|
Hoof, here is is, the infamous Tale of the Rose! It's so long, I just have to give commentary
here and there.
In case you've had your head under a pillow for the past thirty-three episodes, this play
is about Akio and Anthy.
shadow: Extra. Extra extra extra.
shadow: Finally, finally it's begun.
shadow: The sealed light. The sorrowful Prince.
(Some call Akio's tears near the end crocodile tears, but I do believe his descent from
Prince to World's End brings him pain. The shadow girls here tell the story as the world
sees it. They see that the prince is sorrowful, and neglect that his sorrow is partially
his own fault. They also neglect the sorrow of the witch)
shadow: That which could not be told until now: the Tale of the Rose!
(This comment makes me wonder if the shadow girls knew what was happening all along, but
only chose to reveal it now because it's a good point in the story. The shadow girls
seem to think that the events in Utena are like a play... Fitting with Akio's
comment about life being a play)
shadow: Beware! Beware! She's here in the world, somewhere.
shadow: You too, beware!
(I have a feeling that the shadow girls are trying to warn Utena here. Well, Utena is
being dense as always.)
shadow: I wonder I wonder, do you know what I wonder?
shadow: This is a story from the days when all the women of the world were still princesses.
shadow: In those days, the world had not yet been completely engulfed in darkness.
shadow: Because, the Rose Prince was there.
shadow: Growl growl-growl-growl!
shadow: Save me! A monster is chasing me!
shadow: Gallop gallop gallop! Accursed beast! I shall slay you!
shadow: Glargh...
shadow: Are you unhurt, princess?
shadow: Thank you, Rose Prince.
shadow: Then, the promised kiss!
(Notice the prince doesn't get the kiss)
shadow: Growl growl growl growl
shadow: Save me! It's Christmas Eve, yet I'm all alone!
shadow: Gallop gallop gallop! Fear not, for I have reserved us a table at a French restaurant!
shadow: Thank you, Rose Prince.
shadow: Then, the promised kiss!
(He doesn't get the kiss again. The prince sacrificed many things for the many princesses,
but never got anything in return. Probably why he ended up the way he did.)
shadow: Yes, all the women of the world were princesses.
shadow: Because we were all protected by the Rose Prince, the world was overflowing with light.
shadow: But...
shadow: Hello there, Rose Prince.
shadow: What is the matter, old woman?
shadow: Calamity is threatening the world.
shadow: There is one who plans to steal away all the light in the world,
shadow: and plunge the land deep into darkness.
shadow: Who is this you speak of?!
shadow: It is a witch.
shadow: A witch?!
shadow: Yes. Surely you must know of the castle which floats in the sky.
shadow: That is the witch's castle!
shadow: The witch who dwells there schemes even now to steal all the light of the world.
shadow: What is this "light of the world".
shadow: Know ye not of the light?
shadow: It is that which is eternal,
shadow: shining,
shadow: the power of miracles,
shadow: the power to revolutionize the world.
(By this point, even the dullest nail in the box has figured out that the thing all the
duelists were searching for was the same thing: Self-actualization, emerging from their
respective coffins, whatever. Semantics.)
shadow: Then I shall slay this witch, and protect the light of the world!
shadow: Thus, the prince flew to the castle to protect the light of the world and to dispatch the witch.
shadow: However!
shadow: Welcome to within the castle.
shadow: Forsooth! Tis the selfsame old woman!
shadow: You fool! This is a trap to emprison you within the castle!
(This entire play makes it seem as if Anthy plotted for Dios to become ill. Her flashbacks
seem to go against that, though. It's my opinion that she had wished for a way to take him
away from the girls of the world for quite some time, and this was her chance. The play
of the shadow girls emphasizes Anthy's actions as being selfish, which, to some extent,
they are.)
shadow: YOU are the light!
shadow: Why do you do this? Witch, who art thou?
shadow: Have ye not recognized me yet?
shadow: Gadzooks! You are my...sister!!
shadow: Correct, brother, it is I.
shadow: You are the Prince who protects all the women of the world.
shadow: You make all the women of the world into princesses -
shadow: the Rose Prince.
shadow: And I am your -
shadow: sister.
shadow: I'm the only one who can't become your princess!
shadow: But there's nothing I can do about that...
(I've always wondered why Dios can't make Anthy a princess. I have a bit of a theory about
this... The prince and the princess connection has a bit of a romantic connotation. Dios cannot be
as close to his sister as he is to his princesses.... perhaps their actions later on are
in defiance of the rule that the prince cannot make his sister a princess. Despite the
opinions of some, I disagree that Anthy was being raped... But I won't go into that right
now.)
shadow: That's why I -
shadow: became a witch!
shadow: Women who can't be princesses have no choice but to become witches.
(Those who aren't loved turn cold, bitter, and cruel. Like Anthy.)
shadow: And so the witch imprisoned the Prince, and the world was completely enclosed in darkness.
shadow: The witch roams this world of darkness even now.
shadow: Seeking the young and noble, to sacrifice them anew!
(Emphasizes Anthy's manipulation of Utena... perhaps she's done this to others, as well?)
shadow: Surely the light presents an obstacle to the witch, to her dominion over the dark.
(I think the light here is referring to Utena. Utena still might conquer the dark, revolutionize
the world and all that.)
shadow: Beware! Beware! She is still somewhere in this world...
shadow: You too, beware!
The shadow girls get their moment in the spotlight! In this episode you actually get to
see the girls, as opposed to their shadows (even if you don't see their faces), so any
bizarre theories of the shadow girls being space aliens are probably bunk.
Basically, the girls are telling the story of Akio and Anthy, from one point of view.
In Utena, Akio is obviously the villain, but the shadow girls chose to take the
story in a different light and portray Anthy as the villain, or the "witch".
In truth, this is how the rest of the world sees Anthy, not as a victim, but as the witch
who took their prince and their light away. The people were all princesses, and Dios was
prince to all of them. And, as Utena proves, princesses are like children that will
be taken care of, not adults that have control of their own lives.
When Anthy took away the "light", the people were stranded like children lost in a big
city. They needed a target for their anger at their own incapability (since they were too
immature and princess-like to blame themselves), and that target was Anthy.
One of the ideas that Akio continues to throw around during the series is that people are
trapped in the the "labyrinth" of their own point of view. For example, an "adult" like
Akio sees nothing wrong with sleeping with his sister, while Nanami (the child) is
disgusted by it.
Okay, that's a rather extreme example. But one thing about Utena is a complete lack
of "good" or "bad" (save maybe Akio) characters, merely points of view. In the episode,
"Vermin", you see Keiko's hatred of Nanami, and Nanami is portrayed as the villain.
However, once you hit "This Girl's Tragedy", Keiko seems like the betrayor as she is
kissing Touga in the greenhouse, as well as bad-mouthing Nanami to Touga.
Akio seems to beyond these viewpoints - he just views everyone as toys. :P While watching
the play, he has a rather disinterested expression on his face, and afterwards, he said
it was "what he'd expect from students." Akio thinks little of the black-and-white
portrayal of the prince and the witch - perhaps another indicator that he his an adult -
he understands that reality is not always so clear.
So, in conclusion, this play is about different points of view.
But wait! There's more here...
shadows: Cheers!
shadow: Our performance today was the greatest!
shadow: Ah, the bliss of being an actress!
shadow: Extra extra extra extra...
shadow: Gadzooks, you are my sister!
shadow: Yes, my brother!
shadow: The sealed light, the sorrowful Prince, the Tale of the Rose now beblub blub....
shadow: That girl's got talent, but she's kinda weird.
shadow: Maybe she doesn't have any friends.
shadow: I don't wanna hear that from you!
shadow: She definitely doesn't have any friends.
shadow: No, she doesn't.
This play gives me a few feelings. One is that it's talking about Anthy, one is that it's
talking about Utena, one that it's talking about Dios, one is that it's talking about the
shadow girls themselves, and one
is that it's just speaking generally. Then, of course, there is always the possibility
that this play is one of the completely meaningless ones.
Special people like Dios have a bit of a problem. Though they are valued for their services,
they are not valued for themselves. The people don't care that Dios is ill, they only want
him to save their daughters. In that essence, princes don't have any friends. In fact,
because Dios is a prince, he has no friends. One has to wonder if he goes out and
helps people in an effort to make friends - but it seems to be backfiring.
It seems not to make much sense when applied to Utena- she's quite popular, after all.
But I think flashing forward to her words to Anthy near the end of the series opens the
door: "The only time I was ever really happy was when I was with you." Utena tends not
to confide in others besides Anthy. Even to Wakaba, her supposed "best friend", Utena isn't
very open.
Example: When Utena has "The Night" with Akio, she doesn't tell anyone. Anthy is kind of
out of the picture (Akio is Anthy's brother. Utena feels guilty about sleeping with someone who
is "practically family"), and as a fellow female, I feel obliged to comment that most
every girl will tell a close friend she trusts about the guy she likes, her first kiss,
her first time, etc. Utena tells nobody. Though she may be popular, there is nobody that
she truly considers to be her friend, save Anthy. O.o Some friends. That's all I can say
on the matter.
At any rate, Utena is also striving for the same prince mystique as Dios, placing herself
in the same position as he was.
As for Anthy... Well, it's pretty much established that she has no friends. Students are
constantly calling her 'weird'. She seems to have few talents, though, save those of
tending her roses and manipulating the students at Ohtori.
Anyway, the play seems to emphasize that people who are different are often not well-liked.
Anyone who has been through junior high knows that. :P
Back to Kashira
|
