I'd say Anthy and Utena are fairly equal players, because I always thought they were kind of intended to be an example of duality.  There are a number in the show: prince/princess, princess/witch, boy/girl (many of which are subverted by the end).  Initially, they seem to be designed and intended as opposites: Utena is fair with pink hair, Anthy has dark skin and purple hair.  Utena is more tomboyish, Anthy is very feminine.  Utena is outgoing, Anthy shy and introverted.  Etc.

I agree with the idea of them being "two halves of the same woman."  Either one has what the other lacks, and they complete each other.*  By the end, Anthy has learned enough from Utena that she can break free of Ohtori.  And Utena learned what it actually meant to be a prince: she couldn't be doing it for herself.  She had to become a prince for someone she loved.


* Dawww.

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

'they are two halves of the same woman.' Utena is all the nobility of innocence and ideal associated with childhood, while Anthy is the regret and stagnation of an adult bitter over the loss of that innocence and passion.

I can see this and feel they do affect eachother greatly. I do see Utena as a little more childish vs. Anthy's "maturity" but i think (am pretty damn sure) that Ikuhara has such an aversion (if you could call it that) to adults that he expressed that in the sense of maturity. I mean for Anthy being "mature" she's pretty out there... She has relations with her brother and everyone else, she's manipulative, she's a back stabber (heheheh...) etcetra. Yes, she has a different outlook on life and her actions show that she isn't as naieve as a 7th grader could/should be. And she herself says she played on utena's Naievete so this is a big emphasis on that.... That being said, I can see that they are the yin and yang of eachother and for that reason compliment eachother perfectly.

Alexa wrote:

I always thought they were kind of intended to be an example of duality...Initially, they seem to be designed and intended as opposites: Utena is fair with pink hair, Anthy has dark skin and purple hair

I hadn't ever thought of that and this is a fabulous point! I feel so dumb to see it so late.  Maybe that is why they were created as "indian" people. I like this idea and i'm gonna stick with it.

I feel that Utena did pass on a piece of her with every duelist and thats why she's the main character. She defied EVERYTHING that each of the duelists believed.. (See: Juri's Special Dueling Miracle) However, on the same token... there's Anthy attributing just as much to the duelist to fuel their will to fight (See: Anthy giving Juri rose). Anthy and Utena one in the same? yes. and i do believe that people watched the show to see if she'd free anthy and get her own prince and so on and so forth.

Watch "truth" the ending theme (i'm sure you have 23094873298012983 times already but) you'll notice that it begins with just utena and dios/prince and then seperates into anthy and dios/prince. Speaking of all the duality and everything. Maybe thats a clue to Ikuhara's ... inner... mind... ish sort of.

Just wanted to add the interesting point that the only two characters appearing in every episode are Utena and Anthy.

...
But we end on the photo of the two of them and Anthy's promise to go to Utena (which granted is a reflection of the hidden memory of child Utena/Anthy and Utena's promise to become a prince...ie "go" to Anthy).

The sequel to SKU (if there ever was such a wondrous thing) would have to be Anthy as the main character. She would be the impetuous - SKU-sequel would be about her desire to find her prince vs save the prince (by destroying herself like she did with Dios). The world has been revolutionized and SKU-sequel would be about how that affects Anthy (who was so long dormant to any kind of change).

And it would end (if it mirrored SKU) with Anthy somehow saving Utena. By teaching Utena to find herself.

I agree...  If there were a sequel, Anthy would be more of the focus and i agree... but you could also argue there could be a second set of duelists and brides to pick from yes? (though i'd be less inclined to watch...)

So what is Ikuhara's goal here? Is he getting across Utena's story or is he getting across Anthy's? or maybe he's getting across each person that hes met has their own special character and attitude towards everything.

So if Utena/Anthy are the main characters... whats the message?

Riri-kins wrote:

Call me simple, but I think Utena's undeniably the main character.

    The main character is usually someone who the audience can relate to and sympathize with. Anthy's important, but she's not like most people. Neither is Utena, but the difference is that she wants to be different in a "cool" and rebellious way while Anthy just seems weird and creepy when we first see her.

HAHAHAHA

call me weird and creepy, I can relate with Anthy a thousand times more easily than I can relate with Utena.

In fact, I think most people are more like Anthy than they are like Utena.

Riri-kins wrote:

Call me simple, but I think Utena's undeniably the main character.

    The main character is usually someone who the audience can relate to and sympathize with. Anthy's important, but she's not like most people. Neither is Utena, but the difference is that she wants to be different in a "cool" and rebellious way while Anthy just seems weird and creepy when we first see her.

When i first watched the show i related to the both of them... as strange as that may seem... I was tomboyish in nature... ie loved sports, being the tough kid, doing things on my own.. but at the same time i was this mangled person on the inside. I was a shell with all of my emotions on the inside; tucked deep away from everyone else to see... I let people walk all over me and i did whatever i could to help someone.

And i think that supports the idea of "duality" here... I'm pretty resolved in saying they are equal parts of the same whole.

And in all technicalities we already know Utena is the "main character" in the *protagonist* sense and seeing as the story is focused *around her* but i just can't let it go on something that simple... It is SKU after all!

Alexa wrote:

Yeah, I'd say Anthy is more easy to relate to because the world's beat her down more.  For most of the series, Utena seems genuinely shocked whenever someone does something cruel or hurtful.  Anthy's been used to that reality for quite some time.

Utena being shocked at the real world kind-of bothered me... 

I guess the better question here is what is the story about?

Yes, Utena has her name in the title... but is the show about what she did or who she is... or a combination or everything? I see it more as what she did and how it affected so many other people.... Yet i feel that her and Anthy had to go side by side, hand in hand in order to do so... Utena was merely seeking out some childhood dream... but when the two got together; there was chemistry and things changed.

I see an AMV with the song i'm a fire starter branching off of this discussion... feel free to steal that

Maybe it is Chuchu >_>

I don't know... Utena and Anthy both seem part of the whole. It's as if each character is a symbol of parts of life. Puzzle pieces drifting in a life stream. We see more of some characters than others, but their contributions can be pretty large. One character who stands out in a simple way is Wakaba. To me she also has this larger story, watching as things happen without fully realizing the motivations behind certain actions, but continuing on despite what could be general confusion. To me she would be the character most easy to identify with.

Major characters verses minor... Ruka has a large piece of connectivity as well as Mikage/Nemuro... there are things we wouldn't know without them, and these things are important to the central plot.

Melancholic Soul: I see what you mean about Wakaba. I've always felt like she was the tie between the *ordinary* and the *extraordinary* She somehow got her plain-colored-haired self involved with a bunch of crazy haired colored people... And that kept that bit of realism there... She-to me-represents more of the typical girl at that age... (ish)? She writes the love letters, swings back and forth between people, knows the scoop on everyone... something most that age probably would do...

She is essential in *SLAPPING* utena back into reality... and being that constant that Utena needs.

Its so very interesting ot me how each character in the show is just as important and complex as the rest...

I agree also with you on the Ruka/Mikage/Nemuro thing. Can you imagine Juri without her Ruka?? i mean hell, this brings me back to the sentence above this paragraph. Can you imagine Shiori without Shiori and Ruka? it wouldn't be much of a depthy juri anymore... I mean you could eliminate kozue, shiori, wakaba, and the other secondary characters and the story wouldn't make much sense...

Each character has their counterpart.. I mean we can think of different pairings :

Utena :: Anthy
Utena :: Prince/Dios/Akio
Utena :: Wakaba

Anthy :: Utena
Anthy :: Akio/Prince/Dios
Anthy :: Chu Chu ??

Touga :: Nanami
Touga :: Saionji
Touga :: Utena

Saionji :: Anthy
Saionji :: Wakaba
Saionji :: Touga

Juri :: Miki
Juri :: Shiori
Juri :: Ruka

Miki :: Kozue
Miki :: Anthy
Miki :: Juri

Wakaba :: Utena
Wakaba :: Saionji


I could go on for hours. But i think this is an imporant link... each character wouldn't make sense without the others. These weren't put in any specific order... just as they came ot mind..s orry if i offended any Juri-fans by puting shiori 2nd haha.

Spoon san:
Specifically though, Utena is a great key role in examining each of these people and viewing their stories... But without Anthy,  Utena is just a rebelious tomboy hell-bent on breaking the girl code   I agree with you. They are parts of an important same whole.

Sometimes I like think Utena's the main character, but without Anthy, Utena's nothing. Her past, her very character, all stems from that one moment when they first meet. To me, that seems like more of the workings of a minor character. In SKU, however, there are no minor characters. Just characters without much screen time.

Here's how I see it...

Even though Utena's name is in the title, I don't think she's the main character. When I say main character, I mean "person that the show is about". At the end of the day, SKU wasn't about Utena at all. It was about Anthy. The primary resolution of the story came when Anthy decided to GTFO. Also, it can be argued that despite everything happening to and around her, Utena winds up being one of the least developed/evolved characters in the series.

Utena is like the prince in the major fairy tales: Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Little Mermaid. She's a plot device for the main character to get her "Happily Ever After" while receiving as little development as possible.

I disagree, Utena does get a lot of character development, especially in her encounters with Touga, Mikage, and Akio in each arc finale, and we do discover things about her past (what really happened the night after her parents died and when she met her Prince). It's pretty key to the series.

^ I think what we see is a kind of transformation of Utena. There is a journey there, and we are able to experience the bridge from one place to another. As far as development goes... I'm not sure... we're not told of Utena's origins, but we do understand her inner machinations and her sense of presence. Utena's personal character is well developed, but her bio isn't explained in depth... In that sense, it's difficult for me to base an opinion of development, as there are contrasting elements. We don't know where she comes from, or how she identifies with the 'outside' world, or even what kind of childhood she had. Then again we do know her parents died and how that event added direction to her life...oi

That being said, Miki and Akio are probably more developed in the areas I listed above... Akio has a chance at being the main character as well... but the downside is that there is a mountain of obscurity hanging over him and Dios... I can't say Dios is well developed at all... but I like Dios...well Manga Dios anyway... anime Dios seemed like a prick in Utena's flashback... no lie.

How many times are there multiple main characters?

I guess that's possible too!

OITL: Utena herself is the character who best or most dynamically travels the road to it: gender stereotypes, sexual confusion and the conflict of dreams and desire versus reality are all obstacles that hinder her from achieving the final goal of self-actualization, in which she creates her own identity and true feelings of altruism.  Anthy makes one decision at the end, but Utena is consistently challenged and changed throughout the series.

Main characters aside that's such a big part of why I LOVE this series. We all search for our identities and want and struggle and fail and succeed...watching Utena do it and succeed (after a fashion) at being what she wanted to be (the core of it), that was just amazing. It was even quite shaking to watch other characters search for their self-actualization and fail in it or come up with a corrupt version (say Touga) or succeed in their own way.