+++ TRUTH +++

Utena is a new student at Ohtori Academy, and on her first day of school, she receives a tour from the cheerful Wakaba, who leads her to the main attraction - a duel taking place between the "Prince" of the school and Miki, part of the academy's Student Council. This "Prince" is none other than Juri, captain of the fencing team, and is highly revered by her classmates. Juri holds a high position among the student population due to her added status as a Student Council member (presumably, the acting president, due to circumstances explained later on).

However, as Wakaba is talking, a familiar face to Utena shows up, through one of the stained glass windows behind Juri and Miki. Utena rushes off and follows the figure, which has disappeared from the window. In a rainy courtyard, Utena catches up to the figure and confronts him. It is Touga, who is Utena's ex-boyfriend from when they were young, and it becomes apparent that the two haven't talked in many years.

The re-appearance is a bit of a jarring experience for Utena. After meeting Anthy, Utena is shown unpacking her belongings in her dorm room and storing them in her closet. The last object she places on the top shelf of her closet is a picture of her and Touga when they were together. Suddenly, Anthy makes a surprise visit at her dorm room, but Utena tries to get rid of her and shoos her out of her room. As Anthy is leaving the room, she stares at the picture of Utena and Touga.

Later, Touga shows up once more by the pool which is being cleaned up by the schoolgirls, including Anthy and Utena. As Utena gets a drink, Touga shows up behind her. They start to talk about the Rose Bride, and Touga mentions that Anthy usually sleeps with whoever the Victor is, explaining Anthy's unusual advances the other night in Utena's dorm. Utena is rather distraught with this statement when she follows Touga's gaze to Anthy. When he calls her over, Anthy and Touga engage in some slight casual flirting, which upsets Utena.

That night, Utena follows Anthy to the arena where she is watering the roses, and demands her to tell her the true nature behind her relationship with Touga. Utena accuses her for being the reason that caused Touga to dump her. Blaming her for being the one that caused her separation from Touga, all of Utena's emotions come spilling out and leave her crying.

Touga appears with Shiori, in bed, where she talks of making Juri duel Utena. A quick scene shows Juri's back, standing in front of a lake. Shiori says that she hates Juri because she claims that Juri is at fault for making her lose her loved one.

During Utena's second duel against Juri, the school is gathered around to watch the duel proceed. In one window, Miki is watching, with Touga standing behind him. Utena has the disadvantage of being backed up against the wall with the Sword of Dios knocked out of her hand. Just before Juri is about to deliver the final blow to claim victory, Juri mentions Touga's name, and this causes Utena even greater shock; however, Utena seems to transform into Dios, and much to Juri's shock, it is she who wins the duel. it should be noted that at the mention of Touga's name, Miki asks out loud who Touga is, even though Touga is standing right behind him, indicating that the two have never met before.

Towards the end of the movie while Utena is in the elevator in pursuit of Anthy, Touga makes his final appearance to Utena. Separating them is a glass partition in the elevator, which slowly fills up with water as Utena slowly realizes what really happened on a day long ago. Utena is sitting on a park bench in front of a lake with Touga, when he leaves (maybe they just broke up?), leaving her alone. Suddenly, Utena starts shouting for help because she spots a girl drowning in the lake. Touga runs back and dives in in an attempt to save the drowning girl (which is actually Juri, which explains how she knows Touga), and although Juri is saved by someone else nearby, Touga is swept away in the current and drowns. Utena has pushed back this memory though, probably because it was a traumatizing experience, and because she has never been able to face the truth and accept the fact that Touga is dead, she keeps on thinking that she sees him all over Ohtori Academy. Essentially, her memory of Touga is her vice, binding her down because she is unable to let go of him. Now that she has realized the truth, Utena is able to let go of Touga, and by now his side of the elevator is full of water. She kisses him goodbye and he fades away into the water.

Free of the vice that binds her down, Utena is now ready to bring a revolution.

Hints that Touga is dead throughout the movie: he has very little interaction with characters. Only Utena, Anthy, and Shiori are able to interact with him since they are of questionable existence between death and life, and only Juri knows of him. Miki on the other hand, does not seem to know who Touga is at all, due to his early death, which is proven by his surprise at the mention of his name during the duel with Juri. Since Touga is dead and not an actual part of the Student Council, Juri is most likely the president of the Student Council (it is not really shown what kind of role Saionji plays in the Student Council since he is never shown with fellow Student Council members Juri or Miki until the very end).

Another possibility in the back structure of the movie: the love triangle storyline that serves as Juri's background story. In the anime, the love triangle was between Juri, Shiori, and a boy (possibly Ruka?). In the movie, this love triangle is only hinted at through certain words spoken by Juri and Shiori. The love triangle in this case would be between Juri, Shiori, and Touga. Juri is still in love with Shiori in the movie, and during the scene where she and Miki are talking in the garage, she tells him she wishes to break free of all that binds her down (ie. her unrequited love for Shiori). Shiori, on the other hand, is fully aware of this love in the movie, and uses this to manipulate Juri into challenging Utena. Shiori also mentions that she hates Juri because she is to blame for the loss of her loved one, which is quite possibly Touga (in that scene, they are lying in bed together as Shiori is talking). In this way, Touga serves as a replacement for the unidentified boy in the original anime series in the love triangle.

If this is true, then that also leaves the possibility that Touga was cheating on Utena while they were a couple with Shiori, because Utena blames Anthy for being the reason to break the two up, indicating that Utena felt that Touga wasn't being entirely honest with her by believing that he was cheating on her with some other girl. Though Anthy does not actually confirm whether it is true or not that she is the reason why Touga dumped Utena, if Touga was part of the love triangle, then he could have been seeing Shiori as well at the time.