This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)
I think she steps into an illusory world of her own creation. The reason I say illusory is that the entire "Anthy walking away" part is framed with those roses that pop up whenever the viewer's being deceived, like when Nanami invites Anthy to the party, or when Miki look at Anthy while they're in the car.
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Well, the show started with the rosy frame, so it could also be for consistency's sake. But who knows.
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Ohtori was an illusion created by:
1. Anthy or
2. Akio or
3. both of them together.
Revolution in this world means eternal recurrence, the same blasted thing happening over and over again, no real freedom and no real moral responsibility, no death, and no life, no real love.
In the real world Anthy will find (and perhaps rescue) Utena, and out there they will find (together or separately) linearity, a beginning, an end, death, fortune and misfortune, freedom, love; and perhaps salvation and perhaps a chance to make a difference in the world - where Revolution means transformation.
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Overlord Morgus wrote:
I think she steps into an illusory world of her own creation. The reason I say illusory is that the entire "Anthy walking away" part is framed with those roses that pop up whenever the viewer's being deceived, like when Nanami invites Anthy to the party, or when Miki look at Anthy while they're in the car.
...Wait, is this the accepted reading of the rose frame? Because, I have been rewatching the show and the frames pop up just for emphasis usually. They resemble a theater staging device or a continuation of the story-book metaphor -- so, the frames come up at critical parts of the story. Sometimes it is important to pay attention to moments of deception but....I don't think that's all it is.
About Anthy, I agree with Brian. Ohtori was an illusion, a cyclical world of childhood. But the shell of youth is broken and now Anthy can step into a brand new (revolutionized) world of reality. So, if Utena had to be sacrificed to shatter childhood myths, this doesn't necessarily mean Anthy can't find her outside of the school "in reality." Hm...
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I think it's rather hard to say because it's hard to tell where Ohtori as the physical school ends and Ohtori as a metaphor begins. I guess she would do the same thing as every person does once they leave the sheltered educational system- find a job and move on. She'd have to make money somehow. Maybe Utena herself was even a metaphor for something, so her search for Utena would be something like the search for the "meaning of life".
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Well, I've seen stories where Anthy uses magic to aid her, though who knows what kind of magic she actually has. I read one fic where she searches the world for Utena (and I assume she uses some kind of magic or it would take forever to look through the whole world twice), but it's not before she settles down somewhere that they are reunited.
Last edited by Lurv (06-28-2012 07:34:06 AM)
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My personal idea of what happens is that Anthy goes through Utena's things and finds a previous address and starts there. I mean, being a boarding school surely they would have a permanent address available or at least some sort of place they could send transcripts and recommendations. Utena may have been an orphan but she should have had some home before Ohtori.
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