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Are you happy, I did it.
Revolutionary Utena and how we can use it to understand Susato better, a long over the top post is what you’re in for. Heads up! Let’s begin!
A short preamble.
So, Revolutionary Girl Utena! it’s a series that is spoken about more often than it’s actually watched, EVERYONE knows Utena and Anthy, but barely anyone has taken the time to see that this “iconic Yuri” is so much more than just a romance. RGU is a slap in the face, so to speak, it is an uncomfortable conversation about rape, grooming, and incest. If you cannot handle unapologetically accurate depictions of these things and how they are treated by society as a whole then you shouldn’t watch the show, this is not fluffed up and softened for the viewer. There is horror, love, betrayal, and two girls at the heart of it all who hurt each other so so many times..
but what does this have to do with Susato Mikotoba?
RGU is incredibly respectful to its female characters and written to be feminist, ace atttorney is… not that. Whatsoever.
The writers of ace attorney have a REALLY big misogyny issue, along with the fandom at large, surely there isn’t POSSIBLY a way to derive parallels between this game and THE Utena!! It would be absurd! Besides, Susato isn’t a victim of any of those horrible things listed!
And therein is my answer. Susato is pushed to the side, her AND her pain is ignored and only alluded to for the sake of a man, for Yuujin’s guilt over leaving her, so Ryuunosuke can cheer her up, not ONCE is she the focus of HER TRAUMA. Not even in HER case. AA tends to put female characters through the wringer and then never resolve the issues that would naturally arise from such a thing, so ironically these characters become even MORE tragic and interesting because of the lack of interest anyone has in addressing them.
Oh do you not believe me.
Maya loses her father, mother, sister, then she gets kidnapped, then her aunt BETRAYS her, then her cousin she didn’t know existed tries to kill her, along with fifty piles of murder charges that she’s innocent of. Now give me a scene where she’s working through all of that, where she lingers on it the same way the male characters linger on THEIR trauma, take one look at Miles Edgeworth and tell me he and Maya’s pain get the same amount of importance in the plot.
Do NOT even get me STARTED on trucy.
Who else is beaten down? Who else’s pain is ignored and amplified? Who else is treated as a tool? The Rose Bride herself, Anthy Himemiya.
In this essay I will be breaking down EVERY inch of Susato’s character that I can manage. Even the most unimportant of lines will be pivotal to this. Where RGU uses Anthy’s treatment as a character to make a powerful message about how women are treated- with Susato it’s.. not. Through the lens of feminist writing we can analyze the character of Susato who is inherently- in EVERY way- a victim of misogyny. Here I will break down the basics.
This essay will focus on the two characters Susato tends to resemble, Anthy Himemiya and Utena Tenjou. By the end we will see how Susato was able to lift herself up in the end and revolutionize her world.
Chapter 1: Roses.
Anthy Himemiya has suffered more than Jesus, we can all agree on that, right? Anyone who’s watched the show can, at least. So what’s her deal? Why is the rose bride so pivotal?
Well. Let’s get the gritty out of the way. Exit this post if you don’t want spoilers.
Anthy has been stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of horrific abuse for.. who knows how long? Her torment is meant to have lasted ages, she is hundreds of years old and unborn at the same time, she’s 14, she’s a witch, her brother rapes her frequently and everyone around her in Ohtori despises or hates her. She is a doll, a thing to be beat.
She is a bride.
Anthy is a bride in the sense that a bride is a mother, a servant, an object of desire, and a tool. She cooks and cleans for the duelist who is her fiance and she obeys their EVERY command, her hands are never idle and her work is never done.
Anthy very rarely acts genuinely, she is numb to most everything (or tries to be.) Anthy is the end product of a life of servitude despite being a teenager, she does not trust Utena, she does not trust anyone, how could she? All her life she’s been beaten into the ground. She is what people want to make women, what they make girls into. The rose bride is Anthy, and all girls are like the rose bride.
This is the road Susato was dangerously close to walking on, Susato almost obsessively will do everything for other people, she literally cannot stop herself from tidying things- (See 1-2 of DGS) and treats herself more like Ryuunosuke’s maid than a judicial assistant. Like Anthy, Susato also rarely acts genuinely, granted, she is much worse at hiding all of her emotions- (because Anthy has had much more time to hone that skill) -but when Susato expresses excitement or joy over something she personally likes it is almost always followed up by a description of it being “selfishness, unimportant, silly.”
Her wants are selfish, the things she likes are unimportant, she is sixteen and already she has learned “a woman’s place in the world.”
Similarly, Anthy is a “witch” who wanted to- “selfishly”- protect her brother. She bears the swords of hatred. If a woman is not docile and submissive then she must be evil, no? This is the truth of the world. Susato is quite the same.
Susato was ABANDONED by her father, her adopted brother barely even looked at her, and ultimately she only found herself being at all “loved” when she was useful. Kazuma needed a Judicial assistant? Then she would become one.
Susato thinks she is worthless if she is not useful.
Yet.. neither of them are completely numb, Anthy will let out biting remarks sometimes, sometimes even brutal rebukes when she can get away with it, only, ONLY if she deems it worth the risk.. she cheerfully humiliates Saoinji when he loses his duel, Susato also lets slip sometimes!
An over-the-top examination of Susato Mikotoba, Part 1.
Revolutionary Utena and how we can use it to understand Susato better, a long over the top post is what you’re in for. Heads up! Let’s begin!
A short preamble.
So, Revolutionary Girl Utena! it’s a series that is spoken about more often than it’s actually watched, EVERYONE knows Utena and Anthy, but barely anyone has taken the time to see that this “iconic Yuri” is so much more than just a romance. RGU is a slap in the face, so to speak, it is an uncomfortable conversation about rape, grooming, and incest. If you cannot handle unapologetically accurate depictions of these things and how they are treated by society as a whole then you shouldn’t watch the show, this is not fluffed up and softened for the viewer. There is horror, love, betrayal, and two girls at the heart of it all who hurt each other so so many times..
but what does this have to do with Susato Mikotoba?
RGU is incredibly respectful to its female characters and written to be feminist, ace atttorney is… not that. Whatsoever.
The writers of ace attorney have a REALLY big misogyny issue, along with the fandom at large, surely there isn’t POSSIBLY a way to derive parallels between this game and THE Utena!! It would be absurd! Besides, Susato isn’t a victim of any of those horrible things listed!
And therein is my answer. Susato is pushed to the side, her AND her pain is ignored and only alluded to for the sake of a man, for Yuujin’s guilt over leaving her, so Ryuunosuke can cheer her up, not ONCE is she the focus of HER TRAUMA. Not even in HER case. AA tends to put female characters through the wringer and then never resolve the issues that would naturally arise from such a thing, so ironically these characters become even MORE tragic and interesting because of the lack of interest anyone has in addressing them.
Oh do you not believe me.
Maya loses her father, mother, sister, then she gets kidnapped, then her aunt BETRAYS her, then her cousin she didn’t know existed tries to kill her, along with fifty piles of murder charges that she’s innocent of. Now give me a scene where she’s working through all of that, where she lingers on it the same way the male characters linger on THEIR trauma, take one look at Miles Edgeworth and tell me he and Maya’s pain get the same amount of importance in the plot.
Do NOT even get me STARTED on trucy.
Who else is beaten down? Who else’s pain is ignored and amplified? Who else is treated as a tool? The Rose Bride herself, Anthy Himemiya.
In this essay I will be breaking down EVERY inch of Susato’s character that I can manage. Even the most unimportant of lines will be pivotal to this. Where RGU uses Anthy’s treatment as a character to make a powerful message about how women are treated- with Susato it’s.. not. Through the lens of feminist writing we can analyze the character of Susato who is inherently- in EVERY way- a victim of misogyny. Here I will break down the basics.
This essay will focus on the two characters Susato tends to resemble, Anthy Himemiya and Utena Tenjou. By the end we will see how Susato was able to lift herself up in the end and revolutionize her world.
Chapter 1: Roses.
Anthy Himemiya has suffered more than Jesus, we can all agree on that, right? Anyone who’s watched the show can, at least. So what’s her deal? Why is the rose bride so pivotal?
Well. Let’s get the gritty out of the way. Exit this post if you don’t want spoilers.
Anthy has been stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of horrific abuse for.. who knows how long? Her torment is meant to have lasted ages, she is hundreds of years old and unborn at the same time, she’s 14, she’s a witch, her brother rapes her frequently and everyone around her in Ohtori despises or hates her. She is a doll, a thing to be beat.
She is a bride.
Anthy is a bride in the sense that a bride is a mother, a servant, an object of desire, and a tool. She cooks and cleans for the duelist who is her fiance and she obeys their EVERY command, her hands are never idle and her work is never done.
Anthy very rarely acts genuinely, she is numb to most everything (or tries to be.) Anthy is the end product of a life of servitude despite being a teenager, she does not trust Utena, she does not trust anyone, how could she? All her life she’s been beaten into the ground. She is what people want to make women, what they make girls into. The rose bride is Anthy, and all girls are like the rose bride.
This is the road Susato was dangerously close to walking on, Susato almost obsessively will do everything for other people, she literally cannot stop herself from tidying things- (See 1-2 of DGS) and treats herself more like Ryuunosuke’s maid than a judicial assistant. Like Anthy, Susato also rarely acts genuinely, granted, she is much worse at hiding all of her emotions- (because Anthy has had much more time to hone that skill) -but when Susato expresses excitement or joy over something she personally likes it is almost always followed up by a description of it being “selfishness, unimportant, silly.”
Her wants are selfish, the things she likes are unimportant, she is sixteen and already she has learned “a woman’s place in the world.”
Similarly, Anthy is a “witch” who wanted to- “selfishly”- protect her brother. She bears the swords of hatred. If a woman is not docile and submissive then she must be evil, no? This is the truth of the world. Susato is quite the same.
Susato was ABANDONED by her father, her adopted brother barely even looked at her, and ultimately she only found herself being at all “loved” when she was useful. Kazuma needed a Judicial assistant? Then she would become one.
Susato thinks she is worthless if she is not useful.
Yet.. neither of them are completely numb, Anthy will let out biting remarks sometimes, sometimes even brutal rebukes when she can get away with it, only, ONLY if she deems it worth the risk.. she cheerfully humiliates Saoinji when he loses his duel, Susato also lets slip sometimes!
Her professionalism and proper nature are what she puts forth to keep herself in line. If she is the ideal woman, then Ryuunosuke will not scorn her, Sholmes will actually pay attention to her, and maybe Yuujin.. wouldn’t have left. She must be a servant. Anthy is what Susato will become if she continues down this path. All girls are like the Rose Bride, and in this time period, no girl is safe, not even her. Besides, this is the Meiji era, which was infamously a huge step back for women’s rights in Japan- poor Susato..
Chapter 2: Princehood.
We’ve discussed Anthy and Susato’s parallels, there will be more in a later chapter, but now we’ve moved on to Utena! Oh, brave, foolish Utena.. let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
A girl lays in a coffin, both of her parents are dead. A baby lays in a crib, her mother is dead, and her father is gone.
Her name is Utena.
Her name is Susato.
Agony, such horrid agony.. it is a terrible thing, to be abandoned.
Why not give into despair?
They are alone.. and then they are not. Haori Murasame, Susato’s friend since childhood. Utena sees a little girl pierced by swords.
It is important to bring up Haori because Susato has NOTHING at this point; she is alone with no parents… and then there is Haori. I won’t go overly deep into her, but Haori is something positive, a friend, a love, something Susato absolutely needed growing up.. Haori loves Susato with no restrictions, and in turn, later, Susato declares herself a man to save Haori’s life, much like Utena declares herself a prince to save Anthy. Susato and Utena embrace the masculinity that the world has used to oppress them because they believe that power is the only thing strong enough to save other people. They are wrong, very much so.
Utena met a prince for a short time, he left soon after..
Susato was held by her father for a fleeting few seconds before he ran far away. They both are missing something; they both pave their own futures.
Utena is naive, she is in denial of her own sexuality and even blames Anthy for Akio’s disgusting actions. This is misogyny materializing within her, and also it’s just common for ppl to blame rape victims for their abuse, so very common.
Now, Susato would never do this, certainly not! She has a strong moral compass!
..mm.. Perhaps she would not go as far as Utena did, but misogynistic rhetoric? It's not beyond her.
Susato up to this point is taking a step she never would have done before, her best friend Haori Murasame is accused of murder and absolutely NO ONE (save for Yuujin) is on her side, Haori is as good as dead if she is sent into that courtroom with no advocate.
But Susato cannot allow this, despite her spending her whole life in the role of Anthy, the bride, the servant, the daughter..
Haori is not someone Susato can give up, Susato does the only thing she can be sure will save Haori’s life.
She becomes a man and breaks the law.
Utena is a duelist because of how Anthy is treated. She wants to save Anthy, she does the duels FOR Anthy! She’s doing the right thing!
..Or so she tells herself, but Utena is doing it to become more of a prince; she forces Anthy to go to a party despite being told that Anthy didn’t want to, BY ANTHY, no less. She refers to Anthy like a thing that she owns; she imposes her will over Anthy’s. Utena has truly become a prince, but she doesn’t realize it.
Likewise, Susato becomes a man. and as a man will behave, she says this about Haori.
Despite being played as a joke, this is Susato repeating misogynistic rhetoric with absolutely zero hesitation. She has to reel herself in, but fails to apologize to Haori for calling her irrational.
These lines about women being irrational were clearly drilled into her head growing up, teachers, acquaintances, maybe even subconsciously, Yuujin. Susato carelessly insults her FRIEND and suggests that Haori's main mode is to be emotional and irrational simply because she is a woman. Haori, who personally assists the head of the medical department and performs excellent. Susato didn’t mean to be so rude, clearly, but it’s a big look into her psyche. She genuinely believes the misogyny she’s been fed.
on a much lesser note, in the trial, Susato doubts Haori. She told herself she’d believe in her, but she doubted Haori the moment something unexpected happens. So... she apologizes.
And Haori and Anthy forgive; they are kind souls at their core, even blaming themselves for these betrayals. While Utena’s gender nonconformity is genuine and what she uses to express herself, her attempts to emulate manhood and princehood ultimately hurt Anthy, it is only when she meets Anthy on her level that she can finally help Anthy leave her abuse, her coffin.
Similarly, Susato ultimately can only save Haori when she embraces herself and her strengths (not a “man's” strength, but her own) is she able to win the trial and detain the man who framed Haori, the ending showcases this with them both doing Susato’s signature takedown.
Now, obviously, none of these things were what the writers intended to do with Susato, but through a different lens, we can glean a lot about Susato and her behavior through this case and through her actions as a man, the power she holds as one is unlike anything she’s felt. Her “betrayal” of Haori is not nearly as deep or built up as Utena’s continuous behavior with Anthy in RGU, but I felt it was worth mentioning, so I put it here.
But in the end.. what can we learn from this? Utena and Anthy escaped their coffins at the end.. Will Susato ever leave her coffin? Well.. I think this stint of Ryuutaro led to her opening the door at least, when she comes back to England, she is noticeably more confident and playful with Ryuunosuke, she puts herself down less and by the end of the game, She chooses to go back to Japan, she chooses for herself to accompany Ryuunosuke and help change the legal system of Japan, Yuujin doesn't even mention her when asking Ryuunosuke to return, Susato has to stand up and fight back, demanding to be acknowledged, to be looked at and not remain as a sideline in England. She’s freeing herself from the shackles of misogyny that she’s been in since.. forever, really.
Her world has been revolutionized, and with Haori.. hopefully they can be free to love each other together and find some sort of happy ending. Susato has accepted her womanhood and now wants to fight for her right to exist as a woman without serving others.
TO BE CONTINUED BECAUSE TUMBLR HAS LIMITS TO HOW MANY PICTURES I CAN PUT PER POST. BYEEEEE CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 WILL BE OUT SOON
I'm back fellas!!
Chapter 3: Grotesque feelings.
Girls do not get angry, Susato.
Girls do not raise their voices, Susato.
Witches defy men. Witches are traitors who steal away princes.
Witches are burned for their crimes, Susato. When we throw you onto the pyre, no one will save you.
Previously, we have discussed the similarities between Anthy and Susato, but that was the surface of Anthy, because as much as people look away and want to avoid the truth..
To talk about how girls are treated, we must talk about rape.
Anthy is a victim in every sense of the word; the people at Ohtori jeer at her and then claim her as property. She is despised and "desired", and her position of rose bride is a prettier name for a slave—a child bride to be passed around while her brother watches with keen eyes, this is because of the previously mentioned misogyny, but we cannot ignore that this is also because of the fact that Anthy is the only brown girl in Ohtori, her treatment is a result of misogynoir, do not discount that, we will be focusing on the misogyny present in Anthy's pain and abuse, Susato, as someone with lighter skin, will not face that same abuse in Japan, only in England does that become a factor. The bigotry that girls of color face is far more brutal than white girls. I want to make this abundantly clear, okay? okay. Back to the essay.
The way fandom treats Susato is ignorant, no way around it.
Susato grew up learning she was property, The fandom can sigh and insist that surely Yuujin wouldn't let these things get to her, surely Kazuma wouldn't! Surely she was the one girl in all of Japan who grew up as a radical feminist and has no problems! That is idiotic; discard it. Saying you "love Susato omg!!" and reducing her to a girlboss is not only insulting, but performative.
To be a girl is to be cattle. You will be raised to one day marry a man who deems your imperfections tolerable enough to tie himself to. This is what Susato was taught: she is meant to entice, to flirt, to be modest, to be docile, to be a mother, to be a slave. Yuujin was not there for six years of her life; he did not "protect" her, and he didn't dismantle the sexist rhetoric she was fed when he returned, either. He may try to get her opportunities, but he does not TALK to her, he does not sit down and firmly deny the stereotypes, he is a man.
with this historical context we can take a more nuanced look at Susato's behavior, and as such I will begin with a bold statement.
She was afraid of Ryuunosuke.
Now, do not take this as some sort of damning statement of his character. I love him dearly, but let us consider..
Men and Women are not allowed to be just friends, not then. And even now, people make assumptions. So imagine Susato, who looks up to Kazuma, who looks up to Sholmes, who looks up to Ryuunosuke. Anyone would simply take this at face value and say, "Oh, so you love him?"
Girls are servants; girls can only love and bow down to men, it is in their nature, no? That is what everyone thinks and knows. If Susato dared to express these feelings of admiration, this desire to earnestly make friends, would Ryuunosuke not just assume she is in love? He is a man! Men reduce girls to simpering, pathetic creatures. How could Susato possibly understand that she has found a man who actually appreciates her, one who has absolutely no interest in her as an object, but instead as a friend? Such things are ridiculous. Expressing her devotion to a man surely must be romantic, no? Susato can try and try to explain that it is admiration, but her cries will be drowned out by members of the crowd who think a 16-year-old girl belongs with a man in his 20s. This fandom is proof enough; it's sickening.
Anthy wants friends. She wants to be a person. She wanted a brother that didn't rape her, unlike Susato, she is not lucky enough to have a man who does not violently mistreat her; she has no father to protect her, and she is alone. utterly alone.
Now, let's address Kazuma.
wowww what a shocker the Kazuma freak is involving Kazuma in their analysis everyone be surprised. I CAN'T HELP MY NATURE, OKAY?? FOCUS!
Kazuma is nothing like Akio; he is the absolute polar opposite, let us make no mistake. Kazuma cares about Susato, he doesn't tell her about bringing Ryuunosuke as a stowaway, so she won't get in trouble if they're caught- and in his words:
Now I'm gonna totally undercut my serious tone here and state something that we're all gonna have to agree on. They consider each other to be siblings. I'm not taking opinions on this one- they were raised together and look out for one another, they are brother and sister, Susato is the FIRST one to recognize him in his amnesiac state. They are family.
why bring this up? because EVEN the most ideal man to be Susato's brother- Mr. Wokezuma over here- fails her spectacularly, it doesn't matter how much he cares because he isn't showing it to HER, he barely addresses her when they're in the same goddamn room. Kazuma unintentionally reinforces Susato's beliefs that she is not worth anything unless she is useful. So, again, there is no man she can confide in, no man that could understand, no man she can go to if she is hurt in the absolute worst way possible.
Anthy's treated far worse, as previously explained, she is bullied, treated like a slave, and raped. do you think either of them would just sit down and take it with no emotion?
Do you think they're happy?
what does this lead to? Anger. It leads to unavoidable loathing. it is not a stretch of the imagination to say that Susato's hostility towards Ryuunosuke in 1-2 is not just because he is suspected of murder, although that plays a part- but because Susato is jealous.
Think of this, you have spent your ENTIRE life trying to be the ideal sister, you dedicate your future to being a judicial assistant, all of it so you can make your brother smile, for even just ONE moment.. he's lost so much, and you want to help, no matter what. He never looks at you, though. When you grow up you both don't speak, you don't talk, you are more akin to co-workers than siblings, but at least he shows those little inklings of care, right? You have something to cling to, proof that you matter at least a little bit.
Yeah, then this STRANGER waltzes into his life and suddenly they are best friends, your brother tells this man everything, your brother is laughing and smiling and looks happy for the first time in years. you have been replaced. He found an actual friend, he found someone better.
Susato keeps it all in, she must. Anthy keeps all of her loathing in, she must. They both express their anger in the only way they can, little biting comments, little jabs and actions that show just a BIT of malice, of hatred.
Susato and Anthy are not pure little girls who are oh so innocent; they feel and think everything everyone does, they are humans. It is a vital disservice to look at Susato and then characterize her as this wide-eyed innocent fool who "ships" asoryuu. (This happens.)
Their rage and anger is part of them, loathing and fear is part of them. Susato knows what people see her as. But if she expresses her anger and fear, she's just being dramatic, no? just another hysterical woman with grotesque thoughts.
Revolutionary Girl Utena addresses the ugliness of how girls are treated; it makes you face these things head-on, and to understand Susato we must do the same and acknowledge the horrors of being a girl, of a girl wanting to be friends with a man, of existing, even.
Susato knows what rape is, she knows that little girls can be married off, and she knows that the men around her can be liabilities. But despite this.. Susato perseveres, despite her abuse, Anthy still loves; they are kind creatures, in their heart, they still care for others.
Susato does not hate Ryuunosuke in the end, she does not hate Kazuma, she does not hate Yuujin.
Anthy does not hate Utena in the end. despite their "failures" at being the ideal women, despite their ugly feelings.. they still care about people. Throughout everything, Anthy will love Utena, and Susato loves Ryuunosuke and Kazuma. (in a FAMILIAL WAY. you shipping freaks can go die, fuck off my account.)
Ultimately, they find people who care about them for who they are, people who truly appreciate them. That is revolution.
Chapter 4: Someday, Together..
I thought a lot about how to end this little writing experiment, I struggled. How do you end something that you put your soul into? So again, I watched the ending of Utena.
I cannot claim to be this incredible writer, nor can I claim Susato’s life to truly match the heartbreaking lows of Utena and Anthy’s time in Ohtori, be it one year or one thousand years of guilt and suffering, so why would I compare such things to Susato? Why write this at all? I did it because I love Susato, because I love The Great Ace Attorney, because I love Utena. I know half of the things I mentioned weren’t given a second look by the writers, Susato isn’t meant to be a tragic character, you are meant to take her at face value, that’s all.
It is the most critical failure to end your search there, however. To stop your analysis at “what was intended” rather than taking a look at the characters you love and trying to find something new, something beautiful. RGU is a show you can NEVER stop picking apart. As long as you can form words, you can find different meanings in the smallest of scenes, the most irrelevant of lines will take on a whole new form when applied to different contexts! And I love that! I love piecing together my own puzzle of what RGU is!
I think to write off Susato as just a “girlboss” or “asoryuu add on” is indicative of doing what RGU tries to warn against. Only when Utena truly gives a damn about Anthy does she see her suffering for what it is, she sees Akio for the monster he is. GOD!!! Love!!! What a damning concept! What a horrific thing! To love Susato, I must throw aside her happy-go-lucky personality and insist that underneath is a deeply tormented girl who has been hurt by EVERYONE! How is that love? How could I do that??? Would it not be easier to let her rest on the shelf? To allow this character to simply be nothing more than a naive, happy fool who is free of historical context?
No. It would not.
Now, I considered if I would speculate if Susato had been sexually assaulted before, I think it’s a good conversation to have, but I left it out of the essay in the end. Why? Because most people are unable to see something like that and cry “you’re reaching!” “Why would you say that?” “This makes me uncomfortable..” “are you romanticizing SA?!”
I ask you this. Does my existence as a victim of Sexual Assault bother you? Do I make you uncomfortable? Does Anthy make you uncomfortable? Am I tainted?
To label Susato as a victim of SA would be taken poorly, because you all don’t see victims as people, not FULL ones anyway, we’re broken humans, we’re the most horrible things imaginable! To make Susato a victim would make people uncomfortable because they don’t LIKE victims. You are not comfortable with the theory? Good. Rape is not comfortable. Assault is not comfortable. Should victims stop existing because it’s more palatable for you? Would I be “ruining” Susato to wonder if she was a victim in one of the most HORRIBLE times for a woman to be alive? No. Because I am NOT ruined, nor is Anthy, nor is any other victim.
Ah, but I decided against including speculation, to save me the grief of others telling me how MY trauma works. I am not quite ready for Revolution, it seems.
In my own small act or rebellion, however, I will take that doll off the shelf, I will kiss her forehead and carry her with me wherever I may find myself in the future. Perhaps one day I’ll swim to the surface, I’ll walk out of Ohtori and breathe for the first time in my life.
Susato will be with me, as she has for the past four years. She is loved, Kazuma and Ryuunosuke love her like a sister, Sholmes loves her like a daughter, and Haori?
Haori is waiting on the docks of Japan for a ship far off in the distance.. one day her love will come back.
All girls are indeed like the rose bride, to be a girl is to be a nurse, maid, mother, therapist, an appendage. But the rose bride is not real anymore. She told her brother to stay in his little coffin and left.
We are all pathetic creatures searching for love, though people loathe to admit it. Through this essay I have placed a bit more of myself into the world, because of love. Because I love The Great Ace Attorney, because I am learning to love myself as well.
So, to make this long story short.. how can we use Revolutionary Girl Utena to understand Susato Mikotoba better? It is simple.
Open your eyes to suffering, then replace it with love tenfold.
The story is over.
An over-the-top analysis of Susato Mikotoba.
Revolutionary Utena and how we can use it to understand Susato better, a long over the top post is what you’re in for. Heads up! Let’s begin!
A short preamble.
So, Revolutionary Girl Utena! it’s a series that is spoken about more often than it’s actually watched, EVERYONE knows Utena and Anthy, but barely anyone has taken the time to see that this “iconic Yuri” is so much more than just a romance. RGU is a slap in the face, so to speak, it is an uncomfortable conversation about rape, grooming, and incest. If you cannot handle unapologetically accurate depictions of these things and how they are treated by society as a whole then you shouldn’t watch the show, this is not fluffed up and softened for the viewer. There is horror, love, betrayal, and two girls at the heart of it all who hurt each other so so many times..
but what does this have to do with Susato Mikotoba?
RGU is incredibly respectful to its female characters and written to be feminist, ace atttorney is… not that. Whatsoever.
The writers of ace attorney have a REALLY big misogyny issue, along with the fandom at large, surely there isn’t POSSIBLY a way to derive parallels between this game and THE Utena!! It would be absurd! Besides, Susato isn’t a victim of any of those horrible things listed!
And therein is my answer. Susato is pushed to the side, her AND her pain is ignored and only alluded to for the sake of a man, for Yuujin’s guilt over leaving her, so Ryuunosuke can cheer her up, not ONCE is she the focus of HER TRAUMA. Not even in HER case. AA tends to put female characters through the wringer and then never resolve the issues that would naturally arise from such a thing, so ironically these characters become even MORE tragic and interesting because of the lack of interest anyone has in addressing them.
Oh do you not believe me.
Maya loses her father, mother, sister, then she gets kidnapped, then her aunt BETRAYS her, then her cousin she didn’t know existed tries to kill her, along with fifty piles of murder charges that she’s innocent of. Now give me a scene where she’s working through all of that, where she lingers on it the same way the male characters linger on THEIR trauma, take one look at Miles Edgeworth and tell me he and Maya’s pain get the same amount of importance in the plot.
Do NOT even get me STARTED on trucy.
Who else is beaten down? Who else’s pain is ignored and amplified? Who else is treated as a tool? The Rose Bride herself, Anthy Himemiya.
In this essay I will be breaking down EVERY inch of Susato’s character that I can manage. Even the most unimportant of lines will be pivotal to this. Where RGU uses Anthy’s treatment as a character to make a powerful message about how women are treated- with Susato it’s.. not. Through the lens of feminist writing we can analyze the character of Susato who is inherently- in EVERY way- a victim of misogyny. Here I will break down the basics.
This essay will focus on the two characters Susato tends to resemble, Anthy Himemiya and Utena Tenjou. By the end we will see how Susato was able to lift herself up in the end and revolutionize her world.
Chapter 1: Roses.
Anthy Himemiya has suffered more than Jesus, we can all agree on that, right? Anyone who’s watched the show can, at least. So what’s her deal? Why is the rose bride so pivotal?
Well. Let’s get the gritty out of the way. Exit this post if you don’t want spoilers.
Anthy has been stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of horrific abuse for.. who knows how long? Her torment is meant to have lasted ages, she is hundreds of years old and unborn at the same time, she’s 14, she’s a witch, her brother rapes her frequently and everyone around her in Ohtori despises or hates her. She is a doll, a thing to be beat.
She is a bride.
Anthy is a bride in the sense that a bride is a mother, a servant, an object of desire, and a tool. She cooks and cleans for the duelist who is her fiance and she obeys their EVERY command, her hands are never idle and her work is never done.
Anthy very rarely acts genuinely, she is numb to most everything (or tries to be.) Anthy is the end product of a life of servitude despite being a teenager, she does not trust Utena, she does not trust anyone, how could she? All her life she’s been beaten into the ground. She is what people want to make women, what they make girls into. The rose bride is Anthy, and all girls are like the rose bride.
This is the road Susato was dangerously close to walking on, Susato almost obsessively will do everything for other people, she literally cannot stop herself from tidying things- (See 1-2 of DGS) and treats herself more like Ryuunosuke’s maid than a judicial assistant. Like Anthy, Susato also rarely acts genuinely, granted, she is much worse at hiding all of her emotions- (because Anthy has had much more time to hone that skill) -but when Susato expresses excitement or joy over something she personally likes it is almost always followed up by a description of it being “selfishness, unimportant, silly.”
Her wants are selfish, the things she likes are unimportant, she is sixteen and already she has learned “a woman’s place in the world.”
Similarly, Anthy is a “witch” who wanted to- “selfishly”- protect her brother. She bears the swords of hatred. If a woman is not docile and submissive then she must be evil, no? This is the truth of the world. Susato is quite the same.
Susato was ABANDONED by her father, her adopted brother barely even looked at her, and ultimately she only found herself being at all “loved” when she was useful. Kazuma needed a Judicial assistant? Then she would become one.
Susato thinks she is worthless if she is not useful.
Yet.. neither of them are completely numb, Anthy will let out biting remarks sometimes, sometimes even brutal rebukes when she can get away with it, only, ONLY if she deems it worth the risk.. she cheerfully humiliates Saoinji when he loses his duel, Susato also lets slip sometimes!
Her professionalism and proper nature are what she puts forth to keep herself in line. If she is the ideal woman, then Ryuunosuke will not scorn her, Sholmes will actually pay attention to her, and maybe Yuujin.. wouldn’t have left. She must be a servant. Anthy is what Susato will become if she continues down this path. All girls are like the Rose Bride, and in this time period, no girl is safe, not even her. Besides, this is the Meiji era, which was infamously a huge step back for women’s rights in Japan- poor Susato..
Chapter 2: Princehood.
We’ve discussed Anthy and Susato’s parallels, there will be more in a later chapter, but now we’ve moved on to Utena! Oh, brave, foolish Utena.. let’s start at the beginning, shall we?
A girl lays in a coffin, both of her parents are dead. A baby lays in a crib, her mother is dead, and her father is gone.
Her name is Utena.
Her name is Susato.
Agony, such horrid agony.. it is a terrible thing, to be abandoned.
Why not give into despair?
They are alone.. and then they are not. Haori Murasame, Susato’s friend since childhood. Utena sees a little girl pierced by swords.
It is important to bring up Haori because Susato has NOTHING at this point; she is alone with no parents… and then there is Haori. I won’t go overly deep into her, but Haori is something positive, a friend, a love, something Susato absolutely needed growing up.. Haori loves Susato with no restrictions, and in turn, later, Susato declares herself a man to save Haori’s life, much like Utena declares herself a prince to save Anthy. Susato and Utena embrace the masculinity that the world has used to oppress them because they believe that power is the only thing strong enough to save other people. They are wrong, very much so.
Utena met a prince for a short time, he left soon after..
Susato was held by her father for a fleeting few seconds before he ran far away. They both are missing something; they both pave their own futures.
Utena is naive, she is in denial of her own sexuality and even blames Anthy for Akio’s disgusting actions. This is misogyny materializing within her, and also it’s just common for ppl to blame rape victims for their abuse, so very common.
Now, Susato would never do this, certainly not! She has a strong moral compass!
..mm.. Perhaps she would not go as far as Utena did, but misogynistic rhetoric? It's not beyond her.
Susato up to this point is taking a step she never would have done before, her best friend Haori Murasame is accused of murder and absolutely NO ONE (save for Yuujin) is on her side, Haori is as good as dead if she is sent into that courtroom with no advocate.
But Susato cannot allow this, despite her spending her whole life in the role of Anthy, the bride, the servant, the daughter..
Haori is not someone Susato can give up, Susato does the only thing she can be sure will save Haori’s life.
She becomes a man and breaks the law.
Utena is a duelist because of how Anthy is treated. She wants to save Anthy, she does the duels FOR Anthy! She’s doing the right thing!
..Or so she tells herself, but Utena is doing it to become more of a prince; she forces Anthy to go to a party despite being told that Anthy didn’t want to, BY ANTHY, no less. She refers to Anthy like a thing that she owns; she imposes her will over Anthy’s. Utena has truly become a prince, but she doesn’t realize it.
Likewise, Susato becomes a man. and as a man will behave, she says this about Haori.
Despite being played as a joke, this is Susato repeating misogynistic rhetoric with absolutely zero hesitation. She has to reel herself in, but fails to apologize to Haori for calling her irrational.
These lines about women being irrational were clearly drilled into her head growing up, teachers, acquaintances, maybe even subconsciously, Yuujin. Susato carelessly insults her FRIEND and suggests that Haori's main mode is to be emotional and irrational simply because she is a woman. Haori, who personally assists the head of the medical department and performs excellent. Susato didn’t mean to be so rude, clearly, but it’s a big look into her psyche. She genuinely believes the misogyny she’s been fed.
on a much lesser note, in the trial, Susato doubts Haori. She told herself she’d believe in her, but she doubted Haori the moment something unexpected happens. So... she apologizes.
And Haori and Anthy forgive; they are kind souls at their core, even blaming themselves for these betrayals. While Utena’s gender nonconformity is genuine and what she uses to express herself, her attempts to emulate manhood and princehood ultimately hurt Anthy, it is only when she meets Anthy on her level that she can finally help Anthy leave her abuse, her coffin.
Similarly, Susato ultimately can only save Haori when she embraces herself and her strengths (not a “man's” strength, but her own) is she able to win the trial and detain the man who framed Haori, the ending showcases this with them both doing Susato’s signature takedown.
Now, obviously, none of these things were what the writers intended to do with Susato, but through a different lens, we can glean a lot about Susato and her behavior through this case and through her actions as a man, the power she holds as one is unlike anything she’s felt. Her “betrayal” of Haori is not nearly as deep or built up as Utena’s continuous behavior with Anthy in RGU, but I felt it was worth mentioning, so I put it here.
But in the end.. what can we learn from this? Utena and Anthy escaped their coffins at the end.. Will Susato ever leave her coffin? Well.. I think this stint of Ryuutaro led to her opening the door at least, when she comes back to England, she is noticeably more confident and playful with Ryuunosuke, she puts herself down less and by the end of the game, She chooses to go back to Japan, she chooses for herself to accompany Ryuunosuke and help change the legal system of Japan, Yuujin doesn't even mention her when asking Ryuunosuke to return, Susato has to stand up and fight back, demanding to be acknowledged, to be looked at and not remain as a sideline in England. She’s freeing herself from the shackles of misogyny that she’s been in since.. forever, really.
Her world has been revolutionized, and with Haori.. hopefully they can be free to love each other together and find some sort of happy ending. Susato has accepted her womanhood and now wants to fight for her right to exist as a woman without serving others.
TO BE CONTINUED BECAUSE TUMBLR HAS LIMITS TO HOW MANY PICTURES I CAN PUT PER POST. BYEEEEE CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 WILL BE OUT SOON
this is kinda buns but who gaf 😳😳
p-partner…?
banners, header and dividers cause i was just re decorating my page (my phone is so laggy help me)
things I found 🌀🍀
i love seeing more people talk about mizisua not being as healthy as people make it out to be, because their relationship is partly based in deception. and i just find it fascinating to think about the fact that sua, in lying & hiding the truth of the world from mizi and sacrificing herself for her to keep going in alnst, makes it so that mizi doesn't even get a chance to consider sacrificing herself for sua in turn. which i personally think might've been something mizi would have considered if she'd known. sua, by keeping the reality of alien stage from a sheltered mizi, (sort of) basically takes away her autonomy in that decision.
that isn't sua's intention of course, but it ends up that way anyway. sua trying desperately to keep mizi happy and innocent ends up hurting her more than helping in the long run, and i think sua knew that, but she wanted her to at least have happy memories of growing up and of being with sua. unfortunately those memories are stained now, stained by the truth and the omission and the fact that sua knew but mizi didn't, but now she does. it's heartbreaking. it really lays the groundwork for the 'selfishness and selflessness go hand in hand' theme in alnst.
and mizi, afterward? "hatred is easier than a word as vague as love" makes a lot of sense when you consider that mizi's rage at luka could've been pointed at sua as well, or even completely. not that she doesn't still love her with everything in her, but she is still able to feel anger at her for lying and turning her world upside down with her death. those feelings can exist simultaneously (another theme in alnst visible through every couple).
i have so much to say about how affection between people who grew up with no idea what human relationships look like is portrayed in alien stage.
mizi and sua would probably never describe each other as "girlfriends", they don't know what that word means. instead they're each other's universe, god, reason to live, clematis. these intense feelings that they're fundamentally unable to express in the ways that we, as the viewers, are used to, must then be expressed as exactly the way they themselves experience them, instead of being shoved into boxes of specific relationship titles. it's a lot more honest to mizi's actual feelings to have her describe sua as her god and her universe than it would be to have her say "i love her" or "we're lovers" or even "we're in love" because all of those phrases only have the meaning we as humans have given them through societal norms and expectations. those words wouldn't mean anything to children raised completely outside of those norms and expectations.
in a similar way, the concept of "crushes" is so heavily woven into our culture as humans that i genuinely don't think that what till has for mizi or what ivan has for till could be described as a "crush". again, that word wouldn't mean anything to them. to till, mizi is his idol, his muse, and his best friend. to ivan, till is his purpose, his responsibility, and his obsession. not a crush, because "crush" is a forgotten word from a forgotten culture in the past. all they have are their feelings, which reveals the different nature of their feelings as compared to each other.
we as humans often dumb these complex feelings down when we give them just one word. "love" is just one feeling, a "crush" is just one feeling. when actually the way we experience these feelings is infinitely complex and diverse, different feelings are given the same name and that difference is cast aside, but not in alien stage. every dynamic is given the complexity it deserves, every dynamic is unique, no two characters experience "love" the same way.
random dgs2 doodles
Please go read "Who died aboard the S.S. Burya?" on Ao3 by @onceandfloral-writing @lesbiandatekaname
Some TGAA doodles i draw
both Yuri and yaoi are great uwu👍
ummm
ok everyone knows and loves the very gay susahao concept art
but did you know that the shawl she's wearing is Susato's?