#wakaba and tatsuya

[asofterutena]

(Better or worse?)

[original comic by @diaryofadissembler]

[nami-moittli]

I am. Doing something

Notes:

Lisa and An look so similar, and p5 is a lot like p2 so why not connect them!

Lisa’s dad has an older brother who got married to a Japanese woman, who I want to say kickstarted his descent into being a complete Japanophile, but I haven’t really figured out the ages for that to work yet. I wanna say he was like, early to pre teens when Big Bro Silverman started dating/got married to his wife but idk

Anyway Big Bro Silverman and his wife have a daughter, who then gets married to the Papa Takamaki, explaining the name change (ofc I coulda made Big Bro into Big Sis Silverman and had the same effect but wtvr) and they have An.

But Wonder’s parents are canonically just- SHHH in my head p5 and p5x take place in different timelines, which is why I’m comfortable in saying that in my headcanon, Wonder is Katsumaya’s kid and in the p5x timeline Katsuya’s dead which is why his home life is, vaguely nonexistent from what I’ve heard. In mainline p5 timeline he’s a way happier kid and him and Ren are really close!

But Ren’s parents are probably really bad, we don’t hear from them ONCE- Shut up shutupshutupshutup that’s your opinion, Flowerchild AU 🔛🔝 I love them. Tatsujun adopted Ren at about age, idk 3-4? So Tatsujun’d be about 21ish? Also due to ✨gayness✨ I doubt that Tatsujun are married legally (Idrk Japanese laws very well, let alone their gay ones lol) and Jun’s last name is Kashihara bc. The Punishment is in fact Eternal

Alright I stole the idea of Yuka (persona 1) being Ryuji’s mom right off of @/hypogryffin, so yeah

Again Zenkichi and Saori being siblings is smth I got from hypogryffin, but it’s reasonable to come to this conclusion because they have the same last name. Also, if we say that Zen is 44 in p5s during 2017, and Saori is 18 in 2009, then that means that there’s an about 18 year difference between them, which is very funny to me. Also I think Minako would love to meet little 6ish year old Akane and that’s fun

Also, idk if I want to go the Futago sibs route or add in Baofu being Futaba’s bio dad, which would both be interesting. I do like the idea of Ken and Akechi being half siblings tho, so I put that in (also I accidentally misspelled Shido’s first name lol)

So. Yeah. Fun

[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.) Utena was the only character I allowed a pokemon that can mega evolve. She is the one chosen to wield the power of Dios in the duels.

5.) 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, and her mega evolution 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.

[transmascutena]

love it when utena tries to play matchmaker. me when i'm definitely straight and care about romance soooo much just look at how i'm helping all my friends with it while very much not pursuing it myself

(^ aromantic lesbian buddies)

[lilfishiefigureskates]

Super Late Japanese National Championshps Review

This is so late but I'm still gonna do it.

Men:

Yuma Kagiyama: Total Score 297.73 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. A bright spot in the disaster that was the men’s event. However, it was not his best performance - he went down on the 3A in the short and had a couple of stepouts in the free. I’m just glad he had no problems with the 4S this event. I’m glad he changed his costume. I love him so much.

Rio Nakata: Total Score 263.99 - 2nd in the short, 2nd in the free. I love him. The Pirates of the Caribbean program slayed. His fist pumps were so cute. Overall it was a very strong performance. He ran out of gas a bit at the end of the free but he was clean so that’s all that matters. Wish he was old enough to go to worlds lol.

Tatsuya Tsuboi: Total Score 247.31 - 14th in the short, 3rd in the free. After his free skate I remember saying to myself that I hope he gets two Grand Prix assignments next season��� and now he’s going to Worlds lol. In all honesty, he was great at the NHK Trophy and if he hadn’t popped the 3A in the short he wouldn’t have a pretty decent score. I just hope the World’s pressure doesn’t get to him, but I’m happy we’ll see him at Four Continents first.

Nobunari Oda: Total Score 234.68 - 5th in the short, 6th in the free. This man had me crying so hard. He was crying, and I was crying, and he was amazing. I have no words. 100/10.

Kazuki Tomono: Total Score 233.95 - 3rd in the short, 8th in the free. All season he has put up decent scores in the short, but then struggles in the free and it is so frustrating. Not really loving either of his programs.

Sena Miyake: Total Score 233.49 - 11th in the short, 4th in the free. His Titanic free means everything to me. He had two Grand Prix assignments a in 22-23 season I believe but he hasn’t really been able to put down consistent results. In the short he was fighting hard to stay up, and he looked a lot more confident in the free. I am so happy he did well and I hope to see more of him next season.

Shun Sato: Total Score 230.8 - 6th in the short, 7th in the free. The 4Lz really betrayed him this event, and the fall he had on it in the free was so scary. Overall his free program was pretty rough but I’m glad he got his disaster skate of the season out of the way because Shun is finally going to worlds!!!!

Kao Miura: Total Score 230.09 - 4th in the short, 9th in the free. This was heartbreaking. I’m glad he’s taking a break and allowing his injury to heal. This season has been a bit rough, but it’s next season that really matters so he needs to get healthy. I wish he would have had the Fuecoco Trio at Worlds but hopefully we’ll see them together at the Olympics. I loved his new free costume.

Koshiro Shimada: Total Score 224.04 - 15th in the short, 5th in the free. Don’t love the short, but I really like the free. I was surprised to see him go for the 4Lz in the free, because I don’t think I’ve seen him do it in competition this season.

Sota Yamamoto: Total Score 217.09 - 7th in the short, 12th in the free. This made me so sad. However, he also got a new costume for the free and I loved it. I’m obsessed with his free. The quads weren’t quading for him this competition which is such a shame. I’m salty that he didn’t get assigned to Four Continents.

Women:

Kaori Sakamoto: Total Score 228.68 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. I was so scared of the backloaded combo in the short but Kaori proved me wrong. She killed it and her speed is amazing. Even tho her tech score wasn’t as high as Mao’s her PCS got her to the top and I love that for her because I thought her performance was very engaging.

Mao Shimada: Total Score 219 - 2nd in the short, 2nd in the free. Her Defying Gravity short had me crying at 5:48AM. She Is a star, a bight shining star. But I don’t want her to do the 4T anymore. She doesn’t need and she doesn’t land it, so take it out.

Wakaba Higuchi: Total Score 206.4 - 4th in the short, 3rd in the free. Words cannot begin to describe how happy I am to see her on the podium. Wakaba and Kaori had me crying, their friendship is so cute. Popped the 3S in the free which is what she did at the Grand Prix Fina… suspicious. But other than that she was a solid 100/10. AND SHE’S GOING TO WORLDS!!!!!

Mone Chiba: Total Score 205.69 - 3rd in the short, 7th in the free. If she hadn’t gone down on the 3S in the free she would’ve made the podium. She has grown on me a lot this current season and the fact that I adore her programs probably play a big part in that. So excited to see her at Worlds!!!

Rino Matsuike: Total Score 204 - 5th in the short, 5th in the free. I am so happy we finally got to see her put down a clean short program! Popped the 3S in the free and had a lot of elements under review but she is an amazing skater and I’m so glad we got to see her put down two clean performances.

Mako Yamashita: Total Score 200.25 - 12th in the short, 4th in the free. I really did not expect to see her in the top 6 but her free program was so impressive. Even though she was 12th in the short, her performance was still pretty solid but the women were just absolutely killing it.

Rinka Watanabe: Total Score 198.55 - 11th in the short, 6th in the free. She really needed to pick up the speed in the short. The 3A was so good!!!! Felt like she had a lot more speed and confidence in the free. Stsq was only level 3. I’m also bitter that she didn’t get assigned to Four Continents.

Rion Symiyoshi: Total Score 197.53 - 7th in the short, 11th in the free. She put a hand down on the 2A in the short, and fell on the 3S in the free, but like I said, the women were doing so great those two small mistakes took her out of the running. I love that her free program is about a planting getting watered but unfortunately I do not love the plant program itself… idk if that made sense.

Saki Miyake: Total Score 196.55 - 8th in the short, 9th in the free. Loved the Phantom short and it was a pretty good performance. Her 3T3T in the free was HUGE. Little slow on the spins, but overall very nice.

Kaoruko Wada: Total Score 195.63 - 10th in the short, 8th in the free. She’s literally just a baby. I love both of her programs, especially the Titanic free. I love that she spins both ways! She had pretty good spins and speed.

Pairs:

Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara: Total Score 212.33 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. I think this was the first time they’ve been at nationals in an absurd amount of time lol. Love the short program. They missed the 2A sequence after the SBS 2T but I’m glad they made it out alive.

Yuna Magoka / Sumitada Moriguchi: Total Score 176.68 - 2nd in the short, 2nd in the free. Had a couple of small mistakes but they got their season’s best so yay! I really like both of their programs.

Sae Shimizu / Locus Tsuyoshi Honda: Total Score 136.72 - 3rd in the short, 3rd in the free. During their free, they stopped and went up to the judges and then they just kinda skated around for a couple of minutes before they resumed so that was kinda weird and I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t take very good notes on them so unfortunately I don’t have much to report, sorry.

Ice Dance:

Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita: Total Score 176.21 - 1st in the rhythm dance, 1st in the short. I am lowkey obsessed with them. Both of them are great actors and I think they look good together. Pretty decent speed as well. Love the free dance ending.

Azusa Tanaka / Singo Nishiyama: Total Score 168.92 - 2nd in the rhythm dance, 2nd in the free. I really like their rhythm dance, but I think the first half of the free is too slow. However I think they’ve improved their speed since NHK Trophy which I love to see.

Ayano Sasaki / Yoshimitsu Ikeda: Total Score 141.09 -3rd in the rhythm dance. 3rd in the free. He fell out of the twizzles in the free and the dance spin was only level 1. Can’t remember the rhythm dance, but I did like the free.

I am so sorry that this is a million years late, but this holiday season was crazy for me and I just started a new job! I’m gonna try and get caught up on Korean Nationals and I will hopefully get a review up late this week or early next week (sorry that I was unable to get a preview done), and then it’s back to our regularly scheduled program with a preview and review for Canadian Nationals, and then the following week is US Nationals, and then It’s Europeans!!!! Skating is going to keep me busy the next couple of weeks and I’m so excited!

I hope everyone had a good holiday season! Happy New Year! I hope everyone has a great 2025!

[bestutenacharactertournament]

Hi everyone and welcome to the tournament for the best Revolutionary Girl Utena character!!

Notice: characters are anime only.

edit: I didn't think there would be discourse over it, but this is both a better written and you prefer them tournament. You can vote for these characters for whatever reasons you like. I made this because I was curious on who the fandom liked more. So with that in mind, please keep interactions respectful!!

first matches are:

Utena Tenjou VS Juri Arisugawa Anthy Himemiya VS Touga Kiryuu Akio Ohtori VS Tatsuya Kazami Aiko Wakiya VS Wakaba Shinohara Chu-Chu VS Mitsuru Tsuwabuki Kanae Ohtori VS Souji Mikage Keiko Sonoda VS Yuko Ohse Kozue Kaoru VS Shiori Takatsuki Kyouichi Saonji VS Mamiya Chida Mari Hozumi VS Miki Kaoru Nanami Kiryuu VS The three dudes who say "Ooooo" all the time Ruka Tsuchiya VS Tokiko Chida The Shadow girls/drama club VS Prince Dios

Second matches are:

Utena Tenjou VS Miki Kaoru Anthy Himemiya VS Chu-Chu Tatsuya Kazami VS Shiori Takatsuki Wakaba Shinohara VS Souji Mikage Keiko Sonoda VS Nanami Kiryuu Kyouichi Saionji VS Tokiko Chida The Shadows Girls/Drama Club VS Juri Arisugawa

Third matches are:

Utena Tenjou VS Wakaba Shinohara Anthy Himemiya VS Nanami Kiryuu Shiori Takatsuki VS Juri Arisugawa Kyouichi Saonji VS The Shadow Girls/Drama club

this is my first tournament thingy so I hope it goes well 😅

Have fun!

[kankuroplease]

Tenko's children are siblings of moles ✨️thank you Sumi and Sumi's father Izuku🤭

Izuku’s moles got practically everyone. Even some of the ones that think they don’t have them 🤣

[sywtwfs]

Team Japan 2025 Competition Assignments

World Championships

Men: Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato, Tatsuya Tsuboi (alt: Kao Miura, Kazuki Tomono, Sota Yamamoto)

Women: Kaori Sakamoto, Mone Chiba, Wakaba Higuchi (alt: Rino Matsuike, Rion Sumiyoshi, Hana Yoshida)

Pairs: Miura/Kihara, Nagaoka/Moriguchi, Shimizu/Honda [pending TES mins]

Dance: Yoshida/Morita (alt: Tanaka/Nishiyama)

Four Continents Championships

Men: Tatsuya Tsuboi, Kao Miura, Kazuki Tomono (alt: Shun Sato, Koshiro Shimada)

Women: Wakaba Higuchi, Mone Chiba, Rino Matsuike (alt: Rion Sumiyoshi, Rinka Watanabe, Mako Yamashita)

Pairs: Miura/Kihara, Nagaoka/Moriguchi

Dance: Yoshida/Morita, Tanaka/Nishiyama

Junior World Championships

Men: Rio Nakata, Sena Takahashi, Shunsuke Nakamura (alt: Taiga Nishino, Haru Kakiuchi, Daiya Ebihara)

Women: Mao Shimada, Kaoruko Wada, Ami Nakai (alt: Ikura Kushida, Mei Okada, Haruna Murakami)

Pairs: Shimizu/Honda

Dance: Kishimoto/Tamura (alt: Yamashita/Nagata)

Announced earlier in the season:

University Games

Men: Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato, Kao Miura (alt: Sota Yamamoto, Tatsuya Tsuboi, Koshiro Shimada)

Women: Mone Chiba, Rion Sumiyoshi, Hana Yoshida (alt: Rinka Watanabe, Rino Matsuike, Saki Miyake)

Asian Winter Games

Men: Yuma Kagiyama, Shun Sato (alt: Sota Yamamoto, Kao Miura, Tatsuya Tsuboi)

Women: Kaori Sakamoto, Hana Yoshida (alt: Mone Chiba, Rion Sumiyoshi, Rino Matsuike)

Pairs: Nagaoka/Moriguchi, Shimizu/Honda

Dance: Yoshida/Morita, Tanaka/Nishiyama

Source

[exilley]

Friendship is a pretty fraught concept in Utena. Within the text, it's something that's ridiculed, taken advantage of, even resented, and its metatext tells us that in the way each of the characters struggle to share genuine relationships with each other outside of Ohtori's literal and figurative constructs, friendship is just another temporal aspect of infancy. It's the furthest thing from eternity. There is no blood obligation, romance, or binary arbitrations in friendship. The characters' relationships being stripped of that as children is an act of violence. Touga's pursuit of the eternity he glimpsed forces him to compromise Nanami and Saionji, two of the people closest to him; it's an ideal that promises power at the expense of his own ruin. He's right. There is no such thing as friendship where he's headed, to the top of Akio's tower. Juri and Shiori are ultimately two people who tragically were never able to see through their own preconceived notions of what they each thought the other's love was supposed to look like. So long as both of them remained trapped in the history of their former friendship, there was no way they could've beat the odds already stacked up against them in the form of cishetnormative patriarchy. Wakaba's innocent affection for Tatsuya in childhood gives way for the latter to develop an unhealthy fixation on the former, where Wakaba had long abandoned her elementary whims in favor of pursuing a commitment with Saionji as a way to accumulate social capital. Nanami only keeps her clique around because it provides her a sense of surety that her brother still values her above everyone else, while her clique likewise stay with Nanami becuase it affords them the opportunity to get close to Touga. Anthy's dedication to her role is just as performative as the way she treats those around her; where on the surface she appears to seek to empower Utena on behalf of her brother's interests, she harbors much more complicated and personal emotions towards her companion than that, and in this sense the nature of even their mutual feelings are warped on account of Anthy's cynicism. Friendship, the audience is constantly told, is an immaturity. No one's priority in a system that's made to profit off of the abuse of others. Utena is the sole individual who subverts this message as part of her counter-symbolism-- she insists Anthy make friends, she tries to get along with everyone on the Student Council, she tries to sympathize with all of her opponents in the dueling arena, she refrains from fighting her best friend. Callous individualism is the symptom of an ideology that undermines our humanity in order to establish an unsustainable hierarchy of Honor.

[n2nataliegoodman]

Shiori during the Black Rose arc has always greatly intrigued me because while all the others follow a fairly similar formula, she is the only one that completely diverges.

Kanae, Kozue, Mitsuru, Wakaba, and Keiko are all fairly similar in their motives; they love their respective members of the student council, but their love cannot be reciprocated (Akio’s distorted love being focused only on Anthy, Miki being her brother, Nanami seeing Mitsuru as a child, Saionji being a gay who is misogynistic and only really cares about Touga, and Touga being a misogynist who is probably gay and has Nanami chasing most girls away from her brother). All of their relationships are doomed to an unhappy ending.

Likewise, this is why Tatsuya (the onion prince) is turned away by Mikage. His and Wakaba’s story can have a happy ending if they’re honest with each other. Their story doesn’t have to be a tragedy.

Now, Shiori is different. For all of the brides, they have romantic feelings for their student council member (Kozue is a little bit of a slippery slope with this because she probably wants a normal sibling relationship but doesn’t realise it?) and want love from them that the member is incapable of giving.

For Shiori and Juri, if we take Shiori’s words as fact, their story is the opposite. Juri is the one with the doomed love that Shiori is incapable of reciprocating. Now, we as the audience know this is definitely not the case. Shiori very clearly has feelings for Juri, but she’s so caught up in her inferiority complex and the heteronormativity of the world they live in that she is unable to admit that to herself.

But again, this sets Shiori and Juri’s story apart. They both feel the same. Their story is not doomed be a tragedy from the start like all the others. Don’t get me wrong, they would have to do a lot of work to make their relationship work, but it’s not impossible.

I think this is why their ending during the finale is also so different. For all of the other Black Rose brides (save for Kanae because, you know, she’s presumed dead) they’ve gained space from the people they were so obsessed with. Mitsuru is hanging around Miki rather than sticking to and following the orders of Nanami; Kozue is letting someone else get close to her brother; we don’t see much of Keiko at the end, but presumably she’s no longer chasing after Touga or living under Nanami’s shadow as we see her with Aiko and Yuuko; and Wakaba has moved on to her onion prince.

But because Shiori and Juri’s relationship isn’t doomed to be a tragedy from the start, they seem to have actually gotten closer. While all the others grew apart to have a more healthy relationship, Juri and Shiori have grown closer to have a more healthy relationship.

I’d like to think that means that they’ll have a happy ending together once they work through their issues.

[justnotkrikkit]

I was reading through the JSF announcement of the championship teams and it's quite funny how they have to write a whole essay for senior men and junior women and every other spot is "we just sent the skaters that did good, thanks"

Some points of note:

The third men's world spot was between Kao and Tatsuya, and as Yuma, Kao, and Shun are all eligible to skate in the final two groups, they decided to go with Tatsuya (I think the implication here is that Yuma and Shun are going to "get the job done" with spots, so Kao isn't also required for the team)

For 4CC, both Yuma and Kaori declined to be considered. Kao is chosen because he didn't get worlds, and Tatsuya is being sent as he needs the world standing points. For the women, Mone and Wakaba are both being sent for world standing points. (Rino and Kazuki aren't given any specific reasoning outside of "met the criteria")

For junior worlds, Shunsuke gets the third men's spot due to his international performance as well as domestic senior body of work (Taiga and Haru were also considered for that spot). Ami gets the third women's spot for international performance (Ikura and Mei also considered)

They note later in the Q&A a couple of interesting things - first that Tatsuya was given the worlds spot over Kao due to his performance at Nats and NHK, so showing consistency over the year. They also note that the Olympic pressure is huge and it's good to have championship experience. Although not said directly, I think they're essentially admitting that choosing Mana for Beijing was a mistake as she didn't have enough experience going in, and the implication here (to me) is that they're giving Tatsuya a chance to be in the Olympic conversation next season if he continues to perform.

[asofterutena]

(According to whose standards?)

[complimentaryculler]

reading the color brown in revolutionary girl utena as a symbol of "ordinariness" makes so much sense. wakaba is an ordinary girl; she doesn't get to be special. keiko is an ordinary girl; she doesnt get to be the girlfriend of a cool guy, to be special to someone special. tatsuya is an ordinary guy; he is a plain, regular student. when tokiko leaves the academy, the garden where one can never grow up, her hair shifts from corruption purple to brown; married women are the natural state. and of course anthy has brown skin. because ordinary girls are used and abused by ordinary ordinary men, like akio. because all girls are like the rose bride.

[fairydust-stuff]

Saionji crack pairings

The thing is even if you did put Saionji with another guy or girl from Ohtori in his age range. I'm dead convinced Saionji would suffer in any other Ohtori relationship. Cause rule of Saionji.

Wakaba x Saionji happens for a while things are great until he pisses her off and she figures out how to lock him inside forever. May or may not make him wear a pink wig.

Saionji x Mikage

Touga is teaming up with him and their both torturing him. Saionji is in a relationship hell two way. With both the guys crushing on toying with him for their own amusement. Also, Mikage is such a good gaslighter he gaslit himself so good luck.

Saionji x Ruka

Saionji gets used and tossed aside, and Touga rubs salt on his wounds.

Saionji x Shiori

Saionji is still getting used since Shiori lives to hurt Juri. But she likes the fact he's easy to manipulate. Eggs him on to hit her only more openly than Anthy. Because Shiori hates herself that much! They probably take turns abusing one another. Saionji hits but Shiori always knows the exact words to cut him down.

Only sticks around because whenever Saionji tries to dump her she starts crying and declaring she can't live without him.

Chu Chu x Saionji (don't look at me the staff has teased it) Chu Chu leaves him for Touga eventually. Probably gets that shoujo framing as Chu chu runs into his arms.

Saionji x Tatsuya

On one hand, Tatsuya takes him back whenever Saionji can't stand Touga anymore but Tatsuya is more of a comfort blanket than a partner. His utter blandness makes Saionji want to scream.

[transmascutena]

I think it's interesting how one of the healthiest relationships in the show is Wakaba and Utena's friendship. Obviously, it has its flaws and tensions. But those tensions arise directly from the concept of being "special," from Wakaba dealing with their sense of inferiority towards Utena, who actively puts their sense of self-worth in winning these duels to keep Anthy at their side (a noble Prince...) People talk about Tatsuya being rejected as a Black Rose duelist a lot, but it's so notable that he's rejected because he's just...a more emotionally mature, less toxic person. Yeah, his heart is broken, but there is something decidedly human and mundane about how he approaches the conflict by asking, "What's wrong with me?" He sees him and Wakaba as two equals, he doesn't put their love conflicts on a pedestal, and he wants genuine solutions and hopes to confront his own flaws to understand why Wakaba rejected him.

Literally no one else is doing it like him.

A key theme in this show is critique of the nuclear family, but an extension of that theme is how said family unit breeds deep dysfunction into the characters' lives. The lack of communal infrastructure means characters are constantly putting their eggs in one basket. Everyone wants to return to their past because Ohtori and the patriarchal system doesn't offer chances to form new connections outside of the ones born of your trauma/childhood. Their lives are defined by their suffering. I view Wakaba and Utena's relationship as so important BECAUSE of how mundane it is, these 2 people met and they became friends and they eat bentos together and Wakaba views herself as non-special, but she doesn't realize how severely fucked up and lonely all the special people are.

I could go on. I want to write essays about this anime, for real. But it's something that struck me as I watch the show for the first time.

one of the reasons i find utena and wakaba's friendship so interesting and appealing is the fact that it and its issues are so mundane in the middle of all melodrama of the duels and the student council relationships and all of those things. their flaws feel very real for a teenage friendship, and they're all things i can personally relate to on some level. they obviously genuinely care about each other, but their friendships suffers from them not truly understanding each other, mostly because of their own lacking communication (utena doesn't tell wakaba any of the weird things going on in her life, probably out of some desire to protect her from it, and wakaba doesn't tell utena how upset that makes her, and ends up resenting her.) and it's completely accurate what you said about the tragedy of wakaba wanting to be special like utena is, but not realizing that said "specialness" comes at the cost of abuse and trauma. ohtori (akio) purposefully obfuscates that abuse to make it seem like something you should want. trying to disguise grooming as romance, etc. etc. the beauty of the rose hides its thorns and all that.

i'm not sure i'd call it the healthiest relationship in the show (although the bar is so low that it probably is by default) but it's important that the ways in which it is harmful are so normal. who hasn't ever been bad at communicating their feelings to people they care about? who hasn't kept secrets that they probably shouldn't? who hasn't grown apart from a middle school friend once new things started happening in their life? i'd argue that the flaws in the show's other relationships are also pretty normal when you strip away the layers of metaphor and symbolism from them (in the sense that abuse is exceedingly common.) but utena and wakaba's friendship exists almost entirely outside of that, which makes it stand out.

[azuresquirrel]

Extremely underrated part of RGU episode 19 "Song for a Fallen Kingdom" is that during BOTH scenes where Tatsuya is being a total boyfail talking about Wakaba, and Utena (compromised as usual whenever the word "prince" is thrown around) is encouraging him to confess, Anthy is fully not paying him the slightest attention at all. HER ASS IS NOT LISTENING!!!! GO GIRL GIVE US NOTHING!!!