Y’all know when Mulan is sitting in the rain and watches her parents silhouette disappear as the candle is blown out and then her eyes squint in determination and the music that starts to play and you see her go into the family temple and light a match and bow in respect and then sneak into her parents room and switch the scroll for her hair brooch and then the way her reflection is shown as she pulls the sword and cuts her hair?? It’s literally more iconic than any marvel movie
Y’all know that there is heavy symbolism in that scene to show that Mulan is the spirit of the Great Stone Dragon and that’s why Mushu wasn’t able to awaken it?
Mulan sits in the rain underneath the statue of the Great Stone Dragon (who is looking down on her), and suddenly decides on a course of action. She looks up, resolved to go to war in place of her father and runs into the temple where she lights the match and beseeches protection for her family. The stone she bows to and that we see lit up by lightening strike is that of the dragon, whose eyes are looking out after her, lit from underneath by the candles. The scene transitions to the divider in the house that also has an icon of the dragon. where she replaces her hair comb with the summons. Then we see the sword hilt, also the dragon, and as she draws the blade we see her face replace it. She ties up her hair, then as she opens the wardrobe, the handles are also the dragon. After donning the armor, the view shows her facing us, with the hilt of the sword (the face of the dragon) in front of her face, where she then turns the sword to reveal her face, and sheaths it. As she leaves, we flash back to the temple, and the eyes of the dragon flash as her grandmother wakes up.
The Great Stone Dragon resides within her. She is the protector of the family.
After this explanation, the scene where Mushu cannot wake up the stone dragon makes so much more sense. I appreciate the symbolism so much more. I noticed the dragon but didn’t notice she was constantly juxtaposed with the dragon!
So before the finale comes to eviscerate us all, I wanted to get this meta out there exploring how the allusions to the Raggedy Ann and Andy 1977 movie are utilised in the TADC series, particularly with the implications they have within the themes of the story itself
The catalyst of Raggedy Ann and Andy’s plot is the arrival of a new doll in their playroom, Babette, a beautiful french doll from Paris. Babette isn’t the protagonist like Pomni is, but Pomni is also a new arrival to the circus, which is akin to a giant eternal playroom, with Pomni being a new “toy”, and her arrival being the beginning of the show’s story. Babette and Pomni both are distraught and depressed upon arriving, feeling they don’t belong and are desperate to leave:
Babette: Who are you?
Raggedy Ann: My name is Raggedy Ann.
And this is my brother, Raggedy Andy.
Babbette: Where am I?
Raggedy Andy: You're in the playroom, that's where.
You'll probably love it.
Babette: Oh, la, la, la, la, la.
What am I doing in such a terrible place?
Pomni: W-What's going on? I-I-I put on some weird headset, and now I'm... here. (Her eyes widen) Who are you people? Why can't I take it off? Where am I?
Ragatha: Let's just try to calm down. Everything's gonna be okay, new stuff. We've all been through this. You just need to get your head to—
Raggedy Ann and Ragatha both take a shine to Pomni and Babette and are eager to befriend them and help them adjust to their new life and are sympathetic to their plight, where Jax and Raggedy Andy are initially pretty unsympathetic:
Raggedy Andy: (about Babette): Eh, I think she's kind of a pill.
Raggedy Ann: Oh, she's probably homesick.
Ragatha: Hey, be nice to her. She's had a rough couple of days.
Jax: Her and everyone else.
Raggedy Ann: Everyone here to welcome you
And all I want to say is really simple
Plain and true
Babette: But who are you?
Raggedy Ann: I'm just a rag dolly
Happy and smiling all day
A little rag dolly
Wishing your worries away
I stop and say, golly
This is too good to be true
A little rag dolly
Plain as can be
Has a friend who's as lovely as you
Ragatha: Oh, man. Poor Pomni. I hope she's all right.
Jax: "Poor Pomni"? How about "poor us"?!? We're one tanker away from being Augustus Glooped!
Despite Raggedy Ann and Ragatha’s attempts to befriend them, Babette and Pomni are dismissive to the care and concern they are shown, mostly wrapped up in their own troubles of wanting to leave:
Poor Babette, poor Babette, so far from Paris,
Poor Babette, can't you see how miserable she can be?
Like a bird in a cage with no will to go free.
Babette, poor Babette, that's me!
On the flip side of this, when Babette is kidnapped by pirates and Pomni ends up on a team with Jax in ep6, Raggedy Ann and Ragatha hold themselves responsible for having “failed” them:
Ragatha: (sighs, voice cracking) I think... I might have failed Pomni.
Raggedy Ann: Poor Babette. Kidnapped by pirates! Poor Marcella…
The captain just ran off with her birthday present.
Oh.
It's all my fault.
Kinger: It sounds to me like you put a lot of pressure on yourself to be there for everyone, and when you're not, you beat yourself up for it.
Ann and Ragatha perceive Babette and Pomni to be fragile and needing to be rescued/protected, but in reality they turn out to be a lot more resilient and tougher than they were expecting. Babette takes control of the pirate crew that kidnapped her, overthrowing their captain, while Pomni is perfectly capable of standing up to Jax and his bullshit, or making it through other adventures in dire circumstances.
Babette takes command of the pirate ship because she wants to sail back to her home, to Paris, but it’s revealed that she was simply sailing in a small pond and thus her attempts to go home were in vain. But she realises she still has her new home in the playroom, and after realising the effort ann and andy went through to save her, realises the value of that friendship. In much the same way Pomni tries to leave in Ep1, and through the course of the series accepts that she will never leave the circus, and that the only real thing they have now is each other, and the importance of appreciating the value of her friendships:
Pomni: I just want to say... (Sighs) Thanks for always being concerned about me. I feel like, through everything, I haven't really been appreciative enough about that.
Ragatha: O-Oh! Thank you, Pomni. I just want to make sure you're doin' alright. You know, we care about you.
Babette: Dear Raggedy Ann, I am sorry I caused such trouble.
Ann: Oh, that's all right, Babette.
Andy: What do you mean, all right?
Look at the mess we were in just because of her.
Babette: You are quite right, Andy.
Ann: Babette, you're one of the most courageous persons I have ever met. I hope you will be my friend.
Pomni: (sighs) She’s right. We’ve all done bad things. But we’re also all we’ve got. (inhales deeply, then sighs) I think… we need to abandon the idea of leaving.
Pomni: We got our hopes up, and we were let down. I don’t know what exactly happened with Kaufmo… But we can’t let that despair consume us. We should focus on what we have.
Pomni: (to Ragatha) Like you said… constantly chasing an unobtainable goal will drive us crazy. Maybe what we have to do now is to just… live
And this of course ties into the main themes of the amazing digital circus, that there is meaning to be found in a stagnant existence. That the meaning is found in other people, in the bonds formed there, because in a world where nothing is real, the only real thing becomes other people, their love and humanity, and the only home to be found is in each other
…and this ties into how Babette is foiled to another character in the movie desperately searching for home, so much so they become blind to the real home in front of them, with the Blue Camel.
I don’t think the blue camel actually has a 1:1 allusion with any of the tadc cast, but is more about the concept of abstraction in the story and disillusionment with reality and suicidal ideation. This can be prevalent for Kaufmo, Pomni, Kinger, Gangle, Ragatha, but yeah coming into the finale Jax does feel the most front and centre with this concept.
The Blue Camel is a toy that has been thrown out and abandoned, and is desperate to find a home, for someone to love him.
Blue Camel: Well, I used to be somebody's favorite toy.
Once for a while, a nice little kid named Sam found me in an old junk shop.
I lived with him in a real nice house where he hid me under the pillow every night in a real nice room.
My humps got kind of flattened out, but I didn't mind because I had somebody to love me.
One day, Sam's ma found me.
She was a real pretty lady, but she was also kind of mean.
When Sam wasn't looking, she threw me away, and I've been on my own ever since, looking to find some kind of place I could call home.
Unlike Babette who is beautiful and a new toy, the Blue Camel is old and misshapen:
Blue Camel: Oh, my joints.Thank you.And thank you.It's my legs, you know.
They're not what they used to be.I had real sticks in them once.
Then I used to have a lot of real things once.
But things are sure different now.
The Blue Camel has been alone for so long and so deep in his own depression he has started to hallucinate a home and companions in the form of the “camels in the sky”, losing touch with what is real and what is not.
While Ann and Andy promise to be his friends after hearing of his troubles, he still sees and chases after the camels in the sky, to the point he puts himself and his new friends in danger, running off a cliff at one point and saying he doesn’t care what happens:
Raggedy Ann: But you shouldn't be sad. We'll be your friends.
Raggedy Andy: Uh-huh.
Blue Camel: You will?
Rageddy Andy: For sure.
Raggedy Ann: And maybe things will get better.
Blue Camel: Well, that's why I keep a-chasing them other camels.
All happy and a-dancing.
Smiling and a-sanging.
Calling me home.
Blue Camel (seeing the camels in the sky again): Home, oh home, we're going home!
Quick, hop on
We gotta catch them before they get away!
All aboard!
Raggedy Ann: I don't see anything, Andy
Do you?
Raggedy Andy: This is really weird…
Blue Camel: I'm coming!
Raggedy Ann: But there's nothing there!
Blue Camel: Hey, wait for me. Wait for me.
Raggedy Ann: Slow down, Mr. Camel.
Blue Camel: I've been looking for happiness all my life.
I ain't gonna let it get away from me now!
Raggedy Ann: Please, please, you're going too fast. Whoa, whoa!
Blue Camel: I'm coming!
Wait for me!
Raggedy Ann: You don't know where you're heading!
Blue Camel: I don't care!
His eyes when hallucinating the camels in the sky are exactly the same as the ones the abstractions all have, that we see Jax have when coming close to abstracting after his dream, in which the vague shapes of his old friends Kaufmo and Ribbit can be seen. The mirage of the camels call him home, tempting him with a blissful promise of perfect companionship and belonging. The same way Jax seemingly falls into the mirage dream of his own when touching Ribbit’s hand, dreaming of his friends.
We also know Kaufmo abstracted after driving himself insane chasing an exit, a way home, that was not real, so much that he lost sight of what was real, the friends he still had in the circus.
Kinger also temporarily seems to lose his grip on reality in ep3 when mistaking the angel head for Queenie, which puts him and Pomni in danger.
Gangle nearly abstracts in ep4 when she lets her manic mask take complete control, and takes the fast food adventure too seriously when it is not real, being incredibly controlling and manic towards her friends as she spiralled, and running out into oncoming traffic after the adventure:
It is pointed out by Pomni that this disillusionment with reality and the people around you, is likely the cause of abstraction:
Pomni: Wh—I—mmm... you reached out to me, not the other way around. You're just gonna pretend that didn't happen?
Jax: You must be misremembering.
Pomni: Is this why you didn't show up to Kaufmo's funeral?
Jax: I don't show up to ANY funerals.
Pomni: Yeah, I bet you don't, because you're scared. Y-You're scared you'll actually show a human emotion.
Jax: I'm scared I'll be BORED to TEARS. (His two gloved-hands on his cheeks of his face)
Pomni: Have you ever thought that this might be what causes people to abstract in the first place?
Which is clearly what Jax is struggling with currently.
The conclusion of the movie is the Blue Camel no longer chasing the camels in the sky because he realises he has a home and friends that are real, with Raggedy Ann and Andy:
Raggedy Ann: It’s no mirage Mr Camel
Which will likely be what we see Jax realise in the finale, being anchored by all his friends, as payoff to the end of ep2, where we see the hands all reach out to help Pomni except Jax, because Jax needs someone to extend their hand to him.
Another theme of the TADC series being that “the worst thing you can do is make someone feel not loved or wanted” is prevalent with the Blue Camel, who has a whole song about feeling unloved:
Blue Camel: When you can't find a friend
And the road doesn't seem to end
And you're lonesome the whole day through
How can you be happy?
How can you be smiling?
How can you be anything but low down saggy and blue?
Doesn't anybody want me?
Doesn't anybody care?
When you're wrinkled and cold
And your fortune has all been told
And you're nobody's I love you
How can you be happy?
How can you be smiling?
How can you be anything
But low down saggy and blue
Sad but true…
…which feels prevalent for Ragatha, Jax and Caine, honestly. All struggle with being lonely and feeling unloved
Ragatha: Maybe she just doesn't wanna hang out with someone who's mean to her all the time
Jax: She likes when I'm mean to her, though!
Pomni: I didn't think you cared about what other people like.
Jax: That- (Scoffs) I just... No yeah, y-you're right. I don't.
Pomni: Do you have any... actual friends?
Ragatha: (To Pomni, quietly) Not anymore.
Ragatha: (sighs, voice cracking) I think... I might have failed Pomni. Just like I failed Jax. I try too hard to get on their good side, and then I just end up pushing them away. And then, they end up hating me...
Kinger: Well, I don't think anyone in here hates you.
Ragatha: (scoffs) Jax does! Gangle and Zooble don't ever talk to me, and... Pomni probably won't after today, either. (sighs) She came to me wanting to be on my team. I said no. (sighs) Why did I do that?
Ragatha: I don't know... I feel like every day, we're drifting further apart. Like she's seen through all my tricks and doesn't trust me anymore. Before I know it... she'll be a different person. One who doesn't even want me around.
Ragatha: I don't even know what I want. I just want everyone to be happy. And I don't want people to hate me.
Caine: (fidgets the rubix cube) I -- I-I don't understand, Bubble. They want an exit. They want answers. They want something real. I give them an adventure that covers all of that, and they still hate it?! Surely they don't want to actually leave me. Right?
Caine: I-I do everything for these people. I slave over these adventures for them. I step outside my comfort zone to appeal to them, a-and they still hate them! I made a program that creates a body perfectly encapsulating their mind files, and they hate those, too! I'm starting to get the feeling that they just... hate...
Loonyland also feels prevalent for Jax and Caine. The first resident of Loonyland our heroes meet is Sir Leonard Looney, a lanky purple prankster, and also a fantastical inventor, who continuously plays pranks under the guise of helping them, singing a song about how he does this because he loves them:
Sir Leonard Looney: BAM!
The flag says, "You need help."
Raggedy Ann, Andy and Blue Camel, reading the flag: You need help.
Sir Leonard Looney: No, "You need help."
From a helpful person who gets a big kick out of helping people who need help.
Now I bet you want to know where Babette is.
- Yes! - Am I right?
Raggedy Ann: How did you know that?
Sir Leonard Looney: Well, leave it to Sir Leonard Looney.
The looniest knight of the year.
Oh, terrible.
Welcome to Looneyland!
It's where all the practical jokes in the world come from.
And guess what?
We're going to try them all out on you!
Raggedy Andy: Come on, let's get out of here.
Sir Leonard Looney: Oh, I love it! I love it!
Once you're in, you're in, and nobody ever gets out of Looneyland.
Raggedy Ann: Why are you doing all this to us?
Sir Leonard Looney: It's easy!
Aha!
Hey!
The reason that I…
*electrocutes Andy*
Is 'cause I love you.
The reason that I…
*sticks an explosive cigar in Andy’s mouth*
Is 'cause I care.
And every mad invention
I bring to your attention
is just to show how much I need you there.
The fact that I go
*honks horn in their faces*
-means I adore you.
I'll show you every crazy way I do.
You made be all a’ tatters, but laughter's all that matters.
*throws pie into Ann and Andy’s faces*
And that's how I love you.
Oh, boy!
Much like Caine who is characterised similarly in being over the top and goofy, and in the Ep8 trailer is described as “the Lover”
“The Lover had always wanted friends. But he didn’t know how to get anyone to love him back. The harder he tried to impress the people with his magic, the more he would drive them away.”
…desperate to show his love and be loved, but only hurting them in the process, like we see in EP8 during his breakdown, especially his song “The One whose Running the Show” where he also tortures them with similar cartoonish gags and nonstop wacky adventures like Leonard Looney, to force them to see things from his point of view, because he wants to understand, to be understood, to love and be loved, however twisted the way he goes about it seems.
There’s also Jax who for most of the show characterizes himself as “the funny one” who says he adds a necessary dynamic to the group in doing so. He only feels safe interacting with the others and existing in the circus if he treats everything as a joke:
Jax: (scoffs, turning to face Pomni. he points to himself) Listen, I add a key dynamic. I see how far I can push things, (shoves Pomni) I screw with people, (toys with Pomni's hat tails) and I break the fourth wall. (stares and points at the camera) You wanna know why? It's 'cause it's funny! (Ducks down to Pomni's level, then straightens up and flails his arms in the air) I do everything 'cause it's funny! 'Cause I'm the funny one!
But this also clearly stems from Jax having a deep seated fear of being laughed at, feeling insecure and small:
…So he puts down others to make himself feel bigger, usually under the guise of it being some kind of funny gag that is often violent:
…which is exactly what the King of Loonyland does, as an incredibly short king, he laments his own smallness:
Raggedy Ann: Your Highness-
King Kookoo: You mean lowness.
Yeah, lowness. That's what it is.
Raggedy Ann: What?
King Kookoo: Tell it like you see it, dollface.
Lowness.
You notice it. Everybody notices it.
Raggedy Ann: Notices what?
King Kookoo: I am short!
King Kookoo: Oh, just think what I could do
if I was big like you
and I didn't have to put up all this front.
Imagine me an enormous king.
How they'd bow, how they'd cheer.
I'd be the heir of everything.
But now they hardly know I'm even here.
Silence!
I can never hope to lead.
I'm just a crumb.
Did Napoleon succeed?
Don't be dumb.
And if he was here, you'd see, he was tall compared to me.
I can hardly stand myself.
Do you know why?
It's not easy being king when you're short.
And I could die.
Raggedy Ann: Oh, maybe you'll grow.
King Kookoo: The only way I can grow is when I laugh at other people.
And that's why you're here.
Raggedy Andy: You lay off my sister!
King Kookoo: Ha, ha, ha. Oh, that's cute.
And can only make himself feel bigger by laughing at others, which he gets called out on by Raggedy Ann:
Raggedy Ann: Making fun of other people never made anybody bigger than anybody else!
Putting up a front to cover up their own insecurities, hating themselves, putting down others to make themselves feel like a big man, all fit perfectly with Jax’s own coping mechanisms in the circus as the “Funny One”
Now of course the most obvious allusions are the titular characters themselves, Raggedy Ann and Andy, with Ragatha and Jax, since they are explicitly stated to be inspired by them. Ragatha is a ragdoll who is kind and always tries to see the bright side like Ann, Andy is the more cynical one who puts up a tough guy front, who cares more than he lets on, like Jax. Ann and Andy are meant to balance one another out, Ann calls out Andy when he’s being too mean, and brings out a softer and more caring side to him. When Ann is too hard on herself or her kind nature leads to her getting hurt, he is there to uplift her and protect her.
He helps Ann in her initial attempt to befriend Babette, (even while not liking Babette himself much) and while Ann describes herself as “plain as can be” Andy describes her as “sweet as can be” in her song.
After Ann frees the pirate captain from his snow globe out of a desire to help him and he ends up kidnapping Babette, she blames herself and sees it as her responsibility to save Babette, Andy insists on coming with her to make sure she’s safe
Ann reprimands Andy for making fun of the Blue Camel and dismissing him as crazy
Andy sings a whole song about how Ann’s care and love for him helped him in his darkest moments and when he was feeling scared in Candy Heart and Paper Flowers
However, with Ragatha and Jax, they clearly clash instead of complimenting and uplifting each other, because while they possess the same traits as Ann and Andy, it is in the extreme to the point they antagonise one another. We have Andy’s machismo tough guy front who while he says he hates girls and refuses to show a softer side (and has a whole song dedicated to this):
Andy: I'll tell you something.
I'm getting pretty sick and tired of all the dumb things that go on around here.
This is no place for a strong, tough, and terrific boy like myself.
Grandpa: You're strong, tough, and terrific?
Andy: I could be, if I didn't have to hang around this nursery and be a girl's doll!
[ANDY]
Well, you can push me, shove me, turn me around, but I’m no girl’s toy!
You can tie me, toss me, upside or down, but I'm no girl’s toy!
I sing my own sweet melody, I go my own sweet way
I won’t beg ‘round tomorrow for the kind of affection that was free today!
[ANDY]
Oh, you can squeeze me, tease me, say I’m your own, but I’m no girl’s toy!
You can charm me, chase me, follow me home; I won’t be coy!
You may not like it much, but I’m my own best boy
And not some sugar and spicy, lacy and nicey, sissy you’re gonna enjoy!
No, I’m no girl’s toy!
[ANN, spoken]
Oh, Andrew, you're just terrible
[SUSIE PINCUSHION, spoken]
A regular Huck' Finn
[ANDY, spoken]
Wouldn't you be? Pushed around and squashed up by a bunch of girls?
[GRANDPA, spoken]
You tell 'em, sonny!
[BARNEY BEANBAG, spoken]
Yeah, ya- d'uh. Tell 'еm what?
[MAXI-FIXIT, spoken]
What'da mean? Tell-a da truth!
[TOPSY, spoken]
What truth?
[ANDY, spoken]
Too many girls!
[ANDY]
You say I’m heaps of trouble and I’m headin’ for a fall
Well no rag, no bone, no hank o' hair is gonna make me do what I don’t wanna do at all!
So squeeze me, tease me, say I’m your own, but I’m no girl’s toy!
And not some sugar and spicy, lacy and nicey, sissy you’re gonna enjoy!
No, I’m no girl’s toy!
…but spends all of the movie helping and protecting his sister Ann. Meanwhile Jax is incredibly entrenched in toxic masculinity of never showing any vulnerability and deliberately hurting and abusing those around him, specifically the most feminine characters in the cast, Gangle and Ragatha. Ragatha meanwhile is genuinely kind like Ann is, but holds herself so responsible for everyone’s wellbeing that she puts too much pressure on herself, and tries so hard to be friends with everyone that her efforts can feel performative. She tries to see the bright side of things like Ann, and Ann has a whole song about how the world is bright and beautiful through her eyes:
(ANN): I LOOK AND WHAT DO I SEE?
LOOKING OUT WITH TWO BRAND-NEW SHOEBUTTON EYES, HERE’S WHAT APPEARS TO ME:
I SEE LOTS OF PRETTY, AND A LOT OF HAPPY
AND A BIT OF EVERYTHING THAT’S THERE INSIDE OF ME!
I LOOK AND WHAT DO I SEE?
FROM A HEAD ALL FILLED WITH THREAD AND LINEN IN A RAGGY JAMBOREE
I SEE LOTS OF SMILING AND A LOT OF SINGING
AND A LOT OF SOMETHING ELSE THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE!
LOTS OF BUTTERFLIES IN THE AIR
LOTS OF HONEYCOMB EVERYWHERE
ALL THE PRETTY THINGS WE COULD SHARE
TOGETHER!
I LOOK AND WHAT DO I SEE?
IT’S A FACE AS SMILING AND AS HOPEFUL AS MY OWN FACE HAS TO BE
SEEING SOMETHING PRETTY, ALL LIT UP AND SHINING
SEEING SOMETHING EVERYONE COULD BE IF THEY WERE ME
WHEN I LOOK, THAT’S WHAT I SEE!
[GRANDPA]
You really see it that way?
[SUSIE PINCUSHION]
Just that lovely?
[GRANDPA]
WITH THE BUTTERFLIES IN THE AIR?
[SOCKO]
EVERY SINGLE DAY?
[MAXI-FIXIT]
WITH THE HONEYCOMB EVERYWHERE?
[TOPSY]
REALLY?
[ALL]
WITH A HAPPINESS WE COULD SHARE
TOGETHER?
[ANN]
TOGETHER!
I LOOK AND WHAT DO I SEE?
IT’S A FACE AS SMILING AND AS HOPEFUL AS I KNOW A FACE COULD BE!
SEEING SOMETHING PRETTY, ALL LIT UP AND SHINING;
SEEING SOMETHING EVERYONE COULD BE THE SAME AS ME!
WHEN I LOOK
[ALL]
WHEN I LOOK
WHEN I LOOK
WHEN I LOOK
[ANN]
THAT’S WHAT I SEE!
But one of the notable things about Ragatha’s design is her blue button eye, which alludes to her mother’s abuse and her having a black eye. So, the way Ragatha views the world through one eye is like Ann, having an optimistic view. The other button eye which Ragatha sees through is her worldview being coloured by her mother’s abuse, the hurt, pain and fear of abandonment.
One of the most explicit references to the movie is Ragatha’s line in Ep4:
Ragatha: Hurt, nothin'! I'm hurt enough. Packages landin' on my head. Tea parties. Dancin' lessons.
Which is what Andy says during his song “No Girl’s Toy”, which is interesting to me that Ragatha, the one alluding to Ann, would say instead of Jax, who alludes to Andy. Of course the line ties in better to Ragatha’s background growing up in a wealthy family. But I also think it is making a point about Ragatha and Jax being narrative foils who need to integrate, in Ragatha’s case she needs to be more comfortable expressing her negative emotions, like Jax, like Andy. In Jax’s case he needs to reach out to others and show more compassion, like Ragatha, like Ann.
How do you feel about people’s frustration with Charlie not using her powers to solve the conflict with the Vees? A lot of critics think that as one of Hell’s supposedly strongest demons after Lucifer and the Sins, she should’ve been able to stop Vox and free Angel from Valentino, and her not doing so is seen as another example of shows supposedly bad writing and her being a bad protagonist. Can I get a rebuttal for this take too, as well as why Charlie not being the badass people want her to be helps her arc? I admit that I do wish to see her more badass side myself and hate seeing her get humiliated and fail all the time is a little degrading (especially with how she was forced to call Vox the strongest in Hell on live tv).
Hi,
sure, I can give you my two cents :)
1- Charlie is simply not a good fighter. Having power is different than knowing how to fight. Charlie dislikes violence hence she is not an expert at fighting. Season 1 final fight makes it obvious:
Exhibit A-Charlie is strong enough to disperse a flock of exorcists with one finger. Despite this, she is scared and fights defensively with her shield. If she knew how to apply her power in battle, she could potentially do much more damage.
Exhibit B-Charlie has more power than Adam, but she loses their one on one because he has more experience.
Let me highlight this does not apply only to Charlie. There are several characters that on paper are stronger than others. However, they fail to successfully use that power in battle.
Adam is more powerful than Alastor. However, Alastor is the better fighter to the point that if the Radio Demon were less prideful he could have defeated Adam in their early exchange. What fucks Alastor up is really his convinction he does not need an angelic weapon to face Adam.
Emily is a Seraphim, so she could potentially kill Vox with the snap of her fingers. However, Emily is a child (just like Charlie) and has never had to fight in her life. She is not a violent person and can't imagine to use her powers violently.
Abel is an archangel, which means he could one-shot Vox, like Adam did with Alastor. However, he is unsure of his abilities, so instead of proudly going into battle, he is left trembling and hiding.
Finally, an example from Helluva Boss. Andrealphus is a Goetia, which means he should be able to defeat the imps easily. However, he sucks at fighting, while Blitz's group has been making a living on their fighting abilities. So, they are able to embarrass him by kicking his ass.
2- Charlie has power, but she obviously struggles to tap into it. Once again, season 1 finale makes it obvious:
She is overpowered by Adam in their one on one, but when Adam attacks Lucifer, she is able to stop his attack with one fist. The implication is that Charlie has enough power to break Adam with one hand (which is precisely what Lucifer then proceeds to do). However, Charlie can't manifest this power at will (it is not that she CONSCIOUSLY loses her fight against Adam). She struggles to access it.
Why is that so? Well, it is part of her arc.
Charlie's powers are basically her jungian shadow aka the dark part of herself she is repressing. She usually manifests them when she is angry or grieving. In other words, until Charlie won't face all the complicated and ugly emotions she has been ignoring, she will never be able to fully manifest her potential. This struggle is once again set up in season 1:
Vaggie: Well, I mean... You're the princess of Hell.
Charlie: So?
Vaggie: So, you don't really use the power that comes with that, which I love about you, but maybe you can... I don't know, command a little more... Authority?
Charlie: [Whines] But that's so mean...!
Vaggie: It's not mean, exactly. It's... uh, aggressive kindness.
Charlie: Okay... I could be so aggressively kind to Angel's boss... That I convince him to let Angel spend more time at the hotel!
Vaggie: Sure, whatever gets you there, babe.
Here, Vaggi is right. Charlie needs to tap into her aggressivity and authority to succeed. The problem is that Charlie has a childish understanding of good and evil, so politeness =good and conflict = bad. It is very simplistic and detrimental to Charlie's success and growth. In short, Charlie's understanding of violence is set up to be challenged in the future.
All of this is well and good, but the examples I made are all about season 1. What about season 2?
There is one criticism that I think is fair, which is that season 2 does not explore the conflict between Charlie and violence. It kinda leaves it in the background, which is precisely why people are frustrated by Charlie not solving problems with violence. It seems like the story is ignoring that there is this pretty simple solution and is not addressing why Charlie would not consider it. At the same time, Charlie gaining a deeper understanding of her powers is part of her arc, but in season 2 she makes no progress.
That said, I think things should be watched at in context. I said several times now that season 2 is a season where the main plot and the main characters' arcs are put on hold. It is a season where a B plot (Vox) becomes an A plot. The writers used this season to expand on major supporting characters, the worldbuilding, the themes. In this way, they set-up the main characters for future development, but did not give it to them this season (Charlie, Vaggi, Angel, Lucifer and Alastor aka the main 5 are all set up to develop in the upcoming two seasons). I think this choice works for the story, but it is natural it would create frustration in some viewers 'cause we don't have the whole thing, but are consuming the story season after season.
That said, I think this flaw does not justify the majority of the criticism, which imo is in bad faith. After all, season 2 does make clear enough why violence can't be a solution.
SEASON 2 THEMES
The whole point of season 2 is to avoid a war between Heaven and Hell. The story also does a decent job at showing both that war can't be a solution, but also that the sinners' anger is understandable. The people of Hell are being subjected to a genocide for years, so it is no surprise they wish to feel vindicated, even if rationally this would only bring more pain to them, as well (Heaven would have most likely won the war).
In short, Charlie's problem is not really to defeat Vox, but to convince the people of Hell to give up war and to embrace her redemption ideology. Politically, she is presenting herself as a pacifist and a champion of sinners. How do you think public opinion would have reacted if Charlie just went and attacked Vox?
We don't even have to guess because the story gives us two examples:
Both Lucifer and Sera try to threaten Vox with their powers and Vox just takes these attempts and uses them to his advantage. He gets more power from angels trying to kill "the voice of the people". Sure, you could argue that killing Vox would have solved the problem. Would have, though? Sinners' anger would have grown even more and sooner or later someone else would have emerged to take Vox's place as the leader of the people.
It is also not what Charlie personally wants. To kill Vox simply goes against her ideals. Charlie's fixation on ideas is both her strength and weaknesses. To explore this contradiction is the root of her story. So, I don't see a scenario where she would have just gone and killed Vox. It would have made the character incoherent.
On this, I would add that people are acting as if Vox just goes and violently attacks Charlie the whole time... Well, he doesn't. He slanders her reputation, but he is VERY careful not to threaten her or her loved ones violently up until the last arc (the scene with Angel in ep. 2X3 is played for laughs; moreover, after Vox passes a line there Charlie does tell him to leave). Sure, Vox catches Alastor, but it is Alastor himself who goes to fight him. Moreover, everyone at the Hazbin Hotel knows Alastor is in the middle of his machinations and just trusts him enough not to intervene (it is stated so by Vaggi).
Vox becomes openly violent to Charlie's loved ones in the final episodes, when he kidnaps Lucifer and Angel. However, Charlie is not there to see it happen. She suspects something has happened to them, but is unsure and does not know the details.
With all this considered, it is really not surprising Charlie would not attack Vox violently. We are talking about the girl who is unable to go all out against the man who has just killed one of her friends. She is able to fully manifest her true power only to defend a loved one that is under attack right in front of her. This is just how sick violence makes Charlie.
CHARLIE IS A COHERENT CHARACTER
Season 2 may not go deeper nor solve Charlie's complicated relationship with violence and ideals. However, it is VERY clear about this conflict still being relevant for her character. Here comes 4 examples:
1-
Charlie: For my reckonin' (Hotel Visitors: For my reckonin')
I'll never turn to violence (Hotel Visitors: I'll never turn to violence)
This lyrics in Hazbin Guarantee is meant to be taken critically. Charlie has just won a fight and survived thanks to violence. Still, she is telling the Sinners they should NEVER use violence. It is clearly a point of view which is too rigid and a little bit hypocritical.
2-
Charlie: He ruined everything is what happened. The angels were here to set things right, but thanks to him— and, apparently, you— Vox was able to spin it, again!
In the climax of her spiral Charlie blames Lucifer and Vaggi for Vox's declaration of war. This showcases once again her white and black thinking and hypocrisy. She blames them 'cause their plan was about using violence to threaten Vox. So, it is OBVIOUSLY bad. Charlie and the angels' plan was instead about apologizing, hence OBVIOUSLY good. However, Vox's declaration of war is made possible not by Vaggi and Lucifer's intervention, but by Charlie bringing Sera at the rally. In the end, Sera even does exactly what Lucifer did. However, for Charlie Sera is innocent, while Lucifer is guilty. Here, our girl is clearly projecting some unsolved issues outside.
3-
Vox: And with Carmilla's aid, we can finally fulfill Lilith's dream. She started this resistance to take back our power by force. She wanted blood, now let's spill some blood. Resist!
Charlie: My mom never wanted violence. She empowered sinners. Peaceful protest. There was no blood!
Charlie gets angry at the idea Lilith might have endorsed violence. I am sure Lilith is not the blood-thirsty dictator Vox frames her up to be. However, I am not sure she was such a pacifist as Charlie remembers her. Once again no violence = good in Charlie's mind.
4-
Charlie: And now Vox is declaring a war, and Carmilla's right, I started it, and I'm a hypocrite and my dreams are gonna die!!!
Charlie is so disturbed by her inner violence that she genuinely sees her being forced to use it in season 1 finale as a personal defeat. She is so scared by the destructive results of violence she truly thinks deep down SHE is the one who started the war.
CHARLIE IS TRAUMATIZED
The whole point of Charlie in season 2 is that she is not fine. The final fight of season 1 clearly re-enacted her trauma:
Sir Pentious dies = her mom leaves
The Hazbin Hotel gets destroyed = her family is destroyed
Not only that, but Charlie internalizes it is all her fault.
Her mom abandons her because she is not good:
Charlie: Look, this hotel was my way of finishing what she started, and I think I've been trying so hard to hold on to it because if I can make it work, maybe she'd be… proud of me. And maybe she'd come back and tell me what I did to make her leave.
Her hotel gets destroyed because she made mistakes:
Charlie: This bloodshed could have been avoided
If I convinced Heaven to work together
I took a hotel and I destroyed it
I know I could have done better
Better, instead of letting you down
It's not Lilith who is a bad mom for leaving. It is Charlie, who is a bad daughter. The proof that she is so bad is that now Hell is on the verge of war 'cause Charlie dared to use violence ONCE in self-defense!
Charlie's unsolved grief and trauma is why she is so ineffective in the finale btw. She literally goes into a panic attack the moment war seems unavoidable after Vox's Might of Lilith hit. She is overwhelmed by fear, shame and guilt. That is because in her mind EVERYTHING IS HER FAULT. Obviously this is itself a pretty childish and self-centered understanding of reality :P But here's the point. Charlie is a child who needs to grow-up. If she did so in one arc (which season 1 and 2 are), there would be no story.
In short, Charlie is terrified of violence and of the idea of being "bad". She is also clearly set-up to eventually discard this understanding of the world. I mean... her two biggest helpers are Alastor and Vaggi LOL
In particular, Charlie is DEEPLY in love with Vaggi, miss I love fighting and I collect weapons. This is not accidental. It is because the two girls need to integrate their complementary visions of the world. Just like they start doing in 1x7.
Vaggi discovers she needs to fight for love. It means she needs to fight to protect others and herself, rather than to hurt enemies and to sacrifice herself. Out For Love is about her integrating Charlie's vision of the world. Hence why she embraces "dancing" aka her art for the first time. She learns her body is not there only to kill (fight), but also to crete beauty (dance).
Charlie discovers she needs to accept violence to protect the ones she loves. Ready For This is about Charlie accepting this necessity. This is why she sings a recruitment song where she asks people to march and dance (=fight) for her. She even uses a lot of military jargon, which is Vaggi's default language.
Basically the point of 1.6 is that the two girls integrate with each other, even if they are separate.
VOX AND ANGEL
Since you asked about them specifically, here are some quick thoughts on their situations.
Vox
Charlie saying on TV Vox is the strongest sinner ties with the themes of the season. Charlie would have never given up to Vox, but is forced to say so because of her deal with Alastor. And what happens once she basically loses the fight of communication against Vox? She wins the war.
That is because Charlie is SO obsessed about being a GREAT AND INSPIRING COMMUNICATOR just like Lilith was, that she misses that:
A- You can't win a battle of communication against the embodyment of medias
B- It's not important what you say, but you do. Charlie says she is giving up on TV, but then doesn't and fights for the Sinners. This wins her the Kingdom back
Angel
People blaming Angel's loved ones for his situation are missing the point of Angel's character and story imo.
"Charlie does not care about Angel 'cause she is so fixated on being non-violent, she would not even try ot save him from Valentino!"
Charlie is literally ready to throw hands with Val five minutes after meeting him :''') It is ANGEL, who stops her from doing so. He does it to protect her, but he acts as if he is angry with her.
"Angel's loved ones do not care about him, 'cause they do not try to forcefully save him from Valentino"
They literally forcefully save him from Valenino in the season 2 finale. They even risk their well-being to do so and do not blame Angel for attacking them. After all that, Angel himself chooses to step back into his abusive relationship.
Angel's arc is meant to explore the difficulty of freeing one-self from an abusive situation and so far I think it does a good job at that. It is childish to think that it is easy to save a person in an abusive relationship. It isn't or there would not be so many tragedies all around us.
Angel's loved ones are people aka they are flawed. They don't have the whole picture of what Angel is going through and they face a person, who insists on pushing them away and refusing their help. They themselves need to grow to help Angel. At the same time, Angel needs to grow himself and to let them help him. That is the point of his story.
LOSERS
Finally, it is funny to me that people make it sound as if Charlie is the ONLY ONE who fails ridiculously. I mean, the whole point of the Hellaverse is that everyone is a loser:
Husk- He tells Angel to give Charlie's disastrous redemption plan a chance and then gets angry when Angel saves his life
Vaggi - She keeps her identity hidden for three years, thinking she can somehow pull it off in the long run; she is also unable to come up with a convincing excuse not to go to Heaven, which OBVIOUSLY leads to her secret coming out :''')
Lucifer - Have you seen the man? Let's just say he ends up being a power-source and he kiiiiinda deserves it, you know?
Alastor - He can't use angelic weapons 'cause he is too cool for them. Then, he makes the fact that he lost literally everyone's problem and spends the entirety of season 2 throwing a temper tantrum
Vox - He comes up with this overly complicated plan to gain power through popularity. He does all that and finally becomes THE STRONGEST sinner... and he is barely more powerful than Alastor, still gets his ass handed to him 'cause he is a less efficient fighter and loses it all. Let me also point out that for all of Vox's struggle he is still Overlord- level. Forget Charlie, cinnamon-roll Abel can one-shot him :P
I think I made my point. Everyone in the series is flawed and lame, which is why they are all so compelling. This is also why I find the whole "frauds" discourse so pointless and funny... "This character is a fraud!", "No, this character is a fraud"... Hello? They are all frauds, it's kinda the point. They are all trying to appear better than they are, which is why the narrative humiliates them.
CONCLUSION
Let's go back to Charlie and say I think people are simply reading her wrong. She is not meant to be a hero. She is meant to be a traumatized person trying her best, which makes her far more inspiring. She isn't the genius-princess that conquers everyone with her charm and quirkiness. She is a realistic portrayal of a neglected child, who becomes a young adult without fully growing up.
It's something the story makes crystal clear. Charlie's first scene is her reading a fairy tale about her family after a highly violent event (the exterminations). She is sad and scared and has no family with her because both of her parents have been neglecting her. So, Charlie is left with their idealized version in a picture book and the childish dream to fix her family.
I will point out another layer I never see people discuss. I will say I don't know if we will truly go as deep into the exploration of Charlie. Still, it is an element, which is worth considering. Charlie's parents neglect her not because they are bad people or do not love her. They neglect her because they too are two deeply traumatized people. They had this big dream which became a nightmare and broke the world.
I think both Lucifer and Lilith have both been twisted by whatever went down in Eden and are clearly projecting their traumas in different ways on Charlie. In short, Charlie is the victim of this HUGE inter-generational trauma. Her parents broke the world and have been struggling with this. As their daughter, Charlie has been struggling with this legacy, as well. She wants to fix the world because her parents broke it. So, if she can amend their mistakes they can finally be a normal family.
This lens gives her first scene even more substance. Charlie could frankly just ignore the exterminations. She is not a target and could even leave Pride and build a life for herself in one of the lower rings. Still, she deep down knows that her parents are responsible for the situation. Everything the Sinners are going through is at the end of the day her parents' fault. So, it is also her fault. This is why she is so obsessed by the idea of making "everything right".
Lute from my fanfic Precious like Starlight, a what-if story where Lute is the one to fall instead of Vaggi. Glacially slowburn Charlute, Lute redemption, and a deep dive into why the angel behaves the way she does.
Painted by the incredibly skilled Andelevion on Sufficient Velocity! Look at how beautiful those brushstrokes are, I feel like I can touch her clothes and wings!
Commissioned by an anonymous fan of my work. Seriously, you’re amazing for doing this, thank you so much for this piece ;-; She looks absolutely gorgeous!
I have just watched Revolutionary Girl Utena for the first time and it was incredible! So, I wanna write a meta on how the story uses alchemy motifs to convey its themes. I have watched the series only once, so I am sure I am missing many details. That said... here we go!
WHAT IS ALCHEMY?
(If you already know about alchemical stories and how they work, feel free to skip the first two paragraphs).
Alchemy is an ancient discipline whose goal was to create the philosopher stone. This stone was said to grant eternal life and to change metals into gold. To make the stone the alchemist was expected to follow a specific process rooted in the idea of "solvet et coagula" (separate and unite).
This discipline is now obviously overcome. However, its impact on our society is still there, both practically (alchemy evolved into chemistry and physics) and culturally (alchemical symbols are all over the place in art, fairy tales and even modern stories).
In particular, alchemical stories make use of symbols relating to alchemy to convey themes and character arcs. How do they do this?
THE FOUR PHASES OF ALCHEMY AND JUNG
According to tradition, the alchemical process has four phases: the black stage (nigredo), the white stage (albedo), the yellow stage (citrinitas) and the red stage (rubedo). Jung analyzed these stages from a metaphorical and psychological standpoint and associated them to archetypes:
The Black Phase is associated to the shadow aka the part of the self we repress. It is our darkest feelings, but also our hidden potential.
The White Phase is associated to the anima/animus aka the feminine/masculine part of the self. This archetype embodies the traits we need to integrate and that we look for in a romantic partner.
The Yellow Phase is associated to the Wise Woman aka the stand-in for the mother. This phase represents the first step of growing up. It is the moment the child separates from the parental figure to discover who they are.
The Red Phase is associated to the Self aka the archetype that combines all the others. It is who we are as people.
In short, the alchemical process becomes a metaphor for growing up. As a consequence, alchemical stories usually use these four phases to convey the psychological evolution of its characters. Not only that, but usually each stage culminates in a death because the idea of alchemy is "to separate and unite", "destroy and recreate", "die and be reborn". In short, each death advances the narrative and brings the characters closer to the philosopher stone (self-actualization/whatever the narrative goal is in the story).
This may seem overly complicated, but alchemical stories are actually everywhere, especially in the fantasy genre. For example, both Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter use alchemy. Think about Harry Potter and its three key deaths:
Sirius BLACK > black death
ALBUS Dumbledore > white death
Harry's own death that culminates with his body being taken by RUBEUS Hagrid > red death
In other words, the characters' names allude to the three phases of alchemy (often the yellow phase is either skipped in stories or incorporated into the red phase).
THE ALCHEMY OF REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA
Is it sure that Revolutionary Girl Utena is an alchemical story?
Yes.
I'll give just two major examples before digging deeper into my analysis.
1- The lyrics of the second ending Virtual Star Embryology mention the philosopher stone twice:
Yes, a child of earth is
conceived.
The embryo of philosophy.
Egg. Perfection. The origin in the nest.
Stamen. Pistil. A single seed.Yes, a child of earth
grows.
The child of philosophy.
"The embryo of philosophy" and "The child of philosophy" allude to the prima materia that will once day become the philosopher stone. The following lyrics even describe the process of transformation:
And then
lunar heaven! Mercurian heaven. Venusian heaven.
Solar heaven. Martian heaven. Jovian heaven.
Saturnian heaven. Stellar heaven. Motive heaven.And then... The endless surface of the torus.
A single organic mechanism.
A single perpetual motion machine. Ah, it is empty movement.
This obviously references the system of duels. The kids keep going through fights (solvet et coagula) to refine the prima materia (Utena's sword) more and more until it becomes a philosopher stone.
2- The characters are associated to roses. In alchemy, the rose and the tree are alternative symbols of the self and the philosopher stone. So, RGU chooses the tree/rose symbolism over the stone/gold one. This is highlighted in many ways throughout the series. For example, many characters have botanical names.
Why this choice? It emphasizes the double nature of the journey the characters are undergoing.
On the one hand they are kids going through a process of alchemical refinement. Throughout their fights they mature until they can eventually become adults. They are all nurturing their own roses (their selves), which is why they wear roses when they duel. This flower represents the characters' hearts and they lose if it gets destroyed. They are all fighting to bloom as people. They all struggle to become philosopher stones.
On the other hand the whole process of alchemy has been hijacked by Akio. As a result, what should be a healthy journey of self-discovery and growth becomes a cycle of violence. Akio has no intention to let any of the kids leave the school (aka grow up). He wants to keep them his prisoners forever and to use them to bait other victims he can prey on (like he does with his two major victims aka Touga and Anthy that he transforms in his accomplices). In this context, the idea of "roses" clearly alludes to the act of "grooming". Akio is "grooming" the kids like he would plants (sure, the double meaning of "grooming" works only in English, but metaphorically the series supports this reading).
In short, the protagonists find themselves fighting to break the cycle (inverted alchemy) and properly grow up (positive alchemy).
THREE ARCS = WHITE, BLACK AND RED
RGU has three arcs. Each one stands for a phase of alchemy. Usually, the order would be: black phase > white phase > (yellow phase, when present) > red phase. However, RGU focuses mostly on the archetype of the anima/animus aka the integration of the feminine and masculine. This makes sense for a story which criticizes gender roles, rape culture and patriarchy.
Because of this, the story starts with the White Phase aka the stage focused on anima/animus. It evolves into the Black Phase, which explores the shadow. Finally, it ends with the Red Phase which is about the self and a deeper integration with both the shadow and the anima/animus.
Let's go deeper.
The Student Council Saga is the White Phase (Anima/Animus) - We are introduced to our protagonist Utena whose heart-rose is white. She steps into the dueling arena and keeps winning until Touga defeats her. There Utena symbolically "dies" (white death = her rose gets destroyed). However, she manages to be reborn and to get a part of herself back (Anthy). Symbolically, the part Touga "steals" from Utena is her animus (masculine part). Our girl finds herself constricted into gender roles and decides to refute them by facing Touga again to win Anthy (her anima/animus) back. Symbolically, the transformation sequence in this arc has Utena take the soul-sword from Anthy. In short, Utena is "holding" Anthy aka her anima/animus.
The Black Rose Saga is the Black Phase (Shadow) - Utena's opponents all wear a black heart-rose. This is because Mikage is manipulating the kids' darkest feelings to interfere with the duels. In short, Mikage is using what people are repressing (their shadows) against Utena.
This arc has four layers, when it comes to the shadow archetype meaning.
1- The Black Rose Duelists are the Student Council Members' shadows.
-Miki doesn't want to grow up (hence why he keeps trying to "stop time" :P). He agonizes over his lost childhood represented by his twin sister Kozue. Kozue's obsession for him and her inability to let Miki develop romantic feelings for Anthy represent the oedipal feelings the two siblings share. They are both stuck in the sunlit garden and refuse to let go of each other as their most important bond.
-Juri struggles to express her sexuality and suffers for her masculinity. Shiori is the symbol of Juri's struggle. At the same time, Shiori herself faces similar problems. She resents her femininity, represses her feelings for Juri and projects them on the boys who like Juri. She tries to "steal" them out of jealousy for her "friend".
-Nanami is the kid of the bunch. She wants to grow up, but is still very childish. Moreover, she wants Touga's attention and is ready to serve him loyally to get it. Tsuwabuki represents all these inner conflicts. He is a child younger than her, who wants to grow up in a strong adult (like Touga) and thinks he will succeed if he dedicates his life to Nanami.
-Saionji wants to "catch up" to Touga in terms of manhood. He feels overshadowed by his friend and wants to prove his worth. Wakaba has similar feelings towards Utena and Anthy. She feels average in a world full of special people.
-Touga is a victim of Akio, who rapes him and manipulates him. Touga is forced to play along with Akio's schemes, but deep down resents "his master". Keiko is a member of Nanami's girl posse, but she is secretly interested in Touga and hates Nanami.
Interestingly, all the Black Rose Duelists feel "overshadowed" by someone else (Kozue > Miki, Shiori > Juri, Tsuwabuki > Touga, Wakaba > Utena, Keiko > Nanami). In short, they live in the shadows (both in-universe and meta-narratively since they are background characters). This makes them perfect "shadow-archetypes" of the protagonists. Symbolically, their transformation starts with them stepping into an elevator that goes down (so, they go deep into their unconscious). Then they go to the student council member they are obsessed with and steal their sword. In short, the duelist is left unconscious and their swords are used and refined by their deepest and repressed feelings.
2- The fight sequences in the Black Rose Saga highlight everything that is wrong in Ohtory Academy:
The Black Rose Duels conjure the desks of the students that died in the Nemuro Memorial Hall Tragedy. Moreover, once the Black Rose Duelists are defeated they assume the position of the fire's victims. Of course, it is eventually revealed that Mikage himself killed the students to obtain the power of Dios (aka the philosopher stone). In short, the fights symbolically convey the cycle of abuse implemented by Akio in the school. Akio is sacrificing children for his objectives. Utena doesn't realize this by the time, but the Black Rose Saga is full of warnings our protagonist ignores about Akio.
3- Mikage is a shadow of both Utena and Akio:
Mikage has Utena color-scheme in a lighter tone (cause he is a ghost/shadow). In their final duel, Mikage tries to warn Utena against the dangers of memories that can be used as a tool of manipulation. It turns out that Mikage himself is a victim of Akio, who controls Mikage by altering his memories of Mamiya. The same is secretely happening to Utena.
Mikage is an adult abusing children for his selfish goals. Even the sexual undertones Mikage has towards Mamiya play into this since Mamiya is much younger than him. This mirrors Akio's relationship with Anthy. During his final confrontation with Utena, Mikage even says that the students come to him by their own free will. Later on Akio will say the exact same words about Anthy's role as the Rose Bride.
4- Mikage's death (black death) marks the end of the arc. Symbolically this results in the characters forgetting what happens during this saga. By the end of the arc nobody remembers Mikage nor the Mikage Seminar. This is similar to how the Black Rose Duelists forget their fights once they lose. Why is that so? It's because the shadow archetype is linked to the unconscious. All the kids struggle through deep issues, but they do so subconsciously. This idea is hinted at even in Mikage's botanical name, which means "root". He is the root hidden under the ground aka the unconscious/the shadow.
Utena especially is unable to fully integrate and understand her own shadow in this arc. This is why she will need to face it again in the shape of Akio in the final saga.
The Apocalypse Saga is the Red Phase (Self) - The fights of this saga all happen in an arena full of red cars:
Moreover, this arc has the characters fight together with their respective Rose Bride (Anima/Animus) and wield their own soul-sword. In short, they are fighting with their "selves". Everyone has grown enough to develop a solid enough sense of who they are.
Let's now focus on the final fight between Utena and Akio.
During this last confrontation, the arena surrounding Akio and Utena quickly shifts throughout the three fight sequences of the three arcs (empty arena, desk-arena, car-arena). This symbolizes Utena going quickly through the three phases of alchemy to fully integrate the different parts of who she is. In particular:
-Utena faces her shadow in Akio, who tells her point blank Utena too has been objectifying Anthy to feel strong and noble by protecting her. Symbolically, while Akio says these words, Utena is in the Mikage Seminar's elevator. She is going deeper within herself to face this contradiction.
-Utena fully integrates with Anthy by accepting everything about her, even her most negative and violent traits. By doing so, she helps Anthy reach the Self. At the same, Utena symbolically dies a second time (red death). She disappears from Ohtory Academy (aka "Akio's world").
-Anthy self-actualizes and finds the Self in the last scene of the series. There she leaves Akio and Ohtory Academy to face the world as her own person.
By the end both Utena and Anthy are free of Ohtory Academy. They "graduate", which means they leave the cycle of abuse and grow up. They have both reached self-actualization.
THE STUDENT COUNCIL = 5 ELEMENTS, 5 PHASES AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL TREE
What's the role of the Student Council?
The kids of the Student Council are:
The 5 elements linked with Eastern Cultures
The alchemical phases
The philosophical tree
The Five Elements
Saionji is wood - Wood is linked to the color green. Moreover, Saionji is the captain of the kendo team (wooden swords) and he makes a leaf-shaped wooden hair-clip for Wakaba.
Miki is water - Water is linked to the color black, but this color is used for the Black Duelists. So, they gave Miki a blue color-scheme most people would associate with this element. Moreover, Kozue is strongly associated with water, as she is shown swimming and her "shadow-object" during her duel with Utena is the beverage she used to drink together with Miki.
Juri is metal - Metal is linked to the color white, but this color is used for Utena. Despite the lack of a color connection, Juri is still associated to this element. She is the captain of the fencing team (metal swords) and her most iconic possession is her metallic medallion. This jewel represents Juri's heart since it has Shiori's picture in it. It symbolically conveys how Juri is repressing her feelings by covering them with a metallic armor.
Nanami is earth - Earth is linked to the color yellow. Moreover, Nanami has a bestial motif going on, as her arc is commented by her relationship with several animals.
Touga is fire - Fire is linked to the color red. Moreover, Touga is associated with fire in some scenes like when he burns Saionji's diary.
The Alchemical Phases
Saionji is the prima materia - this substance is associated to the color green and it kickstarts the alchemical process
Miki is the black phase - his element is traditionally associated to the color black
Juri is the white phase - her element is traditionally associated to the color white
Nanami is the yellow phase - her main color is yellow
Touga is the red phase - his main color is red
The Philosophical Tree
The one above is a plate from Splendor Solis aka an alchemy text. It has three philosophers under a tree with golden fruits. The tree is a metaphor for the alchemical process as a whole. It is the philosophical tree and if you climb it you reach the golden fruit (perfection/the philosopher stone).
All the Student Council members have botanical names. If you put them all together, they represent an evolving tree aka the philosophical tree:
Saionji's name means "pod", so he is the seed of the tree
Miki's name means "tree turnk", so he is an incomplete tree
Jury's name means "tree", so she is the whole tree, but she has no fruit
Nanami's name means "fruit" because she is a very special little girl :P
Touga means winter bud. He should be a flower able to bloom, but Akio's abuse has forced him to "hibernate" and repress his feelings. Still, he has the power to blossom into a philosopher stone of his own
In short, the Student Council is just another metaphor for the alchemical process. By fighting them, Utena and Anthy keep refining themselves until they are able to fully bloom.
Let's now go deeper into the character arcs and roles within the story.
MIKI AND JURI = CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
Miki and Juri are the first two phases of the process. They are linked to two specific stages of life: childhood (Miki) and adolescence (Juri). In particular, they explore two different integrations of the anima/animus.
Miki And Incest (The Shadow)
Miki and Kozue's incestuous attraction is to be read as a first childish understanding of the feminine and the masculine. The twins are each other's first experience with the other sex and they are symbolically still stuck in their childhood (the garden where they used to play together). There they used to complement each other, like their names suggest. Miki means tree trunk, while Kozue means treetop. Together they made the whole tree. Similarly, their music was complementary and made something "shining" and "perfect" in Miki's memories. However, time has passed and Miki and Kozue have grown up. Despite this, Miki is still deeply childish.
Miki superficially appears as a pretty mature middle schooler. He is a stellar athlete and a musical and academic prodigy. He is so good that he is younger than Utena, but he is already in high school. And yet, behind this mature facade hides a child, who doesn't really want to grow up. This part of himself is conveyed through both his relationship with Kozue and Kozue herself.
-Miki is still trying to re-create his old relationship with Kozue. This is why he falls for Anthy. He isn't really in love with Anthy, but projects on her an idealized version of Kozue. In short, Miki's attraction for Anthy is in itself still oedipal. This is why when Miki's father tells him about his new spouse, Miki imagines his new "mom" as Anthy.
-Kozue is the opposite of Miki. Miki is kind, humble and mature, while Kozue is rude, arrogant and childish. However, the point is that Kozue represents a part of Miki (his shadow). Specifically, she represents the childish self he represses. Kozue wants to go back to the sunlit garden, just like Miki wants to. They both want to stop time and go back there.
Time machine!
To the past, to the future! Whoosh! Zoom!
Time machine!
Back to when I wasn a precious young child.
On a carpet of lotus blossoms.
Playing with my dolls.
That wonderous spell! Fi! Fi!
Hard candy...
That pretty dress I wore.
The 7-5-3 festival.
Oh, my dream machine!
A shower of cherry blossoms.
Taking me to my distant, past self...
Ten! Two! One! Zero!
Take off!
Lyrics from Utopian Past Tense Incantation aka Kozue's Duel Song. Obviously the "time machine" alludes to Miki's iconic stopwatch. Miki keeps stopping time because he doesn't want to grow up. This is what Kozue's duel in the second arc reveals to us.
However, neither Miki nor Kozue can use a time machine. The tree they used to make together (trunk + top) has been cut, like the one in Miki's final episode (ep. 26- Miki's Nest Box). This means Miki and Kozue should just accept growing up. However, none of the twins deep down wants to. This is why Kozue risks her life to save the couple of birds nesting on the tree. Similarly, after his duel with Utena Miki makes a new nest for them. However, they both try throughout this final episode.
Kozue tells Miki he should romantically pursue Anthy and Miki fights against Utena to try and finally grow up. Obviously they are both being manipulated by Akio, so their healthy desire to grow up gets mixed together with Akio's toxic masculinity teachings. In any case, they fail as Miki gets distracted by Kozue seemingly having sex with Anthy during the duel. Symbolically it means Miki is still struggling with his oedipal complex. This is why the two birds are not able to fly free by the end of the episode and Kozue calls Miki "a coward".
Juri And First Love (Animus/Anima)
Juri's conflict focuses on her romantic feelings for Shiori, her childhood friend and first love. Specifically, she is unable to either let go or make any progress in her relationship with the other girl. This happens because both Juri and Shiori are struggling with their queerness and reciprocal attraction. Specifically, Juri sees herself as too masculine, too strong for a girl. She should have been a man, but she is a woman:
Universal light.
Mosiac light.
Lucifer, son of the dawn.
Apocalyptic light.
Michael's light.
Androgynous, son of darkness.
(...)
His body shining bright,
spherical in shape,
Gyes.
Born into every possible miracle,
Gyes.
The pleasure principle.
(...)
The two sexes, the two poles,
there are two of me.
Up, down, left, right,
there are two of me.
Front, back, heaven, earth,
two of me.
Angel, devil,
there are two of me.And inside I'm hollow.
Inside I'm hollow. (repeat)
Lyrics from Angelic Creation, Namely, Light aka Juri's first Duel Song. The song describes the masculine and feminine principles mixed together (the androgynous). It hints at Juri's struggle to reconcile her masculine side with her feminine side.
Shiori instead sees herself as weak, feminine and boring. She resents Juri's strength and deep down does not see herself fit to stand by Juri's side. This inferiority complex is conveyed by Shiori's name, which means "branch". Fittingly, Shiori sees herself as just a "branch" of Juri's "tree".
By the third arc, both girls are still hopelessly stuck in this longing relationship. Thankfully, a new character steps in:
Ruka is a member of the Student Council, which means that he too is part of the alchemical process. He represents the so called "rainbow phase". This phase is really just a moment that happens between the black stage and the white stage and brings a quick transformation. Well, Ruka's first appearance has him step between Miki (black phase) and Juri (white phase). He also stays for only two episodes, shares Miki's color scheme and ties into Juri's arc. Not only that, but he brings change and helps Juri transform. This function is suggested by his name that can be combined with Juri's to form the words "tree-fruit" and "lapislazuli". In other words, Ruka is meant to help Juri's fruitless tree to bear fruit, so that she can complete her growth and become a philosopher stone (a precious gem).
Ruka tries to fulfill his role in Juri's arc by operating as a mercurius aka a character that combines two complementary elements (in this case characters) together. In other words, Ruka orchestrates a "chemical wedding" between Juri and Shiori.
What is a chemical wedding? In alchemy stories it is a metaphorical union between characters and it represents two opposites coming together.
Obviously RGU is full of these, but Juri and Shiori's is interesting because it is an indirect one that happens thanks to Ruka.
One or many.
Word or object.
The very question as it hangs becomes its symbol.
Dios Croix!
All creation, gender, chaos.
Anima Animus!Hurry your spiritual perfection!
Namely, revisit your interior!
Left and right, the two sides of me.
All in heaven and earth and both the sexes.Two heads, two bodies.
Two insides, two outsides.
Two breeds, two me's.
Two fronts, two backs.I'll make the word just for the two of us!
I'll make it so that we're the only two in the world!
I'll make it so it's only the two of us!
The two,
the deux,
the two,
the deux.
-
-
-
-
I will make the world androgynous!
Hermaphroditism!
Lyrics from the Angel Androgynus aka Ruka's Duel Song. The lyrics describe the process of integration between anima and animus that gives birth to the hermaphrodite aka the union of feminine and masculine. It represents the self and the balance between opposites. In short, Ruka is combining Shiori and Juri to make sure that Juri unlocks her whole potential.
Ruka plays the part of Shiori's groom (masculine) and of Juri's bride (feminine). In this way, he symbolically unites them. For example, think about Shiori polishing Ruka's sword (metaphorical sex) only for him to reveal to her that was not really his sword. The implication is that the sword Shiori has been taking care of is Juri's. Metaphorically Ruka is telling Shiori the one she has feelings for is Juri. At the same time, he has Juri fight Utena. By winning the duel, Juri would gain a "miracle" and finally accept herself fully. However, Juri fails because at the last moment she is unable to overcome her complex towards Shiori. Utena breaks her medallion and Juri destroys her own rose. This marks the second time Juri loses to Utena because she lacks faith in herself (she does not believe she can obtain a miracle).
Later on, Ruka leaves and dies off screen because of his own illness. Is that all? Not really, Ruka's sacrifice for Juri kick-starts a deeper transformation. By the end of his second episode, Shiori is seen observing Juri and finally walk towards her. The implication is that Shiori and Juri will manage to re-connect and integrate.
Integrating the Anima
Miki and Juri represent two immature forms of love (childhood love and teenage love). This is why they are unable to fully grow into themselves in the course of their final duel with Utena. That said, the finale implies they are slowly getting there. This is why they both "fall in love" with Utena in their last meeting with her. Miki says he is switching the target of his romantic feelings from Anthy to Utena. Similarly, Juri says she will put Utena's picture in her medallion. These "declarations of love" should not be taken literally. What they mean is that Miki and Juri are developing their respective anima/animus. So, Miki leaves Anthy (who represents his obsession for Kozue) behind. Jury is instead finally moving on from her feelings for Shiori, either in the sense she is letting go of her or that she is finally addressing her. Neither of them is frozen in time anymore.
SAIONJI AND TOUGA = PRIMA MATERIA AND PHILOSOPHER STONE
Saionji and Touga represent the prima materia and the final stage of alchemy. In other words, they are complementary and need to combine to make the philosopher stone.
Saionji - The Prima Materia
Saionji is the prima materia, so the rough stone at the very beginning of the process. He is the seed of the tree, which is what his songs reference:
Rose of the sea.
Lily of the sea.
Apple of the sea.
Bud of the sea.
Angel of the sea.
Mirror of the sea.
Doorway of the sea.
Shimmer of the sea.
Carboniferous, Permian, Paleozoic!You in the sea.
I in the sea.
The paleozoic era within the body.
Living on and on.
Closer and closer to death.
The endless cycle
of the paleozoic.
Lyrics from the Paleozoic Within the Body aka Saionji's second duel song. The song emphasizes the beginning of time aka the moment when life is born. Similarly, Saionji is the prima materia that starts the process.
This is why Saionji kick-starts the process in arc 1 and arc 3 (this role is taken by Kanae in arc 2). In arc 3 specifically it is thanks to his duel with Utena that the alchemical journey enters a new stage, as Anthy pulls the sword from inside of Utena, rather than the other way around. At the same time, Saionji is also the character with the highest number of duels:
He fights Utena twice in arc 1
He has an illegal fight in the second part of arc 1, where he gets expelled
He fights Utena at the beginning of arc 3
This happens because Saionji needs the most refinement. Basically he needs his ass kicked the most :P Symbolically this ties with him being introduced as the most blatant representation of toxic masculinity.
The irony is of course that Saionji's exasperated masculinity is just a facade. In flashbacks, as a guest of Wakaba and in some of his most intimate conversations with Touga he reveals himself to be very sensitive. In short, Sajonji has a strong repressed femininity (anima). Why does he hide it? He has internalized that to keep being close to Touga he needs to be more of a man than Touga is. This idea ties with the boys' alchemy motifs. Saionji is the prima materia (the seed), while Touga is the red phase (the flower). So, Saionji strives to be like Touga.
Saionji's feelings are perfectly expressed by Wakaba aka his shadow. Wakaba is not really in love with Saionji, but wants him in order to "feel special" and be on the same level as Utena. Similarly, Saionji's pursue of Anthy has nothing to do with her. Who Saionji truly strives for is Touga. He wants to become a "better prince" than Touga to keep their bond alive.
This wish becomes clear in the final arc. There Akio and Touga manipulate Saionji to fight again and point out that what Saionji truly wants is "eternal friendship". Deep down Saionji wants to go back to that sense of closeness he used to share with Touga. A sense of intimacy without the complications of Akio's abuse and of the boys' mutual sexual desire.
In short, Saionji is trying to integrate with Touga, which is why he has a duel against Utena towards the end of each arc:
In arc 1 he kidnaps Anthy just before Utena and Nanami's duel; there he physically hurts Touga and Touga psychologically hurts Saionji
In arc 2 Saionji's shadow (Wakaba) is the one just before Touga's (Keiko). Moreover, the boys' shadows are similar. Both are girls relegated to the role of sidekick that are infatuated with the two boys
In arc 3 Saionji fights by Touga's side during the final duel
These three duels symbolize Saionji's attempts to "reach" Touga. Initially, he tries to "reach" Touga's level by becoming more masculine in a toxic way. Subconsciously the two boys grow closer in arc 2, where Saionji is welcomed back in the school. Finally, Sayonji "reaches" Touga emotionally. He does so not thanks to his strength (animus), but through his sensitivity (anima). This is also why Saionji doesn't have a rose bride. He is a Rose Bride. This is where his development lies.
Touga - The Stunted Flower
Touga represents the red phase, so the final stage of the alchemical process. This makes him linked to the archetype of the "self", which is the theme of his two early duels with Utena. He "steals" Utena's self, but the girl wins it back.
However, Touga himself has a very twisted sense of self because of Akio's sexual and emotional abuse. Touga should bloom into an alchemical rose, but Akio stunts his growth through abuse. This is why his name means "winter bud". In order to survive Touga has to "hybernate" and repress who he is. This negation of the self manifests in Touga manipulating his two closest bonds (two parts of himself):
He makes use of Saionji's insecurities so that he would attack Utena and get expelled. All to frame himself as "Utena's prince" and use her vulnerability in their later fight
He makes use of Nanami's feelings for him, so that she would attack Utena and show him how the power of Dios manifest
In other words, Touga is lashing out against his loved ones because of abuse. At the same time he also tries to drive them away at different points. On the one hand he has Saionji expelled. On the other hand he convinces Nanami they are not blood related. This is interesting because it is as if Touga is both lashing out at his loved ones and pushing them away from the cycle of abuse.
In any case, Touga is a "bad victim", which makes him an important foil to Anthy.
Touga is introduced as the embodiment of toxic masculinity and Akio's accomplice; by the third arc it is revealed he is really one of Akio's victims
Anthy is introduced as a victim of toxic masculinity; by the third arc it is revealed she is Akio's accomplice and has internalized misogyny
Both are scared kids forced to hurt others because of Akio. The trick is that you are bound to miss this initially. You don't notice Touga's victimhood and Anthy's inner darkness. Just like Utena doesn't.
Utena's duel against Keiko aka Touga's shadow conveys precisely this. As Utena faces Keiko, she realizes she doesn't even know her name. Anthy instead reveals she has been paying attention to Nanami's "invisible" sidekicks. This shows two things:
Anthy knows what it means not to be seen
Utena is missing clues about the people around her, like Touga's victimhood and Anthy's complexity
Despite this, Utena is key in the arcs of both Anthy and Touga, who start changing because of her. In particular, Touga is inspired by her actions in arc 1. There Touga implements the manipulative tactics he learnt from Akio, uses them to subjugate Utena and forces her into gender roles. Still, Utena does not give up and decides to fight to get "herself" back. This shocks Touga that by that point has just accepted he can never get his true self back from Akio. To see Utena strive to still be herself opens the doors to Touga's rebirth.
Saionji and Touga's Chemical Wedding
In order to save himself Touga needs Saionji's help. That is because deep down Saionji is the only person Touga trusts. Not only that, but the two boys basically find again their desire to help others. They go back to their most genuine selves.
As children, Saionji and Touga truly want to save Utena, but they fail. Later on they both (and especially Saionji) internalize that to save someone you need to be "man enough". This is obviously a result of Akio's twisted teachings (the same he imparts on Utena aka "only princes can save others"). In other words, Saionji and Touga's selfless desire to help someone gets preyed upon and twisted into toxic masculinity. So, Saionji and Touga's growth lies into remembering what exactly motivated them to pursue masculine values:
This scene is symbolic on multiple levels:
Saionji and Touga consume their relationship (finally! You were tricking no-one) and metaphorically unite into one (they become one vehicle)
Saionji and Touga rebuild their selves from scratch; they deviate from Akio's toxic idea of masculinity (his red car) and find a new one that may seem a bit lame, but is far more genuine and selfless
Touga is still too much under the influence of Akio to fully free himself (leave the duels), but he chooses to fight for his own reasons. Specifically he chooses to fight to protect Utena. This is why Touga is the only one who goes to face Utena not after a car-ride with Akio, but after a motorbike adventure with Saionji
Saionji is the only Rose Bride that does not just ride on the passenger seat of the car, but drives his and Touga's motorbike in the end (aka he is the only Rose Bride actively driving, which shows a deeper integration between him and Touga than the other couples have - not counting Anthy and Utena obviously):
In short, Touga and Saionji do not limit themselves to be used by Akio, but fight to take back control of their lives. Despite this, they fail in their objective to win against/protect Utena. This happens because Touga's idealization of himself as Utena's prince is in itself a form of objectification. He projects on Utena his own desire to be saved. He believes that if he can just save Utena he himself will be saved. And yet, things are not so simple, so he loses. That said, the boys' defeat does not negate the positive effects of their chemical wedding, which gets cemented by the end:
Saionji: Touga.
Touga: Yeah.
Saionji: Is it over for us?
Touga: No. It's not over until we see it through the very end.
These are basically wedding vows ("until death does us apart"). After this, Saionji and Touga are almost always seen together:
After their duel with Utena, Saionji and Touga's motor-bike gets destroyed, so now they are moving forward by bicycle :P Symbolically, it shows how they are starting over and how they are distancing themselves even more from Akio's ways.
In the scene above Saionji and Touga confront Akio as he takes pictures of them. The implications are pretty dark. You don't have to necessarily read it this way, but there is an obvious sexual association to be made. And what does it come to mind if I say adult taking pictures of underage teens in sexual poses? Yep, Akio is using them to make pornographic materials. What's important here is that Saionji is not letting Touga alone with his abuser, even if it puts Saionji in danger too (it is basically the same thing Utena does for Anthy in the same episode- she goes to face Akio for her sake). Moreover, they are confronting Akio to discover what his plans for Utena are.
NANAMI = THE YELLOW PHASE AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL CHILD
Nanami is a very special little girl! She is both the yellow phase and the philosophical child.
The yellow phase is sometimes a part of the red phase. This is why Nanami and Touga are siblings and she is strongly linked to him. At the same time, this phase is the first step of self-actualization. It is the moment the child gains wisdom (the wise woman) and starts growing up as their own person, outside of their parents. It is really the Eve of the Evolution Revolution, just like Nanami's first song says:
That's me! Wait! My last evolution,
revolution,
everlution
The philosophical child is the symbol of alchemy itself. They are basically another symbol of the philosopher stone and the fruit of alchemy (Nanami's name means fruit btw). Moreover, one of the most common images used to represent them is... the child of the egg :P
Philosophical existence.
The realm of the
Grand Guignol of common magic.
Lyrics from Conic Absolute Egg Archibras aka Tsuwabuki's (Nanami's shadow) song. The title itself says it all :P
So, Nanami is the child that grows up. She starts the story as the youngest and most childish person in the student council (and the series as a whole). However, by the end she is the first to acquire wisdom, grow up and escape the cycle of abuse.
Nanami's arc is commented metaphorically by her animal motif. A running gag is that the little princess gets often dunked on by animals or that she gets mockingly associated to them. This is not by chance, but is part of a commentary on who Nanami is as a person.
-Nanami's story starts with her gifting Touga a little kitty, only for her to get jealous of it and kill it. Symbolically the little cat is Nanami herself. Both girl and cat enter the party dirty and scrappy. However, Touga welcomes and adores both. Touga's love and care (it is clearly implied Touga is the only one taking care of Nanami) makes Nanami willing to dedicate herself to him completely. As a result, she kills a part of herself (the cat). Deep down, she does not want to and runs back to save it, but by the time she does the cat is already gone. Nanami has similarly negated a part of herself for Touga's sake.
-Nanami turning into a cow in the second arc goes deeper into this psychological mechanism. Nanami is happy just being "Touga's little sister". She simply follows him along and is content. However, if she keeps doing so, she may truly end up a "cow". This is the meaning of the cow-episode, where Touga symbolically "sells Nanami away", so that she will be consumed. It is meaningful that the episode happens in the shadow arc since this archetype is also called "the inner beast". Nanami's inner beast temporally takes control of her. The "cow" represents both Nanami's fear of Touga separating from her and the unconscious realization this separation needs to happen for Nanami to grow healthily.
-Finally, Nanami lays an egg :P The egg is a clear symbol of the first menstruation cycle. So, it implies Nanami is growing up and it metaphorically prepares the terrain for the girl's eventual development.
First of all in Nanami's Egg the little girl has her personal alchemical journey. She goes through the different phases as she confronts the Student Council members over her beautiful egg.
Miki > black phase
Juri > white phase
Touga > red phase
They all have conversations with Nanami about adolescence and growing up. The most important one is obviously the one Nanami and Touga share. There Touga essentially tells Nanami he does not want her to grow up. Nanami tries once again to make her big brother happy and abandons her egg, like she did the cat in the past. Just like last time, Nanami changes her mind and runs to get her egg back. This time she is given the chance to retrieve this precious part of herself. It is rather important that Saionji is the one granting her this:
Saionji is Touga's anima aka the part Touga needs to integrate to grow up himself. So, for Saionji to be the one who retrieves the egg for Nanami symbolizes how the two siblings are ready to move on from each other. They can both grow up. Let us also highlight that Saionji here is wearing a frilly yellow apron. Yellow is Nanami's color and the apron plus the cooking link Saionji to the feminine. In short, Saionji here plays the part of Touga's anima and the yellow phase in Nanami's journey. He helps her self-actualize.
Nanami's egg eventually cracks as Utena and Anthy are talking about reincarnation and the cycle of parents and children. The meaning is pretty clear. Nanami's egg is breaking as she is ready to grow up:
"If it cannot break out of its shell, the chick will die without being born. We are the chick, the world is our egg. If we don't crack the world's shell, we will die without being born. Smash the world's shell, for the revolution of the world!"
The student council's motto seems to allude to some great power to change the macrocosm. However, it is really about the microcosm. The power the Student Council and Akio seek is simply the ability to grow up. To break the egg is simply to be born. It is not about some magical and obscure magic, but it is the ability every individual has to gain wisdom and to become an adult.
Nanami si the first character who breaks out of her egg. This transformation happens after the climax of her arc. There two things happen:
Nanami breaks away from her bond with Touga. She discovers she and Touga are not biological siblings and her world crashes. The whole situation is to be read in context. Touga basically plays the role of a parent for Nanami, in the sense he is the one who gives her warmth and who protects her. Nanami defines herself as Touga's little sister, which is why she is so obsessed with her brother. Touga is literally at the centre of her identity. This dynamic mimics that of a parent and a child, where the child sees herself in function of the parent. To grow up means to break this bond and to face who you are outside of it. This is what Nanami does. She is the school's little princess because she is Touga's sister. However, if she is not actually Touga's sister... who exactly is she?
Nanami sees Akio rape Anthy. The whole scene is highly traumatic and it works as a warning of what would happen if Nanami keeps her obsession for her brother up. The union Nanami childishly speaks about is not the fairy-tale one she imagines. It is a dynamic, which is abusive and wrong. To see Akio and Anthy's sexual relationship wakes Nanami up about her bond with Touga. Nanami loves Touga, but not romantically. If anything, Touga's lie that they are not biological siblings just makes Nanami's feelings clearer. She is not romantically attracted by Touga, but loves him platonically, just like a sister loves her brother.
In other words, Nanami (differently from Miki) fully breaks her oedipal bond with Touga. However, before she can do it, Nanami faces Utena one last time. This finali fight is Nanami's attempt to both keep her old self together and to pursue a newer self. Nanami wants "to overcome Touga", but she tries to do so by participating in the same cycle she has entered for his sake. At the same time, Nanami's last fight against Utena shows her growth:
In her first duel Nanami says she has learnt to fight by observing Touga. In other words, she is imitating him, rather than being herself. This is conveyed by Nanami's two weapons. The swords she uses is symbolic of Touga (she wields it, as Touga would). The knife is symbolic of Nanami's childish self. This is why she uses it after she already loses the duel. That is because deep down Nanami is too childish to truly fight as her self there.
In her shadow-duel, Tsuwabuki uses both Nanami's sword and her knife from the get-go. Nanami's two sides (Touga and her childish self) are coexisting and growing closer.
In her final duel, Nanami's soul-sword is not her little knife anymore, but a full fledged sword. Her sense of self has grown enough to be a usable weapon. Symbolically Nanami is able to fight much better here than in her first battle. She has grown enough to be on equal footing with Utena.
In the end, Nanami loses and metaphorically "dies":
Nanami: Tell me. What do I have?
Nanami: Am I just one more insect?
Nanami: I can't stand that!
She is forced to realize that being Touga's sister does not make her special. She is just like everyone else, which does not make her an insect, but a person. This moment may be painful, but it is necessary and marks the beginning of Nanami's self-actualization.
It is the moment where she breaks the egg and prepares to become a beautiful swan:
shadow: Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
shadow: Now I'm gonna sneak my egg into somebody else's nest and get them to raise it cuckoo.
shadow: In the jargon this is known as "parasitism".
shadow: Ta-da! A newborn cuckoo.
shadow: But, it's a cuckoo who's real identity is secret!
shadow: Check it out, mom. Some strange duck is here!
shadow: Nya, ugly little duckling!
shadow: This can't be, dammit!
shadow: Just watch! One day a beautiful white swan -
From the shadow theatre of the Episode "Her Tragedy"
It is the moment where she gains wisdom by eating the fruit of knowledge (again Nanami's name means fruit):
Nanami: There's no meaning. My brother was part of how I could be me.
Nanami: I believed...
Nanami: that there had to be some sort of bonds between us. But...
Nanami: there was nothing!
Nanami: Nothing at all!!
After this, Nanami leaves the Student Council aka the institution she joined because of Touga. She is also the only duelist that takes her ring off and leaves the cycle before the ending of the series. The child has grown into the "wise woman" to the point that by the end she sees Akio and Anthy clearer than Utena does. She together with her brother are the ones who warn Utena about Anthy's darkest side and complexity.
AKIO, UTENA AND ANTHY = SHADOW, ANIMUS AND SELF
Akio, Utena and Anthy are the three key characters of the series and they too represent the three major alchemical phases:
Akio is the black phase - his rose is purple, which is the color most similar to black; he is also everyone's shadow
Utena is the white phase - her rose is white; she is everyone's animus/anima
Anthy is the red phase - she is dressed as a red rose; she represents everyone's self
Akio - The Shadow
Akio is everyone's shadow.
He is the shadow of the Student Council's kids because they are all being manipulated to fight for him. Not only that, but deep down what Akio strives for is the same thing the students want. He wants the power to grow up. Akio's problem is in fact that he is an adult that has failed to grow up healthily. His and Anthy's background implies that they were once abused children, who tried to protect each other. However, as Akio grows up he just accepts Anthy's sacrifice for him as a given. Not only that, but he decides that to save her is impossible because Anthy is a "witch", a person that can never grow; she is "not a princess". From Anthy's ally he becomes Anthy's abuser and turns her into his accomplice. Then he acquires a position of power, so that he can prey on vulnerable kids. Let's highlight that all his victims are in complicated familial situations and lack support from adults:
Utena is an orphan with no family
Miki and Kozue have divorced and distant parents
Juri is lonely and struggling with her sexuality, which she is unable to disclose
Nanami and Touga are adopted and have emotionally distant parents
Saionji is implied to have no-one and to suffer of economical problems (hence why he accepts Wakaba's hospitality after his expulsion; he really has nowhere else to go)
The kids' lack of a support system is the only reason why Akio is able to go as far as he does. As a matter of fact for all of his supposed power and wisdom Akio lacks both. This is made clear in the finale:
Akio has been leaving the fighting to the kids for the whole series, so when Utena finally faces him... he feels underwhelming. You get the impression that not just Utena, but any of the kids could kick his ass. This makes sense because Akio is trying to "grow up" without putting in the emotional work and pain to do it. Everyone in the student council, Utena and Anthy have been struggling to break "their personal eggs". Akio hasn't, so by the end Utena's "prince" is far weaker of both her and Utena's past opponents.
Akio keeps blabbering about how he tricked the "stupid children". He reveals the castle in the sky was simply an illusion he created to manipulate the kids into fighting. He basically mocks Utena and everyone else for still believing in fairy tales. However, Akio himself is motivated by his own personal fairy-tale. He believes that if he uses the kids he can become a noble prince, like he used to be in the past. So, the "adult" is more childish than children because he truly believes that if he grows up he will become "a prince". He is himself a cartoonish character in his own twisted fairy tale.
Despite Akio's weakness and stupidity, he still manages to trap all the characters in a toxic illusion. This is true especially for Anthy and Utena that find themselves trapped in the characters Akio chooses for them. Akio enforces on both a sexist fairy tale, where women are either princesses (Utena) or witches (Anthy). Of course he himself (the prince) is the one who determines what a woman is. Because of this, Akio also plays the shadow of our two protagonists:
Like Akio, Utena has internalized that only "princes" are pure and noble. This is why Utena is so fixated into being a prince, rather than a princess. She truly cares for Anthy and everyone else of course. However, on some level Utena fights for Anthy and her friends because she wants to be a hero. She wants to be "pure" and "noble". On a certain level, she wants to be special and better than others. Akio represents this selfish wish of Utena and he is the worst declination possible of Utena's ideals.
Like Akio, Anthy has just accepted that the world is horrible, cycnical and evil. If her brother is the chosen prince, then Anthy is just the witch. She is a woman after all and women are there to serve men. This is why Utena can't be her prince, even if she loves Anthy and Anthy loves her. Utena is not a man. It's easy peasy. A woman can't be a prince nor save anyone. Akio represents Anthy's inability to grow up and he is who Anthy will turn out to become if she won't separate herself from him. Just an adult tormenting children.
Utena - The Anima/Animus
Utena is everyone's anima/animus. This is why she is associated both to the prince (masculine) and to the princess (feminine). She wears masculine blue clothes, but has long feminine pink hair. She is both Anthy and Wakaba's prince, but she references many fairy tales' princesses (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Dorothy).
As everyone's anima/animus, everyone falls in love with Utena as they mature. As a matter of fact there are 4 different stages of integration with the anima/animus:
Eve > love for a nurturing/parental figure
Helen > physical attraction
Maria > infatuation and spiritual guide
Sophia > love, full integration
Of course the Student Council kids represent them 'cause... why not?
Miki > Eve (oedipal bond with Kozue)
Juri > Helen (physical attraction to Shiori)
Nanami > Maria (devotion to Touga)
Touga and Saionji > Sophia (they fully integrate)
Miki, Juri and Touga all fall for Utena as they enter a new phase of their anima/animus integration. Miki leaves Eve (Kozue, Anthy) and enters Helen (Utena). Juri leaves Helen (Shiori) and enters Maria (Utena). Touga leaves Helen (his initial physical attraction for Utena), enters Maria (a more genuine devotion for Utena) and finally reaches Sophia (his integration with Saionji). In other words, Utena motivates everyone to grow up.
At the same time, Utena too is a child that needs to grow. In particular, what Utena does throughout the whole series is to simply invert the gender roles. She is a girl, but she can kick ass! However, this is not sufficient to fully reach self-actualization, which asks for a deeper understanding of one-self and others. Utena is still a "prisoner" of gender roles that she uses to read the world and objectify others to an extent. At the same time, Utena is simply not mature enough to fully understand the complex dynamics around her. This is something she is called out on by multiple characters. She is told many times she is meddlesome, she tries to give well-meaning advices that are rather superficial for the characters' current struggles, she misses people's suffering, she is told point blank by Nanami that she is "dense" towards the end.
In short, Utena wants to help others, but she lacks maturity, which is why she is not fully successful. This trait of hers fully comes out in her relationship with Anthy, where by the end she struggles to go from Maria (full devotion) to Sophia (full integration and acceptance of the other as a person). Utena struggles to see Anthy as a person and only focuses on her as a victim. This is why by the end she is stabbed in the back by Anthy. The point is to show that Anthy herself is complex. She is a victim sure, but she is also a perpetrator. Akio has been abusing and raping her. However, Anthy has been helping Akio all along to groom Utena and the others.
It is only after this betrayal and moment of realization that Utena can fully grow up and integrate with Anthy. Utena sees Anthy in all her complexity and she still decides to fight for her. She rejects Akio's cynical understanding of adulthood (the world is cruel and there is nothing that can be done). She still fights for Anthy and tells her she should not be scared of the world, cause they can meet there. And yet, at the very end she is unable to save Anthy. For all her pain and determination Utena does not get to defeat Akio and to victoriously hold Anthy in her arms. Anthy falls and they are physically separated by Akio that has Utena leave the school. Utena does not get to be a prince. If anything, the girl's final words are "I could not become your prince".
This may sound as a defeat, but it really isn't. Utena's last words mark her first step into self-actualization. Differently from Akio, she is able to let go of this childish understanding of life and people. Just like Nanami, Utena lets go of an idealized version of herself. Nanami is not the "school princess" and Utena is not a "heroic prince". They are just people. Just like Anthy is no witch nor princess, but a person. This moment Utena goes from Maria (devotion) to Sophia (love).
Anthy - The Self
Anthy is everyone's Self. This is why her final blooming mirrors everyone's growth. Anthy's own name alludes to this, since it means "to bloom". In the end, Anthy is able to fully bloom into herself (she becomes an alchemical rose) thanks to Utena's support (Utena's name means calyx). However, she does not bloom because Utena saves her. Anthy blooms and saves herself. That is because in the end someone else can't define who you are, for better or worse. Nobody can save you, but yourself. Utena and Anthy are proof of this.
As a child, Utena is not saved by Akio or Anthy. She saves herself. She is in pain and wishes for death. However, she sees a person who is suffering like her and decides she wants to help her. Utena finds in herself the motivation to keep on living.
In the end, Anthy is not saved by Utena. What Utena does is to open the door for her. She shows Anthy life can be more than what Akio offers her. However, the final step is to be made by Anthy herself:
This simple truth is what Akio is missing. He thinks he can become an adult through someone else's struggle and pain. Still, this is not the case. This is why Anthy's final words to Akio are of condescension:
Akio: It hasn't been that long since then, but everybody's forgotten about her completely. She didn't cause a Revolution after all. Now that she's gone, she was just a dropout to this world. I've got to rebuild the Code of the Rose Signet from scratch. I'm counting on you, Anthy.
Anthy: You don't know what happened, do you?
Akio: What?
Anthy: It's alright now. Please go on playing make-believe "Prince" in this comfortable little coffin forever. But I must go.
Akio: Go? To where?
Anthy: That person hasn't vanished. She's merely left your world.
Akio: What're you talking about? W-wait a minute! Anthy! Anthy!!
Anthy: Farewell.
The revolution did indeed happen, but Akio can't see it. He is stuck in his fairy tale, so he will never crack the egg nor escape the coffin. He will die without truly being born. He will never become an adult. Anthy and everyone else instead will. As a matter of fact in the final sequence everyone shows the signs of the revolution:
Wakaba has stepped into Utena's role with her new best friend. She is not a background character anymore. She is the "new leaf" (like her name suggests).
Miki has taken Tsuwabuki as an assistant and is teaching him how to grow up (how to handle time with the stop-watch). So, the child who does not want to grow up is now a mentor and the child who is in a rush to grow up is about to learn how.
Shiori is now a memeber of Juri's fencing team. So, she has started to cultivate her animus, so that she can develop enough to become her own tree and to stand next to Juri proudly.
Saionji and Touga are together sparring (doing metaphorical sex). Saionji is trying to catch up not physically, but academically (he is taking up more classes). He is determined to grow up healthily. Touga is shown spending time with his two closest bonds (Saionji and Nanami) in a healthy way.
Nanami is seen without her girl posse; she does a humble act for service for two people she cares about. Not only that, but her spending time with Touga and Saionji without any sign of jealousy towards Saionji shows she has overcome once and for all her obsession for Touga. She can simply love him as a little sister would.
Everyone has grown thanks to Utena.
In the very last scene, Anthy is finally able to step into the adult world aka the world where she will meet Utena again:
Anthy's final frame and line are both powerful:
Anthy is saving herself, but she is not doing this dressed up as a badass prince. If anything, she has never looked more feminine. She has no glasses, her hair is loose and she wears pink (Utena's color).
Anthy's final word is Utena and she says the name of her lover without the suffix sama. She is finally seeing herself and Utena as people on the same level. She is not Utena's princess and Utena is not her prince. They are two people in love that want to spend life together.
Anthy's final action is to leave for a journey of her own. Utena's journey was about to find and help the little suffering girl she met as a child. Anthy's journey is instead to find the woman who helped her, so that they can both "shine together".
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