<><><><> Have you ever thought that C-ko's shadow plays don't make any sense? Well, think again! This page is where I will (attempt, at the very least) to analyze her Black Rose skits. Hopefully this will perpetuate your understanding, or maybe simply confuse you some more. I don't mind, as long as I may write some of my beliefs and present them. Finishing the daunting task of analyzing one of the more difficult pieces of the Black Rose arc of Utena, which may be one of the most confusing situations that can be seen in any movie, book, anime, or more, makes me proud. (At least it was confusing to me... After finishing it, I had to sit down, paralyzed for a few hours and wonder "What the hell just happened?" The fact that I could figure it out myself with no help from a friend or the web brings a smile to my face. That's pretty difficult to figure out! And if you thought that was easy, you're a bloody liar! J/k, I just want to feel intelligent for once ^^) C-ko's plays will be in reddish pink, and my comments will be in a purple-tinted pink.

Episode 14 - The Boys of the Black Rose

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: (running across) Extra extra extra!
C-ko: (on one knee) At last, at last, at last! At last, that which I feared has come to pass!
C-ko: (deep voice) Earlier than for other people.
C-ko: (high voice) My big sister is advanced for her age.
C-ko: (as doctor) Okay, say "Aaaah".
C-ko: Aaaah!
C-ko: (doctor) What should we do about this wisdom tooth?
C-ko: Aaaah!
C-ko: Oh, what should we do?
Utena: (closing locker) Have it pulled.

Yiiip, it's time for the Black Rose arc! What better than to have more prophecies from the shadows? This play represents that Utena will have to return to battle and even more importantly and farther in foresight, it predicts Utena's beginning to break down as a Prince. Strangely, this is depicted with the same quotation. "At last, that which I feared has come to pass!" Utena seems to know a little about her demise, but she's princely enough to learn that she is not partaking in this for herself. Now, it's for Himemiya, which shows even to the last episode where she defies her physical and emotional wounds to try to revolutionize Himemiya's world and become a prince, even at the price of having a million swords of hatred slit into her, that she has kept her promise to Dios to be noble. Some may believe her acts are foolish, and even I agree to a degree, but throughout the series, she analyzes what happens to her, and that is evident when she thinks about her discussion with Mikage in episode 23. She knows that Mikage is right when he said that he is the same as she, but she can't stand the fact to the degree where she herself challenges him to a duel. The challengers of Utena are always fighting for self-reliance and not necessarily for truth, and this is where she begins to break down, even if she can't remember Mikage's existence at all after the Black Rose arc.
This is also one of the first of her simple solutions uttered in the Utena series. This shows that Utena may not analyze her convictions thoroughly, but the solutions are always practical and literal. Her failure to look deeply into her situations eventually lead to her own fall, but the fact that she gave all who needed a simple solution something relevant, she revolutionized everyone she ran into, especially Anthy, who had been inside her own coffin for unknown years and decades with Akio. That surely is an amazing feat. Some are wary of being a "fool", but I have found that it ultimately and simply saves others who are in dire need of help.

Episode 15 - Landscape Framed by Kozue

Utena and Wakaba walk beside the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra extra extra!
C-ko: (train attendant) We have hot coffee, sandwiches, and cold beer available.

C-ko rushes past, carrying a toy train and making train sounds.

C-ko: (train attendant) We have hot coffee, sandwiches, and cold beer available.
C-ko: (passenger) Wait a minute, I'm supposed to be the only one on this car.

C-ko rushes past, carrying a toy train and making train sounds.

C-ko: (train attendant) We have hot coffee, sandwiches, and cold beer available.
C-ko: (passenger) Shut up! I don't want anything to drink! I don't want anything to eat!
Utena: Then ignore her.
C-ko: Excuse me, a coffee and sandwich...

After watching the Kurobara arc countless times (really! I stopped counting at five or so because I got distracted by Mikage's pretty eyes :::drool::: ) I'm still not totally sure of the meaning of this skit. But! In the spirit of Utena, I shall share my theory. This play represents what Kozue means to Miki. Miki, inside, is growing and his obsession with Kozue is fading. But, as she constantly passes him and travels into his mind (as the attendant is doing with the passenger) the thought of her is slowly returning to his mind, driving him a bit mad, until he accepts her presence.

Episode 16 - Cowbell of Happiness

A stained glass window appears behind Anthy, Utena and Tsuwabuki. C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: (as mouse) Chuu chuu! That's easy. We only need to bell the cat.
C-ko: (as old mouse) Chuu chuu! Oh, Nezutarou, how smart you are!
C-ko: (as girl mouse) Chuu Chuu! But who ever will bell the cat?
C-ko: (as mouse) Chuu chuu! Don't worry about that. The cat has already been belled. Actually, I secretly put it on him just now.
C-ko: (as old mouse) Chuu! Wonderful!
C-ko: (as girl mouse) Nezutarou-san, you're great! Chuu!
C-ko: (as mouse, to cat) Neko-san, I went and spread the false information as we agreed. They all feel so secure that they will be sound asleep tonight, so you can catch and eat as many as you wish. So, as you promised, please let me pass.

The cat grabs the mouse with its paw.

C-ko: (as mouse) Neko-san... wait...

The cat eats the mouse.

C-ko: (as mouse) Chomp, munch, snap, gulp...
Mitsuru: What goes around comes around.
Utena: Exactly.

This, as the themes of many other Nanami episodes, is proving the Devine justice theory. The thrusting into situations selfishly (Nanami and her cowbell to impress Juri) leads to the victim's (or punisher, in both cases this is true) disillusion and punishment.
While Nanami is wearing the cowbell which she naively takes to accelerate her reputation, it leads to the demolishing of her reputation, even to her "friends." The cowbell is symbolizing her regression, as is the mouse's deal with the cat. The mouse believes that by feeding the cat his family that he can pass as he pleases, but instead he is eaten, and his family will also probably be eaten as well.

Episode 17 - Thorns of Death

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: I'm done for! They all found out my secret!
C-ko: (as mother) There's nothing to worry about.
C-ko: I'm dying!
C-ko: (as mother) No one thinks of it as embarrassing.
C-ko: Is that so?
C-ko: (as mother) Sure it is! Everyone wears things like woolen panties.
C-ko: (as devil) But who would wear three pairs of them?
C-ko: So, I am done for, then. Even though I'm considered a fashionable, nice dresser, I'm wearing woolen panties!
C-ko: (as devil) And three pairs of them, even!
C-ko: I'll never get married this way. What should I do?
Utena: (closing locker) Take them off?

WOOT! Innuendo! Excellent. XD Er, on with the analysis! :::sweatdrop::: Yet another of Utena's fast and relevant solutions come into play! And since this is a Juri episode, I actually GET IT! Hoorah! (Even *if* I still can't really fathom the episodes featuring Ruka... he's the character Utena fans love to hate, but I mysteriously like him. He cracks open the lock between Juri and Shiori, even if he hurts both of them immensely. Even if it truly takes the strength of Utena to open the gate between them, Ruka makes it simpler for her. Good for him! He seems to know that the hurt that he will cause will not last forever, and they will eventually understand each other's feelings. From the FIRST Juri episode, she states plainly that that, and exactly that, will make her happy. Ruka is pretty selfless if you really look at it, but I still think he's pretty insensitive at times, even if he is a great and deep character. He tries to reconcile two troubled individuals at his own sacrifice, and that's the ultimate conclusion. So blah to Ruka haters :::gets trampled by rabid Juri fangirls::: I'm one of you, I swear! :::gets trampled again::: Ittaaaaii... ) Aaalright... NOW... on with the analysis ^^ By the secret of the victim being revealed, her life is seemingly destroyed. Again in the shadow plays, it's a simple event portraying larger event on a smaller scale. Also, Utena's suggestion is another simple solution for a large event. In this case, however, it would be a difficult task to simply discard the conviction one has for another. That's similar to telling a person to fall out of love. They can't. Utena will see this later with Akio and has already seen it on a small scale with Touga. Eventually, this advice DOES eventually prevail. In the Apocalypse arc, Juri shows signs of growing out of love with Shiori, and humorously falls in love with Utena, which, I may say, is a crap load better than being in love with Shiori. Honestly, when you've watched the entire Utena series many times over, the revelations made will certainly shock you, especially the truths of the shadow plays. Who needs drugs to expand a mind when you have Utena?

Episode 18 - Mitsuru's Growing Pains

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: Today, oh, today was my first time!
C-ko: (as father) What? And you didn't even tell your own father?
C-ko: (as mother) Where did it happen?
C-ko: (as nurse) Inside a car, I hear.
C-ko: (as father) What? Damn you!
C-ko: (as mother) Now, now, dear...
C-ko: My heart was going a mile a minute, but I don't regret it!
C-ko: (as father) You're awfully determined, for your first time and all.
C-ko: It did take a lot of courage, but if you think of it as proof of adulthood, it's not so painful. And besides, you get juice and stuff when you leave.
C-ko: (as father) Huh? What are we talking about here?
C-ko: Isn't it obvious? I gave blood today.
Utena: You can give blood when you're sixteen.
C-ko: Proof of adulthood!

I love analyzing Utena. Day by day, my mind seems to function more deeply, and to normal people, strangely! You need crap loads of LSD to even TRY to do that, so blah. Don't do drugs. Watch Utena instead.
This play portreys Tsuwabuki's misled approach to becoming an adult. He is not proceeding in the correct way; he is attempting to accelerate his adolescence, which is a terrible idea. (I know that personally. I've even made a theory where I compare adolescence to alcohol!) Instead of growing and opening psychologically, he goes insane. (His elevator scene was wonderfully written and animated. I was getting chills when he pulled the swords out of Nanami, and when he screams, "I want to... I want to... I want to wreck the world!" I was stunned. Imagine that being screamed by a ten-year-old. Isn't it frightening? Overall, 'twas a Good episode, a great duel, and some wonderful character revelations.)

Episode 19 - Song of the Fallen Kingdom

[Note: "tire" is said in English by C-ko, so she doesn't know what one is.]

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: (as tire salesman) Step right up! Step right up! Fresh tires for sale! Today, the tire shop's sale!
C-ko: I'll take one! But, what is a tire shop?
C-ko: (as tire salesman) How good of you to ask! Fish shops…
C-ko: (holds up a fishbone) …sell fish.
C-ko: (as tire salesman) Bread shops…
C-ko: (holds up basket of bread) …sell bread.
C-ko: (as tire salesman) And we're a tire shop, so we sell tires.
C-ko: Wow!
C-ko: (as tire salesman) Telling good tires from bad ones takes quite a bit of experience. You can't easily tell if it tastes good or bad just by looking.
C-ko: Well, please give me one of those tires. Thank you!
C-ko: (as tire salesman) Have your husband eat something invigorating!
C-ko: Oh, come on… Tire shop owner… Now how will I cook this tire for dinner, I wonder?
Utena: (closing locker) is that edible?

This one is another of the more difficult to understand plays. However, I have a fairly good idea of its relevance, so I shall write it. Like Tsuwabuki's shadow play, this is based on misinterpretations. Kazami proceeds through the episode believing that Wakaba is in love with him, and is overjoyed. (In the play, this is the misunderstanding of the word "tire".) However, he is crushed to know that Wakaba's "prince" is not the Onion prince that he once represented to her. (The girl in the play also seems confused when she learns that a tire cannot be eaten, much in the way that Kazami would reveal it) I believe the next scene was one of the highlights of the Kurobara arc. He enters Mikage's elevator, but when he shows that his intentions are pure, instead of using him, Mikage lifts the elevator and tells him to go home. Mikage is NOT the evil puppeteer many people make him out to be. He is sensitive to purity, and that shines in this situation. Kazami might have sparked his memory as Nemuro, the good-hearted genius who indulged in unrequited love, bringing about his being targeted by Akio. Many people would not agree with me, but I believe that Mikage was the greatest victim in the entire Utena series. He had been manipulated for DECADES, forced to follow an illusion and after Utena's duel with him, was forced to come to grips with it. He was the only character Utena could never sympathize with, (she could even sympathize with AKIO!) and she left him screaming Mamiya's name in the dueling arena as she calmly walked away. At least the characters Mikage targeted had no memories of their regression. Akio rubbed his control in their faces and forced them to remember, but Mikage spared them the torture. Yet nobody ever allows fans to be compassionate to Mikage. Is that cruel or what?

Episode 20 - Wakaba Hath Flourished Verdantly

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: (wearing a fox hat) At last, at last, it's finally raining! Whenever it rains on a sunny day, we have to hurry and get married. That's the custom of us fox-girls.
C-ko: (wearing bunny ears) You girls are so lucky. You see, we can't get married until it snows on a sunny day. That's the code of us bunny girls.
Utena: What’s wrong with not getting married?

This skit *perfectly* represents Wakaba's situation. The rarity of raining on a sunny day portrays Wakaba's outshining of others and being special. (I have no idea why she's not special *all* the time... I don't think she's truly normal outwardly, jumping on Utena and calling Utena her "boyfriend." Perhaps inwardly, the girl who is kind and loves to cook pretty instant dishes is the normal girl inside of Wakaba, but other than that, she's pretty damn special to me.) Utena's simple answer in this skit is one of the only ones that is not completely relevant. "What's wrong with not getting married" is similar to "What's wrong with not being special?" Utena is both engaged and naturally special, so she would truly not understand the turmoil some people must go through (As seen in Wakaba's duel. This, in my opinion, is in my list of the best Utena duels. The most dramatic scene is possibly when she grabs Utena from the floor, pulls her up by the hair, and sticks her sword right at her throat and screams, "You'll never understand!") This duel makes some people believe: "Wow, Wakaba is one SCARY bitch." If you look closely at your life, however, ask yourself "how many times would I have LOVED to do exactly what she did?" It might surprise you. :::Blank looks::: What? You've NEVER wanted to do that? Welp, I must be one SCARY bitch, then. One thing that bothers me is that most people repress their true intentions due to the many standards of society, and when it does out, it explodes, usually in a fit of anger propelled at somebody that does not deserve to be ridiculed. The ideals of a repressive society are flawed because nobody can truly express their feelings, simply to be "polite." In all of the Black Rose duels, their anger does explode in this way. Mikage is not twisting their personalities; he is showing the side that everybody represses from time to time. He knows how much anger can harm a person, and he uses it against the duelists. That makes him both intelligent and cruel.

Episode 21 - Troublesome Insects

[Note: A Namahage is an ogre-like demon]

Utena stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: (as an insect) Any troublesome insects here? Any troublesome insects here?
C-ko: (as a butterfly) Oh, it's Namahage!
C-ko: (as an insect) No, I'm a mantis! Snipsnipsnip!
C-ko: (as a butterfly) Everyone, hurry up and run!
C-ko: (as an insect) Snipsnipsnip!
C-ko: (as a butterfly) Run! Run!
C-ko: (as an insect) Snipsnipsnipsnip!
C-ko: (as a butterfly) Run! Runrunrun!
C-ko: (as an insect) Snipsnipsnipsnipsnipsnipsnipsnip!
C-ko: (as a butterfly) Runrunrunrunrunrun!
C-ko: (as a dragonfly) Just running away won't fix this. Take this insecticide!

Something is sprayed from a can.

C-ko: (as an insect) Can't breathe...snip...
C-ko: (as a butterfly) We're gonna die, too! (falling to the ground) It's a curse.
Utena: (closing locker) That's a room deodorant.

Yet another of the more confusing plays presents itself. This play, as I realize, is more about Nanami than Keiko. It especially portrays the outcome of one of the events later in the show, in the episode "Her Tragedy." The play makes it clear that an "insect" in disquise, in attempting to defeat annoyances, will also be destroyed. This is clear in the revelation that Nanami too is a troublesome insect, which very much applies to Keiko, who I personally believe that she is an insect herself, by failing to express herself and her love, reguardless of Nanami's rule. She should not have to pretend to be friends, that only gives Nanami more false pride, which Keiko actually uses against her later, crushing her happiness, which she never completely deserved. (That's something TOUGA would deserve, not Nanami, because Touga purposely manipulates while Nanami is ignorant and simply would need to learn that her treatment was wrong.) :::Gets trampled by angry Touga fangirls::: IT NEVER ENDS!

Episode 22 - Nemuro Memorial Hall

Tokiko stands behind the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!

C-ko comes in as a robot, making beeping noises.

C-ko: (as mad scientist) It's complete! The all-purpose robot made from the essences of science!
C-ko: (as robot) A robot does not age. A robot does not tire. I catch the monkeys.
C-ko: (as mad scientist) You are superior to humans.
C-ko: (as robot) A robot is superior. I catch many monkeys.
C-ko: (as mad scientist) You cannot become worried.
C-ko: (as robot) A robot does not worry. When I see a monkey, I catch it quickly! A robot is not lonely. I have all the monkeys I have caught. A robot can work indefinitely, and can catch many monkeys.
Tokiko: But those who look at you get lonely.
C-ko: (as robot) A monkey! A monkey!

:::Applauds::: The PERFECT characterization of Mikage. When Akio created Mikage, (just as the scientist created the robot) he became his tireless, ageless self. One contrast to the monkey play is the quotation: "a robot is not lonely." Mikage is seemingly content with his situation as the "genius high school student Mikage," but in reality, he aches for any feelings what will replace the state of mind he possessed as Nemuro when Tokiko inwardly gave birth to his soul. In the next episode, one will notice that he had hired a secretary who he had noticed and rashly asked her to work for him. Mysteriously, she had both the similar voice and physical characteristics of Tokiko. Later, he realizes that Utena is exactly like her while watching her comforting Himemiya and fires the secretary. He had found a new replacement for his emotional void. That is mysteriously reminiscent of Miki's situation, except more extreme. On a side note, if Mamiya was not a product of Akio's twisted illusions, Mikage would have played the cruelest practical joke possible on Tokiko. The scenario is this: A seemingly soulless man falls in love with a woman with qualities that would possibly lend him the chance to find his spirit. However, his love is simply one-sided, and upon observing her as she gives herself to another man, he explodes in a fit of rage, burns down a building along with one-hundred of his students, changes his identity, takes her brother, and proceeds to have an emotional and hinted sexual relationship with him. Score 10,000 for Mikage! WOOT! However, instead of the scenario that Mikage is convinced is true, he is forced to search for a replacement to his emotional void for decades with no prevail. He is continuously manipulated by the man he has detested for years, and after realizing his true past, is crippled psychologically. If that's not a victim, I don't know what is.

Episode 23 - Qualifications of a Duelist

Utena and Wakaba (On Utena's shoulders) walk beside the stained glass window as C-ko begins her play.

C-ko: Extra! Extra! Extra!
C-ko: (as father) Your pop was a class rep at his age.
C-ko: (as child) Wow, that's great, Papa!
C-ko: (as boss) Hey, what’s with this paperwork? It's terrible!
C-ko: (as father) Damn, even though I was a class rep back when!
C-ko: (as mother) Honey, you can't just leave your socks here when you take them off! It's terrible!
C-ko: (as father) Damn, even though I was a class rep back when!
C-ko: (as child) Well, I'm off to school, Papa!
C-ko: (as father) Wait! Give me that backpack! Your pop'll go to school!
Wakaba: (waving) See you later!

Another wonderful Characterization of Mikage. It also mirrors the following sequence of events well. The past generation of duelists (and it is assumed that many generations have gone before, as Akio and Himemiya are ageless) is dissatisfied with the current generation's handling of the duelist's society. (This is both shown among the ghosts of the hundred boys Mikage, and I say Mikage because at that point, the man who was Nemuro had died inside of himself at that point, and then on took the form of Mikage. The spirits congregate in front of Nemuro Memorial Hall and discuss the situation, questioning whether or not Mikage will duel. At least, they prophesize, something will begin, hinting that something else would end, for example Mikage's involvement in Ohtori.) At this point, Mamiya had come to the last black rose, and Mikage seemed to know that he would be the one to use it. Otherwise, he believed that he would have to ally himself with Utena. He is driven, later in the episode, to duel with her, as she had challenged him to another duel of self-confirmation. This is only the second, and last, time she ever challenges another to a duel. Again, she triumphed, but she could not help but begin to have her princely shell scarred, even without memory. Mikage would have won, but that obviously was not on Akio's wish list. Whether the voice of Mamiya he had heard was the real ghost of him or Anthy's projection remains a mystery, but the crippling realization of his actions and his agenda for the past few decades stunned him to the point where he remained standing still, hunched over and shaking like a frightened rabbit, in the duel arena. He is defeated and later notifies Akio, who reminds him that he must leave the school, and it will be as if he had never existed. The only ones who will remember are Himemiya and Akio himself.