Jackpot!  Here is the map that Bio sent along:

This answers most of my questions from earlier.  I'm proud that I correctly inferred the location of the rose garden, but I got pretty much everything else wrong   Still no answers on the main quad, the statue garden, the theater (though that may be inferrably in the south wing), dorms other than the east dorm, or other students' (off-campus?) residences.  Probably all but the main quad are outside Ohtori proper.

Edit: Oh, and duh the dorms are off-campus, that's why we always begin with an establishing shot of all the students crossing that ridiculous bridge to get to school.

Last edited by satyreyes (08-08-2009 10:59:22 AM)

I finally get that thing about it looking like a grave...

Itsuke, this is some nice research! 

Your observation about the East Dorm is easily explained: Ohtori is not oriented on a north-south axis.  The main gate points east; the forest points west.  (This also explains why the sun sets behind the forest.)  Thus it makes perfect sense that the East Dorm is outside the main gate.  I was confused about this too until I noticed the buildings on the map labeled "North Classroom Building" and "South Classroom Building," at which point it clicked.

Also according to the map, the home ec (or "culinary arts") classroom is in the main block of classroom buildings, to the left (that is, south) of the cocktower.  That's consistent with the screenshots you posted, both of which show the smoke coming from the tower's left as you look at it from the gate.

As far as the Shadow Girls' theater goes, this is all very confusing.  The shot with Touga looks an awful lot like the same place as Wakaba and Utena have their big scene, which in turn looks an awful lot like the theater, which I guess puts the theater on a rooftop.  But it's not clear to me how shadow play theater would work outdoors.  Maybe they always do it at sunset because that's when the light is right?  Furthermore, why the second gym building?  It doesn't seem like the right place to attract an audience (which is maybe why they switch to a different location during the Black Rose Saga?) and it can't be anywhere near their auditorium from Episode 34.  From the map it does look like the flattest, widest roof -- unless I'm misreading the map and that's Nemuro Memorial Hall, which can't be the theater site because the Shadow Girls go back to their old site in the third arc, when NMH doesn't exist anymore.  And what the heck would Utena and Wakaba be doing on the gymnasium (or any) roof, anyway?  Could it be a balcony of some other building?  Does the post-skit establishing shot below have anything to do with anything?  So as I say, I'm still confused.  :-/

This is really interesting!

I agree with Itsuke that the position of the East dorm is not consistent in the pictures shown. If we agree  that the Main Academy Map has west upwards, then the picture captioned "but then this picture completely confuses me" is taken from a location directly south of the campus (since the tower of the North School Building is directly to the left of the Central Tower). The other picture could be either south or south-east of the campus, depending on whether the gate shown is the south-east gate or the main (East) gate?

On the other hand, I agree that the duelling forest should be west because of the sunset. Perhaps most likely the person who drew the East Dorm backgrounds were referring to the Main Map but was confused about how it was oriented?

You guys are amazing. There is no way I would have the spatial awareness or keen powers of observation to put this all together. I can only stare in awe and cling to my map print-out as I wonder the halls. lol

gorgeousshutin wrote:

For a place that so many fans had theorized as a closed-off world, Ohtori Academy just looks so . . . out in the open and uncovered (though of course we know looks can be deceiving).

And the east hall student dorm (along with the fencing hall) is outside of the school gates and far away from the other school buildings?  Is that supposed to symbolize something?

I don't think this one's symbolic.  It's uncommon in Japan for a high school or college dorm to be located on campus.  Instead, it'll be sited within walking distance or on a convenient rail line, often in a large building that is shared with other schools or companies that need housing.  An empty residential building as big as the East Dorm is an anomaly itself in a Tokyo exurb, but I don't think it's strange that Ohtori's dorms are off campus. In fact, the students are very lucky the dorms are so close! 

As for the fencing hall, the one you're looking at on the map is not the one in the series.  The "old fencing hall" is a spot in the video game.  It's overgrown with vines, and sometimes you can hear the mournful strains of a ukulele emerge from it.  The show's fencing hall, one might guess, is in one of the gymnasiums.

An empty residential building as big as the East Dorm is an anomaly itself in a Tokyo exurb, but I don't think it's strange that Ohtori's dorms are off campus. In fact, the students are very lucky the dorms are so close!  emot-smile

Hmm . . . then, along with Nanami's house where shadow girls infest picture frames, wherever off campus Miki's Dad was when with his "new wife", and the Church building with the Tenjous Coffin scene, Utena's East Dorm is another off campus spot where A&A are shown exerting considerable magic upon then.  Just how far away from the Campus will A&A's influence end?

P.S. Anyone knows if the hospital place where Juri visits a fencing team member at the end of the Ruka ep is on campus or off?

P.P.S.  I've read fic after fic saying Ohtori is somewhere in Sapporo and not Tokyo . . . is Anime Ohtori stated to be anywhere near Tokyo?  Cause the surrounding scenery seem pretty . . . rural-looking, and Tokyo is supposed to be jammed-packed with tallish commercial buildings/towers.

My headcanon puts it on an island near Hokkaido with a significant Chinese population.
The address Kanae gives could always be an out-of-school residence - the Ohtoris are quite wealthy and could easily own multiple homes.

Last edited by Atropos (11-27-2012 12:55:32 PM)