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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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..
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.
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
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