No matter what the Shadow Girls are, I think we can all agree that they always convey the "essence" of the truth - the actual plot fact presented via an allegorical play and/or speech.

Thus, in the following scene in Ep 39:

shadow:  This little tramp just started going out with the man of her dreams.
shadow:  She was the one who kept going "Utena-sama, Utena-sama" all the time.
shadow:  Hey, you got a problem with that?
shadow:  Hey, who was Utena-sama again?
shadow:  What, don't you know?
shadow:  Remember? She's that girl who always dressed like a guy.
shadow:  She got hassled by the teachers all the time.
shadow:  Oh, now I remember. Her!
shadow:  But didn't she get hurt real bad and hospitalized a month or two ago?
shadow:  Huh? Hospitalized? I heard she got betrayed by a friend or a lover or something and switched schools.
shadow:  I heard she got in trouble with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and expelled.
shadow:  Well, not like it matters.

I am certain that is the exact sentiment at the heart of all the students - all with new current pursuits in life - when they do think back on the disappeared Utena. 

I know there is a prevailing theory about "magical amnesia" due to a shot of ruin Nemuro Hall shown, which leads to Utena's fate being likened to Mikage/Nemuro's.  But let's remember that Mikage is not young in present time, but is a fake/unnatural existence in the school - his youthful appearance and his building's "rebuilt" state can all be attributed to Projector projections. Thus when Akio "pull the plug" on him, it makes sense for his false existence to crumble - the fact that everyone forgets him is just a dramatic storytelling method to empathize how "the young fake Mikage" is no more, and that most in Ohtori don't know/recognize the old age Nemuro who could still exist (likely off campus).  Utena, on the other hand, is an actually young "present time" adolescent - she is current and real.  It makes no sense that she gets erased off the current reality, especially not after a portion of the Swords of Hate crushed the Dueling Arena illusion - what moral-lession/thematic purpose would having the "triumphant" Heroine magically erased by the Villain serve?

Adding the SC "forgetting" speech:
Nanami:  We should all just hurry up and forget all this.
Miki:  I wonder if this is the sort of thing that can be forgotten.
Juri:  Come to think of it...I've forgotten that boy's name.
Miki:  "That boy"?
Juri:  Long ago, when my older sister was still a child, she nearly drowned in a river.
Juri:  On that day, there was a boy who jumped into the river to try to save her.
Nanami:  And?
Juri:  My sister got lucky and was saved by a nearby adult, but...
Juri:  the boy who tried to save my sister and jumped into the river was swept away.
Nanami:  Did he die?
Juri:  I thought my sister was very cold for forgetting his name so quickly...
Juri:  But now that I try to remember, it seems I've forgotten it too.
Nanami:  Hey...
Nanami:  Hey...
Nanami:  Why'd you tell us that now?

The more I think of it, the more unreasonable the "magical amnesia" theory sounds.  Methinks everyone simply put memories of Utena in the backs of their minds as they got busy with dealing with their present situations, which she's no longer a part of: it is human nature (looking forward without glancing back + ficklness) at work here, nothing more, nothing less.

Last edited by gorgeousshutin (12-28-2012 06:52:41 PM)

Lurv wrote:
The "magical amnesia" theory sounds interesting enough (I've read at least one fanfic that played with it)

Lucky you . . . every post series fic I've ever read used the  Ohtori-induced magical amnesia plot where the cast just magically forget about Utena, Anthy, and the Duels.

Lurv wrote:

...I haven't read that many Utena fic, when I think about it.

Off topic: being you're one of my more regular reviewers, I feel so honored!

I think part of the appeal with the Shadow Girls is not knowing exactly what they are.