This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
I just re-watched the 27th episode (Nanami's Egg) for the 6th time and while there is really good analysis on that chapter, something always bothers me. Why is Saionji in the forest cooking a bowl's amount of eggs in the middle of the night? How did he get a hold of Nanami's egg? Is he just finding random eggs in the forest?
Since a lot of the analysis leans towards puberty and sexuality, I would claim that the eggs symbolize the virginity of many girls (since Saionji is rather popular himself, even though he's not Touga) that he has accumulated and eaten. Nanami regains her egg, so she is not affected by Saionji. However, the egg that Saionji was cooking while talking with Nanami becomes burnt. Who did the egg symbolize? I feel it is most likely to be either Anthy or Wakaba. However, as we find out later, [Anthy's virginity was claimed by Akio.] So I believe it's Wakaba, and the egg was burned because [of when Saionji was expelled and lived with Wakaba (to which Wakaba fell deeper in love with Saionji, but he was just using her) and then got back to Ohtori and ignored her, so she fell out of love and redeemed her feelings.]
What do you think about this mysterious appearance of Saionji in the episode?
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Dang, I never thought of it that way. Although I'd agree with a lot of the fans that the Nanami episodes have more depth than just... "OH LOOK AT HOW FUNNY AND SILLY SHE IS," I just... never paid enough attention to her.
I definitely like the interpretation that the egg burnt = Wakaba.
It makes me wonder... since Chu-Chu's disappearance was linked to the eggs, perhaps Saionji may have been set up to be there by him?
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Chu-Chu's disappearance is linked to the eggs somehow (I need to rewatch the series to refresh my memory) but I'm not sure if Saionji was there because of Chu-Chu. Saionji's importance goes down after he gets expelled, and rises again in the third arc with Touga. He's a real interesting character lol.
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maatthiaas wrote:
Chu-Chu's disappearance is linked to the eggs somehow (I need to rewatch the series to refresh my memory) but I'm not sure if Saionji was there because of Chu-Chu. Saionji's importance goes down after he gets expelled, and rises again in the third arc with Touga. He's a real interesting character lol.
Well, it's been said by Ikuhara that he's Chu-Chu...
And yeah, Saionji is a pretty interesting character to take a look at, even at numerous levels. He's presented at first as one of the most obvious antagonists of the series, and then is slowly revealed that he's honestly feeble when more powerful forces take the stage. Even if he might have points of incredible insight (I.E. the "trick of the light" remark about the upside-down castle), Saionji as a person clings onto his past relationship and confusion over Touga so much that he can easily be swayed into brutality in service of more experienced and manipulative people.
And honestly, this thread too was the first time I ever consciously thought about the burnt egg as Wakaba being burnt from their relationship. This series has a lot of little, easily missed details, doesn't it?
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Arale wrote:
I honestly thought it was just Saionji being Saionji. Like that's just something he would do.
By all accounts, that's an absolutely valid interpretation, and the fact that it comes out of nowhere like it does amuses me to no end. Also, if this is a one off-thing, why does Saionji have a tent set up for an outdoors egg frying? I know Ohtori is a very ritualistic place, but still.
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I realized something.
What if it was for training? You know... because he's trying to beat Touga and stuff.
(thinks of that generic training-under-the-waterfall-scene)
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