Tamago wrote:

Hysterical Woman wrote:

When Anthy left, Akio just took another Anthy out of the Anthiqurium.

An Anthquarium huh? What an interesting idea.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o50/ … anthys.jpg

EPIC WIN

BWAHA!

But wouldn't it make more sense if Anthy was Rei?  Because then Akio could be Gendou.  And now I'm confusing myself.

Yes guardian_rose, I'm sure this forum will warp your innocent young mind, but maybe you thank us for doing so.

morosemocha wrote:

Sort of like when you break your hymen. Thank whoever did it for you (or yourself) that way the sex later on doesn't suck so much.

But it makes you wonder sometimes if men would be as eager to get laid if they had man-hymens that get popped painfully when they have sex for the first time?

Only you, Tamago. Only you.

guardian_rose wrote:

hyacinth_black wrote:

Tamago wrote:

An Anthquarium huh? What an interesting idea.

http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o50/ … anthys.jpg

EPIC WIN

BWAHA!

But wouldn't it make more sense if Anthy was Rei?  Because then Akio could be Gendou.  And now I'm confusing myself.

utena and plug suits...

ya know... a friend of mine told me about this forum. they said that there was alot of interesting outlooks on utena. she said i shouldn't join. that some things will come along that will warp and destroy everything sacred in that series....

its times like this that make me think... maybe she had no real idea that it would totally destroy other series too.
some times, i read these things... these warped, chaotic, crazy things...
and a piece of my cries...
and i die alittle more... on the inside... because of these thoughts i read.

just wanted to let everyone know

i think i like it here

Aw, but without the smut, Utena wouldn't be the revered art that we know and love now, is it?

Giovanna wrote:

YamPuff wrote:

Yes he does. He learned his ABC's and his 123's and how to seduce women and men all over the campus.

With the way Akio is I suspect the first two of those were learned almost entirely to ease the process of the third.

Back to the subject of NGE = SKU...if Akio's Gendo, I guess that means...well who is Ritsuko here? Kanae? Touga's obviously Fuyutski...

...who I admit I had a little crush on back when I watched NGE.

What? I like older men.

See this is getting scary now because I'm picturing Nanami in Asuka's plug suit complete with matching dubbed voice.

I have the whole 'everyone is apart of Anthy's psyche theory'. So when Utena revolutionizes the world she merges with Anthy. Akio who was Anthy's prince is now useless, so Anthy discards him. So Akio becomes nothing, a faint memory in the back of Anthy's memories.

As Anthy steps out of Ohtori Academy and into the real world, Akio is left behind like a nightmare. One that Anthy won't ever have again. Btw, the same goes with the other characters, they fade away too. Well maybe not fade away but become little emotions whilst Utena becomes Anthy's main attitude.

I didn't explain that very well Xp

Basically Ohtori is Anthy's purgatory brought by the split of Akio and Dios, there must be a reconciliation to make Anthy complete. So the duelist who each represent a aspect of Anthy's mind, battle it out to be the dominate personality trait. A suiter is found, giving Anthy the power and courage to dispel Akio from her mind. However if someone with a impure mind was to win the duels then Akio would take over Anthy.

Ok, I didn't explain that very well either...

In short, I say Akio fades away into the abyss of Anthy's mind never to be seen again.

Yasha's essay should be posted in the essays section, if it is not already.

One of my favorites of that type is on IMDB and is called "Here's A Theory For Ya", on:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243558/usercomments

Akio is, as Gio said, an escapist at the most extreme end of the spectrum. 

He is a person who, when the world didn't live up to his ideals, he discarded them bitterly.  He denied that they ever had any real validity, began to use those ideals as a tools.  Ideals, in the sense of things that aren't physical or or visible to people.  These silly notions can be used to manipulate people "foolish enough" to still believe in them, or wish for them.

So he swung to the other end of the extreme--from Prince to Anti-Prince.  From a person who believed in better things, and by extension in the value of pursing ideals for their own sake, to a person who cared only about satisfying his every whim.  He began to pursue secular power and material things.  Power over the school as Chairman, a big tower to show off how powerful and rich he is, an awesome car people will envy, and an endless string of women to feed his vanity.

Interestingly enough, he pursues secular power as a person who regards himself as being outside of the social structure, using it to his benefit, while regarding people living within it as being pawns.  He regards himself as being above everything, which is a benefit to his manipulations in several ways.  However, he is certainly buying into the validity of what "society" values and thinks by behaving the way he does; lending credence to the entire sham.

There may be a fragment of Akio who regrets this new lifestyle, or regrets that the two lifestyles can't be compatible.  It may be a crocodile tear he sheds in the last episodes, or it may be an involuntary tear of regret.  (And maybe not regret that he isn't a Prince, or regret that he isn't trying to be a Prince, but regret that he doesn't even have regrets anymore. Heh.)

So what happens to Akio after Anthy leaves?  As a person, I think he could take Utena's example and Anthy's abandonment as a cue and revolutionize himself as well.  (And I don't think that would necessarily make him less sexy, Anti-Heroes are hot for similar reasons, but they are still Heroes).  I think that's less likely than him sitting on the couch and rotting with the rest of Ohtori for all of eternity (Hina the Prince).

I imagine he does his best to perpetuate the status quo at Ohtori even with Anthy gone.  Replace her he does, with either a symbolic or real Rose Bride (Kanae is already a Rose Bride in several of the most important ways).  Basically he doesn't change, because revolution is something you have to do for yourself, and he's not gonna, the overgrown kid.

Whether he continues with the duels, or whether there's a real "Rose Bride"...all depends on what happens to Ex-Archetype Akio, not Akio as a human.  That, to me, hinges on what happens to the swords.  Or what happens to the swords has implications regarding the state of Ex-Prince Akio.  Whichever.  I haven't come up with an explanation that I'm fond of for that part yet.

Last edited by rhyaniwyn (03-21-2007 01:38:59 PM)

brian wrote:

Just a fragment of a thought. The swords are not really swords, they are curses and condemnations. Words cannot break bones but they can torture a soul. That's why Anthy is simulaneously writhing in eternal torment and also functioning in her other roles.

Akio can always find ways to mis-direct the swords if he wants, that's the way the world is.

This is one reason why the other versions are more satisfying, they do dispose of Akio once and for all.

You mean the movie version of Akio where they hit the "wall"? Yeah, THAT was the best part of the movie. But, the anime version keeps you guessing.
Personally, I agree with someone earlier saying that it's very likely that he's going to delude himself into believing that, Anthy didn't leave, he kicked her out because he enjoys the Chairman's room... a little too much. I've seen denials plenty, they'd make very stubborn characters.

Hmm... can anyone clear something up for me? At the second to last episode, when Utena said that she didn't like the Chairman's room, Akio said that a child like you can't possibly understand the value of this room because it's the highest place in the world. (Of course, we all know why she hates it)
And then during the duel, Akio restates again that Utena can never understand the value behind the Rose Bride, the Chairman's office, and the dueling arena.
What is the "value" he's talking about? Maybe if he can one day realize there's something of greater value out there, he'll leave Ohtori, too, but I don't really think that would be the case.

brian wrote:

I really don't know. Materialists and rationalists often claim that their values and ideals are actually deeper and more worthwhile and interesting than religious or spiritual or mystical values. That might be what he is alluding to here.

Hmm... In that case, I don't think I'll ever understand the "value" of the Chairman's room like Akio does.

I thought that Akio's statement was referring to power, in a sense. He didn't say that a child wouldn't understand, but a child "like her".  I think it's Utena's naivete that's keeping her from totally getting it. The whole thing has been a power play. She doesn't grasp the concept of doing things to obtain or keep the power in your hands.

The Rose Bride is perceived as pure power by some, a power to be owned and controlled.  The Dueling Arena is a dominance game, where the winner gets all the power, i.e. the Rose Bride. Then the Chairman's Tower is essentially where the puppet master sits, where the actions of most of the Duelists are oh-so-subtly manipulated. It's also the setting of Akio and Anthy's own personal dominance games. In short, nothing happens around Akio without it being some kind of power struggle, intended to leave him victorious.

It's much like he probably will fail to exist, because most of his existence centers on Anthy. So why bother?
I know many of you will come up with detailed elaborate explanations, but "thats what she said."