I've always heard of Chu-Chu as being Ikuhara's avatar for the series.

I don't know... I view Ruka as being very similar to Touga and I don't see the personality of Touga matching Ikuhara's. At least based on what I know about him.

I also recall that Ikuhara didn't particularly like Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon and kept trying to get rid of him because he didn't like the Usagi x Mamoru shipping. So would this mean Ikuhara is saying he doesn't like Shiori x Juri? Is Juri Ikuhara's 'type?' Ikuhara had a special attachment to Sailor Mars (Even cosplaying as her.) So could we find parallels there to use as support?

I'm not sure.  I think if a pro like Ikuni inserted himself into the series he'd poke fun at himself. He strikes me as that type.

Last edited by Riri-kins (09-15-2014 09:48:27 AM)

It's a good call, Flah.  Ruka definitely looks like (an idealized version of) Ikuhara, and you're not the first to notice!  A few years ago, for instance, our own Davine Lu Linvega had this interesting idea, that the resemblance might have to do with executive pressure to get rid of the show's one clear-cut lesbian relationship.  I'm skeptical of that particular explanation, personally, but who knows?...

Ikuhara has said that Chu Chu is his SI, but Ikuhara has also said that Akio is drinking a lemonade with Dios in the last episode to symbolize draining Utena's life power, so, uh, grain of salt.  And of course Ikuhara might have more than one SI.

Jacrad, the interview you're bringing in is an interesting point!  Let me quote:

Q: Ikuhara-san, Utena and Sailor Moon are two of the most popular anime amongst yuri fans. Do you intentionally include shoujo-ai subtexts in your work?

A: No. I'm still able to make a story where it's between a boy and a girl. But I feel irritated to see my girl getting together with some other guy. I've tried to kill off Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon many times. But no matter how many times I tried to kill him, he gets resurrected so I only get angrier. So I decided it would be way better if the girl just didn't have a boyfriend to begin with. Of course I'm just kidding. In reality, if I have a guy in the show, the love relationship gets to have a bigger role than the show. And that would be an interesting element, but I wouldn't want that to make that the scene-stealer of the show. Most other shoujo shows are in that direction. It's about who-and-who are getting together, or who-and-who are breaking up. I thought it would be a loss if that would be the big motif just because a girl was the main character. I think there could be more shows with other motives than that.

And this time, I do believe him, because if there's one thing that distinguishes SKU from other shoujo shows, it's that SKU's themes are way more important than any of its relationships, even its central relationship.  So you can theorize: "SKU doesn't have durable heterosexual relationships because of Ikuni's preferences, and the in-story reason is that all the men are assholes.  The only adultish man whom the series encourages us not to view as an asshole is Ruka.  But if Ruka isn't an asshole, then someone might have a durable relationship with him.  Ikuni manages that risk by having Ruka die quickly, and in the meantime, Ikuni feels better about the whole thing if Ruka looks like him, so that the girl isn't 'getting together with some other guy.'"

Personally, I think the explanation is simpler.  Ikuhara gives Ruka the highlight for the same reason Ikuhara has his own highlight: because Ikuhara thinks it's a cool character design.   But it's fun to think about!

Speak of the devil, and...

Anyway, my theory that Ruka represents a gay-erasing intervention by Ikuhara is more of a conjecture than part of my "personal canon." The idea of him as a creator's self-insert can go all kinds of places.

For instance, if Ruka is Ikuhara it suggests some interesting things about Ikuhara's relationship with the story he was telling. I recall Go Nagai said that after he'd started writing Devilman, the characters took on a life of their own and he could only follow where they led him. Maybe Juri's second duel storyline was partly about the distinction between what she wanted, what the creators wanted and what she needed as a character.

I think Ikuhara, on a basic level, wanted Juri to end up with Shiori, but I also think he knew (and most fans agree) that it's not a believable or ultimately a desirable ending for her, at least not before she and Shiori do a lot more maturing. To get past the unhealthy fantasy that dominated her life, she had to endure failure and despair. Ruka was unable to steer her away from that, but he did contribute to her ultimately positive outcome, and perhaps this speaks to Ikuhara's realizing his greatest potential as a creator. And in the end, Ruka leaves the story by dying. Could there be a better metaphor for the "death of the author?"

It's also interesting that this occurs right before the final arc of the story that brings about the most drastic changes in the characters. Ruka's death could be seen as a sweeping of all the creators' egos from the stage, the characters who have grown over the course of the story let loose to realize their true selves. And if that's what was going on in the minds of Ikuhara and the rest of the team, then perhaps all the conflicts that happened along the way were for the best, because if Ikuhara got everything he wanted I don't think the series would have ended up being as good as it is.

Not to mention that if Shiori is indeed one of Ikuhara's favorite characters, Ruka's storyline could have served as something of a fantasy vehicle as well...



"Looking for a fantasy vehicle? Pile in."