Apologies that I seem to have missed your comment until now.

I think Akio did have “the power to revolutionize the world” once, but lost it after he “grew up”. I am inclined to think this kind of abstract “power” exists only in youth, and is lost after you are past a certain age and have experienced a certain of roughness of the real world. He had it once and knew what a beautiful/noble thing it was, and there is something sad about him mixing like an old man among these kids, seeking to recover what he had lost.

Silly:

Also apologies I seem to have missed your comment until now.

It was not my intention to debate on Christianity and atheism in and of themselves. I only borrowed this quote to describe what how I perceive feminism is portrayed in Utena.

Of course, that argument is a fallacy: atheism defines herself as not believing in a god or gods (it is, indeed, irrelevant wether or not christianity exists, for atheism has nothing to do with it), whereas the Christianity defines itself against every other religion.

In other words: Christianity is walking backwards, head spinning around trying to face every other religion.

As for Etienne’s questions:
1) What do you think about the character, Touga?
Personally, I dislike him. However, since the main character also dislikes him, this is perhaps the logical conclusion.

2) What do you think about the belief in miracles?
The belief seems to give the Duelists hope, and yet it is in my opinion a naive sort of hope that they have been given. This is not to say that miracles are impossible, but the Duelists seem to see miracles as the only way that they can change the world–which to me is quite naive.

3) What do you think is the power to revolutionize the world?
I believe that it is quite simple: the realization that one already has the power to revolutionize the world that they live in. Utena had that power from the beginning, and she believed in that power until the very end, even if she did not realize it. Akio did not, and thus he never “gained” that power.

I have not forgotten about your three questions.

> 1) What do you think about the character Touga?

He has a lot of free time.

> 2) What do you think about the belief in miracles?

Define “miracles”.

> 3) What do you think is the power to revolutionize the world?

I wonder if it may be the intellect/knowledge. After all, like I said in the post, individual development above the head seems to be just the thing that is missing in the story. Even if you do see someone like Mikage doing some sort of research in the story (even though we do not even know what exactly he researches on), it seems to be some sort of Glass Bead Game that has little space to exist outside academia – and let me stress the “game” part.

I am referring to the sort of intellect that analyzes and tackles issues in the real world, the sort of intellect that generates and shapes ideas. Emotions and instincts in themselves achieve every little in the way of revolution. It is the intellect/ideas that revolutionize the world.

If you have that sort of intellect, you will probably find that you no longer have time for rose bride duels.

Oh ok, now I got it :)

If I may answer to Shina Luna:

When you ride a car, what you do is drive. “Drive” is a word used for our inner desires and mostly for sex. So you can understand that that is an innuendo. Also Utena is meant here to get a passive role, since she can’t move as a human being. She becomes the vehicle of freedom of Anthy. Ikuhara-sensei mentions that at that point there’s an inversion of the concept of Sleeping Beauty (the one sleeping is the ‘prince’ hence Utena).
Take a look at the Rose Garden forum. It will solve you different viewpoints.

In the Hyakkiyagyō series, a youkai typically begins as a psychological original sin, from which follows a set of circumstances that came about through a combination of accident and intention, as a result of which a shared demonic fantasy is held by all who come into contact with that set of circumstances, until Chuzenji comes along to awake them.

If “Utena” were a novel of that series (which is what the post is about), the psychological original sin probably stems from Akio (though we never know for sure), and the set of circumstances would be that he happens to be surrounded by teenagers who happen to have a lot of issues with repressed past/desire, and out of those circumstances a shared demonic fantasy (the whole package with The End of the World etc etc) is born.

Shina Luna:

I agree. That is why I am under the impression that only one half of the story is told.

In my opinion these people may feel a kind of happiness but not Happiness. By this I mean that if you don’t confront your traumas and search the real reason behind your sorrow, you’ll attain only a fleeting satisfaction. It’s like a night-stand. You’ll receive a certain level of satisfaction that night, but you won’t be able to fill the void inside you. If you don’t try to see what’s going wrong with you, you’ll keep trying to feel the void with a series of night stands, but this won’t ever get you to feel really happy. Happiness, a healthy one, comes with a stable relationship where you let the other part be him/herself, taking and not only giving. People have the need to feel deeply connected with other human beings and thus fulfil their need for safety and affection.

About Utena talking only at a below-the-neck level: that was a good point, I hadn’t noticed. Ok perhaps you don’t see anyone expressing intellectualism, but isn’t there a little in the idealism of Utena or Miki’s? Or maybe the absence of obvious intellectual development has to do with the fact that the heroes are in their coffins, they are adolescents that go through a difficult period of their life and they have the one foot in the grave of the past and the other to the future.

P.S.:For anyone who’s interested in delving deeper in SKU, Empty Movement is a wonderful site with a brilliant forum, the Rose Garden.

What complicated questions you ask!

Give me some time to think about that and I will post under this thread.

omo:

I see, I see. That sounds interesting.

The more I think about “Utena”, the more I am convinced that the idea of “the prince” would probably by identified as a kind of youkai by Chūzenji. The whole idea might have started off as a blessing, but it became a kind of demonic possession that is akin to a curse.

Anyways, Melody of Oblivion is a story about a young man and the strange enemies and trials he encounters on his travels. It just occurred to me that every “non-human” enemy in the show could be described as possessed by a youkai, or something like that. It was not clear this was the case by simply watching the show.

Another relevant point is that the story of Melody of Oblivion is told from the perspective of a boy.

1) What do you think about the character Touga?

2) What do you think about the belief in miracles?

3) What do you think is the power to revolutionize the world?

Doesn’t have to be restricted in the context of the story – can be your own ideas.

Omo:

Maybe I should check out Melody of Oblivion too. (I have never seen it.)

Would you like to share with us how the post gives you a bearing to look at Melody of Oblivion again?

animekritik:

If it is any help – I don’t think I put in any damaging spoiler in the post itself (or I would have given a spoiler warning). It was mostly just general opinion than plot-specific.