In the fourteenth episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena, I DON’T UNDERSTAND!!! Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Utena.
Trigger Warning: For discussion of incest and manipulation.
WHAT THE FUCK!
- I’m serious. I don’t think any Mark Watches project has ever confused me as much as this one. I was already in the dark after the last arc. None of my major questions were answered, and “The Boys of the Black Rose” piles on new characters, new mysteries, and NEW REASONS TO FEEL HOPELESSLY OVERWHELMED. I’m glad that this is so intriguing or else I’d feel too overwhelmed. This is a lot to dump on someone this early in the show! So, I’m going to try to get the names right, but even that was challenging. I actually thought Akio and Mamiya were the same person at first.
- I JUST
- THERE’S SO MUCH HERE
- WHERE DID THAT BLACK ROSE COME FROM
- WHAT POWERS DOES IT HAVE
- SINCE WHEN DID ANTHY HAVE A BROTHER???!?!?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK THAT SEEMS LIKE A HUGE THING TO NEVER ADMIT
- This is some Dawn Summers bullshit. Am I being trolled by the very show I’m watching?
- So, her big brother is the temporary headmaster of the school, but for some reason, his last name is Ohtori, but hers is not?
- And Kanae is set to marry someone who’s clearly out of high school?
- Why is the headmaster ill???
- Did the headmaster arrange the marriage between Akio and Kanae???
- I’M STILL CONFUSED.
- And look, part of of what Mikage does to Kanae is based on her relationship issues with Akio. But how did he know how to exploit her fears? Is he spying on the people in the school?
- WHAT THE FUCK IS THE BLACK ROSE SEMINAR? Obviously, it’s a front because those two professors don’t seem to be aware of what Mikage is using it for.
- That’s a fun sentence because it implies that I know what Mikage is doing BUT I DON’T
- I AM SO LOST
- SO THERE’S A ROOM IN THAT BUILDING WITH 100 DEAD BODIES OF STUDENTS AND THAT’S THE ROOM WHERE MIKAGE AND MAMIYA ESSENTIALLY BRAINWASH PEOPLE INTO BEING BLACK ROSE DUELISTS
- And that’s so that they can kill Anthy, put Mamiya in her place, and…. ???? I DON’T KNOW
- WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON
- Oh my god, there is so much endless queer subtext everywhere, and the relationship between Mamiya and Mikage is UNREAL. Mikage wants Mamiya to be his bride??? What the hell is all this? What sort of power does Dios have that they want? Again, I still barely know what happened in the last 13 episodes, and now all this is going on???
- Y’all, that weird interrogation sequence involving Kanae is just… how? HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? How did the show get to this so quickly???? What were all those sliding panels? Who gave all those dead boys their rose seal rings? What is Mikage saving all those dead bodies for?
- It never stops being absurd and terrifying, y’all. Even after Mikage and Mamiya successfully turn Kanae against Anthy (DO THEY STAB HER WITH THE BLACK ROSE???), there’s no relief. Utena goes to the dueling arena to discover that there are desks with flowers on them all over, and then she finds the RED BODY OUTLINES WHERE PREVIOUS DUELISTS “DIED.”
- WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS
- HOW IS ANY OF THIS POSSIBLE?
- Utena’s duel with Kakae feels even more urgent and frightening than anything we’ve seen before. If the past duelists chose to fight Utena, even if they were misguided, then seeing someone utterly manipulated into dueling makes this a billion times worse. Kakae is almost literally not herself, you know?
- When Utena successfully defeats her (with the power of Dios again), I had to throw my hands up in the air in defeat. The ring on Kakae’s finger disintegrates, and the body that Mikage got the ring from IS PUSHED INTO A GIANT FURNACE.
- WHAT THE FUCK Y’ALL
- I can’t do this. I CAN’T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IS GOING ON.
- Amidst this, I did notice that Utena seemed pleased that Anthy was doing things on her own. I’m sure Utena believes she’s trying to make friends and socialize with her brother, and Utena wanted Anthy to be independent.
- I imagine Utena would feel different about this if she knew the truth.
- What’s the truth, you ask?
- APPARENTLY ANTHY IS HAVING SEX WITH HER BROTHER
- YOU’RE KIDDING ME
- Am I meant to infer that from that final scene??? BECAUSE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?
- What the hell have y’all gotten me to watch?
- Eleven episodes to destroy, but fourteen episodes to END me. Holy shit, I can’t believe this show.
The video for “The Boys of the Black Rose” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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