I always assumed it was bamboozled duelists thinking that they had a chance to win and seeing their dreams crash.

I don't think it's necessarily a reference to that play, though that is one of my favorites.  They fly away in a ship at the end of all the arcs to a new "set." Though I believe the only time they actually mention UFOs is in that play.

The first time we see the spaceship is (I think) right after they say that they are tired of doing all the things they've done until now and that they want to go back to what's normal for them--then they fly away.  Last real episode of the Student Council Arc, #12.  The next shadow play takes place with them in suits  (which I assume are space suits, though they SOUND like they're underwater).  They eventually land at the new set (by Utena's locker).

After the Black Rose arc, they fly back to the original set (it looks like the original set to me), either at the end of the last Black Rose shadow play or the beginning of the first Akio arc shadow play.

Then in the last arcs, most of their plays begin with that very same ship crashing into the Chairman's tower repeatedly.

Visually, the ship almost lops off the top of the tower, which is where I get the "attempted emasculation" from. 

Based on their history, the shadow play girls get in that ship when they are trying to go somewhere (and the first time they do it, they say they want to go back to what's normal for them).  That's where I get the "trying to escape Ohtori, but Akio is blocking their way" notion.

Symbolically, UFOs are equated with Santa Claus, which is an illusion that a young person cherishes.  Crashing into the tower could be those illusions clashing with the "reality" of Akio's machine, or more generally, the disastrous clash between childhood and "adulthood."  The fact that it happens repeatedly could be referring to repeated struggles.  I don't recall that they ever actually successfully fly away at the end.

Anyone mention that the wall behind Utena and Wakaba in episode 12, when Wakaba is telling Utena to 'take herself back,' is pretty much identical to the wall behind the shadow plays?  Combine that with the way Nanami's henchmen are shadow-girls in the last episode (while changing).  Also, that conversation (attributed in the scripts to "shadow" in the last episode)--it sounds like one long conversation between 2 or 3 people, the topics shift, but the voices stay the same, and refer to previous statements.  It seems like Nanami's henchmen, or some "random normal students" might be talking, but the conversation almost seems to refer to Wakaba at one point (debatable), while saying, "She's the one who kept going "Utena-sama, Utena-sama" all the time."  Deliberately sowing confusion? Not deliberate at all? Deliberate parallel between all of those people and the shadow girls (and possibly other people in other scenes I don't remember)?

The Shadow Plays are typically pretty insightful, except when they present (in my personal opinion) Akio and Anthy's history.  That play is very one-sided.  As mentioned, we see the backs of the shadow girls (same hair & all) in that episode and they don't look like anyone we know.

They could be literally the (Jungian) shadow selves of characters, past duellists, collective shadows of the student body, or the shadow-selves of generic students.

I also always think of the Allegory of the cave, due to the warm color of the walls behind them.

Ooh, I just read that throughout the Black Rose arc, it's only C-ko.  I confess I'd never noticed that it was only C-ko in that arc.

So basically, they fly off and end up right back in the same place, crashing into Akio's tower?  Interesting.

Last edited by rhyaniwyn (03-30-2007 02:33:03 PM)

There's so many theories about what the Shadow girls are, and I can never make my mind up about it..

I'm not sure if they're shadows of the princesses or girls at Ohtori, because the Shadow girls are ultimately wise. They even know what went on with Akio-Dios and Anthy. The princesses were there around that time, but I don't see them as being as.. objective as the shadow girls. Or wise, I guess.

I don't think they're human, but perhaps aliens.. they do that skit a lot. Or maybe they are just what they call themselves.. shadows. It could symbolic. The shadows are old and have always been around, even when Akio was Dios and before what happened to Anthy. Perhaps their human forms are a symbolic representation of what they've 'seen'. I don't know if that makes any sense.

They've also taken on human form in one of the last few episodes, but you never see their faces. Yet you can tell it is them by their hair styles and voices, and their drama club. I don't think their mouths move either. It's very eerie.. but I guess that's the appeal of the Shadow girls. You don't really know what they are.

But ultimately, I think they know more than even Akio and Anthy. They are like a system of Karma in Ohtori, and they see all.

Like_Autumn wrote:

I'm not so sure about C-ko and Utena, as I haven't watched the Black Rose Saga yet. She looks a little like Utena, at any rate.

C-ko certainly seems to act as a foil for Utena during her plays; she is always melodramatic where Utena is pragmatic, which is hilarious as C-ko understands a hell of a lot more about the situation than Utena does. I think there's something there, but I have the urge to go away now and reread the start of Peter Pan, because I'm having a little thought about the shadows in that now...

NECRO!!! *kicks topic* I had a thought earlier today that I found amusing.

What if the Shadow Girls were to Anthy what Aiko, Keiko, and Yuuko are to Nanami? We semi-established in some thread that Nanami appeared to be heading down the same path as Anthy, which could be why Anthy did all the things she did to her. So what if Anthy had her own minions?

The similarities are something to think about, at least.

Aiko, Keiko, and Yuuko do some very odd, Shadow Girl-like things. The scene that popped into my head when I had this idea was from the Nanami's Egg episode, during Nanami's little fantasy sequence when she asked them about egg laying and they start doing odd dances and pirouettes and such.

A-ko, B-ko, C-ko.... I-ko, K-ko, U-ko. Coincidence? I think not.

I don't think there's a direct equivalent in terms of who's who, but A-ko and B-ko are always together, and so are Aiko and Yuuko. C-ko worked alone for most of the Black Rose Arc, and Keiko gets her own episode as well as several scenes.

And maybe they're called Shadow Girls, not because they're shadows(Episode 34 proves they're real...ish.), but because they're the "Ordinary Girls" who constantly live in someone's shadow

Well, on a basic level I though of the Shadow Girls to be the series' "Greek chorus" that comments on the action while remaining outside of it. Of course, we know that general rule of this type of omnipresent character is broken much later in the series, but we know how well Utena goes with normal literary convention.

Later when they semi-prove that they're actual characters capable of interacting with the other characters, I came to see the little "plays" they've been putting on as actual plays the drama club puts on. Apparently they're the sole members.

Come to think of it, they propositioned Utena to become part of the club. In the Black Rose Saga, it WAS Utena herself who first acknowledged their existence. Now, this is going to be a bit of a stretch and might be more appropriate for the "personal canon" thread, but what would it have meant if Utena had joined the "drama club?" Especially since the Shadow Girls are apparently all-knowing, and Utena is rather dense?

Since they actually appear late in the series, they go from literary device to actual characters-- at least temporarily. Barring the fact that nothing should be taken as a given in the show, that means that these are actual people who understand EVERYTHING that's going on in the series. I think that in creating their plays, which usually involve some unsolvable dilemma or personal conflict, they show themselves to be, like most of the cast, riddled with self doubt, and Utena's naive optimism charmed them somehow, especially her simplistic solutions to C-Ko's continued problems throughout the Black Rose Saga.

EDIT: I also thought of how Utena slams her locker after presenting her solution. Perhaps symbolic of a closing of the topic at hand, showing that she has nothing more to say on the subject, or-- to be even bolder, nothing else NEEDS to be said?

As to exactly who or what they are though-- well, I'll have to think about that for a while as I rewatch the series. One possibility that comes to mind is that they are, as someone already mentioned shadows or ghosts of princesses. Which would be how they know of Akio/Dios and why they might begin each of the plays at the beginning of the last saga by crashing into his tower.

Again, this is a huge stretch, but I like weird theories.

Last edited by Baka Kakumei Reanna (02-12-2008 07:09:37 PM)

Tamago wrote:

Shadow Girls are BISEXUAL Space Aliens!

Bisexual, eh? Ooh, can I get in on the action, then?

LOL, you're probably right! I can see them being open to anything and everything! I thought that webcomic was pretty funny when you substitute the SPG as the lesbian space pirates, considering the UFO and everything. (Regardless, A-ko/B-ko is seriously my Utena OTP).

I just keep on finding possible influences for the SPG everywhere, it seems.

I've started reading the Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman (best thing ever, next to SKU, of course), and there is a trio of characters called the Fates, or the Hecatae. They've an archetype that have shown up in countless mythologies. The Three-in-One Goddess, the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. Their role in the Sandman is to show up at random times and act mysterious and cryptic, and each of them will answer one question. I just thought they seemed a little similar to A-ko, B-ko, and C-ko in their role in the story. It's possible that the SPG are another interpretation of that archetype.

......Anyone think Wakaba looks an awful lot like C-ko? Anyone???

Also the Utena and Anthy nametags on the straw figures at the end of the movie can lead to some interesting speculation on the nature of the shadow girls, too.

Malacoda wrote:

*rings Mosrael* NECRO-ed, because the SPG are awesome.

... you know, I was going to get into this thing about whether or not Mosrael would even be the right bell for necroing a thread, because maybe Dyrim or Belgaer would be better, but those would have been far less obvious of choices. And I'm showing off my nerd, aren't I?



Now, as to rhyaniwyn's question, I think the thing about them crashing into the cocktower is a couple things.

1. It's a clue to the 'the tower is the highest point on Ohtori' thing Akio says in the last episodes. They're crashlanding after being in space, and the first thing they hit? Akio's tower.

2. In utterly silly style, the cocktower attracts all things female. Even monkey-robots from outer-space. XDD

dollface wrote:

Personally, I think the Shadow Girls are the Ohtori Drama Club. YES, I have reasons.

1. I love the Shadow Girls, and I major in Theatre, so I want them to be in drama club ^-^
2. You can't deny, it's right there. Episode 34. Two girls with bodies, hair styles, and voices matching A-ko and B-ko's invite Utena to their school play, which just so happens to be told by the Shadow Girls. Then, later in the episode, when the Shadow Girls appear in their acctual segment, they are in a bath tub, commenting on how "todays act went perfectly!"

However, I have another idea on them. A-Ko and B-Ko may be what is going to happen to Utena. Perhaps, once upon a time, they, too, tried to save Anthy. There's no reason why they too couldn't have been champion duellists. I've heard people say they believe the Shadow Girls are ghosts, so this doesn't seem so far-fetched. Utena, we assume, didn't DIE, but she isn't really living either. We are led to believe she is alive outside the world of Ohtori, but since Anthy never technically found her or anything, this can be debated as much as I please ^-^ I do think Utena went into the real world, but perhaps A-Ko//B-Ko didn't. Champions who failed to bring revolution. So now, they embody themselves in the shadows, telling the story that they already know. I think it's an interesting theory.

But then, that's the great thing about SKU: Symbollism leaves much room to interpret.

That actually made sense.

I hate the Shadow Puppet Girls. Not because I don't like them, but because there's the only characters in fiction to ever make my brain snap, break, crack and go insane. Used to have dreams about them where I went back and forth with them. Evil things and their metaphors. Those dreams usually end in me stealing Utena's sword and attacking the wall their shadows are cast on.

I hate them so much I love them. Does that make sense? Of course not. Oh and I like how they say Touga's sister is full of- Oh wait... that was a parody xD

I forgot about those bells (I haven't touched on the Old Kingdom series in ages) XD

Lady Chani wrote:

2. In utterly silly style, the cocktower attracts all things female. Even monkey-robots from outer-space. XDD

But that cocktower better watch out; that spaceship looks really really sharp.

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

Awesome analysis

I've never thought of it like that before. It does make a lot of sense. A for that awesomeness.

rhyaniwyn wrote:

I just re-watched the series this weekend, and it occurred to me to wonder why the last arc's shadow plays (almost) all begin with the Shadow Girls "spaceship" crashing into the Chairman's tower?

Are they attempting to emasculate Akio?

I don’t know about emasculating him, but I think they’re trying to discover what he’s up to. Like I said, my personal canon is that they saw they were ordinary students who saw the reality behind Ohtori and went insane from shock. Heck, we have an entire episode dedicated to them talking to him.


shadow:  Thanks for your postcard. What sort of work do you do, Mr. "Ends of the World"?
Akio:  I'm an educator. Plus some minor part time work.
shadow:  Are educators really allowed to moonlight?
Akio:  Well, I've had good luck so far keeping it a secret.

Translation: SPG: Who are you and what have you been covering up?
                  Akio: That’s none of your business