In the Rose Garden / Final Thoughts about Episodes 37 to 39

Stephanie · Back to Top

I finally understood the main meaning and message of Ikuni in SKU, and I must say he did a good awesome job! He is a genius! n_n

Before I say goodbye to the forum, I’d thought I’d share it as well, what I learned about the message. Ikuni might also have a reason why he’s not sharing what he meant in SKU, cause finding it on your own makes it more appealing to yourself, right?

“..The answer is always simple, people just make things complicated..”

After watching the 3 episodes for the 4th time, I cannot believe how silly I am to have overlook at it’s simple meanings.. Yep, it all fits to the bar!

Ok, let’s start! (Others I won’t mention since they’re quite obvious)

Episode 37

Akio: Didn’t you sleep well?
Utena: Eh..?
Akio: I can see it in your face.. Something bothering you?
*Chu-Chu Making Sandwich*
Utena: Sorta.. But it’s not something I can really talk about with anyone. Everyone has a secret they have to keep, right?
Akio: Yes. Btw, you’re not wearing your ring today.
Utena: Look.. If you got time..
Akio: Hmm?
*Anthy raises the bread Chu is making, and Chu-Chu falls down*
Utena: If you got time today after school.. Can you and I hang out togeth..
Anthy: Forgive me! This isn’t mine, it’s yours, isn’t it?

~Anthy, as usual, passes her message in a non-obvious way.. She knew Utena and Akio has been kind of ‘intimate’, but she and her brother were doing something in the shadows as well.. It’s kind of self-explanatory.. It’s her message to Utena.

Her reaction “Ooh-Ooh” (Kinda like ‘Chu-Chu’), puzzles me.

Finally, we see Touga and Saionji riding a bike, in this conversation, they mentioned Utena already knows who her prince is… (Not exactly who ‘End-of-the-World’ is, so we see Utena have a bit of expression in the next episode when her prince is but one) That is why she took out her ring as well.

*After Utena and Akio date*
Anthy: In the end, girls are all like the Rose Brides

~ I believe, this refers to Japanese women.. The title did say “Revolutionary Girl” Utena (As Ikuni stated somewhere) is an anime where a girl acting all princely gets to do what she wants (like slaps Touga’s hand when he touched her hair) unlike all doormat girls in Japan. They have no right, even today, to do what they want, but merely obey who they are engaged to. The anime gained many female fans there as it is but of hope and fantasy of being as free as Utena…

Anthy: I think my brother loves you as well.. Ms. Utena, I wish we could all stay like this forever

Utena wrecks the letter infront of Anthy.. It’s like, “How can you say that!?”
A triangle, really… Fooling themselves they will be close… Anthy, as heartless and calm as she always is.. Kind of self-explanatory as well (sorry, so far you get my message, just having problems explaining it.. XD )

Jury: Come to think of it.. Even if I am a member of the student council.. All I ever think about is myself.. And I’m still thinking about myself even now..

You see, all the duelist (or even the students of Ohtori) all have desires as to why they want to reach the castle up in the sky… Some want to go to their fantasy world, some wants to be free of a precious/evil memory, some wants to change reality and the likes.

First of, why do you guys think Ikuni used ‘coffins’ instead of ‘dungeons’, ‘prison’, ‘jail’, etc.? We see in the later part, when Anthy wanted to jump off the building Utena said sorry as well, all she did was playing prince, and not really there for Anthy even if they promised each other to help one another, Utena was just really helping herself.

Coffins, as the dead Akio said in the movie, stay in Ohtori and continue living like a ‘living-corpse’, in other words, it’s like we are dead. If I put it more on reality level, let me use myself as an example… In my life, I always adored helping other people, it’s my little subconscious way of saying ‘I’m a hero’ to myself… Yes, that is what is meant as self-importance.. I wasn’t doing it 100% because I wanted to help… Living like a living corpse, after watching Utena, I wanted to be just like Utena (and I think some of us here too) we love her, her nobleness and all hero type… We see in RPGs, novels or animes that heroes are adored and loved, don’t we? Sadly, after the first run, all I did was have imagination of being Utena-like, and having a wish of dancing with someone under the stars (what I have posted before in wishes thread here and say how I envy them) I have zoned so much into my desires, that even living into this world, all I did was day dream… I asked myself, why am I being so quiet in a corner or I’m not at all with the crowd I am in? I may be there, but my heart and mind is somewhere else.. It’s like I am a ‘living corpse’ who is living in this world, in here but not doing anything human-like really… I have been stuck in the fantasy very much.
(I hope I explained it well T__T )

Anyway, as we continue, we see Nanami saying she quit the student council and Utena’s been tricked by Anthy and Akio all this time and how dense she is…

I have no idea why Kozue and Shiori appeared when Jury and Miki were making jokes on turning Utena into their love interest… Maybe it something that constraints them? I am not sure.. emot-tongue
Then, after Nanami said “You people are idiots”, they all suddenly vanish, leaving Utena alone.. Which I can’t also figure out the meaning what…

Shadow Girls! wrote:
A-Shadow: There’s only one future for me, I’m going to be an actress!! (Probably Utena wanting to be a prince)
B-Shadow: And like that, you land a role in the movie, get thrust into the limelight get caught in a flashy scandal and end up with all the magazines talking about you! (Self-explanatory)

B-Shadow: In other words, you just wanted a taste of what life is like! (Being a Prince)
A-Shadow: EXACTLY!!
B-Shadow: I saw an application on your desk, are you gonna go for an audition? (Will you be going to Ohtori?)
A-Shadow: But, just a girl from drama club, they’ll just laugh at me...
B-Shadow: I wont laugh at you… (Dios giving hope to Utena… Prologue)
A-Shadow: Really? So we really are… True friends!

Then we see the ‘EXTRA’ shouting girl, put a hat on and suddenly having a manly voice (Akio)
B-Shadow: By the way, did you know that only one girl can be chosen in the audition? (It’s either Himemiya or Tenjou, we see in the end how Akio said Utena will be his princess, but after a sword pierced through her, turns towards Anthy)

*Akio and Anthy driving*
Akio: In pain, Anthy? Well I’m not the one who causes it. The world does!

~I come to conclude “The WORLD” is reality… Reality causes Anthy pain… Akio turned to ‘End-Of-The-World’, ending reality, thus he created the fantasy world for everyone else in Ohtori who ‘The World’ hurts.

‘World Revolution’ ~ Another word for revolution is rebellion, so by reaching up the flying imaginary castle in the sky, Akio provided hope for everyone that they can rebel against the world, against reality…

And of course, we see Anthy and Utena talking about what they will do in the future. I find it funny how each joke about poison in the biscuit and tea, it’s like telling each other they kind of put a bit poison on one another so far. (And we see that rose rotating in the screen) And they both say it’s delicious, the tea and the cookie, haha.

We also see the rose rotating in the screen again, that after 10 years, they’re not there anymore… emot-smile Hurray!

Before Anthy jumped forward, we see her standing on the edge of the building, nothing just reminds me of her also standing in the rose garden in the movie… In the edge (she asked Utena there if Utena was afraid standing in such a corner), it may be a sign of her giving up… When you're in darkness and a bit of light shines at you, you’re torn apart by two sides… One side of you is telling you to move forward, the other side is telling you to break down and cry.

We see Touga and Saionji asking Utena why continue? When Touga spoke of Anthy’s name, we see his eyes became of dull color… We all see in previous episodes that he had admitted his love for Utena… No, I’m not saying UtenaxAnthy here, I do believe they are friends, but somehow stronger than that… We saw how it was that when Akio spoke of him and Utena being a prince and princess in the castle in the next episode, Utena is somehow hesitating, meaning the yuri is mostly in the movie, and they both are attracted to Akio.

“Those who believes in true friendship is a fool” Touga stated. We did see Anthy stabbed Utena in the next episode, her sign of betrayal… It was because of her love for Akio, still.

We all would probably trade all our cards, and maybe to the extent of betraying friendship, for our love ones, correct? So, we can’t really blame Anthy for that.

EDIT: Typos! emot-gonk

Last edited by Stephanie (10-21-2007 09:43:45 AM)

Stephanie · Back to Top

Episode 38
Whew! Ok, now, for one of the better realizations I had!

Let’s start! (Others I won’t mention since they’re quite obvious)

After Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku music, we see the world, and a prince above it… Symbolism… n_~

When Akio asked what have Utena has been dreaming about as he was dreaming about the castle up in the sky, he declared that he was prince and Utena was the princess… If Utena was the princess, then Anthy cannot be the princess, thus she vanishes in Utena’s side and she will forever be the rose bride.

*I’m not sure about this one but I think the sword he drew from Utena represents Utena’s noble heart… Each sword represents the strength of each duelist, I think.. n_~

We see in Utena’s flashback of Anthy wanting to totally lose all hope… But nevertheless, Utena pulls her over. I think I explained this event earlier.. n_n

Well, just for the little extra, even though it’s self explanatory, the reason Anthy believes she is the rose bride, she has no heart to be hurt with, she was just a doll… With too much pain, you become very numb.. Like 10, 000 swords, first few swords will hurt you, but others you won’t quite feel anymore as you start to feel numb from the pain… The reason I believe so, is because I myself have gone through what Anthy feels… And it’s really miserable, even if I was raised well and was kind, the moment I felt this way, I became evil myself… I hated the world and swore to do evil against it, it was unfair to have such suffering while the world is happy… While I’m stuck here, in pure darkness…

Anthy Himemiya wrote:
The pain I feel comes with the curse of being a rose bride

You know, even if Utena was dense as hell, the mere fact she laughs and spends time with Anthy is still hell a lot of meaning, we see Anthy broke from her usual doll-like life… It’s like a story of the injured bird.

Story wrote:
Once there was a person who saw an injured bird in the streets, the person wanted to cure/help it so that person brought it home. The bird was injured by children throwing stones at it, when the person tried to fix the bird’s wing, the bird peck and attacked ruthlessly at the person because of fear of the person may cause it pain again. So all the person did was build it shelter, gave it food and water and took care of it for a while. Not too soon, the person was able to cure the bird and the bird let that person, seeing how that person has treated it, and it flew away in the sky.

So, what’s with that story? Well, it’s like this, when we try to give advice to people who we are trying to help, they may seem rude to you and angry and detest you, because, not intentionally (as the person was trying to help the bird) we are causing them more pain that way… Just be with them, show them love and laughter, and they will come to you eventually.

Going back…

Utena wrote:
No, it’s my fault! I never realized the pain you were in..
I never noticed how much you were suffering..
And despite that, I..I..
I kept acting like a noble prince who would save you!

~I will go back to this again later.. n_n
But what I can say again is, like playing hero, it was pretty much for self-ego… For your own self when you were sub-consciously trying to help someone to appear what role you want and who do you want to be… So in the end, we merely have focused on ourselves, Utena merely really focused on herself and how she’s doing at that role she sees herself in.

Utena wrote:
The truth is, my protecting you was just for my ego!

Utena wrote:
The night I saw you and Akio, I thought you had betrayed me… Even though you were suffering so much…

She was too busy with looking at her role, she never really understood Anthy at all, nor gave it a try, because it really isn’t what she was focused on.

Utena wrote:
After I have said we should help each other come what may!
I was the one who cheated on you!
I was the one who used you!
I was the one who betrayed you!

*Finishing that flashback*

Utena: I’m going to free Himemiya from you!

~Free Himemiya with her torment from Akio, yes… Akio!

From what so far I have understood from this ‘witch’, ‘ten thousand swords’ and ‘prince’
Before, I do believe Akio or Dios whatever, is still is a playboy… He has made many princesses, but didn’t want to feel committed to anyone of them or something… Dios was too pressured with all the things he had done, that Himemiya went over and said, ‘I have sealed him!’ meaning, owning Dios, Dios is hers and she to Dios… And with everyone’s hatred for her, she receives 10,000 swords for Dios, she sacrificed herself. She is a ‘WITCH’ as proclaimed by the ‘Tale of the Rose’ as well by the Shadow Girls.

“I cannot be a princess because I am your sister, so I became a WITCH!” Their incest, their love, Dios responsibilities, everything! Anthy has shouldered it all, and Akio is no longer a prince… As the movie said, the truth is, he is LORD OF FLIES! Only his sister’s magic made him prince… His sister’s love, and the likes.

Akio: Still, as I said years ago, with the passage of time… you’ve lost your pure soul and wish only to be prince.

This is my most favorite quote from all the 3 episodes, it’s what it had awaken me, and what I believe to have been my gift for my 18th birthday. You became too focused on yourself, that you think only about yourself, you become selfish, thus you lose the purity of your soul… To share, to love, to be happy, to share happiness selflessly… All of it has gone due to a person’s self-importance to himself/herself. You are really unable to help anyone, but just a feed to your ego, your ego that is in your desire, and you the ‘living corpse’ in the ‘coffin’ trapped by that desire. It doesn’t seem so cruel and yet desire seems so happy to obtain, but truth be told.. It is nothing, it is but an empty motion (as it is said in the 2nd Ending Theme of the Anime)

When they duel, you hear the song “Darkness of Sodomy, Darkness of Light, Darkness in the distance, endless endless darkness!”
~Light is hope, right? But it’s ‘darkness of light’, you succumb into your fantasy, your grave. And they duel for that belief, they fight for their fantasy/desire… The darkness of light!

This is the only reason I typed this whole finalization of the episodes 37 to 39, to share this message. As you can see, I changed my avatar as I no longer idolized Utena..
“..So impressed was she by him, she vowed to become prince herself oneday..”
I started becoming a living corpse myself, all I did was fantasized about Utena, being prince and saving the damsel in distress… Of course it’s different from us, each poster here… I wonder, as I said before, an anime won’t become dear unless you can relate to it… What really made you guys go to this forum? n_~

What makes you guys stay? You may say it’s for your friends here, that’s partially true, but this IRG forum could also symbolize Ohtori and we all in our coffin due to our desires related in this anime, eh?

Anyway, now… Instead of wanting to be ‘hero’, I just want to help people as a person, nothing of self-importance anymore… I abandon it. I hope I was able to impart the message properly, this I believe was also Ikuni’s message, lovely, isn’t it?

*Going Back*

Akio wrote:
However, for that reason you cannot save Anthy

~Being prince.. n_~

Akio wrote:
In the end, both the prince and the castle where eternity dwells are just illusions.

Akio wrote:
I shall now reveal reality to you, the End-of-The-World

Hmm, last night, I was actually thinking End-of-the-World meant ‘reality’. Hmm, I dunno why I changed it today, but I was thinking Akio’s fantasy is Dios, to be prince… Just like Utena, that is why he keeps mentioning he was just like Utena. And now, here is the reality of him, the stinkbag. (sorry about that! Lol, I just find Akio a mere playboy jerk)

*When Akio was also blaming Utena on not rejecting him when he has a finace*

Akio wrote:
Isn’t it unfair to pretend only you are noble and in the right?

Utena wrote:
That’s not true! I care about Himemiya!

Akio wrote:
That’s right! And you never even tried to understand Anthy! In the end you were too busy thinking about yourself

(What I posted above n_n )

*Everything is is quite self-explanatory from here*
Utena declaring she will be prince *again* (For Himemiya’s sake this time) destroys the statue of Dios as she has ventured far more than Dios had.

Projector in Akio’s room, projecting what one’s desire is

#1 | Back to Top10-21-2007 01:25:14 AM

Final Thoughts about Episodes 37 to 39

Shadow Girls! wrote:

#2 | Back to Top10-21-2007 01:25:57 AM

Re: Final Thoughts about Episodes 37 to 39

Anthy Himemiya wrote:

Story wrote:

Utena wrote:

Utena wrote:

Utena wrote:

Utena wrote:

Akio wrote:

Akio wrote:

Akio wrote:

Akio wrote:

Utena wrote:

Akio wrote: