+++ ANTHY +++

Utena's relationship with Himemiya Anthy, the Rose Bride, is a deeply complex and slightly ambiguous relationship. There are many layers to it, and their relationship is quite odd. It is very much non-conventional, and strays far from your stereotypical ideals of "friendship" and "love," thus making it difficult to explain in a coherent manner. However, in this section, I will present my views on their "weird" relationship.

The fragile Rose Bride of no will of her own becomes engaged to Utena after she wins her first duel. Though Utena is uncomfortable with Anthy calling her Utena-sama, she does not mind living wth Anthy because of their engagement since she is rather easy-going. The two form a fast friendship, and Utena whole heartedly trusts Anthy, probably due to her naivete. Utena would like to see Anthy be a free and normal girl, and not having to take orders from anyone, even herself, and makes it her goal to help Anthy achieve such freedom by maintaining her position as the Victor, even though Utena doesn't believe in the Duelist's Code or agree to its rules. She cannot bring herself to lose on purpose and see Anthy return to Saionji's possessive and abusive clutches.

Anthy and Utena share a special and unconventional relationship, due to the fact that the creators are interested in such relationships (Chiho Saito and Kunihiko Ikuhara both like forbidden romances and warped relationships). They can be considered as a couple, although not necessarily romantic (in the case of the anime, as opposed to the movie), but rather, they are complete foils of one another and complement the other character; each of the differences between the two protagonists serve to further emphasize and strengthen each other's personality by the sharp contrasts between the two.

Their friendship is based on a strange bond in that they both need each other. With Utena, Anthy finds herself, finds that she has an identity, that she is a person - Utena makes her realize that she deserves a free existence. Utena, on the other hand, finds herself inexplicably attached to Anthy, believing that she could save Anthy and set her free. In doing so, Utena is also realizing her own personal dream of becoming a prince, however, through Anthy, Utena slowly realizes the evils of the world, which causes a severe instability in her perception of the world, and also causes Utena to lose some of her innocence.

Towards the end of the series though, Utena and Anthy start testing each other and their friendship (such as the tea scene, where Anthy and Utena play mind games with each other, claiming that they have poisoned each other's cookies and tea...they both eat and drink it though, thus proving their friendship), which is orchestrated by Akio's manipulation on both character's emotions. If Akio succeeds at breaking up the bond between Utena and Anthy, the revolution is likely not to take place. In the final duel known as Revolution, Anthy tells Utena that she is like the prince she had once loved, but because she was a girl, she could never love her. Anthy then stabs her in the back, betraying Utena's friendship and trust; however, Utena, still as loyal and noble as ever, tries to reach for Anthy's hand while the arena is crumbling apart as the gates to eternity open. Her reaching out to Anthy, despite the betrayal, displays Utena's fierce devotion and strong friendship to Anthy, showing Anthy unconditional love in spite of her past actions. Since this is probably the only real human friend (we're not talking about Chu Chu here) Anthy has, Anthy reaches back, but they are ultimately separated as the arena plunges to the ground.

What is shown in the ending of Utena can only suggest things, but in the end, the deep bond between Utena and Anthy ultimately triumphs over Akio, overcoming his game. Even if the price of saving Anthy may have been the cost of her own existence, Utena has succeeded. Anthy is finally free, free of being Akio's Rose Bride, free of the arena and its duels, and she leaves Akio and Ohtori, saying that she will find Utena.

Some final notes: while some may object to this, it is suggested that Anthy and Utena are somewhat closer than just being friends. There is somewhat of an implied lesbian theme going on between the two, however, things are not as they always seem. While the implied theme of lesbianism is merely suggested in the anime, the movie takes this implied theme one step further, totally altering their relationship and making it more open in the movie version of Shoujo Kakumei Utena.

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