This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
#1 | Back to Top05-03-2011 04:17:48 PM
- CoffinBreaker
- Rose Bride
- From: Here and Now
- Registered: 10-28-2010
- Posts: 117
Saionji Kissing Anthy
Just an observation:
In the film, Saionji kisses Anthy before the duel, and in that canon kissing brings out the sword of Dios. It's been shown that Saionji and the other duelists had no idea that the sword even existed; but is that just an inconsequential detail (an assertion of power on his part, maybe) or is it a part of the pre-duel ritual from a time when they did know about it? As in, did Anthy give the sword to anyone else before Utena?
You don't need to understand Revolutionary Girl Utena to understand it.
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#2 | Back to Top05-04-2011 01:28:08 AM
- Randamonian
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Re: Saionji Kissing Anthy
Do they have to kiss? Before Utena turned into the car, Anthy just gave the sword up on her own.
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#3 | Back to Top05-04-2011 06:25:14 AM
- CoffinBreaker
- Rose Bride
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Re: Saionji Kissing Anthy
Then maybe Anthy was being misleading 
Taking that into consideration, it was probably just some goading on his part; movie!Saionji IS a bigger asshole than he is in the series.
You don't need to understand Revolutionary Girl Utena to understand it.
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#4 | Back to Top05-05-2011 02:11:53 AM
- Randamonian
- Rose Bride
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- Posts: 102
Re: Saionji Kissing Anthy
That he is. It was the first thing he did that broke character.
He seems to be more, er, mature in the movie... in a certain aspect. I can only imagine what relationship Anthy and he had when they were engaged.
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#5 | Back to Top05-05-2011 12:01:47 PM
Re: Saionji Kissing Anthy
Saionji in the movie just strikes me as a progression of what he is in the show. He's what happens when a sensitive guy like that realizes he's not going to get someone to love him, so he decides better to fuck them raw instead. He's just sexually dominating in a way series Saionji hadn't learned to be yet. Ikuhara's mentioned in interviews that a lot of the stuff in the movie he'd wanted for the show but hadn't been allowed, and I often wonder if that's one of the corners he cut. I like Saionji the way he is, but it having him that way in the show would have elegantly filled out a trifecta of men with bad ideas about what sexuality is.
Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)
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#6 | Back to Top05-05-2011 11:20:55 PM
- Randamonian
- Rose Bride
- From: Australia
- Registered: 11-07-2010
- Posts: 102
Re: Saionji Kissing Anthy
hmm. Funny thing is, Anthy seems a lot more receptive and friendly in the movie, so I wonder what led Saionji to go that way at all?
But still, I like him better in the series. He seemed different to Touga and Akio and that made me really like him. Who knows how I woulda viewed him otherwise. Also, would he still have had the buttmonkey role he often gets in the series?
Questions, questions.
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