some of the most painful Utena episodes

[mikogalatea]

Episodes 31 and 32 still hurt. Poor Nanami.

I want to throw more bricks at Akio. I've got ep 33 next, so I'll want even more bricks for that. Bastard.

Comments

Re: [CW: rape, CSA, incest, all the typical Utena things]

[mikogalatea]

I swear, Akio taking a teenager out on a "date" and not assaulting them is like clearing a bar so low it's in the Earth's freaking core. He definitely made a deliberate choice in not doing too much with Wakaba.

Ep 25 hinted that Touga had misgivings about his whole thing with Akio, but he didn't seem to specifically regret what he pulled on Saionji -- or if he did, it wasn't to the same degree that he was implied to regret what he did to Nanami. There's a telling difference between the two scenes; the one in ep 25 had more symmetry, whereas the aftermath of Nanami's duel didn't have that and Akio ended up forcing symmetry by sitting on the bed behind Touga the way he did... followed by the silhouette shot, which suggests it wasn't just the symmetry that was forced in that scene. :(

I used to have thoughts about Nanami possibly wanting to find their birth parents after learning the truth, even if just to ask them why, but now I can't see her pushing the issue much or even at all. It's not like she or Touga owe anything to them. My old headcanon about the birth parents was that the father really was a cold-hearted bastard who had no problem selling his kids off to a paedophile for... whatever it was he gained from it, whereas the mother didn't want it to happen but was either too powerless or too weak-willed to stop it.

Re: [CW: rape, CSA, incest, all the typical Utena things]

[sarajayechan]

It really is.

Yep, I noticed and I saw it when I was gathering screenshots from ohtori.nu. Touga seemed more into his act in episode 25, less empty inside.

My old headcanon about the birth parents was that the father really was a cold-hearted bastard who had no problem selling his kids off to a paedophile for... whatever it was he gained from it, whereas the mother didn't want it to happen but was either too powerless or too weak-willed to stop it.

...that makes way too much sense. I always thought both parents were just awful people, but the mother not wanting to do it would make for even more tragedy. I have this fic idea where Touga or Nanami sees their birth mother without realizing it's her, and she recognizes them but they don't even look each other's way and the mother realizes maybe she shouldn't try to reach out.