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Much Madness is divinest Sense---
To a discerning eye---
Much Sense---the starkest Madness---
'Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail---
Assent---and you are sane---
Demur---you're straightaway dangerous---
And handled with a Chain---
Mikage is, in many ways, a prophet, and Dickinson's poem expresses Mikage's many prophecies clearly.
Mikage:
"I know that you're the same as myself. Your eyes are like those people who can't help wanting
to make memories last forever. "
Utena:
"I'll beat you to a pulp and prove that I'm different from you!"
~~~
Mikage:
"I knew since the first time I saw you.
You met the person important to you long ago, right?
And so, that person changed your life forever, right?
You're standing here on the strength of that illusion.
That's why you were able to enter the Duel Arena.
Am I wrong?
After all, you're just like me."
Utena:
"What nonsense are you talking about? I won't lose to a bastard like you!"
Mikage's statements are startlingly true. The young Utena was enraptured by
the vision of a prince who allowed her to leave her coffin and begin a new life,
changing it forever. Before he left, he gave her a ring, allowing her to begin
her ascent into the dueling arena, able to catch eternity. However, that Dios
turned out to be an earlier form of Akio, who exploited her desire so much that
he ultimately destroyed her. Exactly like Mikage. Since this has already been
specified in Similar. I won't go through it
in too much detail. This section is to shed light on how alarmingly sane what
Mikage stated out of his "madness" truly was. In the Emily Dickinson poem, she
describes how one that seems to be mad may make more sense than one that is
considered sane. To Utena, what Mikage said was rediculous, but to a viewer
who understands the end of Utena, Mikage sends words of truth and warning. Though
he does not outwardly know, his saying in duel arena hints that Mikage is beginning
to figure that his entire existence after his metamorphosis from Nemuro to Mikage
has been a lie. He is not only finding it by himself, he is also connecting
it directly with Utena. This is one of the major points where we see that, though
thoroughly manipulated and slightly insane, he is still a genius. Mikage has
no idea what exactly drove Utena to become who she was, but he understands that
there must have been something to influence her strongly to cause who she has
turned out to be. He has found the similarity between the two of them and is
elaborating on it. Amazingly, though a first-time viewer would not notice, what
he said was exactly what happened to both Utena and Mikage, and also exactly
what will happen to them both. They were driven on the strength of an illusion,
and they were also driven away by it.
Furthermore, Mikage's confrontation with Utena was not just a prophecy, but a warning as well. In the duel known as Revolution, Akio accuses Utena that he was the same as she. I accept that Dios is similar; I accept that Mikage is similar, but the later Akio differs to Utena like air to a fire. Air is certainly what makes a fire grow, (Dios's devotion to Anthy that partially remains with Akio is that fire) but they are not the same. Not every comparison made in Utena is truthful, but if Utena could remember Mikage's warning, even understand it, she may have learned the truth, that her life had been led by an illusion, before it was too late. However, the statement, even Mikage's existence, could have also been used against her. During the Revolution duel, Akio used many bold statements and methods, attempting to break her. The fact Akio had the power to erase all events of the Black Rose arc from Utena, and all Ohtori students' (all that they could have possibly known, at least) memories, and even inhibit Mikage's own actions and memory for so long could have been a striking blow to Utena, one that could have determined the outcome of the Revolution.
As always, there is not just one prophecy in Utena. Another particular Black Rose selection is a small but thought provoking statement from Nanami:
Nanami does not know it, but she, in a way, is referring to herself and the other Student Council members. Her comment has more significance than the viewer may believe. It doesn't simply apply to the Black Rose arc, but transcends to Utena in its entirety, as well. To Nanami, she is simply worrying about Mikage, the present "villain" rather than she and the student counsel's existence as duelists. It is strange for them not to question their own oppressors, even wondering why some nameless source attracts them to duel. The true oppressor, Akio, in this way, is a god-like figure as well as a devilish one, having his followers blindly persue his ways without question.
One of the most interesting points about Mikage is not only that he mirrors Utena, but Akio as well. The truth of the matter is that Akio (that's right, feel free to stray from the "Mikage is a villain" mentality any time. I'll be readying your mind in the entire analysis section :::evil laughter::: ) is the man who controls and mutates everything in Ohtori to his will, including time and memory, being able to make his twisted incarnation of Nemuro ageless and when his use is over, erasing all trace of him, minus a few components, after he, the trite pawn, is knocked from the chess board. However, his appearance in this arc reveals exactly how Akio works, how he executes his manipulation, and what type of person he targets. The personality of his targets usually involves situation. He takes his prospect in their darkest hours, (with Utena, she was already at this point while Nemuro was not ripe for full destruction of spirit until after Akio shows up) finds a way for them to be comforted, (not coming himself, however. He sent Tokiko to Nemuro and Dios's mask to Utena) and when they are fully recovered and sure of their purpose and identity, destroys them. The way Mikage is similar to Akio is in his outward role, attracting troubled students to his seminar and making them duel. This is simply his surface, not even touching the utter depth of his true character. While Akio toys with the hearts of others for no purpose but his own, Mikage does it for the boy who seems to be his love, who ends up simply being an illusion projected into his demolished spirit, fulfilling his desire to become a man of emotion and purpose.
The end of his romp in the garden of eternity is another prophecy in itself, observing the future of a discarded duelist. Mikage's loss of the duel, his "graduation" is a reflection to the outcome of Utena. However, this outcome involves failure, his memory and most of his influence being erased, while Utena's involves triumph, her memory being erased, but her influenced reining everywhere, her becoming a prince. Utena received a beloved tribute. Anthy treasured her presence so much that she leaves Akio's grasp, which had been haunting her for her entire life. Mikage receives nothing. He is left to painstakingly reminisce of a past that never was, and a future that never will be. He is simply a pawn, as all the duelists are to Akio, but he may have been the pawn most moved and dictated, yet not particularly progressed, by the player, Akio. Mikage was a good soul destroyed for absolutely no reason, save for being Akio's discarded old toy. He was simply a test, a window to Akio's future with Utena. Strangely as it seems, Mikage, past and future, was a prophecy.