Mar 15, 2023
oh my god i just put 2 and 2 together
Utena draws inspiration from The Rose of Versailles, a shojo work about a cross-dressing ...female? ish? knight in the French royal court just before (and later, during) the French Revolution, by mangaka and literal member of Japan's communist party Ikeda Riyoko.
Of course the only way to unseal the Rose Gate and access the power to revolutionize the world (let the bride escape her abusive relationship with the head of her family / let the witch escape her eternal servitude to the aristocrat) is to DESTROY THE CONCEPT OF THE PRINCE - and therefore also the concept of "princess."
