#// adachi being a sucker for praises like it's the easiest thing in the world to sway him with which might say alot. or not.

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GET BACK 2 WORK !!11!!

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If you do end up writing your own analysis please send it to me!! I would love to read it. I'm such a sucker for good analysis. ~AskPrinceAkechi

I’ll just go ahead and write some stuff out right here since that will be easiest!

I really enjoyed your analysis, you hit on some great points (and i might end up saying some of the same stuff, so sorry in advance!

Anyway, this is all about comparing Anthy Himemiya from Revolutionary Girl Utena to Goro Akechi from Persona 5. The similarities are more numerous than many my think. I’ll also reference @ricebirdie​ ‘s analysis, which you can read here!

There will be major MAJOR spoilers for both stories, so the rest will be under the cut!(Seriously, these are huge spoilers for both stories and its really not worth it to read unless you’ve seen and understand everything. To all my friends currently playing p5/watching Utena, please dont do this to yourselves. I love you.)

There are a lot of surface level comparisons to be made about Akechi and Anthy, and even more once you start to peel back the layers of each character and their part in the story.

RiceBirdies said a lot already, but one major thing I want to address is the strange relationship both Akechi and Anthy have with their abusers. In both cases there is a very palpable disdain (Akechi’s is very much louder and more active), but there’s also another more esoteric sort of connection. I wouldn’t call it love, more like a self defeating codependency. Both harbor some dangerous positive feelings toward their abusers.

In Anthy’s case, we see this manifest mainly in her jealousy over Utena’s relationship with Akio. Despite everything, she still felt possessive over him. She still felt like Utena was intruding on their relationship, even though she knew how wrong that relationship was. I wouldn’t say Anthy loves Akio, but she did love Dios, and she loves the idea of Dios still, despite Akio’s only being a warped shadow of him.

Akechi suffers from something similar, but ultimately different in form. By the end of everything, he is quite vocal and clear about his hate for Shido. He’s blindly following his revenge scheme, without truly looking at himself or the situation. What becomes clear to the audience, though, is that he has an utter craving for praise and for being needed. Being useful is the best feeling in the world to Akechi. He tells himself that he takes joy in slowly enacting his revenge on Shido, and this is partially true. But there’s another part of him that is in utter delight at Shido placing trust in him. The praise may have been light, but it was still there, and Akechi was hanging on to that. This only becomes harsher upon realizing that Shido didn’t actually care about or trust Akechi at all, despite how the kid thrived on being such a vital part of his plans.

Neither of them are in denial that their situation and the things they are doing are wrong, yet they put up with it, each in part to strike back at their abuser. Akechi all but spells out how he plans to do this - When Shido reaches the peak of his power, he’s going to reveal his identity and make clear that he has the power to ruin everything and will gladly do so.

Anthy’s bits of malice towards Akio are much more subtext and easy to miss. Throughout the series, we see her strike him in tiny, passive aggressive ways. This ability to hit Akio’s weak spot, to know him well enough to know what will really hurt, is Anthy’s alone and she quietly revels in it. There’s a great essay that talks about this and a lot of other cases of Anthy showing her distaste for just about everyone in little, invisible ways here.

They’re both seething with range below layers of facades. Anthy only shows it in tiny bits, while Akechi has his breakdown all at once. Despite this, their emotions are extremely similar and each at their climax lashes out and betrays the one person who they’d ever truly bonded with.

Both scenes are extremely intense and focus on the final truth of the characters in question, though they differ in vital (and tragic) ways.

Anthy betrays Utena in the duel of revolution. Without warning she pierces Utena from behind with her own sword, leaving her to bleed out and giving her parting words: “Oh stubborn and reckless hero, you let me have a small taste of true friendship.” This is her confession, her blatant way of stating that she really did feel a bond with Utena, and that it made her happy. This is assumedly the first true friendship that Anthy has ever experienced. Soon after, the horrific punishment that Anthy has endured for centuries is revealed.

Akechi’s betrayal is less a single swift action and more its own ark. It begins with his attempt at assassination and ends with a final showdown in Shido’s balance. As he wildly spills his guts, the depth of his pain is revealed. After haphazardly attempting to take Joker’s life again, he’s defeated, and Morgana brings up the one thing that could hurt him most at the time - He didn’t hate Joker. His reaction is all the confirmation we need. Their bond is unorthodox but true. Unlike Adachi, the Justice arcana doesn’t break into something else. It stays until the end and soon maxes out, because even if Akechi did take every step to try to deceive Joker, his true feelings still got through. Joker, much like Utena to Anthy, is the first true bond he has ever experienced.

The ending Anthy receives is one full of hope and the final breaking of a cycle. Utena’s feelings reach Anthy, and the two meet as their true selves for a fleeting, beautiful moment before Utena sacrifices herself to pull Anthy from her coffin and allow her to escape.

Both scenes are tearjerkers, but Akechi’s is for different reasons. His end is one that is, fittingly, full of rebellion. By sacrificing himself to save Joker and the rest of the thieves, his confidant maxes with Joker. In a sense, this is Joker seeing a brief glimpse of the truest Akechi. Like Utena, in this scene he comes to fully understand Akechi, but he is not the one that determines the outcome. Akechi chooses the sacrifice himself - an act that not only defies Shido, but also defies the fate and role he was dealt by Yaldabaoth. Akechi leaves his coffin for only a brief moment to display a single act of heroic rebellion before meeting his end.

The scenes share so many elements that I could go on for much longer - Even the parallel of Akio/Cognitive Akechi as a symbol of the power held over them, and as the one spurring on their betrayal of their one true bond.

I may very well write more in the future if any of you want me too, but I’ve got chemistry lecture early tomorrow morning so I’ve gotta sleep! Thank you for reading and I’d love to hear any feedback or thoughts!