I think he simply wanted Anthy to be free. For better or worse, Dios is nothing but a phantom now. My reading of his post-sealing personality, the little that we see of it, is that he feels like he failed. He failed his sister, and failed to be the prince to the entire world (although it's obvious that that is impossible anyway).

Given that, I really doubt that Dios would think it's possible, or even wise,  for Utena to try to succeed where he failed, except where Anthy is concerned.

Gods. I read the thread title, "What does Utena's vibrator do?"

In answer to your question, I think that Dios, or what remained of him, saw himself as a lost cause, and the focus was on Anthy. Whether that really was the case and there was hope for him as well, I'm not sure.

I think that in the anime, no--Utena is not Dios's liberator.  It's important to remember that while Dios does have a presence, he is more like a ghost than anything else.  Dios doesn't exist as an independent entity anymore.  To liberate Dios, Utena would have to have the same effect on Akio that she did on Anthy -- namely, inspire Akio to leave his coffin and as a result turn over a new leaf (to at least a small degree).

So Utena had the potential, but Akio didn't take the step.  Since Akio is Dios in the current day, Utena unfortunately doesn't rescue him.  But, as for Anthy, it was Akio's choice and he chose to stay in his coffin.

However, in the manga, Utena is Dios's liberator to an extent.  Dios says that if she does not lose her nobility, "someday, she will save us."  Since Dios himself, is dead and Akio is in total control, that rescue comes in the form of reuniting Akio with Dios (the power of Dios that is left after Akio's plans, which Utena embodies).

Last edited by rhyaniwyn (03-10-2009 08:11:48 AM)

In my opinion, Utena liberates him of his desire of rescuing anthy, however, since he doesn't exist anymore (i guess, because all that i saw of him on the series were purely ghosts or memories...) what did utena had to free? and i feel it kind of funny since dios actually means god... i find it weird reading that he doesn't exits ...

sorry for my lack of english skills, i'm not that smart either but i felt like writing this post for some reason.

Last edited by diana-etfg (03-16-2009 11:39:15 PM)

I believe the Greek word for Hero is "hero", that we get the whole concept from the Greeks. I understand Dios to mean "God" in Spanish (from the Latin "Deus"), which is interesting because when Dios the prince fell he became Akio - named for Lucifer, as he points out. Joseph Campbell said that "a god outgrown immediately becomes a life-destroying demon," and I think that's pretty much what happened - when Anthy/humanity outgrew the need for a prince, everything that was good about the prince was lost, and the obsession with becoming a prince ended up a destructive force (witness Anthy's treatment by many of the duelists, including Utena). I see Akio as the embodiment of this destructive force - duelists trying to become princes doesn't stand any chance of resurrecting or freeing Dios (the castle in the sky is just an illusion, after all), it just furthers the objectification and degradation of Anthy (and women in general).

Now, I imagine that Akio saw the potential for his return to the glory of Dios in Utena, just as he saw it in Touga, and Saionji, and the rest of the student council; and even in the previous student councils dating back at least to the time of Mikage. I just don't think there was ever a chance of his liberation at the hand of another - Utena may have sacrificed herself to awaken Anthy, but Anthy had to choose to free herself of her brother and Ohtori on her own. Akio's had that freedom all this time, but accepting it would mean giving up on the idea of being a prince, and thus giving up on his old identity. He's unwilling (afraid?) to do that, so he chooses to remain in his coffin. As for Dios himself - I don't think Utena ever met him. I think she met Akio pretending to be Dios, trying to inspire another would-be duelist. Not that it mattered; it turns out that illusions can inspire nobility at least as well as any reality.