Mikage Souji / Prof. Nemuro (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

[sarahtheboring]

Title: Frozen Time
Author: sarahtheboring
Spoilers: Up to ep 23, definitely; in comparison, spoilers up to the end of the series (though only in the last section of the essay). Only deals with the series, not movie- or mangaverse.
Email: climbingaswefall@yahoo.com
Personal site: It's in complete disrepair. All I can plug are my journal, my AMVs, and some

Comments

[sleepdebtfairy]

Oohhh, I love this. ♥ (late comment, I know) Reading essays like this reminds me how much I love Utena.. and about earlier comments in this post, I agree. Logic isn't the fun part.. the emotions and all the crack-symbolism is the best. It makes me wish I spent less of my day/life being logical, and more being emotional. It's more fun that way. :3

[sarahtheboring]

Aww, I'm tickled that somebody remembers it or found it. ^_

[sleepdebtfairy]

((Wow, I must have missed that photo. Oo; *wants to re-watch that part now*))

It's so weird because as Nemuro he was extremely logical and not social at all.. really a lot like a computer. When he's Mikage you can see a striking difference. He's still quiet and logical, but a lot more laid-back and social.
((Argh, going off-topic from what I was trying to say..)) But it's strange because one of his first real emotional social interactions is betrayal, and he wants to preserve that.

No problem! ^^ Hehe, I'm an Utena-newbie. So every time I go back and find all of these old discussions I wish I got into the series earlier.. (although I probably wouldn't have gotten it if I did)

[sarahtheboring]

I think it's when he's giving Utena the "precious memories" speech. (capped from AMV)

Yeah, the contrasts between the two are one of the most interesting parts of this sidestory to me. Whether forming that persona was some kind of reaction, whether it's a polar opposite, a hidden side, things like that. (it's late... I am not particularly sense-making.)

Well, it's not a new series, and I think the first wave of online fandom was mostly on listservs or newsgroups. It's more of a "classic" now - there's nothing brand-new to be up on, so nobody expects you to be. It's much easier to be a newbie in a "closed" fandom (meaning nothing new is coming out) than something new, I think. That's my theory, anyway

[sleepdebtfairy]

Ooh, I see now. That's lovely. ^^ Thank you. *ker-snags*

I think the change occured when he decided to "loosen up" and get blood on his hands to get what he wanted. He wanted Tokiko (I'm pretty sure) and didn't do anything about it, and there Akio was, making out with her. I remember making a Mikage icon a while back that said "Nerd gone evil" and I think that fits. ^^ Except he's still pretty nerdy. Oh, and insane counselors amuse me.

Brand new or not, it's probably my favourite series right now. It's brilliant. *_* And I still need to read the manga.

"It's much easier to be a newbie in a "closed" fandom (meaning nothing new is coming out) than something new, I think. That's my theory, anyway."

True. And a lot less spammy. But it's more fun when it's more active too. ^^ But I've been very happy with most of the Utena fans I've come across. It's the most intelligent fandom I've come across, but also one of the nicest.

[sarahtheboring]

Heh. I think that's apt - and it's exactly what you're not supposed to do if you're going to be princely and Revolution-like (i.e. selfless and noble), which is why the BRS is interesting compared to the end of the series.

I have to say I love the Really Really REALLY Bad Advice aspect, too. "So your best friend stole your crush. Kill her." Errrr.

That's awesome. Join the cult! We love long essays and pretty icons and nobody knows what we're talking about! XD

[sleepdebtfairy]

*dies* I love that. xD Especially if you make the first part sound casual then the "Kill her" part all deep and scary..

I've already made myself comfortable! And I can make pretty icons, but I lack the attention span and articulate writing skills for essays since I'm more of a visual person but uhm.. mini discussion posts! And the icons. Yeah. ^^

[aichou]

You know what bugs me to no end? One time I paused the screen while Utena was punching Mikage so I could look at the wall zoomed out and see all the pictures. But then I noticed..they weren't Mikage's pictures at all! http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/Sakano_San/omgwhat.jpg

It was kind of neat at first, but now whenever that scene comes on I can't focus on anything but those stupid pictures on the wall. Argh! I really wish they hadn't done that, it ruins the mood.

Anyway, sorry to butt in on the conversation here. I thought your essay was really good! I love Mikage.

[aichou]

Oh, ps (sorry) you were the one who made Imaginary World? :O I love that AMV! That was really the perfect song for Mikage. It's almost like it was written for him.

[sarahtheboring]

Aigh, I know! All I can see is that vaguely Sailor Scout photo in the upper left and that guy making the silly :D face in the middle. I figure the animators filled in with whatever they wanted for the long shots. Only when they show the wall closeup are they relevant photos of the Duelists and such.

No problem; this was a while back, but I still love talking about the series.

And yeah, I made "Imaginary World" in... 2003, I think. I had never seen an AMV entirely about Mikage (one partly about him, but that's all), so I felt compelled. Thanks, glad you liked it. :)

[aichou]

Well I'm glad you made it. I have a lot of music vids, but that one was always one of my favorites. :D

[sarahtheboring]

Whoa. You know, I never noticed that either. I wasn't thinking all that much about the boy particularly, because of the way they're all framed in the shot anonymously (never showing their faces, none of them other than that one ever stand out from the rest, etc.) and didn't think about continuity.

Neat. Weird, and neat. O_o