Anthy is fucking tragic and fucking messed up. She looks like a victim but she's also pretty terrible in her own right, even if most of her problems are Akio's doing he's not the one who made her fuck with Nanami and be passive-aggressive as shit to the Student Council. It's so complex, really-she's being abused, and she's fighting against it the only way she knows how.
And Akio is a horrible person but an interesting villain because we know who he used to be. Dios was a good person, but Akio killed him over the years. And Anthy REMEMBERS Dios being a good person, hence her staying with Akio all this time. Because she remembers when her abuser was good and kind to her, even though he's not anymore. And she's afraid to leave him because he's all she had, then and now.
Word to EVERYTHING. The way Anthy was handled was so realistic; yeah, she's a victim, but she's pissed off and violent and fully capable of being manipulative and abusive too. She's so awesome. *-*
Assuming I adopt a female black cat with green eyes, I'm naming her after Anthy~ ♥
Yeah, I don't throw Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu freely, but the tropes definitely lined up with each other. If I remember from the liner notes, Ikuhara was haunted by the memory of this guy and wondering why he told the doctors not to tell his family when he died. If I was the director, I would've cut out Ruka "comforting" Juri after the duel and made it even more clear it was the deconstruction of the Gary-Stu, and push the "don't try to fix things you don't fully understand" theme more so it wouldn't be so vague.
I liked Utena/Anthy before, but now that I know the complexities of their characters, I love them even more. :D Juri/Shiori is one of my new favorite ships; the scene where a possessed Shiori confronts Juri with the locket before pulling the sword out of her gives me chills in all the right ways. THIS is what dysfunctional ships are made of. :D But at the same time, I love that they're not fully unreconcible either, that they've got the chance to heal their relationship if they would confront the ugly parts of themselves. Which is hard as fuck for them to do because of Juri's pride and Shiori's rock-bottom self-esteem, but not impossible with the support of Utena and non-toxic friends. I think Juri/Miki is very cute too! Miki's the one person Juri's openly warm around and never raises her voice at, and seeing Miki flushed and flustered while she tutors him in fencing is precious. :3 I'd ship Utena/Juri, but there's not as much chemistry between them and Juri's often openly hostile to Utena. :( So Juri/Miki it is~ ♥
Touga/Saionji are perfect for each other and I loved their final moments on the show where they were partners facing Utena & Anthy. :3 And I like Nanami/Saionji too; Saionji needs someone who won't take his crap at all, and Nanami's perfect for that. XD She beat him up over an egg, and he was all, "Dude, calm down, I'll make you all the eggs you ever want." After all the shit they've gone through with shitty adoptive parents and Akio using them like puppets (and after Nanami calls out Touga for lying to her), Touga, Saionji, and Nanami can live happily together as one happy family. ;; I like Utena/Wakaba too, since it makes me think it's a distant cousin of Jeff/Tony. Tony and Wakaba have a few things in common in that they're openly affectionate with their friend, while Jeff/Utena are a little overwhelmed but like being in their company nonetheless. Not to mention providing a morale boost for their friend and snapping them out of their BSODs and convincing them not to give up. (At least that's my headcanon with Tony; he doesn't get as much screentime as Wakaba, but I imagine he'd been with Jeff through many rough patches long before he met the Chosen 4) The scene where Utena duels Wakaba and wins--all without drawing the sword from Anthy and hurting her--is made of win, awesome, and heartwarming. ;;
Anthy and Wakaba would have jealousy issues to overcome, but in the end, I believe they'd be happy to share Utena. :3 After all, Wakaba started out being intimidated by Anthy, but later in the series starts visiting her and Utena more often, so yay~
I ship Kanae/A Happy Ending. It's implied she got poisoned to death by Akio and Anthy, and waaaaah. ;; Maybe somehow she lived and she ends up dating Kozue (a contrast to Kanae's innocence) post-series or something? Beats me. *shrug* Speaking of Kozue, I didn't like her at first because she seemed jealous and petty and clingy over Miki (her movie self didn't help). Giving it food for thought, I guess she's so jaded and knows what bullshit is going over the school that she wants to protect her innocent, oblivious brother? Like there's this teacher who was implied to have molested Miki, so she got pissed off and knocked the guilty party down the stairs. Like Anthy, she's all, "Screw being nice, it's better to live for yourself" and her way of doing this is to live as decadent a life as possible. She's familiar with the Madonna/Whore complex and knows she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't, so she does whatever the fuck she wants. Yet she still has this soft side to her she doesn't want to admit, like the time she saved the abandoned baby birds. Maybe towards the end of the series, she's showed signs of mellowing out? I'm not sure, I'm still confused over her.
I made Utena Miis for Tomodachi Life, and I may make more later! :3 Nanami's catchphrase is "MOO!" naturally.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-12-26 06:52 am (UTC)And Akio is a horrible person but an interesting villain because we know who he used to be. Dios was a good person, but Akio killed him over the years. And Anthy REMEMBERS Dios being a good person, hence her staying with Akio all this time. Because she remembers when her abuser was good and kind to her, even though he's not anymore. And she's afraid to leave him because he's all she had, then and now.
Word to EVERYTHING. The way Anthy was handled was so realistic; yeah, she's a victim, but she's pissed off and violent and fully capable of being manipulative and abusive too. She's so awesome. *-*
Assuming I adopt a female black cat with green eyes, I'm naming her after Anthy~ ♥
Yeah, I don't throw Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu freely, but the tropes definitely lined up with each other. If I remember from the liner notes, Ikuhara was haunted by the memory of this guy and wondering why he told the doctors not to tell his family when he died. If I was the director, I would've cut out Ruka "comforting" Juri after the duel and made it even more clear it was the deconstruction of the Gary-Stu, and push the "don't try to fix things you don't fully understand" theme more so it wouldn't be so vague.
I liked Utena/Anthy before, but now that I know the complexities of their characters, I love them even more. :D Juri/Shiori is one of my new favorite ships; the scene where a possessed Shiori confronts Juri with the locket before pulling the sword out of her gives me chills in all the right ways. THIS is what dysfunctional ships are made of. :D But at the same time, I love that they're not fully unreconcible either, that they've got the chance to heal their relationship if they would confront the ugly parts of themselves. Which is hard as fuck for them to do because of Juri's pride and Shiori's rock-bottom self-esteem, but not impossible with the support of Utena and non-toxic friends. I think Juri/Miki is very cute too! Miki's the one person Juri's openly warm around and never raises her voice at, and seeing Miki flushed and flustered while she tutors him in fencing is precious. :3 I'd ship Utena/Juri, but there's not as much chemistry between them and Juri's often openly hostile to Utena. :( So Juri/Miki it is~ ♥
Touga/Saionji are perfect for each other and I loved their final moments on the show where they were partners facing Utena & Anthy. :3 And I like Nanami/Saionji too; Saionji needs someone who won't take his crap at all, and Nanami's perfect for that. XD She beat him up over an egg, and he was all, "Dude, calm down, I'll make you all the eggs you ever want." After all the shit they've gone through with shitty adoptive parents and Akio using them like puppets (and after Nanami calls out Touga for lying to her), Touga, Saionji, and Nanami can live happily together as one happy family. ;; I like Utena/Wakaba too, since it makes me think it's a distant cousin of Jeff/Tony. Tony and Wakaba have a few things in common in that they're openly affectionate with their friend, while Jeff/Utena are a little overwhelmed but like being in their company nonetheless. Not to mention providing a morale boost for their friend and snapping them out of their BSODs and convincing them not to give up. (At least that's my headcanon with Tony; he doesn't get as much screentime as Wakaba, but I imagine he'd been with Jeff through many rough patches long before he met the Chosen 4) The scene where Utena duels Wakaba and wins--all without drawing the sword from Anthy and hurting her--is made of win, awesome, and heartwarming. ;;
Anthy and Wakaba would have jealousy issues to overcome, but in the end, I believe they'd be happy to share Utena. :3 After all, Wakaba started out being intimidated by Anthy, but later in the series starts visiting her and Utena more often, so yay~
I ship Kanae/A Happy Ending. It's implied she got poisoned to death by Akio and Anthy, and waaaaah. ;; Maybe somehow she lived and she ends up dating Kozue (a contrast to Kanae's innocence) post-series or something? Beats me. *shrug* Speaking of Kozue, I didn't like her at first because she seemed jealous and petty and clingy over Miki (her movie self didn't help). Giving it food for thought, I guess she's so jaded and knows what bullshit is going over the school that she wants to protect her innocent, oblivious brother? Like there's this teacher who was implied to have molested Miki, so she got pissed off and knocked the guilty party down the stairs. Like Anthy, she's all, "Screw being nice, it's better to live for yourself" and her way of doing this is to live as decadent a life as possible. She's familiar with the Madonna/Whore complex and knows she's damned if she does and damned if she doesn't, so she does whatever the fuck she wants. Yet she still has this soft side to her she doesn't want to admit, like the time she saved the abandoned baby birds. Maybe towards the end of the series, she's showed signs of mellowing out? I'm not sure, I'm still confused over her.
I made Utena Miis for Tomodachi Life, and I may make more later! :3 Nanami's catchphrase is "MOO!" naturally.