THREAD NO NECRO SURU TAME NI

This is actually a question that I've also had a lot of trouble with. As the descriptions given of the project being undertaken in Nemuro Memorial Hall are ridiculously vague. If possible I would like to read your essay Clarice but the link seems to be broken

If I may, I shall list what available information we have on the Nemuro Hall Project, I'm doing this off the top of my head having rewatched the black rose saga a couple of weeks ago so people please feel free to correct me.

1) The project involved a large number of boys from Ohtori, who were ostensibly students at the start of the project but may have graduated and become professors in their own right (is my reading of the sudden acquisition of lab coats during the flashback sequence)

2) Each of the boys had made a contract with End of the World, whom they may or may not have known was Akio (in the Utena Scripts they refer to him as you know who, the CPM dub refers to him as 'that man' but as I recal they simply refer to him as kare, although I may be mistaken.) This means they may have had greater knowledge of the Power to Revolutionize the World than Nemuro/Mikage, but to what extent this is the case is never revealed.

3) The study itself seems to involve book research as opposed to lab work, as evidenced by this image, suggesting it is more esoteric or historical research. The project also seems to have involved the building of the duel arena forest, which is what I can only surmise is happening in this scene. The usual references are made to finding eternity and The Power to Revolutionize the World, but no reference is made to that which is Shining or the Power of Miracles, although obviously that's just more of a student council thing.

4) Nemuro believes the project will be able to cure Mamiya of his illness, although again, whether this is merely one aspect of the project is unclear.

My question when I watched these episodes was always, 'What did they think they were doing?' I assume that the students/duelists are on the same level as the student council in their knowledge of the Power to Revolutionize the World, but the Rose Bride does not seem to factor into any discussion that's made during this point. Do they even know about her existence?
Nemuro may or may not have burned down the Hall to kill all the students to make them into some kind of Duelist Coal, did he think this was absolutely necessary to gain the PRW?

Last edited by Makubi (11-08-2011 02:46:37 PM)

I did a whole wrap on this myself, although this really covers Mikage more than Nemuro.

http://forums.ohtori.nu/viewtopic.php?id=2757

Allegedly, the only difference between Nemuro's delusions and his reality is that in Nemuro's head, Mamiya set the building on fire.  But that delusion, which didn't set in until he was 'revived' as Mikage, masked the 'truth' that Nemuro was the one who set the place on fire.  During the run of the series, the only delusions are that Mikage looks at Utena and sees Mamiya's sister... and looks at Anthy and sees Mamiya.  That might be due to Akio's interference, as he is the king of deception.

As for Miki's statement, apparently, short answer is that it was supposed to wipe the incident from people's minds, not the history itself.  A scene mirroring the Mikage Seminar in the Series Finale helps relate that the incident did, in fact, happen.  But again, Akio is the king of lies and illusions.  So it's easy to attribute any and all discrepancies to him.

And as far as the black duelist's rings, if he existed, they existed.

My overwrought imagination and possibly faulty memory have me obsessing over the scene where Akio hands Nemuro a piece of paper that explains how to get eternity. Nemuro seems disgusted and shocked at first.  I suspect that the key words on that document were Le Sacrifice Humaine! written in ornate French script. But after all a pump needs to be primed. It would explain a lot that happens subsequently.