(no subject)
WHAT THE FUCK IS AKIO!?
Let us preface this in the way that all Utena essays must be prefaced: it's probably wrong. Pretty much everything in the bellow essay is not right at all. Many parts are unsupportable. In fact, I bet parts of it directly contradict canon. You are very welcome to point these out to me and I will be like "wow that's an interesting point," but maybe or maybe not change my opinion on the matter. I do not profess the theories contained herein to be "right" but simply... the way it seems to me like it probably is. This interpretation is how I interpret Akio in camp, for the most part. However, there are times when I definitely contradict some of this in the playing of him. (For example: I don't think Akio can leave Ohtori. At all. Ever. Period. LOL :Db)
I also haven't seen the Apocalypse Arc lately, which I KNOW I REALLY NEED TO RE-WATCH but every time I try to marathon Utena end to end my brain melts I'm sorry that's just too much hair for my little eyes to take. So things are not as fresh as they might be, had I written this essay a few months ago.
So what is Akio?
Well let's start with what Akio used to be. Akio used to be The Prince. I don't know if I would call The Prince a god, because I don't think that is the right word. The Prince was not something that made the rules. He had a lot of power, that much is clear. He was a miracle, he was something eternal, but really, he was just following the role assigned to him. The Prince was good. I don't know what "making a girl into a princess" means, but I don't think exactly what it means is the point. Whatever it was, it was good and nice. (It's possible that this simply represents a young girl's naivety and innocence. And it's not that the Prince not being able to do this for girls is less a historical event but rather showing that at some point in their lives, a fairy-tale prince is no longer relevant to said girl. This is in line with a lot of the other growing up/adolescence themes in the series. HOWEVER, while far more supportable than a lot of other stuff I'll say in this essay, this theory is completely irrelevant to the essay at large. Please disregard it, as I will be taking that scene at face value and assuming that it is a historical event.)
The Prince was a healer. He was a protector of women. But there was one woman he could not protect. He could not protect his sister. The person who should have been more important to him than all the anonymous girls of the world was the only person that he had to sit by and watch suffer. This, I think, is what unmakes the Prince. Anthy was the only woman who really loved him, but also Anthy was the only woman he couldn't protect.
So what is Akio now?
Akio is everything the Prince was not. He is selfish, manipulative, debaucherous, he has little value for human life. He knows no duty or loyalty. Whereas The Prince lived only to fulfill his purpose, even to the point that it kills him, Akio is willing to use and throw away people as as convenient to him. However, with all this selfish living, Akio still isn't happy.
Now, this isn't as clear as it is in the movie, but Akio is actually quite desperate. Not being The Prince causes Akio pain. Not like Anthy's pain, obviously, but it's still... he should be The Prince. It's a constant sort of... wrong. And it's driving him nuts. Or it already drove him nuts. One of the two. In any case, what Akio wants more than anything else is to be The Prince. It's not that he regrets being selfish and evil, no, I don't think Akio has the capacity for guilt, but he does feel... wrong. He wants the power of the price.
Now see, this is the problem. Because the power of eternity that belongs to the prince, and the being something eternal, the being a miracle of the Prince are, I believe, completely intertwined. The reason The Prince can not exist is because his existence caused suffering to Anthy. That door that he was trying to open for the past however long he has existed? Anthy in her coffin was behind it. However, when Utena opens the door and finds the coffin, her opening Anthy's coffin scares the fuck out of Akio.
SO WHAT I AM SAYING IS, I THINK, that the only way for The Prince to be restored, is for Anthy to be freed. But Akio is not willing to free Anthy. The reason he wants Utena's sword is because he thinks that can open the door, but really its the ring that she received from Dios that opens it.
And that what Akio is. He is a thing without morales or empathy or any goodness at all, with a constant drive to complete a goal that he is by definition incapable of reaching.
QUESTIONS TO WHICH I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE:
What does Akio want to happen as a result of the duels?
What is Dios? Is Dios The Prince, the ghost of the price, is he something that exists because Akio exists?
What are some previous outcomes of the duels? Did Utena's journey follow the usual path, or is every attempt as unrelated as the Black Rose stuff?
What does Akio think is past the door?
Let us preface this in the way that all Utena essays must be prefaced: it's probably wrong. Pretty much everything in the bellow essay is not right at all. Many parts are unsupportable. In fact, I bet parts of it directly contradict canon. You are very welcome to point these out to me and I will be like "wow that's an interesting point," but maybe or maybe not change my opinion on the matter. I do not profess the theories contained herein to be "right" but simply... the way it seems to me like it probably is. This interpretation is how I interpret Akio in camp, for the most part. However, there are times when I definitely contradict some of this in the playing of him. (For example: I don't think Akio can leave Ohtori. At all. Ever. Period. LOL :Db)
I also haven't seen the Apocalypse Arc lately, which I KNOW I REALLY NEED TO RE-WATCH but every time I try to marathon Utena end to end my brain melts I'm sorry that's just too much hair for my little eyes to take. So things are not as fresh as they might be, had I written this essay a few months ago.
So what is Akio?
Well let's start with what Akio used to be. Akio used to be The Prince. I don't know if I would call The Prince a god, because I don't think that is the right word. The Prince was not something that made the rules. He had a lot of power, that much is clear. He was a miracle, he was something eternal, but really, he was just following the role assigned to him. The Prince was good. I don't know what "making a girl into a princess" means, but I don't think exactly what it means is the point. Whatever it was, it was good and nice. (It's possible that this simply represents a young girl's naivety and innocence. And it's not that the Prince not being able to do this for girls is less a historical event but rather showing that at some point in their lives, a fairy-tale prince is no longer relevant to said girl. This is in line with a lot of the other growing up/adolescence themes in the series. HOWEVER, while far more supportable than a lot of other stuff I'll say in this essay, this theory is completely irrelevant to the essay at large. Please disregard it, as I will be taking that scene at face value and assuming that it is a historical event.)
The Prince was a healer. He was a protector of women. But there was one woman he could not protect. He could not protect his sister. The person who should have been more important to him than all the anonymous girls of the world was the only person that he had to sit by and watch suffer. This, I think, is what unmakes the Prince. Anthy was the only woman who really loved him, but also Anthy was the only woman he couldn't protect.
So what is Akio now?
Akio is everything the Prince was not. He is selfish, manipulative, debaucherous, he has little value for human life. He knows no duty or loyalty. Whereas The Prince lived only to fulfill his purpose, even to the point that it kills him, Akio is willing to use and throw away people as as convenient to him. However, with all this selfish living, Akio still isn't happy.
Now, this isn't as clear as it is in the movie, but Akio is actually quite desperate. Not being The Prince causes Akio pain. Not like Anthy's pain, obviously, but it's still... he should be The Prince. It's a constant sort of... wrong. And it's driving him nuts. Or it already drove him nuts. One of the two. In any case, what Akio wants more than anything else is to be The Prince. It's not that he regrets being selfish and evil, no, I don't think Akio has the capacity for guilt, but he does feel... wrong. He wants the power of the price.
Now see, this is the problem. Because the power of eternity that belongs to the prince, and the being something eternal, the being a miracle of the Prince are, I believe, completely intertwined. The reason The Prince can not exist is because his existence caused suffering to Anthy. That door that he was trying to open for the past however long he has existed? Anthy in her coffin was behind it. However, when Utena opens the door and finds the coffin, her opening Anthy's coffin scares the fuck out of Akio.
SO WHAT I AM SAYING IS, I THINK, that the only way for The Prince to be restored, is for Anthy to be freed. But Akio is not willing to free Anthy. The reason he wants Utena's sword is because he thinks that can open the door, but really its the ring that she received from Dios that opens it.
And that what Akio is. He is a thing without morales or empathy or any goodness at all, with a constant drive to complete a goal that he is by definition incapable of reaching.
QUESTIONS TO WHICH I HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE:
What does Akio want to happen as a result of the duels?
What is Dios? Is Dios The Prince, the ghost of the price, is he something that exists because Akio exists?
What are some previous outcomes of the duels? Did Utena's journey follow the usual path, or is every attempt as unrelated as the Black Rose stuff?
What does Akio think is past the door?