This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
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To call Akio a "devil" figure would be to imply that he's a purely anarchic being. Akio seems to me more of a person who attempts to violate the boundaries between the substructure and superstructure. He introduces discipline, hierarchy, and bureaucracy into the world of the kids, and he exposes their parents to sexuality. In fact, every single sin that he commits is related to these two things, the sexualization of the disciplined through his seductions, and the disciplining of sexual beings through the tournaments and the student council. If he was an anarchic figure, he wouldn't have created the Student Council and the tournament, and if he was a Guardian of Order, he wouldn't be slutting it up with everybody. This is only reinforced by his age; he's not really an adult in appearance, and yet he's much bigger than any of the kids.
This idea of violating the boundaries = sin is something that has precedent in mythology. The interbreeding of humans with divine beings is after all what brought about the flood in the Old Testament, and I'm sure that other mythologies have similar stories.
Last edited by Overlord Morgus (06-22-2012 05:58:47 PM)
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Overlord Morgus wrote:
To call Akio a "devil" figure would be to imply that he's a purely anarchic being.
Care to unpack that one? I'm not seeing it solidly, but I'd love an elaboration.
Overlord Morgus wrote:
Akio seems to me more of a person who attempts to violate the boundaries between the substructure and superstructure. He introduces discipline, hierarchy, and bureaucracy into the world of the kids, and he exposes their parents to sexuality.
Whose parents did he sex?
And how is the establishing of discipline and hierarchy attempting to "violate the boundaries between substructure and superstructure"? In that sense, isn't he just a strict (and selfish) bureaucrat, and aren't many a devil just so?
Overlord Morgus wrote:
If he was an anarchic figure, he wouldn't have created the Student Council and the tournament, and if he was a Guardian of Order, he wouldn't be slutting it up with everybody.
Anarchists can engage in sport and instigate it. Anarchists can generate organizations for management.
And why can't a Guardian of Order be slutting it up? A Guardian of Niceness wouldn't be such an asshole about it all as Akio is, but "Order"? Akio's obsessed with order, seems to me.
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Whose parents did he sex?
Kanae's
And one could argue that he used Anthy as tool to sex Miki's dad.
More to write later!
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gorgeousshutin wrote:
Whose parents did he sex?
Kanae's
And one could argue that he used Anthy as tool to sex Miki's dad.
More to write later!
Ha! Fair enough.
He wasn't exactly "exposing" them to sex, though.
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He wasn't exactly "exposing" them to sex, though.
True. Adulterous sex, on the other hand . . .
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He was, however, facilitating the mixing of the two worlds, the world of children and the world of adults. This is also shown in his dealing with Kanae's mom, when he's seducing her, he tells her what he does when he's with Kanae.
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The devil is an anarchist? Really? Anyway Akio certainly is not. His world is very orderly and rule driven; the Rules are mostly for Little People, rather than him, but Rules are still important.
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