Wakaba Shinohara (Shoujo Kakumei Utena)
Title: A Young Leaf
Author: dragonminstrel
Spoilers: episodes 1-13 (mild), 19, and 20, manga volumes 1-3
E-mail: sag_diva at yahoo dot com
Picture the first day of classes at any sort of private school. A girl in uniform stands on a bridge, watching other incoming students, also in uniform. She seems to be looking for someone in particular. "He's late! How long is he going to make me wait here?" she wonders aloud. "I'm not going to be late for the start of the new term!"
"Wakaba! Who are you waiting for?" a female voice asks.
The girl, Wakaba, turns. Two girls stand behind her. Smiling, and putting her hands on her hips, she says, "If you must know, I'm waiting for my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend? Well she ditched you," one of the girls says.
"She left the dorm earlier this morning."
Wakaba stares at them blankly, then scowls, grabs her school bag, and races towards the main building of Ohtori Academy. "Oh! She's going to pay for this!"
Such is the audience's first introduction to the character of Shinohara Wakaba from Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Wakaba, I think, has the most unique entrance out of all the characters in the series. She is one of the few that, when she enters, isn't given a frame with swirling roses in each corner. This, of course, is obviously because she isn't a main character.
True, Wakaba does not have a very prominent role in the series. She typically only gets a few minutes of screen time in the episodes in which she appears, and only really gets two episodes dedicated to her: one that describes some of her past and one that showcases Wakaba's flaw. She sometimes is also a catalyst that prompts the main character, Utena, to do her best. I personally am of the opinion that every series with a magical girl needs some degree of normalcy. Wakaba provides this and she does an admirable job of it, too.
Wakaba: When I was a little girl, my mama said to me, "You're the princess of the Onion Kingdom!" and I actually believed her.
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 1
Princess of the Onion Kingdom: Wakaba's Past
Not much is ever brought up of Wakaba's past before she entered Ohtori Academy. It is presumed that Wakaba attended Ohtori Academy starting at elementary school and working her way through the grade levels until she hits eighth grade and is in the same class with Utena and Anthy. What is known of her past is... very vague.
We know that when she was a little girl, her mother told her that she was the princess of the onion kingdom. It is assumed that her mother told her this because Wakaba was teased when she was a little girl, called "onion head" by the other students. At some point after her mother told her that she was the princess of the onion kingdom, she brings this
Boys: Nya nya, onion head!
Young Wakaba: Shut up, pumpkin and white radish! (she grabs a younger Tatsuya) I have Prince Onion!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 19
Wakaba tells Utena that, at the time, she considered Tatsuya to be her prince. The audience is never quite sure exactly when this happened, but Tatsuya transferred out of school without telling Wakaba first and she has held that against him ever since. No one is really ever sure of how Utena and Wakaba first met, but it is obvious that they have been friends since Utena started attending Ohtori Academy, if one takes into account Wakaba constantly pouncing upon Utena.
Closest and Dearest Friend: Wakaba's Relationships, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Out of everyone at Ohtori Academy, Wakaba is friends with Utena. They're constantly together, Wakaba often pouncing on Utena to get her attention. In the first thirteen episodes of the series, there are several insistences of Wakaba doing so, one time nearly knocking Utena out a window. Wakaba often refers to Utena as hers or Utena-sama, as the other girls tend to do. With Utena, it is fairly obvious that Wakaba and she are best friends. Wakaba knows what counts as normal for Utena and, after Utena loses her first duel with Touga, Wakaba proceeds to be a good friend and tries to snap her best friend out of the depression/daze that she's in. Showing her persistence, Wakaba pounces on the chance and proceeds to show her skills as a friend.
Utena: Look... stay out of my business, okay?
Wakaba: No way! I won't stop!
Utena: You... you don't understand anything.
Wakaba: I do understand! I... I'll never give up!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 12
She is determined to help her best friend with anything she possibly can... even getting her to stop acting strangely and be what's normal for her. After all, when Utena wears the traditional girls uniform, that can hardly be taken as being normal for Utena, especially considering her normal choice of attire.
Wakaba: But in the first place, why are you wearing that uniform?
Utena: But, this is normal, isn't it?
Wakaba: No, it's not normal! I mean, what's not normal is what's normal for Utena, so this normal is not what's normal for Utena. Oh, this is so complicated!
Utena: My normal... this normal...
Wakaba: You're just going to be silent again, aren't you? This Utena isn't cool. You're acting like a sissy who's lost his balls! I don't know what it was, but if something was taken from you, then take it back!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 12
Showing she is a good friend, she encourages those around her (namely Utena) and helps them see the truth of their actions. In this case, Wakaba simply wanted to bring Utena back to the way she was.
Everyone needs an unattainable love in their life. For Wakaba, it was Saionji, the captain of the kendo team and the vice president of the student council. She was one of many as far as Saionji was concerned. A nameless admirer in a sea of other admiring faces, always on the edge of the crowd. Wakaba could never hope to reach him... or so she thought.
In the first episode, she sent Saionji a love letter, that Saionji posted on a bulletin board for the rest of the school to make fun of. This was how Utena entered the dueling game, by choosing to challenge Saionji for hurting her friend. One thing led to another and Saionji was expelled from Ohtori. He had no money or anything like that and thus had to return to the school for support. Who chose to shelter him? None other than our beloved Wakaba.
Now, here is where things get rather interesting... and this exposes a rather big weakness.
All her life, Wakaba had gotten used to not being special. She, like many other girls, wanted to be special more than anything. So, when Saionji was looking for someone to put him up until he was allowed back into school or something like that, Wakaba jumped at the chance to be special to Saionji, the man she had loved for so long, and let him stay in her room. (Good thing she has a single in the dorms, huh?) It was a secret that the two of them shared and, for a time, everything seemed to be going well. Until one day Saionji chooses to ask Wakaba how Anthy is doing. (It should be noted here that Saionji loves Anthy very much.) To show his appreciation for taking him in, Saionji makes Wakaba a leaf-shaped hair clip. And then Saionji makes a trade with Mikage: the hairclip in order to get his place back in school. Wakaba, walking down the street, sees Anthy wearing said hair clip.
This, of course, angers Wakaba.
How is this a weakness?
Well, Wakaba goes to the Mikage seminar, into the interview elevator, and begins to speak. Those behind the Mikage seminar (the Black Rose Circle) feed off of the weaknesses in human beings and twist them so they work for them. Wakaba feels as though she has been ignored in the past because she wasn't special. So she kept searching for something that could make her special, instead. When she couldn't, she retaliated.
Wakaba: You, that girl, the Student Council members... all of you look down on me. Without a care, flaunting the power you were born with! So, you all can so calmly walk all over everyone else!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 20
She, like so many others, sees her not being special as some sort of weakness, almost as if she feels she needs to be special in order to succeed in the world. When she had what her special "stolen" from her, she couldn't take it and became jealous/angry.
Finally, of course, you have Tatsuya, Wakaba's very own Onion Prince. When they were children, Wakaba genuinely cared for Tatsuya. When he transferred, he left without telling her, thus causing Wakaba to hate him for it. When Tatsuya tells Wakaba that he likes her, Wakaba gently brushes him off, saying she has someone else. The someone else, of course, being Saionji.
Wakaba Hath Flourished Verdantly: Finale
Some people might be asking why I bothered to write an essay on Wakaba if I have so little information to work from. I didn't like Wakaba much when I started watching the series. I thought she was far too bouncy and happy to be real. And yet I love her anyway.
Wakaba is about as normal as normal can be. But someone has to keep some semblance of normalcy in a series like this. Who better than Wakaba, a token normal girl? In truth, she reminds me of many of my friends... We all know a Wakaba somewhere.
All quotes come from the script archive at Ohtori.nu.
Author: dragonminstrel
Spoilers: episodes 1-13 (mild), 19, and 20, manga volumes 1-3
E-mail: sag_diva at yahoo dot com
Picture the first day of classes at any sort of private school. A girl in uniform stands on a bridge, watching other incoming students, also in uniform. She seems to be looking for someone in particular. "He's late! How long is he going to make me wait here?" she wonders aloud. "I'm not going to be late for the start of the new term!"
"Wakaba! Who are you waiting for?" a female voice asks.
The girl, Wakaba, turns. Two girls stand behind her. Smiling, and putting her hands on her hips, she says, "If you must know, I'm waiting for my boyfriend."
"Boyfriend? Well she ditched you," one of the girls says.
"She left the dorm earlier this morning."
Wakaba stares at them blankly, then scowls, grabs her school bag, and races towards the main building of Ohtori Academy. "Oh! She's going to pay for this!"
Such is the audience's first introduction to the character of Shinohara Wakaba from Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Wakaba, I think, has the most unique entrance out of all the characters in the series. She is one of the few that, when she enters, isn't given a frame with swirling roses in each corner. This, of course, is obviously because she isn't a main character.
True, Wakaba does not have a very prominent role in the series. She typically only gets a few minutes of screen time in the episodes in which she appears, and only really gets two episodes dedicated to her: one that describes some of her past and one that showcases Wakaba's flaw. She sometimes is also a catalyst that prompts the main character, Utena, to do her best. I personally am of the opinion that every series with a magical girl needs some degree of normalcy. Wakaba provides this and she does an admirable job of it, too.
Wakaba: When I was a little girl, my mama said to me, "You're the princess of the Onion Kingdom!" and I actually believed her.
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 1
Princess of the Onion Kingdom: Wakaba's Past
Not much is ever brought up of Wakaba's past before she entered Ohtori Academy. It is presumed that Wakaba attended Ohtori Academy starting at elementary school and working her way through the grade levels until she hits eighth grade and is in the same class with Utena and Anthy. What is known of her past is... very vague.
We know that when she was a little girl, her mother told her that she was the princess of the onion kingdom. It is assumed that her mother told her this because Wakaba was teased when she was a little girl, called "onion head" by the other students. At some point after her mother told her that she was the princess of the onion kingdom, she brings this
Boys: Nya nya, onion head!
Young Wakaba: Shut up, pumpkin and white radish! (she grabs a younger Tatsuya) I have Prince Onion!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 19
Wakaba tells Utena that, at the time, she considered Tatsuya to be her prince. The audience is never quite sure exactly when this happened, but Tatsuya transferred out of school without telling Wakaba first and she has held that against him ever since. No one is really ever sure of how Utena and Wakaba first met, but it is obvious that they have been friends since Utena started attending Ohtori Academy, if one takes into account Wakaba constantly pouncing upon Utena.
Closest and Dearest Friend: Wakaba's Relationships, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Out of everyone at Ohtori Academy, Wakaba is friends with Utena. They're constantly together, Wakaba often pouncing on Utena to get her attention. In the first thirteen episodes of the series, there are several insistences of Wakaba doing so, one time nearly knocking Utena out a window. Wakaba often refers to Utena as hers or Utena-sama, as the other girls tend to do. With Utena, it is fairly obvious that Wakaba and she are best friends. Wakaba knows what counts as normal for Utena and, after Utena loses her first duel with Touga, Wakaba proceeds to be a good friend and tries to snap her best friend out of the depression/daze that she's in. Showing her persistence, Wakaba pounces on the chance and proceeds to show her skills as a friend.
Utena: Look... stay out of my business, okay?
Wakaba: No way! I won't stop!
Utena: You... you don't understand anything.
Wakaba: I do understand! I... I'll never give up!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 12
She is determined to help her best friend with anything she possibly can... even getting her to stop acting strangely and be what's normal for her. After all, when Utena wears the traditional girls uniform, that can hardly be taken as being normal for Utena, especially considering her normal choice of attire.
Wakaba: But in the first place, why are you wearing that uniform?
Utena: But, this is normal, isn't it?
Wakaba: No, it's not normal! I mean, what's not normal is what's normal for Utena, so this normal is not what's normal for Utena. Oh, this is so complicated!
Utena: My normal... this normal...
Wakaba: You're just going to be silent again, aren't you? This Utena isn't cool. You're acting like a sissy who's lost his balls! I don't know what it was, but if something was taken from you, then take it back!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 12
Showing she is a good friend, she encourages those around her (namely Utena) and helps them see the truth of their actions. In this case, Wakaba simply wanted to bring Utena back to the way she was.
Everyone needs an unattainable love in their life. For Wakaba, it was Saionji, the captain of the kendo team and the vice president of the student council. She was one of many as far as Saionji was concerned. A nameless admirer in a sea of other admiring faces, always on the edge of the crowd. Wakaba could never hope to reach him... or so she thought.
In the first episode, she sent Saionji a love letter, that Saionji posted on a bulletin board for the rest of the school to make fun of. This was how Utena entered the dueling game, by choosing to challenge Saionji for hurting her friend. One thing led to another and Saionji was expelled from Ohtori. He had no money or anything like that and thus had to return to the school for support. Who chose to shelter him? None other than our beloved Wakaba.
Now, here is where things get rather interesting... and this exposes a rather big weakness.
All her life, Wakaba had gotten used to not being special. She, like many other girls, wanted to be special more than anything. So, when Saionji was looking for someone to put him up until he was allowed back into school or something like that, Wakaba jumped at the chance to be special to Saionji, the man she had loved for so long, and let him stay in her room. (Good thing she has a single in the dorms, huh?) It was a secret that the two of them shared and, for a time, everything seemed to be going well. Until one day Saionji chooses to ask Wakaba how Anthy is doing. (It should be noted here that Saionji loves Anthy very much.) To show his appreciation for taking him in, Saionji makes Wakaba a leaf-shaped hair clip. And then Saionji makes a trade with Mikage: the hairclip in order to get his place back in school. Wakaba, walking down the street, sees Anthy wearing said hair clip.
This, of course, angers Wakaba.
How is this a weakness?
Well, Wakaba goes to the Mikage seminar, into the interview elevator, and begins to speak. Those behind the Mikage seminar (the Black Rose Circle) feed off of the weaknesses in human beings and twist them so they work for them. Wakaba feels as though she has been ignored in the past because she wasn't special. So she kept searching for something that could make her special, instead. When she couldn't, she retaliated.
Wakaba: You, that girl, the Student Council members... all of you look down on me. Without a care, flaunting the power you were born with! So, you all can so calmly walk all over everyone else!
--Shoujo Kakumei Utena, Episode 20
She, like so many others, sees her not being special as some sort of weakness, almost as if she feels she needs to be special in order to succeed in the world. When she had what her special "stolen" from her, she couldn't take it and became jealous/angry.
Finally, of course, you have Tatsuya, Wakaba's very own Onion Prince. When they were children, Wakaba genuinely cared for Tatsuya. When he transferred, he left without telling her, thus causing Wakaba to hate him for it. When Tatsuya tells Wakaba that he likes her, Wakaba gently brushes him off, saying she has someone else. The someone else, of course, being Saionji.
Wakaba Hath Flourished Verdantly: Finale
Some people might be asking why I bothered to write an essay on Wakaba if I have so little information to work from. I didn't like Wakaba much when I started watching the series. I thought she was far too bouncy and happy to be real. And yet I love her anyway.
Wakaba is about as normal as normal can be. But someone has to keep some semblance of normalcy in a series like this. Who better than Wakaba, a token normal girl? In truth, she reminds me of many of my friends... We all know a Wakaba somewhere.
All quotes come from the script archive at Ohtori.nu.