MovieChat Forums > Shôjo kakumei Utena (1997) Discussion > The Black Rose arc

The Black Rose arc

posted 18 years ago by timeslord
3 replies | jump to latest

The Black Rose arc was the best of all the series! It was considerably darker than the rest of the series and what I liked best was that it put into spotlight a lot of minor characters, we get to know a lot from them. Even the Nanami-centered episodes were funnier than those early or later on the series. I didn't really like the endin of this arc though... too confusing (slthough of course, it's Utena!) and seemed like a waste of 13 episodes.. anyone has a theory on why the whole black rose arc happened? cos it isn't really referenced later on the series and none of the minor characters have a starring role anymore, except Shiori and some weird Kanae moments.

[–] hiroshiyata 18 years ago

SPOILERS
The Black Rose Arc was basically a plot by Akio to get Utena closer to Anthy. As you probably already know, Anthy 'played' Mamiya during the entire Arc. This was all orchestrated by Akio in order to manipulate Mikage so that he would turn people into Black Rose duelists. Mikage's entire memory of the hall burning down etc etc was all a fabrication invented by Akio.

As far as I can figure out, some of the duelists fought Utena simply because they were minor characters and the writers of the show wanted to give them an episode. However, some of the characters (most notably Wakaba, although Mitsuru as well to some extent) were very close to Utena -- by turning them against Utena, it made Utena closer to Anthy, which was Akio's whole purpose all along.

Why did Akio want Utena to be closer to Anthy? I guess you can come up with your own reasons based on your interpretation of the show. But it definitely has something to do with opening the Rose Gate at the end of the series, and by bringing them closer together Utena has a reason to fight for her as the series comes to a close. I dunno, does anyone have any other speculation on this?

Personally, I think the Black Rose Arc is mostly filler. I think they could probably cut it out of the series entirely and everything would still make sense. Still, there are some excellent episodes in there (I am personally a huge fan of the Shiori episode, but that's just me).

[–] gothduo 18 years ago

HERE BE (MORE) SPOILERS!
I think Akio wanted Utena to get closer to Anthy for the same reason that you state, and also because her being close to Anthy meant that she was close to him, and thus easier for him to understand, control, and manipulate to his own ends.

While the Black Rose Arc isn't my favorite (me, I'm an Apocalypse Arc girl), I think it serves a definite purpose - it establishes Akio as a character and shows just how much power he and Anthy (to a lesser extent) have. Everyone forgetting Utena at the end of the series would have made less sense, perhaps, if we didn't already know from the Black Rose Arc that Akio has the ability to basically make people disappear from campus and erase any memory of them.

~ I wonder if there's beer on the sun? ~

[–] sojiroseta52 18 years ago

Spoilers

Here's the thing about the Black Rose saga:It was both a test for Utena AND Mikage and to the viewer,It hinted the actual ending to the series.It's true.After you watch the last two episodes,you'll notice the same things that happened to Utena more or less happened to Mikage.Most images pair Utena and Mikage together.Why?Duality.The two are pretty similar.Attitudes and life changed by that one memory in their younger years.Only one could go on to revolutionize the world.

"If you're strong you live,if you're weak you die!"
~Sojiro Seta from "Rurouni Kenshin"~