Utena:  I came here to meet you.
Utena:  So don't be afraid of this world where we'll meet.

Utena:  ...Himemiya...Himemiya...Himemiya!
Utena:  Himemiya!
Anthy:  Utena...sama...?
Utena:  Himemiya...we finally...meet.
Anthy:  Utena-sama!

Anthy:  Now it's my turn to go to you.
Anthy:  No matter where you are, I'll find you for sure.
Anthy:  Wait for me, Utena.

"Utena" instead of "Utena-sama" at long last. emot-biggrin

Last edited by sharnii (09-05-2009 10:53:40 PM)

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#11 | Back to Top09-10-2009 01:18:59 AM

Katzenklavier
Wondrous Sexual Eggplant.
From: Back of your thoughts.
Registered: 09-13-2008
Posts: 1120

Re: Best Line Ever

All quoted from memory here, so be gentle.

Nanami: This girls scares me...
(with a huge saw hidden behind her back) Anthy: Thank you!

This is one of the first times we see Anthy openly acknowledging Nanami's hatred and discomfort, and quite blatantly mocking it. For me, it's the moment that shows who's the true predator in that dynamic. Nanami's weak, and Anthy was always too jaded and too skilled of a manipulator to even take her seriously. In that moment, you get Anthy in a nutshell: her lethal cutting ability hidden behind her and masked by a blank insincere smile. Easily one of my favorite lines.

Anthy: Have you ever heard of cantarella? It's a poison used by the Borgia family.
Utena: Hm.
Anthy: So, do you like them? The cookies, I mean.
Utena: ...What a coincidence. I put some poison in your tea.

Another etc-love Anthy moment, but made even better because Utena tossed it right back. And considering that it's Utena, it's one of my all-time biggest WTF SKU moments.

Akio: Blah blah blah....you're in a maze with no way out.
Nanami: What the hell are you talking about?!

Where Akio's many ass-kissing sycophants would have nodded solemnly and attempted to toss back a half-assed metaphor of their own, blunt Nanami skips the niceties and summarizes the most immediate reaction to everybody's favorite villain's spouting. Sure, he just laughed it off, but it was like one of the characters smashing the fourth wall to slap around Ikuhara.

Akio: So how is your husband?
Mrs. Ohtori: Who cares about him? You. You're my only prince.

Great exchange in one of the most sinisterly seductive scenes in the series. Gotta love Mrs. Ohtori - she's as much of a ruthless hedonist that Akio is. Their conversation is brief and almost completely devoid of pretense. But while abrupt, it's certainly a witty little exchange.

Those are some that come to mind, anyway.


We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.

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#12 | Back to Top10-30-2009 10:54:20 PM

minervana
High Tripper
Registered: 10-10-2009
Posts: 246

Re: Best Line Ever

Akio:  She's purring nicely, don't you think? Care to take the wheel?
Touga:  What? But I still don't...
Akio:  You're too strict...
Touga:  That was a rather indecent proposal, Mr. Chairman.
Akio:  My Ohtori Academy has a regard for students' independence, Mr. President.

Grrowr!

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#13 | Back to Top10-31-2009 01:43:21 PM

Arreat
Ohtori Paramouri
From: Grans Pulse
Registered: 10-08-2009
Posts: 94

Re: Best Line Ever

"Are you surprised? It's a big mistake to think you're the only one who can turn into a car. I'm a car now too!"

-Shiori from the movie

...I don't even know what to say. There are many lines in Utena that provoke many emotions but this is tops them all for me. Brain. It aches yet is amused.

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#14 | Back to Top10-31-2009 08:49:33 PM

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

Re: Best Line Ever

Akio:  You do realize I haven't the slightest problem with letting you fuck me.
Touga:  What? But that's quite unexpected...
Akio:  I'm not your average manipulative powerplayer.
Touga:  I see that. Maybe if you're lucky, I'll take you up on that sometime. :purring smug:
Akio:  Good. Until then, bend over the car door.

Fixed for subtext. emot-dance


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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#15 | Back to Top11-01-2009 12:04:37 AM

Razara
Marionette Mistress
From: Wuzzy Happy Akio Town (What?)
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 4694

Re: Best Line Ever

Arreat wrote:

"Are you surprised? It's a big mistake to think you're the only one who can turn into a car. I'm a car now too!"

-Shiori from the movie

...I don't even know what to say. There are many lines in Utena that provoke many emotions but this is tops them all for me. Brain. It aches yet is amused.

I heard about that line before I watched the movie, and I've loved it ever since. etc-love

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#16 | Back to Top11-01-2009 10:05:38 AM

winksniper
Qualified Duellist
From: Under the Cherry Moon
Registered: 09-11-2009
Posts: 764

Re: Best Line Ever

Nanami - "When I put this snail in her eraser box, this is what will happen!"
Nanami -'Oooh!  She has snails in her eraser box!! OooH!'
Utena - 'Himemiya!  I've misjudged you!'
Miki - 'I'm so disillusioned!'
Nanami - "Yes, that's exactly what will happen!"

More than one line, I know.
Episode 4 I believe.
Cracked up so hard the first time I saw that.

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#17 | Back to Top11-01-2009 02:07:20 PM

AeternalSnow
New Student
From: Houghton, MI
Registered: 10-08-2009
Posts: 8

Re: Best Line Ever

From the Utena movie, as Anthy is driving Utena to the outside, and the student council shows up along side of them.

When we meet outside, I'll be there to seduce you.

-Saionji

I found that hilarious after Juri and Miki both said something somewhat inspirational.

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#18 | Back to Top11-02-2009 08:21:46 PM

GreyRoseDuellist
Miki Molester
From: PA
Registered: 11-01-2009
Posts: 38

Re: Best Line Ever

AeternalSnow wrote:

From the Utena movie, as Anthy is driving Utena to the outside, and the student council shows up along side of them.

When we meet outside, I'll be there to seduce you.

-Saionji

I found that hilarious after Juri and Miki both said something somewhat inspirational.

I completely forgot about that quote. Yeah, that's basically one of the greatest lines ever.

Also, the whole opening sequence where they tell the story of the princess meeting the prince has stuck with me. I have it more or less memorized, so I guess it's one of the best based on the fact that I can recite it word for word.


My affluence makes a nonsense of the regulations!

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#19 | Back to Top11-02-2009 09:55:46 PM

MissKosmic
Juri Jeerer
From: Oregon
Registered: 12-01-2008
Posts: 40
Website

Re: Best Line Ever

Maybe someone can tell me what episode this is from. Utena and someone else (maybe miki and/or anthy) are standing, looking out a window at something that is going on. Saionji comes up behind them and starts saying something very dramatic and intense, then whips out the exchange journal between him and anthy saying something about their "secret love". After he stands still for a moment, being ignored, Utena says something like "knock it off" or "no one cares". It's very telling, I love that scene!

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#20 | Back to Top11-03-2009 12:44:44 PM

Riri-kins
World's End
From: Cloud Nine
Registered: 09-22-2008
Posts: 2354

Re: Best Line Ever

I'm pretty sure that's from episode six. I love that little exchange too. emot-biggrin

Saionji: Abuse is one of the many forms love takes. For instance, the love Anthy and I share is hidden love.

(pause)

Saionji: That's hidden love. emot-mad

Utena: Yeah, nice skirt, Saionji.  emot-rolleyes


Poor baby! Nobody pays attention to him.


Proud Saionji and Mikage fangirl
My Utena fanfiction: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2000115/Riri-kins

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#21 | Back to Top11-03-2009 03:33:11 PM

lex
Master Dominus of SRS BZN
From: in absolute splendor
Registered: 11-27-2007
Posts: 1784

Re: Best Line Ever

Riri-kins wrote:

I'm pretty sure that's from episode six. I love that little exchange too. emot-biggrin

Saionji: Abuse is one of the many forms love takes. For instance, the love Anthy and I share is hidden love.

(pause)

Saionji: That's hidden love. emot-mad

Utena: Yeah, nice skirt, Saionji.  emot-rolleyes


Poor baby! Nobody pays attention to him.

OMZG! I was about to say this scene, I love it. etc-love


http://i47.tinypic.com/x6cz5y.jpg

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#22 | Back to Top11-04-2009 02:31:25 AM

chrackhead
New Student
From: tallinn
Registered: 11-04-2009
Posts: 2
Website

Re: Best Line Ever

I have three memorable lines, that make me think some things trough.
1)episode 11
Touga: the fault for nanami losing the duel lies within nanami herself. And even if someone does lay a plot...
it`s the victim`s fault for falling into it.
Jury: how cold..
Touga:if one has deep feelings for a person...
...it`s a matter of time before those feelings betray them. betray them as strongly as those feelings are strong.

I hope ,im not as gullible as nanami.I also think that, is he right? Is it ok? So is touga the bad guy or nanami is stupid?

2)episode 25(little shorter this time)
Touga: What do you want? What do you aspire to?What do you wish to be?

Question what I now ask myself if i am confused and dont now what to do. Altough touga used that line to fuck saionjis brains.

3)episode 32
Akio:And when you see something, what exactly do you see with your eyes? Merely your point of view..
Nanami: what?
Akio: The world you perceive. the world in which you exist. the world like a labyrinth with no way out..
where you are doomed by your limited point of view. to endlessly wander the same path. but what you truly need to see is nowhere to find.

Yes, nanami was confused. But really? its quite true isn`t it? That line made my think more about how others see things and made me more flexible about new ideas.

That is what i etc-love about Utena. That show makes me think about things what I haven`t thought before.

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#23 | Back to Top11-04-2009 02:56:17 AM

Mellow Morte
Saionji Slapper
From: Russia, Kaluga
Registered: 11-03-2009
Posts: 27

Re: Best Line Ever

Utena and Anthy: Lend us the power of revolution!
This line sounds epic in any language!

_________________
The last duel between Touga and Utena:
Utena: We just met here last night!
Touga: Personal feelings are forbidden combat, Tenjou!
*Touga takes Utenas' hand*
Tenjou...I'll protect you.
Utena:  How many times have I fought with you here?
Touga:  This is the third.
Utena:  How strange...it feels like we've fought so often...

I love this scene so much!  Touga and Utena could be a wounderful couple, really.

Last edited by Mellow Morte (11-04-2009 02:56:32 AM)

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