#character: kaoru miki

[girl-revolution-utena]

Trying to think about rgu ocd headcanons ⌛ (a little messy and sorry if it's out of character)

cw: descriptions of different types of ocd obsessions (the descriptions are simple, but if reading about the themes of your obsessions is a trigger for you, please avoid reading this post), mentions of abuse

Juri has magical thinking and her way to cope with that is hating everything related to magic. She has basically overcome it but from time to time she has psychotic episodes because of it. How much she hates miracles is both related with Shiori and is a way to cope with her OCD.

Miki's obsessions are around order, perfectionism and symmetry. He can spent hours trying to get everything Just Right and feels but about it. He has only talked to Juri about this and she advised him using her own experience as a reference (though she didn't told him that part). Idk if the way he uses his chronometer would be related to a compulsion or if it would be stimming. Maybe a mix of both, depending on the situation.

Anthy has intrusive thoughts about how people perceive her and would check her interactions with other too much. She would also check constantly if Akio is near after escaping (this would be also related with PTSD). She also has a tendency to hoarding but she keeps it controlled.

Nanami suffers from obsessions around her relationships with others and around her own identity because of how Touga groomed and manipulated her. She denies this but her mind is constantly ruminating.

But then all of them go to therapy and learn how to cope in a healthy way :D

[holydivers]

oh god i never noticed that in miki's flashbacks kozue's hair is curled like anthy's, but in kozue's flashback to the same scene her hair looks like it does in the present day...

[thegooblet]

thought too hard about dynamics of abuse in rgu and blacked out

[originalwinnercheesecake]

what if the Revolutionary Girl Utena characters were pokemon trainers

I went back to the Utena tab, as one does, to brush up on my philosophy... Suddenly the question pops into my head "With Anthy's love of roses which flower pokemon would be her favorite? I bet it would be x." Then i started to think "If Anthy had "X" then maybe Utena could have "Y". "Nanami should have "C" because of that one comedy filler episode" You know the one. "Also wouldn't it be fun to create a sinister pokemon team for Akio." I literally went to sleep rolling these thoughts and potential teams around in my mind, and have spent all day working on getting the teams right.

Before I post my teams here were my rules

1.) Six pokemon for the rose crest duelists, one-three for the black rose duelists. Ruka got two

2.) All the rose bride duelists had to have at least one flower/plant/florial pokemon. This was not required of the black rose duelists or Ruka.

3.) Normally I do not let characters have legendary pokemon on their teams. But because some of these characters are Gods or embodiment's of legendary themes/tropes I put fitting legendary on the teams for four specific characters

4.) To challenge myself I did not use any of the eeveelutions, or regional type variations (Alolan, Galar, Hisuin). These are usally heavily represented on my previous lists and I wanted this one to be more unique

In honor of pride month here is the RGU cast as pokemon trainers

Anthy Himemyia

a team that is half cute and girly , and half very very frightening

White Flower Florgus: This one is representative of Anthy's love of flowers, whoch she incorperated into her role in the duels, as the Rose Bride. A flowery fairy pokemon that devotes itself to its gardens. The red one is to sweet to be Anthy's pokemon. Plus given that both the roses in her coffin and the one she puts on Utena are white, I think that white may be her favorite rose color.

Wooloo: Anthy used the Wool from her Wooloo (and some red fabric dye) to make the sweater she knitted and gifted Utena in season 2. I love that because there are no hints that Akio told Anthy to make Utena the sweater. Anthy chose to make a handmade gift for her friend. Utena wore it multiple times later when she and Anthy were hanging out in their room. That was a really sweet gift, and symbolic of how much the two were coming to care about each other, so I wanted to give Anthy a pokemon representative of that

Apom and Rattata: These two both represent Chu-chu, a monkey that was the size of a mouse. They can also represent aspects of Anthy's way of expressing herself during the games. How she was always handy at chores, but had what one would call a quiet and mousy nature. Apom is a shiny pink to match Utena's trademark hair, and the pink outfit Anthy dawns (leaving behind her red goddess/rose bride outfits) to go out into the world and search for Utena.

Mismagius: A ghost type pokemon that is representative of Anthy's witch persona. It's poxides entry says that it is a havic bringer that can cause people great hapiness or misery, and that some will pursue it as if their life depended on it, though owning it can sometimes have less than favorable results. A very Himemyia pokemon

Spectrier: Representative of Anthy's, now long dead, goddess persona. This beauitful, dark, spirit horse shy's away from sight and rely's on its other senses. It is also said that it can seperate a soul from a body with one kick (Similar to what Anthy did to Dios when she gave up being a goddess). Spectrier shares a connection to pokemon owned by both Akio and Utena

Akio Ohtori

Note it was actually a lot of fun making this cutesy/sinister team for Akio.

Morella: This could be Akio's floral pokemon if you view "End of the World" as a rose duelist. I mostly picked it because it is cute and whimsical looking, but is parasitic and will drain a person of their energy when they are asleep.

Driftloom: Another whimsical pokemon. What a fun and safe looking little balloon... that leads small children astray and can cause them to go missing.

Delibird: It is his messenger. Before the final arc he mostly communicated with his students by letters. Delibird delivers them. Bad bird, bad

Palossand: Representative of Ohtori Academy. A palace and a kingdom where everyone lives trapped, with Akio as the prince who is in charage of everyone

Dusktops: A hollow husk ghost that it is unwise to get close enough to look inside of. Am I talking about Dusktops or Akio?

Glastrier: Akio's Princely white horse. A wild and crazy steed (kinda like his car), counter part to his sisters Spectrier, and also connecting to one of Utena's pokemon.

Utena Tenjou

What pokemon are enough of hero's for our protagonist. Are flashy hero pokemon really the ones she needs?

Roserade: Utena's Floral pokemon. I like to think it started out as a little Bedew that was left for Utena after that day all those years ago when she met the prince and vowed to become one herself. Roserade is not really a princely pokemon, but Utena never actually became a prince. I think Roserade is a good representation of the revolutionary character she did become.

Spritzee: Scent seems to be an important senese to Utena. She will comment on food smells and the one thing she remembers clearly about that day is that she could smell Roses. Given her love of fragrance she would probably also love a perfume pokemon

Marowak: Utena and Marowak both lost loving parents when young. Now they have grown tough and made the decision to help each other and carry on.

Growlithe: Representation of Utena's courage and fierce loyalty to those she cares about

Corvisquire: this one represents both the dark uniform and the ingenuity Utena shows. How she descends on the games, has less experience then the other duelist, but she uses tools around her, and eventually the traits she can glimpse from the other duelist themselves, to win.

Calyrex: This is Utena's Legendary pokemon. It is connected to both Anthy and Akio's legendary pokemon, how they both need her, and the choice Utena ultimately has to make on which one she wants to be with.

Touga Kiryuu

Touga' team is meant to be bad/dangerous but not necissarly as wicked or frightening as Akio's team

Vileplume: Touga's floral pokemon. I gave him a finale form in a 3 part evolution, similar to Utena's roserade, but of course not containing the same abilities or as powerful. I also really wanted him to have a flower that was also a poison type, because he himself is pretty poisonous.

Hitmonchan: Touga is shown to know how to box when he took out that kangeroo. So i figured since he would obviously have a fighting type pokemon, let's go with the boxing one

Purugly: He loves cats so he gets a cat pokemon. (Side note do we think he got to keep the kitten Anthy gave him for his birthday, or did it disappear after 24-48 hours, like the "gifts" Anthy sends Nanami). I decided to give him Purugly do them both having nice hair, being fairly rude, and most importantly, loving to sleep in someone else's bed.

Seviper: A snake is pokemon is another one that just fits Touga. Add that Seviper has a red sword like tail, and could maybe help Touga train, makes it Touga's perfect snake.

Yamask: Yamask's lore says it use to be a man who died. It came back as a ghost pokemon and it carries a mask that resembles the face it had as a human. I put it on Touga's team to go with Touga's own lore, and how there is all this discussion on if Touga is actually a boy or a ghost... Even if he is still alive he is kinda still a ghost, carrying a mask of the kid Saionji and Nanami remember.

Mudsdale: Touga has a horse because he wants to imitate Akio. But where as Akio's Galstrier is a beautiful and princely legindary pokemon. Touga only has a dirty mudsdale, a.k.a the one horse pokemon that is entirely based off of a regular, non magical, horse. Mudsdale can never be quite like Galstier. And Touga (thankfully) can never manage to be as manipulative and powerful as Akio.

Nanami Kiryuu

Her magistey the princess of ridiculousness, with her loyal court of fools

Carnavine: Nanami's floral pokemon. I did not want to give Nanami a more "delicate flower" looking pokemon, as Nanami is honestly one of the least delicate girls in the anime. Carnavine, like Nanami, is clingy and snappy so I think it fits her really well.

Vespaqueen: Becasue she is the school's "Queen Bee"

Morgrem: It is a prankster, who will sometimes employ false surrenders and dirty tactics, all of which are to hide its own insecurites and lack of self confidence. Nanami and Morgrem are kindred spirits in this regard. Hopefully she and it could help each other grow to accept themselves

Piplup: It has a tough attitude and a lot of bravado, but in truth it is pretty clumsy and falls down a lot. So piplup is another pokemon who I feel like it and Nanami would get each other.

Miltank and Exeggcute: You all know exactly why Nanami has a cow and eggs. No explanation needed.

Kyouichi Saionji

It was not my intention to give him the fluffiest team. I am laughing at it turning out that way though. Let's hope Saionji can keep himself and his teammates stocked on hair brushes

Cacturn: Saionji's Floral pokemon. He gets Cacturn because they are both green and prickly.

Fennekin: Well it is a hot headed pokemon that will have steam coming out of its fluffy ears when it gets really worked up. That certainly sounds like someone Saionji see's whenever he looks in the mirror. Also once it evolves, and starts carrying around sticks, he could teach it Kendo style staff techniques

Mankey: Saionji also needed a fighting type. I chose Mankey to represent just how Impulsive Saionji is. Both he and Mankey struggle to calm themselves down, and to stop fighting. If Saionji can ever manage to teach Mankey any control, then maybe he won't be completely hopeless himself. If not, it will at least be a funny ride.

Zangoose: Saionji got a Zangoose because Touga has a Seviper. Each of them have a rival pokemon that is always fighting with the other, but also can never help but seek the other out. I would say that is pretty accurate representation of Touga and Saionji's relationship, and how they feel about each other in their adolescences.

Farfetch: I was thinking because it carries the leak then maybe Saionji could teach it Kendo staff techniques now. Fennekin could watch. They would probably all enjoy that.

Shiny Sudowoodo: well it is bad at hiding and hates water, that is similar to Saionji. But really I gave it to Saionji because he likes poetry, and Sudowoodo (particularly its shiny form) are about the closest I could think of to a poetic looking pokemon. Another thing is that Shiny Sudowoodo looks like a tree in the fall, when things change. Change is a concept Saionji struggles with, and he needs to learn to better deal with it if he wants to leave his coffin

Miki Kaoru

I kind of wish his team could have been bluer, but I am happy that 2 are garden creatures and another three look a bit like childhood toys. Nature and nostalgia are strong themes if Miki's

Sunflora: This is Miki's floral pokemon. He gets an actual flower based one. A sunflower caught in the Sunlight garden back when he was a child

Baltoy: So Miki is a time keeper for the student council (supposedly, as no one knows what he is keeping time on with his stop watch) and carries a lot of nostalgia for his past. So I had to give him a "time" pokemon. However he is not a strong enough trainer to command a legendary, like Celibi or Dialga. Baltoy was the only one left, but it honestly works. I like to imagine that it stays next to Miki at student council meetings and every time he presses the button on his oh-so-confusing stopwatch Baltoy will cease its spinning and speak.

Chimeco and chatot: Two music based pokemon to sit with Miki and keep him company at the piano. Chimeco will try to calm him down when he gets stressed. Chatot will repeat things: notes or phrases that it has heard Miki/his teachers say. Miki loves Chatot, but it often makes him more stressed.

Scyther: All of Miki's pokemon so far have been small and cute. But Miki is a tough fighter too. I wanted him to have pokemon he could sword train with, and that would come off as more imposing in battle. No fighting types really fit him so I got more creative. Scyther would make a pretty good fencing partner. He probably caught it in his garden like Sunflora, only he was older by then.

Male Meowstic: This one is representative of his caring yet strained relationship his sister Kozue-she has a female. Miki's male meowstic is both the male, and the more defensive of the pair, just like him.

Juri Arisugawa

before anyone asks Juri does not have a sward pokemon because she does not need one. She already has a sword.

Lurantis: Now this is the perfect floral pokemon for Juri. It is girly without being soft or frilly. It is vivid, tough, and glamours. It is also super sharp and does its best to fool people into seeing it as someone its not. Basically it suits Juri's strengths, while also highlighting some of her vulnerabilities.

Luvdisc: Okay the romantic heart pokemon that is considered a symbol of love might seem like a strange one for Juri,given how she feels about, well, romantic feelings and all that. One I do think Juri is a romantic, but, just like with miracles, she has some trouble believing in romance after what went down with Shori. Secondly lone luvdisc's can become despondent and disheartened... which again is kind of how Juri feels, when thinking about all the things she is scared to believe in. Both Juri and Luvdisc need hugs

Cloyster: This one represents how closed off and self motivated Juri has become

Brozong: It strong steel/psychic typing suits Juri pretty well, and it being a 360 degree shield does show how defensive Juri is now. Most importantly it can summon rain showers. The culmination of Juri's arc was her locket getting broken, her forfeiting her duel as she finally lets herself cry over what she lost, then stepping into a rain shower, to try and began herself again. That was such a powerful scene for Juri, so I gave her a powerful pokemon to represent that time in her life.

Jangmo-o: Here is a little dragon that personality wise is on almost the same wave length as Juri. Both are diligent trainers, humble, yet have the pride of warriors. I could see these two taking each other far.

Mienshao: This is Juri's fighting type pokemon. One that is very graceful and elegant, as well as being a skilled, and sometimes overwhelming, fighter. Like with her Lurantis I could see this one joining her in both a battle and on the runway.

Now on to the black rose duelists. Once again they were smaller characters so I am only giving them 1-3 pokemon.

Kanae Ohtori

Apples for the princess, fairy tales dictate she should have refused

Applin: So they are sometimes viewed as romantic gifts between people in a committed relationship. Akio gave this Applin to Kanae, who joyfully accepted it as a "symbol of their love". But another way to look at it was Akio telling Kanae his plans. Applin is a worm that burrows into the center of an apple and then feeds on the fruit to stay protected, plump, and strong. Akio is the worm. Kanae's family's academy is the apple. Kanae's Applin is most definitely not evolving into a Appletun.

Kozue Kaoru

I imagine Kozue and her girls are out to either get their party up or throw some shade down. No in between

Female Meowstic: the sibling pokemon to Miki's male one. Like Kozue this meowstic is the aggressive female counter part to its more defensive brother.

Bellossom: Kozue is not a rose crest duelist, but she still has a flower pokemon? Okay I am not saying Kozue should have joined the student council with Miki, or competed for the rose bride, or anything like that. Bellossom is also a party pokemon. It is always dancing and chatting away with others. Kozue takes Bellossom with her when she goes out to look for new boyfriends. It is also there for her after hook-ups, when she is all alone again. Bellossom might be Miki's favorite of Kozue's pokemon. Kozue likes Miki's chatoc, because she can teach it to say phrases that annoy her brother/ scare away anyone that might hurt him.

Taillow: This is Kozue's newest pokemon. She is shown to like birds. She found this one injured, became protective of it, and took it in. She told everyone she caught it because the injuries proved it was tough in a scrap, and it is tough in a scrap, but that was still a lie on Kozue's part.

Shori Takatsuki:

So cute on the surface, beneath that... well sometimes it is a little less pretty and a lot more messy

Psyduck: Because Shori follows people she likes/wants around like a duck, and she is driven to headaches by her own refusal to accept feelings. Both her own feelings and other peoples as well. It will be a long and stressful ride, but caring for Pysduck could possibly help Shori break this negative cycle of denial she has locked herself in.

Corsola: The tips of it spikes can be painlessly broken off and then made into pretty jewelry, that are prized as treasures. Shori deeply wants to be someones treasure, so I imagine she wears corsola jewelry a lot to try and boost her low self esteem. This also goes with Juri's luvdisc, as luvdiscs are a pokemon that love corsolas.

Phanpy: This is Shori's last pokemon, and probably her oldest. She is not able to/has no desire to evolve it. Phanpy's look like innocent little dolls, are very playful, and has a tendency to hurt those it feels affection for...Just like Shori.

Mitsuru Tsuwabuki

Gorwing up is really so tough

Impidimp: One evolution behind Nanami's Morgrim. Like their trainers the pair get along and are good friends, but often tend to prank the other. It is a bit of a ongoing challenge to see which is the most sly and devious

Bagon: Like Mitsuru with adulthood, Bagon dreams of the day it will be a full grown Salamence, and waits for all the things it will be able to do then. Mitsuru and Bagon want to grow, evolve, and achieve their dreams together.

Love Sweet Carmel Swirl Alcreamie: I gave Mitsuru an Alicreamie because he shown to be able to cook/bake, and likes to do it for Nanami. I really was hoping that their was a chocolate version of Alicreamie, because of the symbolism of the partially eaten chocolate bar his friend leaves behind in his black rose episode. But I was out of luck. I decided to give him a Carmel Swirl Alcreamie because its cream has a bitter taste. Right now Mitsuru is at a stage where he feels very bitter about still being a little kid. I figure his Alcreamie can help him learn to mix that bitterness with other feelings/flavors to create good results. Love Sweet because Mitsuru is a romantic of course.

Tatsuya Kazami

I hope that he got back out of ohtori again quick, and that this time he and Wakaba stayed in touch....maybe as friends, maybe as more. In the end that is up tot he two of them, not to Mikage, Utena, or Akio.

Oddish: Oddish is a pokemon that kinda looks like a onion, at least that is what Tatsuya thought when he met Oddish. It reminded him of Wakaba and how she used to call him "The Onion Prince" , so he caught it and made it his partner.

Slowpoke: Slowpoke is called the patient pokemon, and Tatsuya's best and only quality is that he is willing to patiently support the girl he loves, while waiting for the day she maybe decides to give them a chance to be something more.

Wakaba Shinohara

You take care of everyone you meet. But who will take care of you?

Swablu: A very friendly and fearless, normal/flying type, bird that goes around with its head is the clouds and cotton covering its ears. That is definitely similar to our girl Wakaba. But it will also grow into a very strong dragon/flying type, Altaria; just like how Wakaba shows she will grow into a very strong young women one day. For now Wakuba and Swablu have got each other, and are committed to helping the other grow.

Chancy: A caring and nutruing pokemon. This one helps Wakaba take immaculate care of everyone in her life. It also tries its best to take care of her and reminder her that she is still important to it during her darker moments. Like when Saionji leaves her. Or Utena starts spending most of her time with Anthy/Akio and has less and less for Wakaba.

Shiny Skeledirge: Like Wakaba this pokemon is caring yet meddlesome. I could see them getting up to a lot of trouble that they had no business being in, but also helping a lot of people too. It likes to help wakaba with her chorus homework, and sing for Wakaba when she is feeling down. Hopefully it's powerful enough to at least intimidate the boys Wakaba does not have the sense to know are bad news. I also gave it to her because wiki says it is modeled after a tennis athlete (Tennis is implied to be Wakaba's favorite sport), and that the bird on its snout functions as a separate entity. So it was a sneaky way to actually give Wakaba four pokemon. Why is it a shiny, because Wakaba deserves a rare shiny pokemon. She was a rare bright spot in that hell school after all.

Keiko Sondo

I got the idea to give her all bug pokemon because her episode is called Vermon.

Meadow Pattern (a.k.a Pink) Vivillon: I picked Vivillon because it is very girly and frilly, and Keiko comes off as a being a really girly girl. I picked the meadow pattern because it seemed the most romantic, and at heart this girl is another huge romantic.

Male Combee: This one is her relationship to Nanami. Nanami had a female Combee that evolved into a Vespadqueen. But male Combee like Keiko's cannot evolve. No matter how hard either Combee or Keiko work and train they are not royalty, but mere parts of the hive. Combee shares Keiko's resentment that random chances of birth seemingly made Nanami and Vespaqueen more special than them. It is just not fair.

Grubbin: Yeah here is a not so pretty, underground, grubby buggy. But there is so much more to Grubbin than appears. They are attracted to sparks of electricity and will burrow to and stay by it, until he day they can evolve and generate their own. Also when worked into a enough of a rage they are capable of causing birds that try to prey on them fly away in fear. So I am giving her Grubbin to show that of all three conies, Nanami was not able to break Keiko as totally as she did the other two, and their were moments in the show where Keiko was able to stand up to/take on Nanami.

Souji Mikage

Yes I am calling Mikage the fourth most powerful character character in RGU. He was definitely a victor in some previous round of the duels, and for whatever reason Akio and Anthy kept their hold on him for 30 years... to use him to test future victors that won the first round to easy? I mean it is stated he used to have 100 back rose crests and flowers, but by Utena's time he only had 6 left... Off topic

Hypno: it helps him mess with the kids who come into his elevator for therapy; using its hypnotic power to pull their most jealous and anxious thoughts form their minds and mouths.

Bisharp: This one represents how professor Nemuro saw himself before meeting Mamiya and Tokiko, and what he, as Souji Mikage, became after their loss. This is a dark and steel type robot, that commands subordinates to fight underneath it, while it pushes towards its own goals.

Celibi: He slips backwards and forwards through time, while always remaing the exact same age. So I gave him Celibi because it can take itself and invited companions through time. Once he learns that there was really no way then or in the future to have saved Mamiya, can Celibi please take him back in time to tell the real Mamiya "Good bye"?

Ruka Tsuchiya

And here is the guy who in the two episodes he was in before dying, he seemingly made himself more hated than Saionji and Touga combinded, almost as hated as Akio.

Haunter: Because haunting was a thing he liked to do before dying, and from what I have heard, possibly afterwards too. It is also possible Haunter stayed with Ruka even after his death. Admirable loyalty on his pokemons part

Hawkamo: A dragon one evolution higher than Juri's Jaogmo-o, because Ruka was always one step ahead of Juri. After he dies I imagine Hawkamo stalks around the fencing dojo, trying to pick a new trainer. It would be interesting to guess who it would pick.

[number1villainstan]

Nanami: which one of you was gonna tell me that tea tastes different if you put it in hot water vs cold water Juri: You're putting it in cold water? Miki: Nanami. Answer the question Nanami. Nanami: Yeah? I thought that people just put it in hot water to speed up the tea-ification process. Didn't realize there was an actual reason. Miki: You don't have the patience to microwave water for three minutes? Juri: Why are you putting it in the microwave to boil it? Miki: You think I have the patience to boil water on a stove?? Juri: It takes LESS THEN A MINUTE Miki: BESTIE IS YOUR STOVETOP POWERED BY THE FRICKING SUN Touga: fricking? Juri: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO BOIL A CUP OF WATER ON THE STOVE Miki: LIKE SEVEN MINUTES Juri: just stick the mug on top of the stove on medium heat and it boils in like two minutes. less than that and you use a saucepan Touga: You're putting the whole mug on the stove? On medium heat?? Your stove is enchanted Wakaba: every single person in this room is a fucking lunatic Saionji: DO NONE OF YOU OWN A FUCKING KETTLE

[anonymous-gambito]

I have a fucking problem

[bestutenacharactertournament]

Remember: you vote on which one you think is the best, not who is more morally correct or well written! It's about personal preference!

[anonymous-gambito]

Uhhhh new fucked up Fire Nation we need to worry about just dropped??

doing only the deepest and most important analysis on the utena discord

[cafeleningrad]

unsorted thoughts about Juri and Miki: On innocence an accountability

If Akio, Anthy, and Utena are the thesis of all duelists and their respective princess-figures, then each other character represents a primariy theme (although also overlapping with other struggles). > If Miki represents an inability to move from an idealized past, Juri represents an iniability to imagine change and future.

Miki and Juri are friends because they do sense something good in the other they can bring out when together. But they also are, like every other duelist, too caught up in their own matters to care about anyone outside of the student council... who the others are, what they feel.

Shiori and Kozue are basically caught up the inte same struggle. Both need their duelist to define themselves in not so healthy ways. Their duelist refuses to take resposibility in their existencial longing and connection to the person outside the student council circle. > Miki wishes for family bliss yet is incapable of reognizing anyone outside his ideals. (Hence why he's friends with perfectionist Juri.) So he's unwilling in creating it himself. > Juri is not unreasonably afraid of homophobia and it's social repercussions so she feels lonely and isolated. Yet she can't fathom that anyone else might feel as deeply, as passionately as her. Anyone else is just bubbly happy, none can touch her in her ivory tower of detachment. Hence why Juri's outbursts are so phyiscally violent the moment Anthy or Utena do strike her nerve in either reminding her that she has attachment to other people, or fundamentally disagree in her deepseated beliefs. This leads Juri to dismiss Shiori's feelings of inferiority and abandonement, even her heartfelt apology. In fact Juri doesn't attest any genuine feelings to Shhiori at all, since the Shiori in her locket is an entirely different person. > Funny how Miki is currently treated by fandom as raging "nice guy misogynist". (Well I get it into the current dating-problem-video-for-guys to manosphere pipeline ers in which teenage boys get lured into. But only to a point since this is still a story created 1990s Japan, and personal associations can mislead during analysis) Meanwhile Shiori is then treated as the agitator of the "toxic yuri dynamic". It's total blame game in centrically symmetry on the trajectory of Juri-Shiori-Miki-Kozue. Meanwhile Kozue and Juri get a "blame free" card in current popular fandom trend. Chill and nuance, please. These are all teenagers trying to grow up in an environment that incentivizes and rewards the most cruel, selfish choices.

Personally, Kozue and Miki are my rosetta stone to Akio's and Anthy's relationship. The desires and logical trappings of the Kaoru twins reflect the one's binding Anthy and Akio. > Anthy takes on the hate of the world for Akio. In the microcosm of Ohtori all the blame for a guy's misfortune gets attributed to girls. Obviously Anthy is the one getting bullied and slapped when Saionji isolates himself from the shock that a girl beat him twice. But we also see it when Ruka breaks up with Shiori how rumors quickly switch from: "Why might they break up so suddenly? Ruka was a bit rude, wasn't he?" to "Shiori probably did something to desreve it!" Basically it's all about how society never fathoms to blame a man yet redirects anger and scorn for misdeed on women. Akio refuses to grow up, refusing to realize that he could have never possibly survived the task of Dios, he rather lets Anthy endure the blame while trying to recreate a time that never was. >Where Akio refuses to grow up, Anthy gets adultified. > This repeats in Miki and Kozue although with way less intentionality by the actors. > The theme of idealized past is prominently explored in Miki's and Kozue's relationship. Miki wants to get his sunlit garden back although it never was that impressive (as Utena realizes with a certain disllusionment), nor as harmonic (as Kozue notices), and Miki lets the garden overgrow in the present. But Miki isn't a child anymore. All his excellence academically, musically, working on his fencing skills, good behavior, timed discipline are to set him up for a propsperous carrer. And yet he speaks of no aspirations that such skills and efforts could earn him. He's entering his teenage years where he will need to make decisions for the future. However he barely has an idea what he wants - hence it takes two episodes to convince him to duel, and even then Miki has a hard time forumlating his thoughts what his objective for the future is supposed to be. "Shining thing" is such a nebulous term. > Miki refuses to grow up. What is an inextricable part of his childhood is the concept of innocence. Doing nothing out of malice, bad things just happen to you. Miki certianly doesn't like to be bossed around by adults yet can't challenge his father who left the Kaoru family on his own accord for his affair in their telphone call. Miki still upholds his well-behaved demeanous and can't direct his anger at his father. Miki's already trapped into conformity to adults where the usual protocol demands respect for them, especially for men. So in his mind his father's affair takes the shape of Anthy as only the ideal woman would explain as to why a father would leave his family.

Here's the thing: Kozue is attached to Miki for her self perception as Miki needs her for his selfperception. This represents itself in this bird's nest motive as both try to preserve the symbolic sanctity of home and family care. Understandable as their parents are divorcing which takes an emotional toll on them. > Miki greatly fails Kozue in not being interested in who she is. Kozue herself suffers under a complex in which everything Miki does is to be praised whereas she feels she can't play the piano as good as him. She feels like she could never live up to him so negative attention is the only form of conenction she cosndiers effective. >Which is very much Shiori's strategy of negative attention and taunting keeping a desired person in one's life by proxy. > Kozue is never afforded protection. She's dragged onto the piano stage in spite of her crying and protest, her goign out with different boys is seen as promiscuous character trait, or met with scorn rather than worrying anyone. Her experience makes her belief that "growing up" is equal to "loss of innocence", or in her words "getting yourself dirty". > Kozue also maintains Miki's image of innocence and brilliance. When we see Kozue's duel episode we witness her protecting Miki from a predatory music teacher. Kozue does get Miki's attention by dating around. She does so very intetionally as she confesses to Mikage. Acting like she doesn't care yet her eyes are constantly surveilling her brother. Her duel speech is entirely about how brilliant Miki is, how her duel skills are Miki's. > Kozue can only contrast the image of her self when contrasted to Miki. > Kozue also falls into the trappings of believing in the preservation of innocence for men as her reason to duel is her lossing her grip on Miki as he begins to get interested in Anthy. Instead of blaming Miki's desinterest in Kozue in first palce. > Meaning Kozue's self perception is one in which she is inferior since Miki is the brilliant child, not her with clumsy Piano play, wild attitude where Miki is polite and well-behaved. An out of love for him she will also be the "bad twin", and keep any threats challenging Miki's current state away. > A lot of readings how Miki and Kozue basically just split in gendered experience are apt. Moreso as the gendered socialisation of Miki being praised and sheltered whereas Kozue is pushed into discomfort early on is a massively different socilisation from teh get go. In any case their twin identity is one in which they themselves see each other as halves of one instead of autonomous people. > Them breaking apart in an argument is a good change actually. In their last duel Kozue wanted Miki to grow up with her until she realized how immature Miki was. And Miki realized that he did not want to share his world view with Kozue, and he rather grows up on his own terms. Granted, he could decide that for himself but he definitely won't use Kozue for that undertaking anymore.

Obviously, no matter what existencial crisis the male duelists go through, their existencial struggle will not add up in the intimate violation the female characters will likely face in the future. However, Miki is not a mosnter masquerading with doe-eyes. He's a 13 year old boy, next to Tsuwabuki one of the youngest cast members, who needed a two part episode and highly seductive hooking before he got baited into dueling. And in the end he gives up dueling, he lets go of Kozue, is inspired by Utena to make his own path and girs back to his piano playing without inhibitions. Like everyone else, he's struggling with values in an environment, makes the wrong choices, needs to learn, and is incentivised and rewarded for selfish, uncaring actions.

>He's on a dangerous path but his warning sign is Ruka with his dark blue colour coding. > Miki's theme is the refusal of responsibility, and preserving one's self-conception of innocence as refusal to grow up. Miki's colour code is light blue. > Ruka's colour code is dark blue. He returns at Ohtori on his last living days, trying to liberate Juri from her fixation of Shiori. Juri's fixation on Shiori isn't positive for Juri for many (self-made) reasons although Ruka locates the problem in Juri's sexuality. The tragedy lies in him understanding his friend better than anyone but instead of helping her through her depression, he tries to converse her in order for him becoming her love interest. Even more upsetting is him considering himself burdened by this painful task, doing a saints work, he must hurt Juri but it is for his the greater cause. In Ruka we see how the self repception of innocence mutates into lack of self-reflection, lack of accountability, immunity of guilt and misdeed. Thre is always someone else to blame. (Preferably women.)

Overall I have the impression that the duelist's refusal to take responsibility for the loved one's around them set Kozue and Shiori down a negative developement. > Where Shiori and Kozue both started slighted too attached yet getting balanced back to affection of their prince figure - if not capable of resolving their issues by simply getting listened to - these two girls have delved deeply into their worst impulses in order to re-connect to their duelists. > Like every action in SKU can be traced back to the desire to be loved and appreciated in their personhood. Beware, Ohtori lures one into loosing oneself on the path and becoming a persona. > Juri and Miki both caused this by them stewing in their own misery until they matured into detaching themselves from the object of their fixation.

Innocence as concept itself gets challanged as, mostly demonstrated by Utena's intial lack of unterstanding for Anthy, and Miki's lack of self reflection demonstrate how innocence might start as lack of information adn experience but continues as a mode of enacting in one's own wilfulness without accountability. At some point people need to mature by recognizing how cruel the concept of "innocence" can become. > Ironically, Juri's assumption of Shiori as "innocent" is an inaccurate one. However very fitting to Utena who does hold power over Anthy without acknoledging it. Ironically, Juri is innocently cruel as she too posesses power over Shiori without acknowledging it. Meanwhile Shiori beat herself up for dating their common friend. Shiori's very aware about having made a mistake.

[baenyth]

Bethany's Bizarre Miraculous Reviews Episode 6-1: Climatiqueen

WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK, BABY!!! LET'S GO! NEW ARTSTYLE! NEW TECHNOLOGY! MARINETTE IS FUCKED! LET'S HOPE SOME SHITTY RELATIONSHIPS BREAK UP SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!

Alright, since we're starting off with her, let's just get this out of the way: they fucked up Rose's hair. I'm fine with everything else about her, her clothes, her makeup, I can look her in the eyes, etc. Her hairstyle went from Miki Kaoru with an ahoge to Ellen Degeneres. That is a downgrade. And apparently a future episode is making Evangelion theory stronger than ever! Why are we abandoning Eva's lesbian sister at the same time!?

And Chloe. Although I don't think that's actually her, but what's the point of making her a strong prominent social media figure after her Swan Song? Wasn't the whole point that she was destroyed? Ruined? Given a punishment straight from one of Miraculous' most infamous salt fics? Why is she suddenly on top again? The peoples of Paris literally celebrated her downfall! Was this damage control after how horribly her swan song was received? I hate shitty damage control like this. Either commit wholeheartedly on your terrible actions or do a complete undo and give her an actual redemption arc.

Oh the afro though? Swag.

Plagg wants to tell him so badly. Do it! Better you than Lilamoth!

Oh hey. Juleka's pretty high on his contacts. I wonder what that's about.

Damn bitch, you live like this?

And we've finally made it to the new title. I like how they took the complaints that people know Marinette's secret by giving her a new, absolutely horrendous secret.

Candace behavior

Depression

Adrien's complimenting dad's shitty-ass pancakes. This is what Marinette has wrought with her misinformation.

Tell it how it is, Nathalie.

With freedom comes depression. With schedules comes anxiety.

You know what? Based Gorilla.

Gina lore!

Like how Adrien is a passion for you, Marinette?

Is that Lila?

Surprise trashcan!

Man, Algae's cooking, not to mention akumatization prevention superstition!

On the subject of Algae, it irks me that they can design such a good goth/emo(?) character but janked up Juleka's hair. The undercut doesn't fit her. She's not that punk. She's mostly goth. Goth is about being weird and creepy while punk is about societal revolution. Mylene's more punk than Juleka. Give Mylene the undercut. If you want to show both of Juleka's eyes, give her the hairpin from Reflekdoll! I'm okay with everything else though, for the most part.

Wait, no. Manipulative behavior. I can see why people think she's Lila.

This is reminding me of the one fic by Buggachat. More specifically the scene where Adrien tries out all sorts of new things and immediately ditches them because he's not perfect on the first try. That was good.

Spreading misinformation

Adrien sounds so depressed. Holy hell.

Damn, Lilamoth is surreal and sinister.

And the transformation is so nasty-looking too!

I will say though, they fixed Ondine. She looks so good and has clothes that aren't a swimsuit!

The design is a major glow-up, plus the powers are one of the funniest applications of mind control I've seen!

Big fan of platonic Ladynoir banter

The train lmao

Such a polite villain!

Also I have to say, I love the noises Climatiqueen's powers make. Good noises.

Damn, Markov's been shrunk. Reduced.

Ah, new summoning animation. Was the whole summoning thing based off of the Alliance Rings?

Also Pegasus now has infinite portals? Isn't this supposed to be episode 1? I can understand if you're doing an in medias res thing like in season 1 but didn't everyone gain infinite powers in episode 11 from what I've heard?

That Cataclysm animation was so peak! The animation is great now!

A-Aurora Borealis!?

Oh hey! Double Rainbow! I remember that meme!

So are those, like, the other heroes?

And now "why are you running!?" A lot of coincidental meme references?

And there she is. The girl. Adrien's finding passion.

Alright, first episode. I'm guessing they're waiting until later for the introduction like in season 1? Also Adrien seems codependent on Marinette. That ain't healthy. Doesn't he have other friends? I guess he's befriending Sublime,

As for the two new gimmicks for these reviews, the Axes of Funk and the Bingo Chart, nothing of importance really happened, so all I have is the free space:

Meanwhile for the axes of funk Climatiqueen was drippy as hell and although the social media thing didn't really fit into the weather theming, it was at least funky. Definite top right.

[seri-tonin]

OOH thanks for the tag miki!!

The blorbos in question:

Tagging anyone who wants to!!

Tagged by @kyouka-supremacy ty for tagging me!!

Rules: pick 5 or more of your fave characters and poll to see who matches you best

Visual aid:

It was quite hard to pick only 5! my favs list is never ending...

tagging (no pressure): @gyagu @knightzp @volatilize @bienamados @dickggansey and open tags for anyone who wants to ♡

[iukasylvie]

"Consequences? In This Narrative?" – A Comparison Between Revolutionary Girl Utena and One Piece

It honestly blows my mind that so many characters in the anime Revolutionary Girl Utena commit absolutely vile acts—emotional abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, cruelty for entertainment—and yet face zero lasting consequences for any of it. Where is the fallout? The severed bonds? The shattered reputations?

Let's run through just a few examples:

Anthy Himemiya stabs Utena Tenjou in the back (literally and metaphorically), facilitates Akio Ohtori's grooming games, and walks away into a hopeful sunset.

Touga Kiryuu lies to Nanami about their biological relationship just to mess with her and plays psychological games with everyone he meets.

Kozue Kaoru dates random guys just to upset Miki.

Shiori Takatsuki strings along Juri Arisugawa while manipulating her feelings out of petty resentment.

Kyouichi Saionji, Ruka Tsuchiya, Akio Ohtori... the list goes on.

And yet... nobody loses social standing. Nobody is exiled. Nobody even really gets called out, beyond some poetic ambiguity and symbolic gestures. It's as if the show's dreamlike tone excuses everything.

Compare this to the manga One Piece—a series often accused of being cartoony or lacking "depth"—and you'll find actual characters and systems that get confronted and rejected:

The Celestial Dragons, despite being protected by the World Government, are widely despised across the world.

Even Donquixote Homing, a former Celestial Dragon who tried to live humbly, is still persecuted and brutally punished for the atrocities of other Celestial Dragons.

That disapproval is systemic, social, and violent—not just "symbolic." Characters like Sabo, Fisher Tiger, and even Donquixote Doflamingo's origin story center around how deeply and permanently these systems ruin lives.

You don't have to love One Piece to see that it understands consequences. People don't just walk away unscathed after perpetuating cruelty and abuse. There are costs, and those costs shape characters and the world.

Meanwhile, Utena lets most of its cast walk away from their wreckage without so much as a dent in their reputation. If it weren't so aesthetically ambiguous, I'm convinced more fans would be calling it out.

Sometimes I think people excuse Utena's lack of consequences because the show is "symbolic" or "not meant to be literal." But symbolic storytelling doesn't absolve you from accountability. If anything, it makes the erasure of justice even louder.

[arscorpii]

About your poison essay, that scene really intrigued me because along with the bodyswap episode and wakaba flourishing episode, this is one of the only times (that i can remember) that the outside world is depicted outside of things like flashbacks. The streets have a rather “cyberpunk” kinda vibe to them, which contrasts with the rest of the show’s fancy fantasy-inspired aesthetics (barring the back half of the movie).

thank you for sharing your ideas. you have good points!! i agree with you!! your ask also got me thinking about this. throughout the series, several characters were shown to have been able to leave ohtori on their own terms. however, each time, these characters returned to ohtori once again. we saw nanami, shiori, wakaba, tokiko, ruka, and utena leave ohtori, often in relation to other characters, and return due to those specific characters, too. nanami left ohtori grounds a few times due to touga, but in her final attempt at leaving ohtori for good via transfer, she was stopped by touga. shiori left ohtori for unclear reasons, but it's plausible to consider it's due to the complications with herself, juri, and the guy from the past. her return could also possibly be related to juri. wakaba was shown to leave ohtori and go into town twice, and both times were in relation to saionji. tokiko left ohtori after mikage burnt down the research efforts she relied on in hopes of curing mamiya, her ill younger brother. mamiya died and was buried in ohtori. she returned to visit his grave and subsequently, akio. ruka was the only person to have stayed out of ohtori due to illness and not because of anyone in particular. but his return could be due to either being called back by end of the world or due to juri. utena left ohtori several times with akio. anthy never really left ohtori grounds, at least not as herself, as she was at kaoru twins' father's house as the rose bride. it's arguable if that's actually her or if it's a projection of some kind from miki's side. the suicide attempt took place at a location within ohtori, but as you pointed out, we got a look at the outside world beyond ohtori. i think, from my perception and reading, ohtori can be regarded as the general paradigm of a sunlit garden, inside which the people are bound to it by their specifically curated sunlit gardens. it's all-encompassing, a mirror that reflected and amplified the projected sunlit gardens of the beholders; it could be an egg or a coffin, depending on the character itself. connecting this point to the visual themes ascribed to the characters by the narrative in the context of venturing to the outside world beyond ohtori, i think it may allude to the possibility that nanami, wakaba, utena, and anthy had the most viable capability to leave ohtori, that ohotori was an eggshell that they can break out of. we saw that the outside world can be wide and colourful, unrestrained, when these particular characters were narratively placed in it, despite their respective adversities at those moments. this suggestion is supported by the fact that in the movie, utena and anthy managed to escape ohtori, nanami was a cow and thus, was never in ohtori in the first place, and wabaka was the mobile that carried the student council members to eventually escape ohtori. shiori became the vermin-esque mobile, but her focus was on on-upping anthy and utena, she can also turn into a car like utena, and she must be the first to leave ohtori. in any case, shiori struggled to leave ohtori, most likely due to her relationship with juri. but juri was planning on leaving and seemed determined to do so in the movie. looking back to the series, in episode 37, juri, nanami, and miki seemed to have been able to take a step toward moving forward from their own sunlit gardens; and in episode 39, they seemed to have achieved their own revolutions. shiori was in the background for both episodes; she may need a longer time to leave ohtori. ruka died in the series and wasn't present in the movie. safe to say ohtori became his coffin. tokiko was able to move away from ohtori, but she was somewhat bound to it by akio. finally, both utena and anthy were able to leave ohtori both in the series and in the movie :)

[whosyourfavevoicedby-polls]

[nodutra19]

Rambling

Reading RGU analysis always makes me feel dumb as shit. I'm a heavy reader but outside some manga and videogames, I've pretty much neglected visual mediums, so watching RGU was a very strange experience. I love it, I just feel tiny in comparison to everyone else who seems to get it, unlike I.

Obviously, Ohtori Academy is a coffin, a trap, an arrest of development. From Sôji's fixation on Tokiko to Akio's obsession with becoming Dios, the rotten ideal in white, everyone has to disassemble what they've been taught. Juri has to let go of Shiori, and everyone has to let go of these stupid and harmful games and ideas. One thing I did struggle with understanding until now was how possible it was for Miki and Kozue, Nanami and Tôga to have healthy familial relationships after everything.

I realized I was thinking too rigidly, in spite of my planned no-contact with my own family. CLAMP once said "Family is other people too" (in xxxHolic). The main thread for all the characters in RGU is the fact they're holding onto something they need to let go of. After everything's that happened, the Kaoru and Kiryû siblings have unsalvagable bonds. That's how I see it anyway. They were already taught horrible things. It's just that on top of that, they've morphed their relationships into something incredibly foul and mephitic. A bit of separation anxiety isn't harmful in itself, but the four of them have festered it into one of the most twisted things I've ever seen. As Ikuhara said in episode 15's commentary, there's this idea that familial relationships are the deepest. "Blood is thicker than water."

The hell of it is, the original line is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." Meaning that what matters more in this world is the bonds you choose. You don't choose where or with whom you are born. But you do choose who you associate with. Obviously there's a lot of complexity about the interactions between the individual and the collective, the individual and the structures about the individual, but ultimately a choice is a choice.

Family bonds are just as fragile as any other. They're just as fleeting, just as prone to deterioration. They're not eternal as we're taught, hence the revolving, spiraling incest throughout the show. We're taught family is forever, and so it's no wonder the Kaoru, Kiryû, and Himemiya siblings have the dynamics they do. They represent different forms of what this sort of thinking leads to. Especially Akio. After all, a Prince is a member of Royalty, no? And we all know what Royalties throughout our histories commit in order to be "pure." This thinking is what traps so many into cycles of familial abuse. If we were to treat family as we treat "outsiders" (because that's how we're taught to think of anyone outside the family), if our lenses were shaped to this analysis, if our retinas were shaped to recognize these true colors, I'd say most of us would never like our families from the jump. It's much the same way adults justify beating their children and yet if anyone even their age beat on them whenever they made a mistake, you bet your fucking ass they'd fight back. But if it's family, it's suddenly different, when really it isn't.

Hell, this is part of why we say "bro," "homie," "twin," "brother," "sister" to people we're extremely close with. Even I do that. Found family is a wonderful thing, but if "Family is other people too," then how does "found family" factor into things? If we're so rebellious against things such as the nuclear family structure, if we understand that family doesn't determine anything, then what use is found family? If we so despise these structures, why do we mimic it? Are we like Utena who say "I'm completely different from you, Saionji/Tôga/Juri/Miki/Sôji/Akio" when we're mimicking said structure? Is what we seek in these relationships undefinable in the lexicon we're given? If family is as fleeting and prone to death as any other bond, then what's the worth of referring to these non-familial bonds in terms of family? Maybe that's part of why this show has so many fucking orphans and/or absent parents.

I'm not saying you should stop feeling sisterly or brotherly to that one friend who just seems to get you. Really, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I did. But it's still something to chew on, I think. I can't provide any answers though.

I hope this has been insightful in some way. I feel late as hell to the party. One of these days I'mma go through all of Empty Movement.

[anonymous-gambito]

Since I always like to throw my interests together– the thing about Zuko is that the fandom thinks he's a Miki when he's really more of a Saionji