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

[sarahtheboring]

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

I got the idea about revenge being his fixation from the photo wall. He doesn't have a picture of Tokiko on his photo wall - he has a picture of Nemuro just as he discovers Tokiko and Akio. That...well, is logistically impossible (haha), but very interesting. And yeah, also the way he combines Utena and Tokiko. And illusion-Mamiya's comment about "You'll never defeat that sister of mine."

Yeah, I do see the sense in the ghost theory. That might be the case. I was putting more stock in the "interacting with real life" factor and that last phone call than I probably should have, considering this series. :p As I read other comments about the character, that makes more and more sense, although it's really ambiguous, of course. (And I am dead against the plot summary on the DVDs, though I hate to be a jerky fan like that. It said the other BRDs didn't exist, and uh, what?)

I also tend to think that it's a way of keeping Tokiko-and-Mamiya alive, and that it's a twisted version of Nemuro's wish to be close to both of them platonically and/or in some kind of quasi-family unit. Also, Tokiko is threatening (by breaking up his I-am-a-rock-I-am-an-island bit) and hurt him by "cheating," and is a focus of his revenge fantasy. Mamiya was pretty harmless. I think that could play into it, too.

... I could ramble forever. Again. Thanks for commenting, it's fun to revisit this after so long. ^_^ Glad you liked 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.

At any rate, I think this fandom is always up for discussions and doesn't expect people to "know it already." If for no other reason than that everything is up for discussion, and there are few solid answers for anything. So I wouldn't worry much about newbieness. Besides, it gives fans the warm fuzzies to know that people still watch the series, I think. :)

[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

Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask you about a scene I always thought was odd. As far as I can tell I'm ther only one who noticed it because no one online has ever commented about it. It's when Nemuro and a student are walking up the stairs, talking about the snow. They reach the top of the stairs and the scene switches to Nemuro and the students doing stuff, then it switches back to Nemuro and the boy on the stairs. But here's the weird thing. When Nemuro and the boy were walking up the stairs, the boy was in his school uniform (that greenish outfit.) But when Nemuro asks about the rings and they cut back to them on the stairs, the boy has on a white lab coat and he's got a clipboard. Have you ever noticed that? At first I thought it might be a mistake, but things on Utena usually aren't mistakes. But I guess that's the beauty of a show like this, huh? If an artist accidently messes up and draws something wrong (like someone in the wrong outfit) they can just be like "Oh, um..that's symbolism! >_>" XD

[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