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mikogalateaThis was a little rant I made on Tumblr around 4 years ago concerning a particular double standard in the Utena fandom, because I'm a cranky Shiori fangirl.
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When Shiori does cruel things as a Black Rose duellist, it's usually treated as entirely her own doing and as completely representative of her true character.
When literally any of the other characters do cruel things as Black Rose duellists, however, they're mostly treated as poor brainwashed victims who would never do anything like that and should never be held accountable for their actions.
What's with the inconsistent standards, fandom? Either they're all brainwashed victims or they're all showing their true colours; Shiori shouldn't have to be any different from the others! (And no, singling her out because she's shown to have been cruel beforehand doesn't cut it, because Keiko was shown to be a bully long before her Black Rose episode made her sympathetic.)
As for me, I think they're all victims. All of the Black Rose duellists, Shiori included, are messed-up young people who have hit their breaking points in one way and another, and whose insecurities and neuroses are exploited by Mikage in order to bring out the worst in them so he can use them for his own ends. Shiori's cruelty to Juri as she takes her soul sword is just as much an effect of this manipulation as, for example, Wakaba's attempted murder of Anthy and Utena; regardless of how responsible they may or may not be for their own actions, it's Mikage's fault (and by extension Akio's as well) for putting them in that state.
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When Shiori does cruel things as a Black Rose duellist, it's usually treated as entirely her own doing and as completely representative of her true character.
When literally any of the other characters do cruel things as Black Rose duellists, however, they're mostly treated as poor brainwashed victims who would never do anything like that and should never be held accountable for their actions.
What's with the inconsistent standards, fandom? Either they're all brainwashed victims or they're all showing their true colours; Shiori shouldn't have to be any different from the others! (And no, singling her out because she's shown to have been cruel beforehand doesn't cut it, because Keiko was shown to be a bully long before her Black Rose episode made her sympathetic.)
As for me, I think they're all victims. All of the Black Rose duellists, Shiori included, are messed-up young people who have hit their breaking points in one way and another, and whose insecurities and neuroses are exploited by Mikage in order to bring out the worst in them so he can use them for his own ends. Shiori's cruelty to Juri as she takes her soul sword is just as much an effect of this manipulation as, for example, Wakaba's attempted murder of Anthy and Utena; regardless of how responsible they may or may not be for their own actions, it's Mikage's fault (and by extension Akio's as well) for putting them in that state.
