jesus christ, what an opener. this really is a second season, huh? new locations, new characters, new order - the world is changed. beneath the reference hall, a black rose waits, soaked in poison, feeding on shadows and the suppressed vices and sins of the heart. secrets kept in an airless room until they sour. "nothing bad happens at ohtori," it's set. an evident lie given all that's happened and all that is yet to be revealed...
anthy has a secret herself - a previously unmentioned older brother, whom she visits on saturday nights, slipping off into the rain alone. how classically utena to need to see him immediately - with her heart on her sleeve, utena is the antithesis of the secrets permeating this episode. it's not the best first impression - interrupting a makeout session with his fiancee - but utena and akio seem to reach good terms, though he pretends to have no knowledge of anthy's role as the rose bride. as the acting chairman and a devout stargazer, he cuts a striking, enchanting figure and poses himself as a scholar of the esoteric - "the stars are unknown to all but me." meanwhile, unspoken tensions mount between his fiancee, kanae, and anthy, who gives her future sister-in-law a surprisingly cold shoulder.
alongside akio, two new faces enter the scene: mikage souji, the genius of the high school who, like juri, helps prop up the school's reputation and prestige, and mamiya, the would-be rose bride/groom who nurtures the black rose in the dark basement. the pair seem an off rhyme to utena and anthy, especially in their hair colors and inversions of gender. just as utena insists on being a prince, souji insists that mamiya should be the rose bride, though mamiya suggests rose groom. this ambition would come at a dear cost to our heroes: to install mamiya, they need to defeat utena in a duel and kill anthy. the stakes have become considerably higher.
to achieve their goals, the pair must recruit duelists, and one of their candidates is miki. souji invites him to join his seminar, the circle of the black rose, but miki declines, saying he feels unworthy. the disjunction in the scene is evident - as the pair sit to discuss, an enormous stone pillar stands between them, carved with black and pink roses. souji asks that miki continue to think on it but doesn't press further. as miki leaves, he encounters utena and anthy and tells them of the grim history of nemuro memorial hall - at some point in the past, 100 boys were buried alive there. this ghastly setting serves as souji and mamiya's lair, full of horrific signs and symbols: empty pairs of shoes, a taxidermied black butterfly, dozens of pointing hands, and most morbid of all, morgue drawers emblazoned with the sign of the black rose, which is eventually revealed as a corrupted, rotted form of the pink rose.
corruption figures prominently in this episode's duel, and many layers complicate the new tone of utena's opponent. the professors who visit souji mention that his seminar supposedly hosts notable politicians, expanding the scope of the antagonists beyond the student council and into the world beyond: souji, who dismissed touga as a source of distraction from the school's mission of study, seems to be concerned with and possessed of a grander power outside of the school walls. thus, it seems charged that when kanae arrives at the hall, she's there for an interview. for students and graduates, an interview is a threshold: a test leading them into a new career, opportunity, or world. kanae's interview proceeds more like a confession, held in a descending elevator. before a small window, she describes her life, painting a warm picture of her feelings for akio and their future together. "deeper," a voice says. as the butterfly on the wall reverts to a chrysalis, kanae admits her deep-seated disdain for anthy. the more she tries to be polite and friendly, the more anthy pushes her away, and the more she must suppress her anger. it could all be so perfect, save for this one thing. and as much as she tries, she can't be rid of this thorn inside. "it's no use."
the elevator descends. souji welcomes kanae to the place her suppressed torment has brought her - the tomb of the boys of the black rose. former duelists now deceased, they leave behind their tarnished rings and their will to seize power. this is kanae's only option, souji says. she must revolutionize the world that she cannot endure. it's a horrific sight, and kanae tries to leave, but the door cannot be closed once open. mamiya appears, and pierces kanae's heart with the black rose, bringing her fully under its spell. now, to defeat utena.
as cruel and heartbreaking as the student council duels were, there was a distinct element of passion to them, even if a perverse one. saionji, miki, juri, and nanami fought to reclaim something precious to them: anthy, their nostalgia, their security in a loveless world, their brother's love. each had twisted in some way to become destructive, but the root was, deep down, an apparent sense of love for something. by contrast, it seems the duelists of the black rose are led by a sense of opposition, a sense of hatred. kanae fights not for her love of akio, but for her hatred of anthy and of herself for being unable to navigate that tension. while the student council duels featured twisted forms of love, this duel twists even farther into abhorrence.
fortunately, utena is capable as ever and makes short work of kanae, who screams as her ring shatters and the dead duelist's body is ejected into a crematorium. despite this ghoulish imagery, she seems to recover easily but has amnesia of what led to the duel. utena understandably wants answers but seems content enough to wait for now - having become accustomed to this strange lifestyle, she can safely assume kanae won't be the last agent of the black roses to challenge her. of course, she also misses another secret just under her nose: anthy departs to visit her brother, but the tone of their meeting is very particularly troubling. akio lounges on the couch as anthy removes her glasses. he turns off the lights, revealing a sky's worth of stars overhead. "did you miss me?" he asks. "yes, big brother."
while still disturbing, the openness of nanami's feelings towards touga kept them in the light of day and less potent. this encounter, out of sight and under cover of darkness, feels chilling.
stray thoughts:
the theme of concealed secrecy echoes throughout this episode: wakaba claims to be bored, since nothing ever happens at the school, the professors acknowledge that their debts to souji mean they can't question his business, the seminar is in essence a secret, cult-like society, and utena is kept in the dark about akio's knowledge of the duels. on top of all this, there were apparently 100 (o n e h u n d r e d) deaths at ohtori that now are only remembered as some kind of urban legend.
souji mentions that end of the world is aware of his efforts: given the motto of revolutionizing the world, it's reasonable that end of the world would encourage all comers and aspirants.
much like touga, souji seems content to wait for now and gather data as he refines his plan; unlike touga, he seems to have no desire to build an idolized public image and reputation outside of the seminar.
akio gives off the vibes of a young gendo ikari, encroaching his way into his fiancees family and taking her name while surreptitiously seeking to gain access to her father's resources.
disquieting as it is to think about, i wonder if the reason anthy rejects kanae is because she sees her as an interloper between herself and akio, not unlike nanami and the kitten. eugh. even more disconcerting, i wonder if this is some twisted form of rebellion for anthy, rejecting her duties as rose bride by being unfaithful to her betrothed. i really hope that they aren't actually related, but i fear the truth.
It sounds like Anthy is really hoping Utena will offer to come with her, but instead Utena is like "Ha! I remember you go to see your brother on Saturdays! I'm more perceptive than they make me out to be. Anyway I'm going to stay in this room and watch anime for 18 hours"
