Hello, IRG! I'm mostly still a Newbie around here, as I don't talk much. However, I do read along a lot. (Which is perhaps creepy...aw well.) I have recently been doing a nice little series re-watch, and I love love love coming to see what people have to say about the show on the forum. It helps me crystallize my own opinions and see things I hadn't noticed before.

One of my favorite threads is Interpreting Symbolism in SKU--that thing is just a goldmine! However, now that I'm watching specific episodes I often find myself thinking "I know they talked about this in the symbolism thread!" and then spending forever going through it page-by-page to try to find the discussion. This happened several times in a row, and I decided to do something about it.

Something super nerdy, actually. But something I hope you can appreciate--I indexed the thread.

INTERPRETING SYMBOLISM IN SKU: AN INDEX

SERIES-WIDE ANALYSIS

Spinning Roses And Eternity (Spiral Stairway, Gondola, and Cantarella) – Pg 1
Distinguishing Characteristics of Real-Life Rose Colors—Pg 2
Spiritual Twins – Pg 3
Roses, Roses, Roses – Pg 15, Pg 16
Freudian Roses, Roses, Roses – Pg 15
Christian Symbolism—Pg 15, Pg 16
Metaphorical Masks—Who is the Real You? +Faust and Nudity!—Pg 16
Student Council and the 7 Deadly Sins – Pg 17
Why is There No Blood? – Pg 17
Seasons in Ohtori – Pg 19
Utena’s Ascent to the Dueling Arena = Jacob’s Ladder? – Pg 20
Stairs vs. Gondola & Anthy’s feelings toward Utena – Pg 21
The SPG’s Giant Wall – Pg 20
Tragic Hero Vs. Anti-Hero – Pg 22
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave –Pg 4

ARC-WIDE ANALYSIS

Black Rose Table Items—Pg  1, Pg 8
Utena’s Responses to C-Ko’s Plays-- Pg 5, Pg 3
Black Rose Arc Pointing Hands – Pg 8
Black Rose Duelists’ Eyes – Pg 14
Do All the Black Rose Duelists Get Stabbed by Mamiya? – Pg 13
Akio Arc Rose Brides – Pg 3
Cars in the Dueling Arena? – Pg 3
Akio Arc—Why Don’t Touga and Ruka get in Car Crashes? – Pg 13
Anthy Turned Into A Bush! – Pg 1, Pg 2, pg 14, pg 16

EPISODE ANALYSIS

Opening Sequence, Rinbu Revolution
    Why is Utena shiny and Anthy isn’t? – Pg 16
      Utena spins Clockwise, Anthy counter-clockwise. – Pg 22
    What Happened to the Awesome Armor? – Pg 2

Episode 4 & 5, The Sunny Garden
    Kaoru Flashback Discrepancies – Pg 7, Pg 8
    Spira Mirabilis (Duel Song) –Pg 19
    The Duel – Pg 22

Episode 7, Juri’s Unfulfillment
    Student Council Meeting (Knife Throwing) – Pg 11
    Statues and Duel Song—Pg 15

Episode 9, The Castle Said to Hold Eternity
    Anthy’s manipulation of Saionji – Pg 17
    Touga and Saionji Ride Bikes! – Pg 20

Episode 10, Nanami’s Precious One – Pg 1, Pg 2

Episode 14, The Boys of The Black Rose—Pg 12

Episode 15, Landscape Framed By Kozue—Pg 1
    Kozue’s Milkshake--Pg 2, Pg 6
    Kaoru Flashback Discrepancies – Pg 7, Pg 8

Episode 17, Thorns of Death – Pg 2 , Pg 3
    Ganymede—Pg 2, Pg 11
    Is Shiori Homophobic? – Pg 14

Episode 18, Mitsuru’s Growing Pains – Pg 4

Episode 19, Song of The Fallen Kingdom
    Anthy as a Symbol for Others, Anthy’s emotions are not her own.— Pg 3

Episode 20, Wakaba Hath flourished Verdantly
    Why doesn’t Utena Check on Wakaba after the Duel? – Pg 12

Episode 21, Troublesome Insects
    Keiko’s Umbrella – Pg 3

Episode 22, Nemuro Memorial Hall
    What sent Nemuro/Mikage over the edge? – Pg 8

Episode 23, Qualifications of A Duelist
    The Pictures on the Desks—Pg 14
    What sent Nemuro/Mikage over the edge? – Pg 8

Episode 25, Our Eternal Apocalypse –Pg 6
    Cars in the Dueling Arena? – Pg 3

Episode 26, Miki’s Nest Box—Pg 3
    Duel Song—Pg 22, Pg 23
    Touga’s Shirtless Speech – Pg 2
    Anthy is Miki’s New Mom! – Pg 2, Pg 3, Pg 16

Episode 27, Nanami’s Egg – Pg 6

Episode 28 & 29, Whispering in the Dark & Azure Paler than the Sky – Pg 5, Pg 8, Pg 9, Pg 10, Pg 11
    Ruka & Comets – Pg 5
    Miracles Require Sacrifice. Maybe. – Pg 18

Episode 30, The Barefoot Girl
    Flickering Candles – Pg 1, Pg 2

Episode 31, Her Tragedy – Pg 20
    “Just kidding!”—Anthy is the ultimate manipulator. Pg 7
    Statues – Pg 10

Episode 33, The Prince Who Runs Through the Night
    Before the Deed—Reversi/Othello –Pg 20
    Othello=Jealous lover? –Pg 21
    As A Visual Novel – Pg 22

Episode 34, Seal of the Rose
    Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil (AKA The SPGs Have Hands!?) – Pg 1, Pg 2

Episode 36, And the Gates of Night Open
    Touga, Saionji, and the Motorcycle –Pg 19

Episode 37, The One Who Will Revolutionize the World
    Touga and Saionji Ride Bikes! – Pg 20

Episode 39, Someday, Shine With Me
    Akio Helps Utena? Anthy Disappears from her Dress? Dios and the Carousel – Pg 4, Pg 5
    What’s Up With Dios? – Pg 11
    Akio’s Sort-Of Translucent Drink – Pg 21, pg 22

CHARACTER BY CHARACTER

ANTHY
Turned Into A Bush! – Pg 1,Pg 2, pg 14, pg 16
Is Miki’s New Mommy – Pg 2, Pg 3, Pg 16
Her Emotions as a Symbol for Others—Pg 3
= Cinderella?--Pg 5
Astrology –Pg 7
Her Manipulation of Saionji in Ep 9 – Pg 17
= The Akio Car? – Pg 18
Her Voice Actress – Pg 20
Anthy’s Changing Feelings toward Utena – Pg 21
Rinbu Revolution, Why is Utena shiny and Anthy isn’t? – Pg 16
Rinbu Revolution, Utena spins Clockwise, Anthy counter-clockwise. –Pg 22
Behavior in Ep 39 – Pg 5, Pg 6
Apple + Forks=?! – Pg 12, Pg 13, Pg 19
Stairs vs. Gondola & Anthy’s feelings toward Utena – Pg 21
Rinbu Revolution, What Happened to the Awesome Armor? – Pg 2

UTENA
Her Answers to C-Ko’s Plays – Pg 5, Pg 3
= Mikage? – Pg 5
As Christ? As Joan of Arc? – Pg 5
Why Doesn’t She Check on Wakaba After Their Duel? – Pg 12
Exactly when (and how often) do Akio and Utena have sex? – Pg 14
Rinbu Revolution, Why is Utena shiny and Anthy isn’t? – Pg 16
The Simplicity of the Kanji in Utena’s Name – Pg 17
Before the Deed—Reversi/Othello – Pg 20
Rinbu Revolution, Utena spins Clockwise, Anthy counter-clockwise. –Pg 22
Stairs vs. Gondola & Anthy’s feelings toward Utena – Pg 21
Rinbu Revolution, What Happened to the Awesome Armor? – Pg 2

AKIO/DIOS
Rotating the Stars in the Planetarium – Pg 8
What does “Dios” mean? – Pg 8
Behavior in Ep 39 – Pg 5, Pg 6, Pg 11
Apple + Forks=?! – Pg 12, Pg 13, Pg 19
Miki, Touga And Akio—Memory and Sexuality –Pg 14
Exactly when (and how often) do Akio and Utena have sex? – Pg 14
Why does ChuChu Dress like Akio? – Pg 18
The Robot Chasing the Monkey, Robot = Mikage, Akio =Monkey. – Pg 19
His Foot Fetish – Pg 19
His Sort-Of Translucent Drink – Pg 21, Pg 22
Subtleties in the Translation of End of the World – Pg 22

MIKAGE
= Utena? – Pg 5
BRS Pointing Hands – Pg 8
What sent Him Over the Edge? – Pg 8
Do all the BR Duelists get stabbed by Mamiya? -- Pg 13
The Pictures on the Desks during the Duel – Pg 14
The Robot Chasing the Monkey, Robot = Mikage, Akio =Monkey. – Pg 19
And Sodom – Pg 22

CHUCHU
General Discussion – Pg 3
Why Does He Dress Like Akio? – Pg 19

KANAE
Beyond the BR Arc, Ep 30 and Beyond—Pg 12, Pg 13
Apple + Forks=?! – Pg 12, Pg 13, Pg 19

MIKI/KOZUE
Anthy Is Miki’s New Mommy – Pg 2,Pg 3, Pg 16
Milkshakes! – Pg 2, Pg 6
Flashback Discrepancies – Pg 7, Pg 8

KOZUE
Black Rose Duelists who become Rose Brides – Pg 13

MIKI
Miki, Touga And Akio—Memory and Sexuality – Pg 14
Spira Mirabilis – Pg 19
First Duel –Pg 22
2nd Duel Song – Pg 22, Pg 23
Touga’s Shirtless Speech, Ep 26 –Pg 2

SHIORI/JURI/RUKA
Defining Love in the Context of Maturity. Who truly loves whom? – Pg 9, Pg 10, Pg 11
Miracles Require Sacrifice. Maybe. – Pg 18

RUKA
And Comets – Pg 5
Why doesn’t he crash when he’s a Rose Bride? – Pg 13
General Discussion – Pg 16

SHIORI/JURI
General Discussion – Pg 18
And Self Confidence – Pg 19

SHIORI
Black Rose Duelists Who Become Rose Brides – Pg 13
Is she homophobic? -- Pg 14
As Compared to the SPGs—Pg 18

JURI
Statues and 1st Duel Song – Pg 15
Student Council Meeting (Knife Throwing) – Pg 11

SHADOW PLAY GIRLS
EP 34, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil (AKA The SPGs Have Hands!?) – Pg 1,Pg 2
Utena’s Responses to C-Ko—Pg 5, Pg 3
As compared to Shiori – Pg 18
And Their Giant Wall – Pg 20

NANAMI
Ep 21 & 39, Uniform Changes –Pg 10
Her Tragedy, Statues – Pg 10
Her Changing Relationship With Touga – Pg 12

TOUGA
Shirtless Speech, Ep 26 – Pg 2
How Nanami Sees Him –Pg 12
Why doesn’t he crash when he’s a Rose Bride? – Pg 13
Miki, Touga and Akio – Memory and Sexuality –Pg 14
With Saionji on the Motorcycle – Pg 19
With Saionji on Bikes – Pg 20
Akio Arc Rose Brides – Pg 3

KEIKO
Her Umbrella – Pg 3

SAIONJI
Cars in the Dueling Arena? – Pg 3
Astrology – Pg 7
Manipulated by Anthy in Ep 9 – Pg 17
With Touga on the Motorcycle—Pg 19
With Touga on Bikes – Pg 20
Akio Arc Rose Brides – Pg 3

WAKABA
Why doesn’t Utena Check on her after the Duel? – Pg 12

MOVIE
Shadow Play Girls Turn into Scarecrows – Pg 8
Why is Anthy wearing the dress Utena wears in the Series Prince flashback? – Pg 13, Pg 14
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave—Pg 4





NOTES & FEEDBACK
All page numbers refer to the default pagination settings for IRG.

Dividing everything by both episode and character means that there are repeats. If it has the same name, it will link you to the same place.

Page numbers refer to the whole page--the link will take you to the top of each page, not the post itself. And oftentimes the discussion will be spread around the whole page, so keep looking.

I did my best to make the topic names as clear and concise as possible. However, there were times when I got a little silly--mostly on topics I thought everyone could figure out pretty easily on their own. If any of the topic names are unclear, please let me know and I'll change them.

I tried really hard to include everything that was covered in the thread, while excluding anything that only lasted 1 or 2 posts, because you won't really be getting anything out of the discussion. However, there were some topics that only lasted 1 post that I happened to find really interesting--things that didn't get much discussion but I thought maybe should, or things that I hadn't seen talked about very often elsewhere in the forum. I don't think I left anything out that anyone would really miss, but if you made/see a post that you find fascinating and you're mad that it's not here, tell me and I'll add it.

There is one item that is always represented in italics (Miki, Touga & Akio, Memory and Sexuality). Whatever screencap it was that kicked off this discussion has since disappeared, and although I did my best to name it based on what was discussed, I still have no idea what scene/episode it was. If you lovely forum members could hop over to Page 14 and see if you happen to remember what was being discussed, that would be great.

As of right now, I think all the links here are good. But let's be honest, that's a whole lot of links. So if anyone encounters any dead links or, more likely, wrong links here while hunting around, please let me know so I can fix them.

I also have this in a Table of Contents format (page by page, rather than topic by topic). Would we want both? The Table of Contents would require some touching up and re-formatting before being posted, which is why I didn't just post both, but I'd be happy to do it in the next couple days if people think it would be good.

Nerd that I am, I actually really enjoyed making this. I was thinking I might continue through some of the other larger threads (Body Language and the general question thread come to mind). Is this something the forum is interested in having? If so, which threads would be most helpful?

Last edited by lazypirates (07-22-2010 12:15:22 AM)