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 Top04-01-2012 09:45:33 AM
- Dallbun
- Tour Guide to Crawling Chaos
- Registered: 10-19-2006
- Posts: 719
Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Some might recall the mysterious ukulele from the Utena Sega Saturn game. To recap:
The Utena Game wrote:
Utena: Hmmm. Come to think of it, isn't the newspaper club's new feature
"the seven mysteries of the school"?
Wakaba:
Oh, yeah, yeah! Stuff like "the Phantom Thief, Rose Cloak,"
and "the mysterious ukulele."
D-ko:
Ukulele?
Utena:
An ukulele? Somehow that doesn't seem very frightening.
Wakaba:
What are you saying!?
Night after night, you can hear the sounds of the resentful ukulele...
Isn't that scary!?
Utena:
..."resentful ukulele?"
Now, here is an excerpt from the interview between game director YAMANOTE Waki, and game script writer (and author of the novels) OOKOUCHI Ichirou, from the offical guide book:
Utena Game Guide wrote:
WE HAD A "MYSTERIOUS UKULELE" SCENARIO, TOO
Ookouchi: We wrote about 10,000 characters worth of script each day (laugh). In the end, it came out to about 300,000 characters. Of course, only about half of that made it into the final game (laugh). The stuff that was cut would have taken up too much space with sound and graphics. It's kind of a shame, but I'm pretty happy with what we managed to squeeze in.
Yamanote: Originally, there were a lot more events...
Ookouchi: Yeah, we had a lot more side stuff, like scenes involving Nanami (laugh). Oh, and there was a part where you switched bodies with someone thanks to exploding curry. We ended up leaving that out. In the end, we ended up cutting gag stuff that didn't have anything to do with the main story.
Oh, yeah! We had a ghost story about the "Mysterious Ukulele," too. Night after night, you could hear the sound of the ukulele. It turned out it was Saionji practicing. If you went to the park, you could catch him singing and playing, busking for cash... That's how it went (laugh).
Now to find out the secret identity of the Phantom Thief, Rose Cloak. 
Last edited by Dallbun (04-01-2012 09:45:59 AM)
Longer Translation Projects: Utena Sega Saturn Game, Utena Novel 2, Utena Novel 1, Movie Draft, Let's Plays
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#2 | Back to Top04-01-2012 11:12:28 PM
Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Sadly, this is how Saionji pays for school. 
Seriously though, that's kind of disappointing that so much gag stuff got cut. But then, I kind of see the game as a huge gag anyway, so I don't know why they would be so selective when it could have been just even more massively ridiculous!
BTW totally just accidentally posted as Syora because she logged in in my house. Apparently she can be trusted not to delete the entire forum or ban other mods. 
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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#4 | Back to Top04-02-2012 12:57:24 PM
- Riri-kins
- World's End
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
He just became twenty percent cuter in my eyes. 
Now I wanna read a Saionji/Wakaba fanfic where she accidentally discovers his hobby too.
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#5 | Back to Top04-02-2012 02:24:17 PM
- Rotten Mooring
- Precious One
- Registered: 10-26-2011
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Oh Saionji... Possibly the biggest dweeb in all of SKU.
Here's a question to ruminate on: Out of all the instruments, why do you think Saionji would have decided to take up the ukelele? (Apart from the comedic whims of the writing staff.) Was it a passing fondness for Hawaiian music or general aspirations toward being able serenade somebody?
My personal head cannon won't be complete until I've come up with a decent theory on the subject. 
Edited because the spell checker can only do so much...
Last edited by Rotten Mooring (04-02-2012 02:25:20 PM)
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#6 | Back to Top04-02-2012 03:53:44 PM
- Dallbun
- Tour Guide to Crawling Chaos
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Giovanna wrote:
Seriously though, that's kind of disappointing that so much gag stuff got cut. But then, I kind of see the game as a huge gag anyway, so I don't know why they would be so selective when it could have been just even more massively ridiculous!
Sounds like space/budget constraints, not that the staff suddenly developed good taste.
satyreyes wrote:
Huh. I'd have figured Saionji for more of a koto guy, but I guess a man's gotta eat!
Rotten Mooring wrote:
Here's a question to ruminate on: Out of all the instruments, why do you think Saionji would have decided to take up the ukelele? (Apart from the comedic whims of the writing staff.) Was it a passing fondness for Hawaiian music or general aspirations toward being able serenade somebody?
He probably wanted to take up a traditional Japanese instrument, but a cheap or free ukulele fell into his lap, and he thought, "well, I'll just start practicing this until I can afford a good shamisen..." Then he started getting into it.
(EDIT: I meant a cheap or free ukulele, of course, not koto...)
Last edited by Dallbun (04-03-2012 04:37:46 PM)
Longer Translation Projects: Utena Sega Saturn Game, Utena Novel 2, Utena Novel 1, Movie Draft, Let's Plays
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#7 | Back to Top04-02-2012 10:12:42 PM
- OnlyInThisLight
- KING OF ALL DUCKS
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Haha! Called it mofos.
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#8 | Back to Top04-02-2012 10:45:26 PM
- Dallbun
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
OnlyInThisLight wrote:
Haha! Called it mofos.
You totally did.
(I was actually wondering whether anyone would remember that, and suspect this to be an April Fool's joke... )
Longer Translation Projects: Utena Sega Saturn Game, Utena Novel 2, Utena Novel 1, Movie Draft, Let's Plays
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#9 | Back to Top04-03-2012 12:22:16 PM
Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
It's...it's not. Is it? An April Fool's joke?
That sounds solid, Dallbun. Obtained cheap ukulele, figured learning any string instrument is good prep for a more expensive Japanese one. (Besides, it's like a mini-guitar! easier to carry around, though for late night money earning.)
Apparently they come in sizes. Soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. I bet he gets very frustrated with a soprano ukulele if that's what he has. That's probably smaller than his shoe.
Poor Saionji. He's so poor he busks. I bet he wouldn't be embarrassed if anyone learned he played the instrument, unless they learned also that he does it for money. Now I'm imagining Touga finding out Saionji can play music and beating his own head against a wall because his (quite attractive and popular) 'best friend' is too dim-witted to realize how much play he could be getting because chicks dig musicians.
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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#10 | Back to Top04-03-2012 02:15:18 PM
Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
I bet he'll write his own song for it, too.
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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#11 | Back to Top04-03-2012 04:35:04 PM
- Dallbun
- Tour Guide to Crawling Chaos
- Registered: 10-19-2006
- Posts: 719
Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Giovanna wrote:
It's...it's not. Is it? An April Fool's joke?
Haha, nope, don't worry. This is exactly what Ookouchi said, or as close as my half-assed translating allows. 
It's a fun, though short, interview (one of three in the game guide), and this is just a particular highlight of interesting almost semi-canon.
Longer Translation Projects: Utena Sega Saturn Game, Utena Novel 2, Utena Novel 1, Movie Draft, Let's Plays
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#12 | Back to Top04-04-2012 03:14:15 AM
- OnlyInThisLight
- KING OF ALL DUCKS
- Registered: 01-15-2008
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
Giovanna wrote:
I bet he'll write his own song for it, too.
All mere practice for his upcoming ukelele duel, in which he will finally destroy Tenjou.
Why oh why didn't the game have ukelele duels?
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#13 | Back to Top04-04-2012 02:31:33 PM
- Katzenklavier
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Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! 
I have nothing more to contribute.
We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward. And always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom.
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#14 | Back to Top04-04-2012 06:57:44 PM
Re: Secrets of the Mysterious Ukulele, REVEALED
OnlyInThisLight wrote:
Why oh why didn't the game have ukelele duels?
Because like guns, it would have resulted in too much violence.
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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