I think you're very on point when you say that Akio has no powers. That's why he uses Anthy to do his dirty work for him. He just has the right mind to manipulate people, has the charm to attract and use the women who fall for him, and is generally an 'adult' who sets up false illusions for his own gain. At first he seems like this enigmatic being, but as the story progresses we learn that it's always been Anthy helping him out, and he is nothing without Anthy. All his plots were made possible because of Anthy's abilities. He's also been using her as his shield, so that if he ever gets caught she would take the blame for his ideas (since she agreed to physically putting his mind into action). Without Anthy he is scum, to put it short XD

Last edited by DefineMask (05-23-2016 10:26:00 PM)

Amasis wrote:

He's certainly associated with the dead, being dead himself and being Osiris

what's this about? i want to know

Amasis wrote:

Even Mikage is a man trapped in illusions or perhaps an illusion himself, not actually dead.

This is mostly about my theory of Mikage being the shadow of Utena's father, and that he might be dead (since Utena's parents are dead). I also believe he's closer to death since his manga counterpart does die when the Nemuro Memorial Hall collapses on him. Hell, Nemuro Memorial Hall has been destroyed/"dead"/gone all along, and to me it's a metaphor for the character itself. His signature rose is a black (dead) rose. The elevator is the same one where Utena says farewell to Touga in the movie, all the the tombs and crypts from which he must ascend in order to appear in Ohtori.... There is something going on there, but it's just food for thought more than an actual statement yet.

In any case, Touga Ruka and Mikage/Nemuro are connected to death explicitly in at least one of the universes (Touga in the movie, Ruka in the TV show and the manga, and Mikage/Nemuro in the manga), and in the rest it's left for the interpretation. There's that.

Last edited by pesimistamente (05-24-2016 03:05:40 AM)

Amasis wrote:

pesimistamente wrote:

Amasis wrote:

He's certainly associated with the dead, being dead himself and being Osiris

what's this about? i want to know

Well, Akio's dead because Dios, who he was, is dead, and what's left of him can linger only as a corrupted fragment in a false world.
Anthy, meanwhile, isn't dead, but uses her powers to maintain Akio.

As for the Osiris thing, I kind of mentioned it here. But suffice it to say that in prehistoric times Osiris was a king who was murdered, and Isis was his sister and wife who underwent great trouble to restore him to life, being skilled in magic (and trickery and poisons), but even she could only bring him back to life in another world, not this one. Thus Osiris became king of the dead.

It's hardly an obscure story, and give the plentiful classical &c. references in Utena, I don't think it's at all ridiculous to suppose that it was inspiration for the Rose mythology and Akio & Anthy, who are like the two siblings a few thousand years later, having degraded morally and grown perhaps somewhat... unhappy with the arrangement & their relationship.

I'm loving every single thing of this. I will read the link you posted later, but I'm liking this so much

If Akio is indeed a reference to Osiris, and has some connection or power over the deceased, it really does tie up some of my personal theories about linking manga/movie/show with Mikage, Ruka and Touga and their state of existence. I will read more and give it a thought.