I hate rgu fan's refusal to accept the idea that the show is racist. anthy is a south-asian coded racialized character who unfortunately plays into a lot of stereotypes associated with south asians. the only reason we know she is south asian is because of the bindi on her forehead. akio as the representative of the patriarchy is south asian and plays into the "brown rapist" stereotype. the only reason anthy and akio were racialized was to Other them. to say that the show is a thoughtful depiction of racism and colonialism is to give the show far more credit than it deserves. to say that race is a blind spot in the show is doing much the same. that's not to say that any analysis of utena through the lense of race is worthless, it actually adds to the show's critique of the structures of oppression. especially since racism is kind of inseparable to them. but that analysis can go hand in hand with acknowledging the show's inherent racism. a lot of south asians, including me identify with anthy as a character and they have given a lot of excellent meta that enriches the show but i don't want anyone to use that fact as a card to deny her orientalized depiction.
to add to this, a lot of rgu fans who try to analyse the show through a racial lense will impose western ideas of race onto the characters, this feels like ignorance of the very idea that racism can exist beyond the white/poc dichotomy and it's racism within itself. every character in the show is japanese in a japanese setting, anthy and akio are racialized due to being the only south asians in a majorly japanese setting. any analysis of utena that doesn't take this fact into account is worthless.
