ArthurianRoseKnight wrote:

Among other things.

After rewatching Utena a few months ago with a friend, I've wondered: just how "ancient" are Anthy and Akio, as well as the Power of Dios?

If I'm not mistaken, Akio seems to be preparing for yet another cycle of sorts of duels to unlock the power of Dios, meaning he has tried before. My question is, how long has he tried? Ten years? Twenty? A thousand?

What do you guys think?

Really, I've just never even tried to decide concretely. There's just not enough evidence, and what evidence there is is contradictory. However, I tend to want to believe that the number of cycles is lower than most people usually claim. Leaving aside the issue of whether Anthy and Akio are immortal, I really can't help but feel that if they had been doing this for centuries, millennia, or longer, their respective attitudes wouldn't be what they are. They probably wouldn't even be intelligible on a human level anymore.

People tend to be fascinated with the idea that they've been going on for what normal humans would consider an incredibly long time, but I just don't feel it. There's a sense of immediacy and rawness to Anthy's despair and Akio's immaturity that makes me feel certain that, if they can even be called human, they are still within the experiences that could happen inside a single human lifetime. So while they may be older than they look, I don't believe they're "ancient".

Movie Anthy is cute as fuck by the way.

Innnnnnnnnn-deed. That's part of why Utena fell so hard for her. All according to Movie Anthy's "Benevolent Puppetmaster" plans, of course...

Last edited by Aelanie (06-12-2014 11:30:36 PM)

It seems to me that their ages are purposely kept ambiguous. For example, there's the big flashback sequence in episode 34 where we see people in modern suits and ties wielding swords and (I believe) a few pieces of farm equipment, making everything an anachronistic mess. Mind you, it is coloured by young Utena's preconceptions are of "once upon a time," so it's hardly reliable. But being pierced by a million swords is a lot less plausible nowadays than it would have been in earlier eras.

I supposed what I'm saying is... Ikuni figured it didn't matter how old they really were, and he tried to show it in that episode.

I assumed them to be- in terms of our world's time- thousands of years old, even prehistoric.

The impression I got- probably through mere imagination- was that the Rose Prince was, in Utena's world, a very, very old and well-known myth.

Moreover, Akio and Anthy seem to me something like corrupted versions of Osiris and Isis. Osiris, once the virtuous king ruling the otherworldly kingdom, now has degenerated to being the seducing anti-king ruling a false world. Isis, once the loving and beloved sister-wife and goddess of magic, has through her perveted devotion become a debasèd slave and a spiteful and deceitful witch. Everyone's still in their coffins since they're in the world of the dead.

If there is one- and though I'm pretty confident the previous part was at least an intentional similarity I rather doubt this one- I'd say the equivalent of Horus feels like either Utena/Dios (of course) or Ruka. No, I know that makes no sense don't really know why; his name just reminds me of a bird of prey and his role seems like that of a haughty god from the outside world on oddly good terms who's allowed a personal visit.

Last edited by Amasis (05-23-2016 05:25:45 AM)