Hi, replying to this thread approximately 7.5 years later but I hope someone might find worth in my thoughts on this

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

I just finished watching SKU for the first time, and was immediately struck by how much the finale reminded me of Fear and Trembling.  I think there is definitely potential to interpret Anthy as a Knight of Faith, but I consider Utena to be a better candidate as a Knight of Faith.

On the one hand, Anthy locked away Dios in an act which constituted rejecting the pursuit of the ethical/societal good - and facing the wrath of society as a result - in favor of pursuing what Anthy had determined an even higher good. This certainly mirrors the Abraham/Isaac narrative, where he intends to sacrifice his son and thereby go against the ethical for the purpose of fulfilling an a priori good (in Abraham's case, the will of God). In fact, perhaps one could argue that Anthy had to lock Dios away for the greater good of redistributing power in society and not having people rely so much on a prince to save them - a greater good, but one that goes against her current societal norms. She sacrificed duty and happiness in this act - perhaps she is a knight of faith?

What I struggle with in this interpretation is how much Anthy seems to have given up in the present.  The knight of faith is always able to maintain faith and joy and belief that good will come to pass, even when faced with seemingly impossible circumstances. I'd say this doesn't describe the Anthy of SKU - by the time she meets Utena, she seems to be in thorough disbelief that she will ever be able to escape her fate - leading up to, but especially in the moments of her attempted suicide and her stabbing of Utena.  This is not the unwavering, unshakeable happiness and faith of a Kierkegaardian Knight of Faith.

Utena, on the other hand...Utena Tenjou is an individual who constantly strives to embody the ethical qualities of a prince.  On paper, she seems to do an excellent job at first - wearing princely clothing, participating in sports and in duels, protecting women from abusive men, etc.  And why is this her ultimate goal? Because she hopes to be reunited with the prince/love of her life, or because she has witnessed something eternal and is determined to put an end to Anthy's suffering. I would argue that Utena spends most of the series as a Knight of Infinite Resignation in this pursuit, with the goal of princely behavior as the ethical code she has resigned herself to.

In my reading of SKU, Utena's attempt to save Anthy from her coffin is her Knight of Faith moment. Just five minutes prior, Anthy has stabbed her twice, first literally, and second in telling Utena that she will never be an adequate prince because she is a girl - the ultimate stab to Utena's sense of self and identity, as she has just been robbed of her ethic system that allowed her to be a Knight of Infinite Resignation. In this moment, Anthy essentially plays the parallel to God in the Abraham/Isaac story: Utena has already sacrificed her desire (Akio) in the pursuit of duty (being a prince by protecting Anthy), and now Anthy has forced Utena to lose even her ethical princehood.  Utena following that action up by saving Anthy, who has demonstrated herself as someone that doesn't believe she can be saved, is absurd, it's impossible, and it is the move of a Knight of Faith.  Even when faced with the possibility that she can have neither her happiness nor the resignation/peace that comes with sacrificing one's individual happiness in pursuit of the ethical, she STILL believes in Anthy! HOW??? Truly, this action to me is the ultimate absurd, the ultimate act of a Knight of Faith.  Perhaps, in Utena's case, the a priori to her ethical system as a prince is the eternal thing that inspired this ethical system in the first place - this is the faith that pushes her to action in spite of loss of everything. And she truly does lose the ethical, in the sense that Akio strips the school of her memory - Kierkegaard points out that this is a key difference between Knights of Infinite Resignation and Knights of Faith, since a Knight of Faith will perform an action of faith that defies the ethic/societal code even though they will become pariahs, whereas the Knight of Infinite Resignation - the tragic hero - cannot deny that there is a sense of peace and relief that comes from their celebration in society.

Sorry for the word vomit...I literally just reread Fear and Trembling after watching SKU because I was so moved by the absurdity of the finale, and the degree to which I attempt to wrap my mind around it reminded me of Kierkegaard's growing and growing mystification regarding the Abraham story Please let me know if you have any thoughts on my musings!