The answer to this question, which is practically canon around here, is probably that the cars represent the same corrupted vision of adulthood and sexuality that Akio does.  He's the driver, after all -- though once Miki envisions driving one, in a fantasy about maturity.  A lot of hanky-panky goes on in that back seat when Akio shows the duelists the ends of the world, which itself means convincing them that they cannot retain their purity and still revolutionize the world.  The car's also the site of what we imagine is probably some pretty awesome cunnilingus between Akio and Utena.

The car's appearance in the arena during the third and fourth arcs is probably a result of Akio's more direct influence in those arcs, and the even more explicit emergence of sexuality and corruption as themes.  One of the best symbolic moments in the final arc is in Touga's final duel, when Utena, wielding nothing more than a sword and her own nobility, slices through every car in the arena, effectively saying: I reject this way of being an adult.  I will find another.

And she does!  Or at least Anthy does, and hopefully Utena does too, though that part is sort of left out.

Mylene wrote:

satyreyes wrote:

The car's also the site of what we imagine is probably some pretty awesome cunnilingus between Akio and Utena.

Really?  I thought it was the couch of the hotel room they had.

Haha, that picture is indeed from The Barefoot Girl (Episode 30/Utena hurts her ankle episode.) It's the scene I immediately thought of after reading satyr's comment.

But how about this one from episode 37?



Please don't refrain from discussions!

Last edited by Ragnarok (02-14-2009 04:54:29 PM)

I saw that as Juri subconsciously hiding the tears she should be shedding but wasn't? In a weird sort of way, it makes sense, but if the Akio cars are Akio's corruption or what not, then that idea makes little sense at all.

    satyreyes wrote:

    The car's also the site of what we imagine is probably some pretty awesome cunnilingus between Akio and Utena.

Mylene wrote: Really?  I thought it was the couch of the hotel room they had.

Really to car cunnilingus? I think the angle looks much more like he's kissing her (on the lips lol) - he's pressed her down to kiss her moments before. And if he's doing cunnilingus in that scene than his torso is muuuuch shorter than it used to be.

I reckon that the oral sex is in The Prince Who Runs in the Night - y'know hotel bedroom, Utena talking about sandwiches and gasping (as Mylene mentioned ferris wheels outside the window).

If cunnilingus does indeed happen in The Barefoot Girl, can I just say it takes away from Utena's corruption at the hands (and lips) of Akio. Anthy's betrayal of Utena (sending her to give Akio flowers) is much less. Utena loosing her virginity to Akio in the hotel has much less impact too...since she's not really losing much. Thus I tend to think the actual sex in whatever form doesn't take place until the emotional bang of The Prince Who Runs in the Night, aka Utena whimpering "What is eternity?"

Last edited by sharnii (02-15-2009 08:44:15 AM)

I think someone else mentioned it here before (Razarra, maybe?) but I agree so I'll go ahead and restate it.  I believe that the rosebrides, whether or not they are in the car during the duels implies whether or not their victor is willing to share their power with them.  This is why Touga and Ruka are not seen riding in the Akio car when they act as Rosebrides for Nanami and Juri.  Saionji rides in the car when he is Touga's rosebride, but he doesn't look all that excited or hopeful --he knows the power promised by Ends of the World is bullshit.

Also, whether or not the duelist is injured by the car after he/she is defeated is symbolic of how much stock they put into their desire to gain 'revolution.'  In the end, their desires literally circle back and crash into them, which is like saying they end up hurting themselves.  Shiori, Kozue, Miki and Saionji are all hit by the cars, while Nanami, Juri and Ruka are not. 

Or, if you want to look at it in another light, it can also be how each character tried to take a hold of and gain something (power, love, self-esteem, etc) from sex or an increase in their own sexuality (the car) and because they were in some way still too immature to handle it, it ended up hurting them instead.

Also, fun to note that Touga and Saionji in their final duel against Utena are not crashed into by Akio's car, but by either their own motorcyle or Utena herself.