I love this arc so much! I personally think the story gets even better from here.
While, I enjoyed the previous arc and its focus on tertiary characters, I love the development of Anthy and Utena's relationship in this. It's also wonderful to see the duelists in the spotlight again. Okay, I want to strangle Touga more than ever in this arc, but apart from that...
So now Anthy can draw out Utena's heart, but the converse is no longer true. It's an interesting (and, yes, hot) reversal.
How many shirtless scenes will Touga and Saionji get? All of them.
I loved the rose bush growing out of the uniform when I saw it. Then, years later, I encountered Dali's sculpture of Alice in Wonderland. I suspect this may not be a coincidence...
Oh, and that Lucifer allegory is decidedly apt. :)
...Right! I knew that was what the swords being pulled out of people's chests symbolized! I are a smart person! X3 But yes, the reversal is hot.
As well they should! Sure, they're horrible people, but at least they have the decency to give us something nice to look at!
I would doubt it indeed.
In a way, I feel a bit cheated that they felt it necessary to expressly explain the allegory...but oh well, it's there show, they can be a bit blunt with the relatively obscure symbolism.
Don't forget that the target audience (14 year old Japanese schoolgirls) are rather less likely to be familiar with the story of the Fall than those of us with a western/Christian cultural context. Strangely, a lot of much more obscure symbolism and referencing goes totally unexplained (ISTR a statue of the Bremen Town Band in the background of one scene...).
As for the heart symbolism, well, as Nanami's whole "What was it like? Did it hurt?" thing with Miki showed, it's clearly a combination of all sorts of sexual and romantic metaphors. So whilst the Black Rose Arc was essentially a series of symbolic rapes, this arc is more about seduction (which might, one would hope, produce a stronger "heart").
Agreed with oneplusme-san; it needs to be kept in mind that in Japan the reference is much more obscure. Only about 1-2% of the population claim to be Christians, and it really shows in the treatment of the religion in fiction. I'm agnostic, but I know enough to know that a lot of the manga/anime in Japan which draw from Christianity heavily would be met with a very different reaction if written as novels in the west... Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, for instance, depicts a god who was fallible and human enough to fall in love with a woman and feel jealousy towards her husband. I can see that going over very well. /deadpan
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While, I enjoyed the previous arc and its focus on tertiary characters, I love the development of Anthy and Utena's relationship in this. It's also wonderful to see the duelists in the spotlight again. Okay, I want to strangle Touga more than ever in this arc, but apart from that...
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If we get some good Juri/Miki scenes in all this, I might be tempted to declare this the perfect arc.
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The revelation of the eternal thing Akio showed Utena will change EVERYTHING and it is epic!
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Ooh, sounds good! I might have to watch multiple episodes in a day to find out what it is sooner!
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How many shirtless scenes will Touga and Saionji get? All of them.
I loved the rose bush growing out of the uniform when I saw it. Then, years later, I encountered Dali's sculpture of Alice in Wonderland. I suspect this may not be a coincidence...
Oh, and that Lucifer allegory is decidedly apt. :)
Reply
As well they should! Sure, they're horrible people, but at least they have the decency to give us something nice to look at!
I would doubt it indeed.
In a way, I feel a bit cheated that they felt it necessary to expressly explain the allegory...but oh well, it's there show, they can be a bit blunt with the relatively obscure symbolism.
Reply
As for the heart symbolism, well, as Nanami's whole "What was it like? Did it hurt?" thing with Miki showed, it's clearly a combination of all sorts of sexual and romantic metaphors. So whilst the Black Rose Arc was essentially a series of symbolic rapes, this arc is more about seduction (which might, one would hope, produce a stronger "heart").
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