Remember those weird scenes in Adolescence of Utena between Touga and Shiori? Well, they are not as weird as they seem
TW: Mentions of sexual abuse to a minor and homophobia
Alright fellas, it's been some tough weeks for me so I’ve been rewatching the last chapters of RGU as well as the movie cause, what else is better to watch than two women harboring hope in the midst of despair and starting a revolution? Also, they are super gay so sign me up.
There's so much I want to say about Adolescence of Utena because that movie is so unapologetically wild. I love it. Also after several rewatches in the span of six months, I think I know what is going on. The scenes (I hope) I grasped are those between Touga and Shiori.
From my perspective, Adolescence of Utena is about overcoming trauma, psychological patriarchy and imposed heterosexuality. Anthy is the one "running Ohtori". There is a whole conversation to be had on whether or not movie Ohtori is the same as anime Ohtori. Also, we would need another conversation to debate whether or not the rest of the characters except Utena and Anthy are actually themselves or if they are interpretations of their characters made by Utena and Anthy.
At the end, what matters is that Akio is dead and Anthy has killed him. Yet she is still the Rose Bride. Why? Because the effects of trauma and patriarchy are that insiduous. A revolution is not achieved until everyone unlearns everything the old regime taught. And what Akio taught the student council continues to affect them. From Anthy who keeps Ohtori up and running and sees herself as nothing more than an object to Saionji, who is back at clutching to his regressive views of masculinity. Without Akio around and no antagonist, we have to find those two characters who represent what the movie stands against: psychological patriarchy, imposed heterosexuality and trauma. The prince and witch archetypes embody this perfectly. Touga and Shiori too.
The symbols present in their scenes show this intent. First, let's talk about the sheets. Seems something only the movie used but-
The anime used it too.
By the way, the subtitles say: "I don’t have a roommate so I would like you to come back."
This is a good place to mention the castle represents heterosexuality. Akio said this in chapter 38:
Yes, Anthy is running away from heteronormativity at the end of the movie. Could she be more iconic?
Let's go back to the movie. To be more precise, the call between Touga and Akio. Akio starts by saying he doesn't know why his sister kidnapped the Rose Prince. Then he proceeds to reveal something very important: the prince never existed, he was The Lord of The Flies all along and Anthy put a spell on him to make him look as a prince.
The Lord of the Flies is another name for the devil, which is basically another code name for Akio, “the morning star”, Lucifer. In other words Akio always existed and he was never ‘transformed’ into that. I’m not saying Akio never had traits he shared with Utena, but that ugly part of himself, that evil in humanity associated with The Lord of The Flies, was always part of him. However, instead of accepting it and working through it (like Utena does when she accepts she only saved Anthy because of her ego), he preferred to indulge in his worst parts.
If Anthy’s magic was what made him appear as a prince… I’m not sure how that makes me feel. It can lead some people to believe Anthy deceived everyone willingly all along, but there are many factors that could motivate her decision. First, did she notice the world needed a prince and sent her brother knowing the world would never allow her to be a prince? Let’s also consider she is the youngest out of the two so her decision can be a result of needing protection, and "making" her brother become the prince she needed. That is of course, if Akio is not lying.
I only believe half of the things Akio says. He has a tendency to deflect questions, project his guilt onto others, manipulate and lie. In that same vein, Akio says Anthy's powers stopped working, therefore revealing the true nature of the prince. Then he goes on to say they created Ohtori to make Anthy’s magic come back which is not true. Because Anthy's magic is working just fine. And his powers too.
By that point, we should see Akio’s prone to lying to others and himself. That is why I believe he was always one with Dios. Akio, his bad side and Dios, his good side, inhabited his body. However his bad side was revealed to the world and he blames his sister for it even though she was the one who defended him and prevented his premature death at the hands of the mob. The world was disappointed he wasn’t perfect. He blames his sister for the discovery and the world demanding that perfectionism from him in the first place.
In the anime Akio says he wants back the power from his prince days, but he is still as powerful as he was in the past.
He takes Utena’s sword out of her chest.
And he teleports Anthy to the stairs leading to the castle.
There’s obviously some degree of magic he wields. On top of that, when Utena opens the Rose Gate, he orders her not to open it.
My first assumption is that he wanted to be the one to do open the gate, but shouldn’t he have said something like “Utena, you don’t understand how dangerous that is! Let me do it”? Instead his first instinct is to scream her not to open it. Why? Because he doesn’t want the power beyond the gate. In reality, he is scared of it. Deep down he wants the gate to remain close for all eternity because that keeps Ohtori operating. I don’t know if he takes any excuse that blinds him from the bitter truth consciously or not, but he does it: the power of revolution is for him to have his powers back, the power of revolution is for his sister to have her magic back. He created a system in which he never has to grow, a functioning coffin in which he is the master of everything. The only thing in his mind is to keep it running.
Now that is out of the way, let’s move on to another scene.
When Touga starts talking about this trauma, at some point a machine starts pulling the sheets, making them move. This serves as a visual representation of Ohtori, our trauma-fueled machine, waking up from its long sleep. That sex scene between Touga and Shiori is a form of trauma bonding. Trauma intertwining if you will. Touga is engaging in the same pattern of behavior he used to engage in with Akio (having sex with someone he “schemes with”). Still in bed, he shares with Shiori a hurtful truth: his dad sold him to his adoptive father who sexually abused him as a child. In the scene that shows the act, Touga is lying down in a field of lettuces.
Just like Adonis was in his death.
And that represents the death of a side of Touga. A death that hindered his relationship with his sister and caused him to resent her so much. A death that ruined his relationship with his best friend who sensed Touga’s emotional distance and confused it with superiority.
I’m aware some people interpret lettuce fields as male sexual impotence, but that is clearly not the case with Touga. In fact he copes with his sexual trauma with hyper-sexuality, but just like impotence, they are both a malfunction of sexuality.
Moving on, the camera turns towards a lettuce and we view Shiori.
There are sheets coming out of her back which shows how much compulsive heterosexuality and homophobia she has assimilated, and how she views them as the answer that will make her misery disappear. If she clutches to those ideas, she can be “free” like a butterfly. Also, we can interpret that scene as her response to Touga’s trauma. “Yes, my homophobia was right because one man did something terrible to a boy.” You know, classic talking points for homophobes.
This trauma intertwining and Shiori inserting herself in Touga’s flashbacks mark the birth of, you guessed it, more trauma. This is the product that such system as Ohtori creates: misery and emotional guardedness, dissatisfaction and delusion. Things Akio clutches onto and wants everyone to clutch too.
Too bad car sapphics are so hard to beat.
