This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
rhyaniwyn, that sounds fascinating. Where did you find out about it? Any books or texts in particular? I'd love to know more. That's certainly how I think of Akio; he seems a symbol for something inevitable and permanent, in a way.
Re: Akio as "one too many beers"... that's appropriate on so many levels, lol.
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Mostly through internet searches. I think I came to a Satanism page at some point...regardless, it linked a BUNCH of articles at other sites (over half of which were dead, but, yeah...). However, wikipedia actually summarizes much of what I read. Thank you, wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan
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rhyaniwyn wrote:
Jewish concept of Satan, etc
I remember all that! (Oooh I feel so smert.) It was almost like checks and balances, 'Satan', whoever it was that day, was just the imperfect angel that pointed out holes in God's works, since God, being a creature of pure light and good, couldn't quite see them. That's what I got out of it anyway.
As for SKU, I've all but given up trying to pinpoint the exact reference they're making. I don't think they meant to make one. Instead, you can take just about any scenario and use it as a bouncing off point for analysis of the series, or go the other way around. A while back I wrote an essay where I took quotes from the Bible and 'mainstream' apocrypha and used them as bouncing off points for analysis about Akio, the point never being to say THIS IS WHERE THIS COMES FROM but more that you can take just about anything and use it as an essay prompt. Ultimately much of the material got absorbed and reworded into parts of the shrine now, but there's still some stuff there. I think I used the story of Job to offer an explanation of episode 13.
Akio as one too many beers is perhaps the best shorthand explanation I've ever seen. Except he's totally one too many cognacs.
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I hope I'm not straying off-topic. I'm not sure I remember your reference to Job, but I was reading Joseph Campbell's "Myths to Live By" last week and I took down a quote that I adored-- where he mentions the story of Job. (One of the notes I made, of course, turned into an exploration of Utena which I hope to be able to make into a thread or an essay at some point...I've been doing SO MUCH Utena writing lately. >_< I can't believe I said "Yay, make this forum.")
Anyway, I thought I'd share it, as it may be "bounce-able."
The Greeks, that is to say, are on man's side, both in sympathy and in loyalty; the Hebrews, on the contrary, on God's. Never would we have heard from a Greek such words as those of the sorely beaten "blameless and upright" Job, addressed to the god who had "destroyed him without cause" and who then came at him in the whirlwind, boasting of his power.
"Behold," pleaded Job, "I am of small account...I know that thou canst do all things...I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Repent! Repent for what?
In contrast, the great contemporary Greek playwright Aeschylus, of about the same fifth-century date of the anonymous author of the Book of Job, puts into the mouth of his Prometheus--who is also being tormented by a god that could "draw Leviathan out with a fishhook, play with him as with a bird, and fill his skin with harpoons"--the following stunning words: "He is a monster...I care less than nothing for Zeus. Let him do as he likes."
And so say we all today in our hearts, though our tongues may have been taught to babble with Job.
This gets me thinking, especially given the role of "the devil" in the story of Job and my feeling that there is a meaningful comparison to be made between Dios, Akio, and/or Anthy & Atlas and/or Prometheus.
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Giovanna wrote:
Akio as one too many beers is perhaps the best shorthand explanation I've ever seen. Except he's totally one too many cognacs.
I'm glad you like my comparison and you're right, he's obviously classier than Bud. It's just the way I first thought of it because a few too many beers got me to spill my guts one time as opposed to a few too many cognacs.
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no, *weeps* I was really getting into this discussion and then it came to an end. Sadly I have nothing to add, but this is really satsifying so far. Gio too makes an interesting point about Akio and Ikuhara since I never quite got over the feeling of betrayal when I realised adulthood doesn't ultimately equal maturity and I was always stirred by it when I was watching the series. I think it's interesting that Akio who embodies an immature adult who ultimately keeps the world he inhabits from becoming a better place is also the character who blames the world for making him that way. It reminds me of those cycles where a person will expierence something unpleasant and than act out unpleasantly towards others or another who will then act out unpleasantly towards others, the blame and the responsibilty being lost in the cycle.
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skewed_tartan wrote:
I wonder how they managed to miss Miki's little obsession wih his sister though since they got everyone else on the council pegged.
Well, I missed Miki's obsession with his sister too. I'm basically taking all of you on faith about any incesty things that might have happened between the Kaoru twins. 'cause I didn't see it.
Last edited by Mishi (04-24-2008 09:01:30 PM)
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Mishi wrote:
skewed_tartan wrote:
I wonder how they managed to miss Miki's little obsession wih his sister though since they got everyone else on the council pegged.
Well, I missed Miki's obsession with his sister too. I'm basically taking all of you on faith about any incesty things that might have happened between the Kaoru twins. 'cause I didn't see it.
I used to be the exact same way on the Kaoru twins, if you look at earlier posts I even asked for an explanation as well, more than once, though I never got one, but then it just clicked with time and yes I'm defintely in that camp now, it's not something you see in the series it's something you see in their character when you take a moment to think about it.
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Giovanna wrote:
I've watched more of SKU in other languages than I have of SKU in English. At least the Italian dub sounds like they watched the show first.
Ok, sorry to bring up something Gio wrote so many months ago, and I am probably way off-topic, but I've been looking for a thread to comment on this for ages: am I the only one who could - dared - to give the Italian dub a try just for a few seconds, only to switch the audio right back to Japanese in complete horror?
I mean Hi-ME-mi-ya?! And YURI, for Dios' sake, did she move to Japan from Moscow many years ago and I didn't know that? Seriously though, was it so hard to check the correct pronounciations?!
Plus, from what I could gather from the subtitles, the translation does follow the storyline, but is frequently inaccurate, there's no honorifics and everyone is on a first-name basis as usual, and the dub actors are the same as in every other anime they showed on Italian TV in the mid 90s (i.e. Sailor Moon) - not to mention the fact that Shiori sounds like she is at least in her thirties. Duh.
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The only English dubs I can watch are Chobits and Rozen Maiden. And possibly a few tohers, but that's it.
Utena in English? Christ. I was ready to show pencil in my ear...because if I'm going to hurt, I might as well do it to myself. Rachael Lillis was great...Mandy Bonhomme (Juri) and Lisa Ortiz (Shiori) were great as well.
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BalamiyaVardihi wrote:
The only English dubs I can watch are Chobits and Rozen Maiden. And possibly a few tohers, but that's it.
Utena in English? Christ. I was ready to show pencil in my ear...because if I'm going to hurt, I might as well do it to myself. Rachael Lillis was great...Mandy Bonhomme (Juri) and Lisa Ortiz (Shiori) were great as well.
if someone thinks that Utena in english is bad, check out the german version... it's the worstt T_T; I need to check out how to crack the safety code to show you...
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beautifulpanther wrote:
BalamiyaVardihi wrote:
The only English dubs I can watch are Chobits and Rozen Maiden. And possibly a few tohers, but that's it.
Utena in English? Christ. I was ready to show pencil in my ear...because if I'm going to hurt, I might as well do it to myself. Rachael Lillis was great...Mandy Bonhomme (Juri) and Lisa Ortiz (Shiori) were great as well.if someone thinks that Utena in english is bad, check out the german version... it's the worstt T_T; I need to check out how to crack the safety code to show you...
Oh well this might do, found it awhile back.
In any case why doesn't someone make a dubbing thread, so many threads I've been in go into discussions about dubbing and I think there should be a thread where we can just rant out our opiniouns on the subject.
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I have to be the strangest person on the planet, because I really didn't mind the English dub at all. The only problem I had was with Mitsuru and Ruka.
*dodges rotten tomatoes*
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Coco Melancholy wrote:
Mishi wrote:
skewed_tartan wrote:
I wonder how they managed to miss Miki's little obsession wih his sister though since they got everyone else on the council pegged.
Well, I missed Miki's obsession with his sister too. I'm basically taking all of you on faith about any incesty things that might have happened between the Kaoru twins. 'cause I didn't see it.
I used to be the exact same way on the Kaoru twins, if you look at earlier posts I even asked for an explanation as well, more than once, though I never got one, but then it just clicked with time and yes I'm defintely in that camp now, it's not something you see in the series it's something you see in their character when you take a moment to think about it.
I'll just have to watch the series again.
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