(Untitled)

[isako]

I was letting my mind wander as I walked about doing errands today and noticed in myself a fascinating with unhealthy sibling relationships. NO, not incest, thankyouverymuch, though it figures to one degree or another in the two examples that sprang to my mind. But the complexities inherent in a sibling relationship certainly make it more

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[isako]

Maya and Shin are major players in a manga by Oh! Great called Tenjou Tenge. There's a link to scanlations on my site, since I'm thinking it's probably not getting translated anytime in the near future. Or the far future, really. with the violence and the naked and the sex. They are pretty severely messed up, though, and they implode SPECTACULARLY. And messily.

[Disclaimer: The following is my own personal take on the series. Feel free to disagree.]
The Ohtori siblings are immortal in that they're archetypes. Dios DID die and was reborn as Akio, but whether it was a physical death or solely a spiritual one is up for debate. After all, Anthy has demonstrated that she's pretty darn unkillable- which, interestingly, puts the entire suicide scene in an entirely different light. Can she die if she WILLS herself to die? Does she die every time she takes the swords? Is she sort of constantly dying, since the swords seem to be in a sense attacking her constantly? Was that whole scene another trick to manipulate Utena, or was it a glimpse of Anthy's real personality? Was Akio aware of it? I love and hate how much is left up to interpretation in this show.

As for learning... I doubt Akio ever does over the course of the series. After all, she leaves him there, "to play prince within this coffin forever." Anthy... does she learn, or does she just change for her prince, because he prince willed it? She's free when she goes to look for Utena, but Utena wanted her to be free at the end, so...

This makes my head hurt in a goood way.