Dani wrote:

Oh, yes, absolutely they are. Touga is sleeping with the boss and has been for awhile. He's in it to win it. And Anthy has somewhat defected and can't be trusted so Akio needs another sidekick to do his manipulating. What a relationship.

Also, I think, not totally sure, but I believe Akio doesn't start the camera thing until after Utena asks him to take a picture of her and Anthy when she notices that there are no pictures of Anthy ("Chu Chu, stop that." love the Anthy passive-aggressiveness in that scene, standing between Utena and Akio). Then Akio really seems to use the camera a lot. A way to capture people, a form of control.

Maybe that is why Akio got Touga, because Anthy can't be "trusted". Akio gets Anthy to do his dirty work, but the air between those two.. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lack of trust in Anthy when Utena came along and became so close to Anthy. Maybe that was why Akio wanted to "get to know" Utena so much, too. Hmm.

I loved that scene, too. Anthy was so "Don't steal my brother, bitch." Or "Don't steal my Utena, bitch." ?  Maybe both..

You'll find what you're looking for right after the duel in Episode 25. 

satyreyes wrote:

You'll find what you're looking for right after the duel in Episode 25. 

http://ohtori.nu/gallery/var/resizes/Se … 1380821990
http://ohtori.nu/gallery/var/resizes/Se … 1380821990
http://ohtori.nu/gallery/var/resizes/Se … 1380821990

Are you sure they aren't just yoga partners?

YamPuff wrote:

I'm not worried about Akio and Touga.
What I want to know more about is Touga and Saionji. D:<

I too wonder about Saionji, not just regarding Touga but with Akio as well. I remember being more than a bit surprised when Saionji jois the 'dishevelled, rolling around bed' club. I'd love finding out just how that came about.

In the bottom image I like how there is a rose in the center of the bed that almost acts as though it wants to be a censor rose like during some of the duels. The point that rose appears to be closest to is Akio's  and Touga's hips. But what interests me the most, now that I look at the positioning of their silhouettes, is a similarity to the recurring scene where Utena and Anthy prepare to lie down in their respective beds near each other. In both scenarios two bodies are positioned in the camera so that they are crossing each other.





Not only are the bodies crossing each other, yet at one point the bodies are leaning back and looking upwards. I'm not sure if this necessarily suggests similarities in relationship with Akio&Touga and Utena&Anthy yet I just figured that a comparison between the two is noteworthy.

More on this may come later...

deeds24 wrote:

In the bottom image I like how there is a rose in the center of the bed that almost acts as though it wants to be a censor rose like during some of the duels. The point that rose appears to be closest to is Akio's  and Touga's hips. But what interests me the most, now that I look at the positioning of their silhouettes, is a similarity to the recurring scene where Utena and Anthy prepare to lie down in their respective beds near each other. In both scenarios two bodies are positioned in the camera so that they are crossing each other.

http://s33.postimg.org/7anubdjyj/utena_ … _bed_1.jpg

http://s33.postimg.org/4ii27fjgr/utena_ … _bed_2.jpg

Not only are the bodies crossing each other, yet at one point the bodies are leaning back and looking upwards. I'm not sure if this necessarily suggests similarities in relationship with Akio&Touga and Utena&Anthy yet I just figured that a comparison between the two is noteworthy.

More on this may come later...

Well, Akio and Anthy are certainly counterparts, and Touga is Utena's rival; so there is some natural correspondence.

Are there any other instances of such a motion? I thought of the Ruka's & Shiori's gasps during their Akio Car scene [since I've seen it ten thousand times since it's like the first thing that comes up for Utena on Youtube]. That would suggest the pose to be indicative of sex. But their motions are in the same, not ,directions. Could it then indicate heterosexuality to facing homosexuality? Or perhaps emphasize the dishonesty of Ruka's & Shiori's relationship? But isn't Utena's & Anthy's deceitful too (though not really at the shown moment). Or it could be nothing.

Also, looking at that gallery I noticed this, which is recurrent in the duels and kind of similar, more to Utena's & Anthy's than to Touga's & Akio's. But I think that this is definitely nothing.

Last edited by Amasis (06-08-2016 05:55:03 PM)

deeds24 wrote:

In both scenarios two bodies are positioned in the camera so that they are crossing each other.

I love the comparison! But I think the difference is betrayed in the shots around those. We find out pretty quickly that Anthy and Utena aren't about to 69, though the falling placement of their heads (and seriously, the shape of the bed) do suggest it. Touga and Akio cross on the finishing shot, which is led up to by progressive states of undress and self-groping. Which I'd say is relevant since Anthy and Utena are probably much more 'in the moment' with each other in their scenes than Akio and Touga are in theirs--they're both basically masturbating with the body of another, each too keenly aware of their own motives and selfish (physical and otherwise) interest in the goings on to really call it a super 'intimate' moment. In fact, they don't even face each other leading up to it, though you could take the positioning in those shots as reticence on Touga's part if you really want to go with 'it's rape because he's a minor.'

What the scenes do have in common is generally emotionally charged conversations happening when characters are deliberately not looking eye to eye--in Touga's case, he's facing all the fuck away while Akio says he fucking rotten person. In Utena and Anthy's, Utena can look earnestly toward Anthy while Anthy says things she needs to stare off at the ceiling to get out.

Ruka and Shiori are made pretty plain by their shots, which are compared even to Akio and Touga's are rather graphic in how obvious they are. I almost wonder if that's because they are on the continuum less 'fucking horrible and objectionable,' and so less burdened by reasonable television censorship standards? The only other scene that is that undeniably sex is Akio and Utena. I mean, maybe Akio and Anthy just like naked tea, who are we to judge?