The first time I saw things, it sort of felt like Akio's real plan was the disilusionment of people. I guess his logic would flow from his own disilusionment after the metaphorical swords of the world turn against him and his sister so quickly. A simiple, but probably bad, comparision might be something along the lines of a deeply religious man who, having suddenly underwent the realization that everything he had previously believed in had no reality whatsoever, decides to force that same realization on others who still cling to their idealized views. From his viewpoint, I'm sure he thinks he's doing good. You know, like those atheists who're so opposed to public prayer in schools etc.

So many of the duels in SKU  focus on people who have clung to a strong memory, illusion, or ideal, and have those memories/hopes crushed by defeat in a duel. This is, i think, more true towards the end of the series than towards the begining. Let me try to come up with a really cursory list...

Nanami: Has always clung to the belief, to grossly oversimply it, that she was special. In her last duel she gets broken when she realizes that she really isn't all that special, in her relationship to her peers or to her brother.

Juri: She seems to have been clinging to, among other things, her memories of Shiori and her hopes that something would work out between them. It seems like that gets crushed in her last duel with the locket being torn off her neck and crushed. It's coupled with what comes before too, I think Ruka, along with unintentionally showing himself to be an awful person, does manage to disatatch Juri from Shiori somewhat by pointing to some of her flaws.

SaionjiSaionji's clinging to the hope that there is eternal friendship out there, somewhere. That's a hope that get's beaten out of him a bit in every fight he's in. He can't get a genuine friendship with Anthy (and it seems like at some point, before the abuse, he may have tried). He can't get (or revive) a friendship with Touga either, and ends up being used by Touga (the forged Akio letter for instance).

Utena:Utena's holding onto her childhood memory and, more specifically, the ideal that she can become a Prince. Most of the other charachters clearly have their ideals crushed. It's not al clear to me if Utena does, despite saying how she has failed to be a real prince towards the end of things. She does, after all, manage to trigger revolution (I believe). Maybe she ended up succeeding more than she thought by kind of martyring herself at the end. If that's not a "princely" action, I'm not sure what would be.

The list can go on, and can be much more well written. None of the charachters are really all that straightforward, so the above two sentance synopses fall way short of explaining exactly what they were holding on to that was crushed. Hopefully it gives an idea of what i'm getting at though. It's true of the black rose duelists too - they're all fighting for an ideal of how they'd like their world to be (Wakaba would be with Saionji, nanami would be with her brother, etc, etc), and they all give up on these deep seeded desires after having fallen in the duelling arena.

Akio is the end of the world, and maybe that really is his plan. He wants to end worlds, the idealized worlds held most dear to every charachter in the show. He succeeds admirably with everyone but Utena who, ironically, he was the most interested in because her specific ideals are the most similar to what his pre-Akio Dios ideals were.

That's kind of what I ended up thinking his plan was the first time through. I'm not quite as sure now but, I think, it might be a viable way to think of things.

Sorry if this is a bit incoherent, I always end up visiting here as one of the last things I do in my day, so i'm pretty tired. I love this thread though, Akio's story/motivation is one of the things I really want to get a grip on.

Last edited by Valeli (12-22-2006 01:17:46 AM)

Valeli wrote:

"AKIO wants to end everyone's idealized world view." Mini-essay

I like the your idea of why you think the reason Akio had for choosing a name like the 'End of the World', its a worthy way start to your time and future times within this forum, I do look forward to seeing more of your viewpoints on SKU and other subjects as time goes by.

Wow, loving this thread.  I know I can never top Gio in explaining Akio so I'm not about to try... but it makes me pine for a similar thread about Saionji so I can attempt defending/explaining his actions since he's always made out to be an instant villain as well.

I think the point that interested me the most in reading this thread was the point that Akio felt he had to stab the door when really he only had to pry it open with his fingers.  I never thought much of this but really that action on his part speaks volumes when I think of it now. 

Anyone want to discuss the significance of Dios' presence next to Akio in the final episode?  I've always found it rather interesting that they casually share a drink together.  Dios' form in the present sense of the story always is a bit of an enigma to me.  Is he alive?  Really, did he ever truly live (since such a storybook figure seems unlikely to have existed in the first place)?  Does Akio truly want to be Dios again (or just want his power)? If so, then why is the Dios in his possession useless?  I mean, Dios exists in a sense... but then I'd probably just answer this myself by saying Dios never existed, he's just a symbol that represents different things to different characters, and that pretty much explains how he can strangely pop in and out of sequences for no reason. :p

Man I'm out of practice with this whole analysis thing...

Scortia wrote:

it makes me pine for a similar thread about Saionji so I can attempt defending/explaining his actions since he's always made out to be an instant villain as well

Your wish has been granted. I really feel we haven't said all there is to say about Saionji, nor heard all the viewpoints on him.

Sorry for not contributing to this thread, but I can't muster up the mental energy lately.

Lightice wrote:

"Sekai no Hate" means the farthest border of the world, not the end, as in Apocalypse.

Jeffrey's Japanese=English Dictionary Server! wrote:

hate (Japanese)
(n) the end; the extremity; the limit(s); the result; (P)

Ah! I see what you mean, I have always thought of his End of the World title was apocalyptic by nature, I should have checked it out more carefully.

Hmm. I had always taken it in a kind of apocalyptic sense as well. ... the "Absolute Destiny: Apocalypse" song being played like... always... probably is partially responsible for giving that meaning primacy in my mind. I'll have to look at the name again in a more open context, thanks for the heads up.

I still feel that Akio's whole game/plan is really centered around destroying people's ideals and disillusioning them though... I should look at that more closely too though.

And thanks for the kind words Tamago, even if my idea might have been a bit off:( I love these forums and this series so much, I hope I can manage to contribute a tiny bit.

Last edited by Valeli (12-30-2006 12:13:19 AM)

Here I must disagree. Remember that people who don't have the "illusion of fairy tales in their hearts" are utterly useless to Akio. His own illusions and manipulations are worthless if the people he targets don't believe, or at least want to believe in miracles and magic. He doesn't wish to destroy these fantasies, but cultivate them into his own liking and benefit. Remember that what he did with Nemuro was almost complete opposite of what you suggest. He took a "computer-like man" without greater wishes or real belief in anything and instilled him with the frantic desire for Eternity.

Akio doesn't fear that anyone could take Anthy away from him. He's all too arrogant for that. The idea that someone, a mere mortal could really pull that off doesn't enter his worst nightmares, since in his thinking only a Prince could be capable of such thing and there is no Prince anywhere in this world.

Akio doesn't destroy people's fantasies. He uses, abuses and forms them into his own use, making them serve his ends, turning the people with hopes for something greater and magical into puppets under his power by showing them what they think they wish to see and believe. I know that not all here support this theory, but I believe that this is also what happened with Utena - in the guise of Dios Akio showed her the eternal thing and gave her the power to face tomorrow, but at the same time causing her to serve his goals almost to the end. Similar thing happened with all other duellists, as well, if you remember, though only after they came to the school, as far as we know.

Keeping that in mind, I guess it was just a matter of time before someone gave Anthy the kick in the pants she needed. Assuming Akio has done this a number of times before, it stands to reason that the right person would come along sooner or later. In an eternity of playing his game, Akio must inevitably lose.

rhyaniwyn wrote:

So Akio does cultivate those illusions while it suits him.  But ultimately he thinks they are worthless.  That is the black and white of Akio's world.  Fairy tales are nothing but silly naivete.  When he was a child, he too thought they had value.  But when he lost his innocence he "realized" that tenacity and belief were not enough to change the world.  The world is what it is, a place of disillusionment and disappointment.

That sounds totally on the ball to me. I think it's especially interesting that if you take the name out of it you're describing a great many of the people in our history who have held power. How often have people grown out of their own naivete to turn it to their advantage on others? Akio doesn't think the illusion is worthless, it's just that the worth it does have is a manipulative one miles away from the original intent. Either worldview works, not that the series will tell us that, but it is preaching for a certain side and it isn't his. The difference boils down the happiness and happiness. Is it better to live in a world of illusions and become bitter and cynical, or do you tread your own path and refuse to accept the world is really a bad place, even if it stabs you sometimes? (Literally...) Akio is pretty satisfied with the choice he's made, but we know it's the wrong one, because it got his ass handed to him in the end. But then...who said Utena didn't get the same? Or won't get the same if you assume she's in the real world now? There's no way back to Utena's view after you live with Akio's, but the show warns us repeatedly how easy the transition from Utena to him is, and that it's a lifelong struggle until it happens.

He does not seemed to have expected it.

Perhaps he had never originally planned to seduce Utena before she found her own sword. That is about where he realizes that something solid is being built between her and Anthy and he needs to destroy it.

I don't think the swords will ever be satisfied at all.
They represent hatred and perhaps even dependence. And these two are sometimes the ugliest aspects of human nature that shall never die because not everyone has "revolutionized" their souls and released themselves from their own sufferings. And, to be childish about it, those people will either need a Dios to lean on or a Witch to blame on.
This is why I think Utena becomes the new pincushion. The last statement that she makes in the series (not counting the flashback) is the lament that she can never be Anthy's prince. That shows Utena finally experiencing the first taste of reality, and the swords would represent pains that would continuously come as she leaves Ohtori and enters reality. That reminds me of the line in the opening song, "Even if we dream, even if we cry, even if we are hurt, reality will come for us recklessly." The swords were surging toward Utena, which leads me to think they're the reality Utena must endure when integrating into the real world.
And, we see the reverse happening to Anthy, whose last statement reveals awakened hope/ideal that may/may not be possible to attain, just like Utena's ideal of being a prince or that silly promise of drinking tea and laugh together after ten years, "No matter where you are, I will certainly find you. Wait for me, Utena." It's the reminder of how you should face reality without ending up like Akio, and the solution that Ikuhara-san gives would complete the same stanza in the opening song about reality, "I want to find my place, the value of being me. Gotta take up who I've been until now." No matter what happens, don't let your hope, your will to live, dies because of the pains brought about by reality.
I think what makes Akio pathetic is that he represents one of the hundreds of people I've met in my life who aren't satisfied with what the world is doing to them, but aren't doing anything about it except causing more pain to themselves and people around them. When Anthy's writhing in his car, all he says is, "In pain, Anthy? Well, don't blame me, blame the world for it!" He could not even do the least of tending to her. Akio, in my opinion, hates the world for robbing him of his princely ideals, but what he's doing now is only allowing reality to kill off any hopes or ideals he might have had for living, completely.
I wonder if this is why he wasn't TOO disappointed when the sword breaks off from the Rose Gate. "A failure... when will I gain the power of revolution?"

Last edited by Hiraku (03-28-2007 04:09:15 PM)

brian wrote:

Hiraku wrote:

This is why I think Utena becomes the new pincushion.

What an unsettling thought.
So do you think that Anthy might rescue Utena from the swords?

When I watched the series at first, that's what I originally thought. That one of Anthy's newfound purpose is to find Utena and let her know that it is important to keep hope to live on for high ideals as she has had when she was still in Ohtori.
Utena's last words before leaving the academy was that she knew she couldn't have become a prince. It was the reason she came to the academy, and without that reason, there's no reason for her to remain as her energetic, youthful self, hence the departure.
This also now reminds me of the time when she lost to Touga in the duel and ends up wearing girl's uniform. She wasn't as ambitious as she used to be, not until someone who admires/respects/likes her (in that case, Wakaba) gives Utena something, some kind of reason, to live on as the Prince that she is. Anthy is probably going to be doing the same thing for Utena. I wouldn't say rescuing Utena from the swords, but to be there to remind her that not to give in to the pains that the swords will bring upon her. As long as you're alive in the real world, you'll be suffering somehow. This brings me to what the Movie version of Akio said to Anthy, "But, if you live on in the Outside World, you can only settle as princesses." The reality of the world will constantly weigh them down. The point is not necessarily be free from the swords, but whilst suffering, live on with hope.

Last edited by Hiraku (03-28-2007 08:25:35 PM)