#there are so many other random details just connecting to utena stuff in general that i could have gone on about

[specterthief]

so i just finished utena and it rewired my brain, as it does, and as i was watching i noticed some things:

i tweeted about this, but like. i already knew enough to have the impression before watching the series that there was probably a comparison to be drawn between maruki and akio but i can't get over the fact that the exterior shot of his palace looks like they just combined the staircase around the elevator to the dueling arena and akio's planetarium (which are really one and the same already) into one thing

and the whole nature of the planetarium, and what that reveals—that akio was always being dishonest about his work, that the planetarium wasn't about the stars as he claimed to endear himself to utena (and as it holds meaning to anthy, who says she wants to stay in the planetarium rather than see the stars outside in the real world) but about projecting the "fairy-tale illusions" to control the people within his walled garden—the same could be said about maruki's laboratory, and what's revealed about him. using cognitive psience to treat trauma was always a minor part of his goal. for a very long time—back to before he even first awakened his powers and used them on rumi—he wanted more than that, to preemptively control people deemed likely to commit crimes. controlling the cognition of all humanity was his expressed goal—a mission he thought he was chosen for by a god—before he had any idea that the phantom thieves would inadvertently grant him that much power. he can't even deny it when akechi accuses him of brainwashing sumire for his own self-satisfcation, merely argues that the ends justify the means if his reality is better for everyone. the "treatment" of sumi's specific trauma by destroying her real identity (and her being driven to such desperation that she'd attack the person she loves to stay in the false reality rather than face the truth) is just a byproduct, an experiment toward a greater end that places him in a position of godhood, of ultimate power to change the world in his image. to create his own garden of eden.

like, fuck, this certainly sounds familiar:

even on a more surface level—a member of the school faculty who's in the position with an ulterior motive, who the female students find extremely attractive (seriously, it's wild how often NPCs comment on maruki's looks or having feelings for him throughout his entire tenure at shujin—one even remarks on how good he looks in white.) a seemingly benevolent character who has a pre-established relationship with a young girl who's both the greatest victim of his schemes and violently devoted to protecting the fantasy he's created, who singles out the protagonist and bonds with them over time far more closely than would be appropriate for their positions, who uses that bond to try and achieve the power to change the world, only for the protagonist to refuse every temptation and take that power back...

and even looking at other symbols—in utena's duel with kanae, akio's fiancée (and the reason for him being in his position at ohtori,) she's surrounded by bouquets of white lilies that are identical to the one ella carries:

while in kanae's final appearance, she's shown catatonic as akio and anthy feed her apples—

—and apples are something that come up in relation to maruki constantly, whether the obvious presence of them as the fruit of eden in his palace (up yet another spiral staircase that resembles the path to the dueling arena):

or more prominently in the final boss fight:

or in his character art:

or references in various scenes, like in this bit of foreshadowing about making ryuji's "wish" come true:

or at more length with sumire:

and as the apples in utena can be compared both to the forbidden fruit of eden and the poison apple eaten by snow white, sumire, like kanae, is seen rendered unconscious (in a throne befitting a princess) in maruki's palace:

and despite her more obvious connection to cinderella via her persona, she has a weapon referencing snow white:

akio's obviously a much more overtly sinister character, as well an openly predatory one (which, to be clear, i definitely do not think is a supported read of maruki's actions in canon—manipulative, dishonest and terrible with setting appropriate boundaries with his teenage patients yes, acting with any legitimately predatory designs on anyone no) but the similarities are still striking to the point that they seem like they could be intentional, and i just wanted to try and get the coherent thoughts i had on all of this down in one place

and it is known both from statements from the guidebook interviews and from early content left in the final build of the game that significant amounts of maruki's story and palace were changed very late into development with the intention of making him more sympathetic and his deal more tempting, so i do wonder if this connection might have been even more clear in an earlier iteration of royal's story (though given they did have concerns about making him sympathetic from the outset, i don't think it's likely he was ever intended to be as clearly villainous as akio)