I love your Hazbin and Utena metas so much 🥰❤️🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜😭
With your latest Utena analysis (one of the best I've read btw!), I'm wondering: what do you think about Kaede, Akio's fiancé?
Call it a fixation on a background character (😂) but I like her very much, and I feel like there could be much to tell about her! It's a shame the story doesn't show or tell more about her - and I don't blame them, they already had a big cast to handle!
Hi!
I am so happy you like my metas <3<3<3
So, I guess you mean Kanae Ohtori, right?
I quite like her, but as you said, she is a minor character. As a result, I am not sure I will have much to share (I should probably rewatch her episodes, but the series is kinda difficult to find in my country... I watched it with a VPN I don't have anymore). Anyway, I will try my best.
THEMES AND ALCHEMY
Kanae is the character that kick-starts the duels of the second arc, as she is the first Black Rose Duelist. In short, she takes Saionji's role as the prima materia in arc 2 alchemical process. This role is emphasized by her name. I found two possible translations for Kanae's name:
Flowerbed aka an area of ground where flowers are planted
Seedling aka a very young plant that has been born from a seed
Both meanings tie with the idea Kanae is linked to the beginning of the process. She is the earth where the other flowers (aka characters) will grow; she is barely more than a seed.
Because of her role, Kanae's song is really about the theme of arc 2, rather than Kanae herself:
Holy spirits have them Devilish spirits have them Ah, though you carry a grain of Heaven Everyone has infernal ulterior motives--the good have them! The evil have them! Ah, though you hold the eeriness of Hell As long as such suspicious figures come, There shall be debate! If it be so, on an awesome moonlit night Come out and go astray! This mystery is beyond the ken of Man Humans, dwarfed by the vastness of Creation Shall tremble in fear at that form!
Arc 2 introduces complexity, as it challenges Utena to try and see beyond appearances. Everyone has a darker side and every person has both good and evil within them. This is the reality Utena should see. She should break the vision rooted in heroes and monsters, princesses and princes. Kanae's song highlights this complex reality and hints at the idea there is a bigger illusion going on.
After all, the second stanza mentions the Moon, which is the tarot of illusion. This obviously hints at Akio's illusion (the castle in the sky) aka the idea of fairy tales and rigid gender roles. Kanae is a girl trapped in an illusion, so she is the first character who challenges Utena to break her own fantasies.
KANAE'S CHARACTER = SNOWHITE
Kanae is a tragic Snowhite.
The allusion is made obvious the moment Kanae dies (this is the implication). She is shown catatonic, as Akio is holding her and Anthy is putting a slice of apple into her mouth. In the next scene, Akio is left in the room with Kanae and Anthy is shown cutting ice in the same room with Utena and Nanami:
The whole scene is pretty unnerving, especially because Anthy stops Utena from entering Akio's room. The implication is that Akio is disposing of the body by cutting it, just like Anthy is cutting ice (aka Snowhite :P). This is also why Nanami is so scared of Anthy in this scene:
Obviously Nanami has no idea of what is going on. However, she knows of Anthy and Akio's incestuous relationship and unconsciously realizes that something very dark is going on behind the scenes.
So, is that all? Kanae is Snowhite 'cause she dies with a poisoned apple? Not really, the meaning of the fairy tale is deeper. In particular, Kanae's allusion is important for both herself and Anthy, as the two girls are trapped in a dark fairy tale written by their guardians.
On the one hand Kanae is the victim of an abusive mother. Mrs Ohtori is the Evil Queen, who uses Kanae to further her goals. She is clearly charmed/in love with Akio, which is why she poisons Mr Ohtory (or so I think it is implied somewhere). However, she can not openly be in a relationship with Akio, so she uses her own daughter to live a relationship by proxy. This is why she gets angry when Akio does not see Kanae that much often anymore. In other words, Mrs Ohtori sacrifices Kanae's life to live through her. This fits the Evil Queen whose whole problem was the inability to accept the passage of time. It is normal for a mother to grow old and for a child to grow up. This also makes it obvious that at one point the mother will be less beautiful than the daughter. It is literally the cycle of nature. However, the Evil Queen can't accept it and decides to kill Snowhite to stop time. Similarly, Mrs Ohtori decides to use her Snowhite as an extension of herself. She uses Kanae's life as if it were hers, which eventually results in Kanae's death.
On the other hand Anthy is the victim of an abusive brother. Akio is Anthy's "twisted prince", who turns her into an evil witch. This obviously means that Akio makes Anthy an accomplice to his crimes. Even in Kanae's case, Akio is the one holding Kanae firm, but he has Anthy poison Kanae. Obviously one can read the whole thing as Anthy being "jealous" of Kanae and Akio's relationship, hence her dislike of Kanae and her killing her. That said, the whole thing is clearly a consequence of Akio's abuse and of the siblings' twisted oedipal relationship. Anthy sees Akio as a father, but it is also implied Akio himself sees Anthy as a nurturing presence ready to sacrifice herself for him. That would be a mother. This is probably why Anthy is often forced into the role of "mother", be it the Evil Queen Mother in Kanae's story or Miki's new adoptive mother. Whatever the case, Anthy is trapped in the role of the Evil Witch.
In other words, Kanae and Anthy are children trapped in twisted fairy tales by adults unable to grow up. However, Anthy will eventually escape, while Kanae dies there.
This makes Kanae an interesting foil to all the three main female characters: Anthy, Utena and Nanami. This may also be why her design is loosely similar to all three. She has green eyes like Anthy, blond hair like Nanami and her overall looks are similar to Utena's. On a deeper level, she foils all three girls.
Like Anthy, Kanae is a victim of familial abuse. Not only that, but both have internalized misogyny that they project on the other. The true enemy in both their stories is Akio, but they are pit against each other (Snowhite VS Evil Queen). On the one hand Kanae knows something is wrong in her new arrangement, but she blames it all on Anthy. This is why she has an unconscious desire is to kill Anthy. On the other hand Anthy ends up truly killing Kanae that she sees as a disposable woman in Akio's life. Just like herself.
Like Utena, Kanae is a child being groomed and raped by Akio. Kanae's introduction is really the first hint that something is very wrong with Akio. Sure, Akio is intimate with his fiance. However, Akio's fiance is really a student in Akio's school. How wrong is that? The implication is that Kanae was once courted and pampered just like Utena. However, as Kanae is about to become an adult (I think she is 18 by the time of the series), Akio progressively loses all interest in her. After all, Akio is probably attracted only by underage kids. In other words, Akio used Kanae for sex and to take control of the school, but now he is ready to move on and to dispose of her. He is switching targets from Kanae to Utena. In other words, Utena is set up to meet a destiny very similar to Kanae, but she manages to fight it by recognizing Akio for who he is and by refusing to be "his princess". Obviously there is also the difference that Anthy starts to genuinely love Utena, while she is indifferent/dislikes Kanae. This is made clear by Kanae and Utena's different family pictures:
Kanae's picture has Akio in the centre and Anthy and Kanae on his two sides
Utena's picture has Anthy between herself and Akio; this detail is important 'cause initially Utena was supposed to be in the middle. However, Anthy steps in between Akio and Utena, as a hint that she does not like Utena being groomed by Akio
Like Nanami, Kanae is a child with a "parasitic" sense of self. Nanami has built who she is around Touga, while Kanae has built her identity around her family name. Both girls unconsciously know there is something very wrong with their situations.
Nanami is deep down conscious that she is "vermin" aka a parasite to Touga. This is why one of her focus episode back in arc 1 has her convinced Touga wants to kill her. Symbolically she gets sure of it the moment she overhears Touga and Anthy speak about "parasites" and "vermins". That is because Nnami IS a vermin to Touga's rose. She is a part of him. This is why her big revelation in arc 3 is to admit that she is indeed vermin like all other girls. It is the first step to bloom into her own self.
Kanae is deep down conscious something is wrong in her relationship with Akio. She knows she is being used by her mother, but this unconscious realization never becomes clear to her. As a result, she is unable to become her own person. This is interesting given her Snowhite allusion. As a fairy tale, Snowhite is the story of a child becoming an adult. As children, we see ourselves as extensions of our parents (hence we see our parents as we look in the mirror). The moment we grow up we realize we are someone different (hence the mirror will stop reflecting the Queen and start showing Snowhite). This makes us scared to the point we would like to stop the process (The Queen wants to kill Snowhite). However, it is part of growing up (Snowhite becomes Queen). Well, Kanae is unable to "kill her Queen" and to become her own person. She is murdered before she can grow up.
Nanami is the apple of knowledge and the fruit that separates herself from the tree:
Kanae is the apple of knowledge that arrives too late and the fruit that gets poisoned. She is the poisoned apple:
Someone pointed out how the apple being pierced by forks is loosely similar to Anthy herself being pierced by swords later on. The apple is Eve being tormented by the patriarchy.
Kanae's death is overall important thematically for two reasons.
1- It happens in the yellow phase, so it can be considered "the yellow death". In my previous meta, I pointed out how the series is divided into three arcs (white, black and red). I discovered recently some people divide it into four. Specifically, the final arc gets divided into the Akio's arc and the Apocalypse arc. The Akio's arc ends in episode 33, when Akio rapes Utena.
If one were to welcome this division, the "Akio's arc" should be considered the yellow phase. It would make sense as the yellow phase is really just a part of the red phase. Moreover, Nanami's arc climaxes in episode 32, which is when Kanae dies. In other words, Kanae can be seen as the "yellow death". She is the child that fails to become the wise woman and can't separate from the parent. Her death makes so that Akio officially moves on to physically target Utena.
2- Kanae is a dark foil of the main protagonists, who all escape fairy tales.
Nanami escapes the idea she is the school princess (I am just vermin!)
Utena escapes the idea she is a heroic prince (I could not become your prince)
Anthy escapes the idea she is a witch (Wait for me, Utena)
Kanae is instead the girl who dies as a princess. She plays Snowhite until her tragic end. A death with no resurrection.
It is not by chance the final scene has Chu-chu fighting a frog before joining Anthy. Chu-chu is a mirror of Anthy's inner world. The monkey leaves the frog, just like Anthy is leaving behind the idea Akio (the frog) could one day grow up (become a prince). She is leaving fairy tales behind. She is done waiting for her frog prince and is ready to step into the world as her own person. Kanae could never reach that level of self-actualization </3
