I think Touga's used to working with an emotional distance. It's kinda necessary for him as a MACK DADDY SCHOOL PIMP. Girls don't quite fall for him (none of them know who he is), they fall for the distant, vaguely unobtainable status figure. Though not entirely dependent on it, his success with women hinges on a careful balance of intimacy (predictable intimacy) and distance. He does, after all, have to juggle a large number of women operating on the distant assumption they're the only one, or might become the only one. This has probably bled into Touga's overall manipulative strategy, he draws by being desirable but distant, so people come after him. Even at his most aggressive, he makes himself a lure and means for people to follow. (Didn't go well with the Utena.)

Akio's approach is more personal, but he also deals with fewer people at a time. Akio doesn't have a small army of floozies to manage, and he doesn't often want that balance of intimacy and distance. Most of the time, he only gets close to people whose heads need to be pulled wide open to suit his purposes. That needy distance isn't necessary, so Akio doesn't necessarily draw people to him. He's quite willing to go after the people he wants. After all, they don't resist him, do they?

[ducking flying rotten veggies] Perhaps Touga's preference for people coming after him is related to a need for the ego-boost?

Oh that's right, I went there.

Gio posted a good interpretation of that in the Untold Story thread:

Giovanna wrote:

I've always juggled a couple different interpretations of that moment. Originally I thought he caught her simply because catching her would get her away from the gate, which would have been more comfortable for him. I still think there was a bit of that there, but also, there must be some of that prince instinct left in him, enough that he'd do the princely thing when it suited him, and it would suit him just then. Aside from that, letting her fall breaks a decorum Akio keeps up on principle for his own ends. He's a dick, but letting Utena fall when he's perfectly able to catch her would be completely classless. I'm sure he was quite indifferent to her suffering and couldn't care less if she dropped dead, but while he is a gigantic bastard, he's not rude. Rudeness would be unbecoming, a force such as himself doesn't need to be reduced to such things.

I agree with everything except, if Akio does want Utena away from the gate to any degree I think he'd be likely to remove her, if necessary. I don't get the feeling he saw any danger in Utena being near the gate. (Until it changed into Anthy's coffin, obviously.) I also like to believe that it's more than just instinct which prompts him, because as twisted and self-involved as he is, I don't think Akio's void of goodness. I'd say he's more likely to do good without reward than to do evil without motive.

There's also the tears he sheds just after Utena's been stabbed. I wouldn't say those tears are for Utena herself, but I don't think they're just a show for Anthy's sake. She knows him too well to fall for false emotions. Anthy and Akio have known each other for so long that they've got to be brutally honest with each other, pleasentries will have lost all meaning between them. (To throw in another contrast to Touga, his relationship with Nanami is again on the other side of the spectrum. He can completely screw with her head by saying a single line. And yet as his ride with her in Akio's car shows, he doesn't really understand what she values in their relationship; what it is she really wants.) Akio doesn't need to convince Anthy to hand him Utena's sword, he can pick it up himself if need be. Likewise, Anthy's not in a position to refuse taking the swords of hate until after her coffin is open, so Akio's not crying to get her into position there either.

That said, Akio's not the type to, for example, belch out loud just because no one's around to hear it. He holds himself to some high standards.

Well there is a difference between being honest and being blunt. I suppose it depends how you define brutal honesty, but I meant it in terms that Anthy and Akio aren't capable of keeping secrets from each other. They can still dress their words up to sound nice and at the same time lay into each other as if they hadn't. When Akio asks Anthy what she thinks of Utena, she doesn't want to respond and tries to change the subject. It would be much easier for her to just lie to him, and she certainly has no qualms with being decietful to anyone else in the series.

Ivy-chan wrote:

If anything, their interactions have become more like an old, tiresome game that they continue to play, I don't see Akio's tears as anything but a show, and I believe Anthy knows very well that it's nothing but a show.

In a way their dialogues are being staged for the benefit of the viewer and though the series doesn't break the fourth wall at any point to my memory, it's plausible to say that they're performing roles they can both see through. Even so, I have a hard time with the tears. After the duel ends the curtains have come down. I don't know, is crying after victory the princely thing to do? At the least, if it's still an act then it's bad acting, something Akio isn't known for. If he's still playing the role he'd play it to the hilt, not half-ass it in the denouement.