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This is a text-heavy, deeply biased analysis of Miki Kaoru from Revolutionary Girl Utena. It is also long. Don't say I didn't warn you.
English mangling of his name means "fragrant trunk". The average slobbering fangirl (like me ^_~) will tell you it's because he's tall for a seventh-grader, and he smells good.
Really, it ties in with his sister's name, (Kozue` Kaoru) which means "fragrant treetop", pointing out that Miki is the foundation and steadying influence of their relationship. He is also a grounding force in the Student Council, and a source of help and balance to Utena and Anthy.
Blue is a cool and soothing color, the color of calm and reason. It can come off as a little cold sometimes, but it's literally the most popular color in the world. It fits Miki to a T: he's cool, easygoing, and always leads with his intellect. Besides which, his color is pale blue, sky blue; light, fresh, and clean.
Geminis are smart, dual, and "sparkly", often wanting to be the life of the party. They like to talk, and the driving reason for this is their thirst for knowledge: they ask lots of questions. They always mean well, but often hurt the ones they love out of pure or good motives. Gemini at their darkest exemplify the saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". Their weaknesses may include indecisveness and inability to deal with confrontation.
As this applies to Miki: life has made him hesitant and quiet, but he's never stopped searching for knowledge, and the rest of the cast tends to think of him as a nice, likeable guy. Plus, I get the feeling that the writers made him a Gemini primarily for the whole Twins thing.
Strangely enough, Juri--the dynamic, intimidating fencing captain--is his closest friend.
In contrast to a lot of the campus, Miki doesn't harbor so many deep, dark compulsions. He's too gentle. Even his love for his sister, which carries with it some intimate overtones, is comparatively light. (Sky blue vs. dark blue, again.) He's too much of a nice guy, and too young yet, to have as many grand neuroses as do the older students of Ohtori.
He does, however, have a whanging inferiority complex and a lot of problems with repression--in most instances, he hardly says a word.
In the series, Miki has a bowl-cut thing going on. In general, it seems meant to convey a clean, trim appearance with no room for frivolity. (Also, like some of us less fortunate geeks, his style's just a bit dated.) It also distinguishes him from the older boys of the series, who all have the usual great heaps of long, bright-colored anime` hair.
By the time of the movie, Miki's grown out a kind of shaggy psuedo-mullet, complete with long, weirdly bushy sideburns. As he's only in the film for a very short time (he has about three lines of dialogue), we're never given an explanation for the style. This rendering makes him look more adult. He's gone from jailbait cutie-pie to faintly awkward teen.
Tick--tock. Tick--tock. Back and forth, forth and back, back and forth. More than one student has sat and watched the metronome sway as they played at the piano. Even Anthy is fascinated (perhaps bewitched?) by it. It seems to be a calming thing. It is also perhaps a stricture--everything at the piano must happen in time with the beat. The notes cannot exist without this framework. Most importantly, Miki seems unable to play piano without it. It's similar to, if less universal than, the stopwatch.
Speaking of which...
What is the mystery of Miki's stopwatch? He's carried this item from the beginning, and uses it in the manga, the anime`, and the movie. Nowhere in the Utena universe is he without it. It goes everywhere with him. He clicks it during pivotal events. He clicks it to take minutes at the Council meetings. He clicks it when arriving on the scene.
In short, he clicks it all the time.
But why?
Definitely a sign of control issues. Perhaps even of compulsion. He's also a very quiet fellow. He may be using the stopwatch simply to make a point--it's of note that whenever someone says something that might offend or intrigue him, he clicks the stopwatch.
SAIONJI: Anthy and I are just happy lovebirds.
MIKI: *click*
SAIONJI: She knows her place, and it is at my side. She belongs to me alone.
MIKI: *CLICK.*
TOUGA: Be that as it may, Saionji, quit smackin' her around!
SAIONJI: Hey, she likes pain. *SMIRK*.
MIKI: *CLICK!*
JURI: You touch her again and I'll break your face, homeslice.
MIKI: *click!* ^_^
I'm also told that during the series' final episodes, Miki takes out his stopwatch, stares at the time, and doesn't click it. Could that be a sign that he's eventually willing to give up his neuroses and come out of his shell?
Nah. The citizens of Ohtori are more interesting when they're tortured and angsty ;^) Also, I think that's giving the watch a bit much credit. I think it's more that he's finally learned that he cannot "keep time" (ie. control of himself and his world) simply by clicking a watch.
With UTENA: Miki is good friends with Utena, and they're study buddies. In the manga, Miki has something of a crush on Utena as well, though the anime` never really explores that. There are some really fun instances of Miki-embarrassment early on in their relationship, but that's mostly mortification at Nanami's antics and really has nothing to do with Utena herself.
With JURI: Juri is Miki's mentor figure and best friend. But who depends on whom? Clearly, hot-tempered Juri benefits from Miki's quiet reason as much as Miki values Juri's demeanor, wisdom, friendship and general all-around cool factor. The two are frequently seen together, and their camraderie makes for some of the nicest "normal" scenes in the anime`. Plus, you know. It's Juri. And Miki. Two of the coolest people in the whole show, for crying out loud!
With KOZUE`: The originator of the "shining thing" complex. Miki and Kozue` are twins, and were extremely close from the beginning. Kozue` is proud of her gifted brother, and savagely defends him from girls that show even a shred of romantic interest. Miki adores his sister, despite her cruelty and loose morals. It's extremely likely that Kozue` was Miki's first romantic crush. Toward the end of the series, Kozue` is his "rose bride" during the duels, but she draws the sword from his chest. There is no question Kozue` is the one in control.
With ANTHY: I'm not sure Miki ever really got over Anthy. He's been in awe of her, and perhaps in love with her, since the first episode of the anime`. In the manga, he seems more intrigued by the idea of a Rose Bride--an eternal object, a vessel of miracles--than by Anthy herself. (He seems to think that the power of Dios would grant him the key to his genius--the "shining thing" he's sought for so long. And Anthy is, of course, the vessel of the power of Dios.)
A small selection of my favorite Miki pictures. Yay. Clicky thumbnails! ^_^
Point blank: Miki is Baraka.
Yes, I'm serious. Quiet, vastly more intelligent than anyone suspects, and obsessed with Anthy/Mileena. Looks-wise there are no discernible parallels. Miki is drawn in blue, whereas Baraka's outfit is trimmed in red. Their mutual silent suffering is the closest trait they share. Well, that and my firm belief that Baraka is a closet genius.
Both are also written off by their peers--Miki for being hesitant, and Baraka for being aggressive. I see them as two sides of the same coin, which made it fun to substitute the one for the other.
"The Matrix" and all related characters, indicia, situations, and trademarks belong to WB and the Wachowski Bros. © 1999, 2000, and 2004. Profit on the aforementioned is neither incurred nor implied by the owner of this website. Ditto for "Revolutionary Girl Utena", which belongs to Be-Papas/Chiho Saito, © 1997.
