This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
Okay, I was home sick this weekend and so of course I was watching some Utena Apocalypse Saga. And I had some random thoughts about Akio's large, um, tower. I'll just throw out some stuff.
-Outside "architecture" of the tower
-Huge, over-sized room with one piece of furniture, say, a table with roses on it with a window always showing the night stars no matter what time of day.
-A yin/yang bed that two girls and a monkey share even though the room is so enormous that many sets of bunk beds would fit that is placed in front of a window that shows celestial bodies that couldn't be there (And I really want to know who came up with the bed design. It says just about everything concerning Utena and Anthy's relationship. "We're sleeping together but we're not having sex. but someday we might")
-A huge, over-sized room with long, long windows furnished only with an interestingly shaped projector and two (sticky, presumably) couches that are WHITE.
-And presumably a bathroom with a shower off of Utena/Anthy's room
-No evidence of Akio's bedroom (the whole world is his bedroom?)
-Also, throughout the series when the student council are meeting on the balcony, there are shots of them being seen from behind a large rose window that is higher up in the tower looking down on the balcony indicating that there is some voyeurism going on.
I think the tower, as the summit of Ohtori's world and the seat of Akio's power, is worth some in-depth discussion as a central Utena symbolic overload.
Oh, yeah, and how does this freak show of a setting play out on the characters in the final arc? I mean, poor Utena trapped in that loony bin of a place.
Last edited by Dani (11-07-2006 09:26:42 PM)
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Kevin Lomax: [quietly] Is there more to it?
Eddie Barzoon: Just this room.
Kevin Lomax: And a bedroom?
Eddie Barzoon: No bedroom.
Kevin Lomax: Where does he sleep?
Eddie Barzoon: Who said he sleeps?
Kevin Lomax: Where does he fuck?
John Milton: [coming up to them] Everywhere!
Sorry I'll actually contribute as soon as The Daily Show/Colbert Report live special is over.
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Giovanna wrote:
Sorry I'll actually contribute as soon as The Daily Show/Colbert Report live special is over.
Love Colbert, I'm watching. I'd like some of that devil's food cake.
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Maybe Akio secretly wants the power of World Revolution so he can become the ultimate Interior Designer and spread his message of minimalist abstract erotica style.
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The vastness is hott!
I've always wondered how one stayes up so high with out being blown away, are there glasses windows on in the arches on the Plentarium level? If so how does one exactly clean those things with out ultimate periel?
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I was always confused why in the scene when Nanami discovered Akio and Anthy getting it on, why she was there. Wasn't that Akio's room? Did they not have a bathroom elsewhere except in his room?
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I think Akio's bedroom is the place where he sleeps with Touga. He also must have his own bedroom because Nanami remarks snidely that Akio and Anthy have an excuse to sleep together, and, if memory serves me correctly, she was in Anthy's normal spot at the time.
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Riri-kins wrote:
I think Akio's bedroom is the place where he sleeps with Touga. He also must have his own bedroom because Nanami remarks snidely that Akio and Anthy have an excuse to sleep together, and, if memory serves me correctly, she was in Anthy's normal spot at the time.
But the room in which Nanami saw Akio and Anthy was the familiar planetarium room. Maybe there's a bed in some corner there that we don't normally see. Maybe it's that bed on which Akio and Touga were seen reclining after some duels?
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Biggest studio apartment EVAR.
We never see Akio's bedroom, with or without Touga--there's that bed they mess around on but it seems like it'd be on the student council balcony or something, to overlook the arena. We always see him bang Anthy in the planetarium as well. One almost wonders if he doesn't have a bedroom, hence why he drove Utena to a hotel. Obviously if he has one, or in fact any other personal rooms in the tower, he doesn't use them for dealings with others. That said attributing to him a need for vast amounts of personal space might be giving him more humanity than he really needs. But if Anthy's the eternal bride, then maybe Akio's the eternal husband in trouble and relegated to the couch.
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Giovanna wrote:
Biggest studio apartment EVAR.
Word.
We never see Akio's bedroom, with or without Touga--there's that bed they mess around on but it seems like it'd be on the student council balcony or something, to overlook the arena.
But the Student Council balcony doesn't overlook the Arena - it overlooks the forbidden forest. The Planetarium on the other hand overlooks anything that Akio wants it to, including the very tower in which it is based, as seen in episode 38. Those balconies(?), much like the bell tower seem to be rather ethereal, since there is no discernible location where they might be placed without showing in the panorama view of the campus.
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Giovanna wrote:
But if Anthy's the eternal bride, then maybe Akio's the eternal husband in trouble and relegated to the couch.
I lol'd hard at this. Good one, Ends of the Forum!
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I was trying to determine the appropriate color usage for designing Akio's room for The Sims 3 when I thought, 'Okay, this room is all the same color, but what specific color is it? I'd say, gold... "A gold-gilded Shangri-La"? "Oh, haha. I get it now.' Just thought I'd throw that comparison out there.
Now back to designing my failure "rocketower." Thanks for the three floor building limitation, Maxis. -_-
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The tower must contain more floors than what we saw in the anime. Akio's planetarium is at the top of the tower, it takes up the whole floor. It also serves as Akio's bedroom and office. Besides the ever present sofas and coffee table, all other furnitures appeared only when Akio needed them (like the desk on which he types his letters). Anthy and Utena's new residence should be below the planetarium, but by how many floors down? The Student Council balcony should be lower than Anthy and Utena's place looks like it's The , right?
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I personally believe that the Cock Tower has only about 4 levels despite being tall enough to potentially have maybe up to two dozen floors because each floor has huge cealings.
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Tamago wrote:
I personally believe that the Cock Tower has only about 4 levels despite being tall enough to potentially have maybe up to two dozen floors because each floor has huge cealings.
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Wow, that looks just like his tower. Good job.
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The_A_Man wrote:
Wow, that looks just like his tower. Good job.
Thanks Its pretty much guesswork thou, for all I know the living quarters are on top of the planetarium
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According to the map of Ohtori Academy provided with the SEGA Saturn game, the Seitokai balcony is the 6th floor of the Cocktower, judging from the animation sequence in the series as Juri, Touga and Miki ascend in the elevator (that's what the map says, anyways). The map can be found somewhere in the tail end of the Utena 2 roleplay thread (not the main one; the one in which KTK was trawling for interested members).
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