Utena Dump, Episodes 26-30

I have a guest post on Doctor Whooves up at Phil Sandifer's TARDIS Eruditorum. Give it a read; then, on the off-chance you haven't already, read everything else he has ever written. He does to Doctor Who and British comics what I do to ponies and Madoka, only better.

If you're coming over here from there, welcome! A brief explanation: what you're looking at currently is a biweekly dump I've been doing of my comments on Mark Watches, another site at which I am a semi-regular commenter. As the title implies, this particular dump is my comments on Revolutionary Girl Utena, episodes 26-30.

If you're looking for something more in-depth and Eruditorum-y, I recommend clicking on either of the two Readers' Guides links in the sidebar. My Little Po-Mo is my ongoing project studying My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, while The Very Soil is my now-complete project on Puella Magi Madoka Magica.

Ep 26-7

[Due to illness, I never commented on Mark Watches Utena 26. My irate paragraph of comments on MWU 27 was an apology for this. We pick up with the second paragraph:] Fortunately, if I HAD to miss an episode, at least it was Miki's Nest Box, which I find the least interesting episode of the series. I am pretty sure it is only there because the formula demands that a duel with Saionji be followed by one with Miki.

This episode is, fortunately, a lot more interesting. More than any prior episode, it really makes clear that for all her cruelty and posturing, Nanami is incredibly, toxically innocent. It is an important contrast to the Akio car and its offer of the adult experiences unavailable in Ohtori. As horrifying as that is, this episode is a reminder that being stuck in childlike innocence is no less horrifying. Whatever the path away from horror is, it lies through experience and out the other side, not cowering and clinging to a safe, comfortable past.

Poor Nanami. Her Tragedy is that her sense of worth is entirely wrapped up in the approval of others, and as the rich little princess that approval comes not from anything positive she does, but from remaining in her define place and following all the (impossible, contradictory) rules laid down for her. Of all the characters, she is perhaps the one who needs to break the shell most--and, interestingly, in this episode she metaphorically does so by exploring her maternal side in defiance of social rules that say when and how she is permitted to do so.

And Chu-Chu hatches, leading me to my latest theory: Chu-Chu IS the World Revolution. He is what breaking the world's shell creates.

Ep 28


One thing that really stands out to me in this episode is the scene of Shiori and Ruka first meeting. First, it definitely foreshadows the end of the episode, but I've never seen anyone (myself included) actually catch it on first viewing: Shiori HAS to be lying about polishing his sword every day since he's been gone, since Juri's been captain of the fencing team since the first episode and Shiori only transferred in partway through the Black Rose Saga.

Shiori's hair looks brown in the orange light bathing the lockers. Given that orange is Juri's color, it may be a reference to how Juri makes her feel so ordinary and unspecial.

Anyway, I utterly despise Ruka, and this episode contains one example why: He lied about someone polishing his sword, and Shiori lied about being the one who did it, so apparently in Ruka's eyes that makes Shiori a liar and himself cunning. Yay double standards!

It's appropriate his hair is a darker version of Miki... he's basically what Miki could become if he let his entitlement overwhelm his empathy and crossed over into full-on manipulative bastard--he's basically the PUA to Miki's Nice Guy Syndrome.

(Of course, "Miki lets his entitlement overwhelm his empathy" works as a capsule description for basically every Miki episode. When he's not the focus, he's a pretty cool kid who needs to mature up a little. Moment he gets to be the focus character, he starts getting all "Mine!")

And then there's Shiori, who... yeah, okay, she lied to get the boy she liked and was a willing participant in his schemes against Juri. But I don't think she's acting out of entitlement, but rather the same horrifyingly low self-esteem we saw in the Black Rose Saga. Shiori has always struggled with feelings of inferiority, and always believed Juri looked down on her. Compounding that now, Shiori also hates Juri because she believes Juri pretended to be her friend just to get into her pants. This doesn't justify Shiori's actions, of course, but it does help make clear how Ruka is able to manipulate her in this episode. (Surprise surprise, the proto-PUA predator went after the girl with low self-esteem that he could easily control. What an upstanding guy.)

Have I mentioned that I utterly, ferociously despise Ruka?

As for Juri... Eh. We don't really learn anything about her we didn't already know. After Miki and Saionji, that's kind of becoming a pattern in he Car Saga.

Ep 29

Trigger warning: rape, homophobia, sexual violence against lesbians

Shiori is a WRECK when Juri talks to her. She really did develop feelings for that asswipe Ruka.
Ruka physically pins Juri and forces a kiss onto her. So we can add straight-up sexual assault to his list of sins. Then he threatens to destroy Juri's most precious possession, all to make her hate him enough to duel him, even after she's agreed to do what he wants, all so he can set her up as "to blame" or a "willing participant."

And now that he has Juri doing "whatever he wants," Mr. Sexual Assault takes her on a ride in the sexmobile so that they can take the role of bride and groom in the duel.

And then at the end of the episode we learn that this was all a scheme by Ruka, who's got a crush on Juri, to "free her" from her destructive crush on Shiori.

So, yeah. He sexually assaulted the woman he's interested in to end her same-sex attraction. That's called "corrective rape," and it's a real thing that happens to lesbian women.

Ruka is a complete, utter monster who never shows a trace of doubt or remorse. He cares only about HIS wants and HIS perceptions, and uses his strength and fencing skill to violently force them onto Juri. He is the worst person in this entire show, and the fact that he's deathly ill excuses NOTHING.
At least we get a fucking amazing dueling song?

And Juri is still, 29 episodes in, the only member of the student council Utena has never actually beaten.

But whatever, Ruka's a homophobic, misogynistic, rapist asshole and we're well rid of him.

/Trigger

Ep 30

What's most interesting to me about this episode (besides it being just generally relentlessly uncomfortable) is how much like typical, non-fantastic, generic shoujo soap opera it is. I mean, Utena looks older than she is thanks to being a billion feet tall, so it would be easy for a viewer who's never seen Utena before to think this is about a high school girl with a crush on her best friend's kinda skeevy older brother, as opposed to RELENTLESS NAIL-BITING HORROR.