Maarika wrote:

I think she didn't bake those cookies herself anyway. There was no poison, those were just mindgames. So Anthy had no readon to bake those cookies.

She can make curry though!
And takoyaki and yakisoba, though neither Utena or Wakaba seemed very delighted about those. Then again, I'm not totally sure if she made them herself or not.

Oh, yeah! You're right. She did make Utena a lunch box that showed up the one Wakaba had made her. (But then Chuchu quickly ate all of the food in it. Hm...) As for the curry, well, she did cook it, but it ended up being more like a spell than anything, didn't it?

Hm. Are takoyai and yakisoba cold or hot foods?

Last edited by SleepDebtFairy (02-27-2007 11:37:28 AM)

I think that the point of shaved ice was that while it can temporarily take away your hunger, it won't offer a least bit nourishment. It has no actual substance in it. Much like Anthy's Rose Bride personality.

As I understand, both takoyaki and yakisoba are considered fast foods to be eaten from some stall when you're in a hurry - I assume that it would have been a bit similar to give a lunchbox full of hamburgers to a Westerner. Again, not very healthy or nourishing food - or very personal, for that matter.

I remember the saw scene. Very creepy.

Lightice wrote:

I think that the point of shaved ice was that while it can temporarily take away your hunger, it won't offer a least bit nourishment. It has no actual substance in it. Much like Anthy's Rose Bride personality.

As I understand, both takoyaki and yakisoba are considered fast foods to be eaten from some stall when you're in a hurry - I assume that it would have been a bit similar to give a lunchbox full of hamburgers to a Westerner. Again, not very healthy or nourishing food - or very personal, for that matter.

Ahh, thank you. That's a good point, too.

Although, now I have to wonder.. Utena and Wakaba never did get to eat Anthy's food. Chuchu ate it first. Hmm.

There's the shaved ice (cold), curry (body-switching thing.. I kind of wonder if Anthy did that intentionally), the lunch box (eaten by Chuchu) and the cookies. I don't think I remember anything else.. And Akio can cook really well, too. Hm.

Rushita> I didn't know that about the manga, but thank you. Although, manga Anthy and series Anthy are very different.

SleepDebtFairy wrote:

And Akio can cook really well, too. Hm.

I'm guessing he learned out of necessity. Judging by how passive aggressive she is the rest of the time, my guess is that she just doesn't like cooking and fakes gross incompetence so no one will ask her to cook.

In the manga she is genuinely bad at cooking.
- It probably is another indication of her oddball-ness,
- it also provides the mainspring for the exploding curry episode,
- it demonstrates Akio's coolness and attractiveness to women,
- it's probably another way to mess around with gender roles since it disrupts expectations of her and Utena being stereotypical butch/femme,
- it may indicate that she is a princess without practical skills,
- it may indicate that she is not necessarily suited to being a witch either,
- it's just plain funny.

Anthy can also cook properly - remember, she's the one making considerable meals for herself and Utena more or less every day. Wasn't Utena surprised/bothered how there is so much food for only two people near the beginning of the show?
Also, Anthy can apparently make good jam.

I'd say that in the anime Anthy's odd cooking is due her personality quirks rather than lack of skill. The personality-shifting curry was most definately a deliberate practical joke, mostly played on Nanami who had to suffer all kinds of elephant-related hardships for nothing at all, as a result.

Utena:  This's great.
Akio:  That's wonderful. That jam is made from the rose hips that Anthy raises,
Akio:  stewed with brandy and sugar.
Utena:  Wow, you sure are a good cook.
Utena:  You're siblings, but what a difference.
Anthy:  Well, thank you.
Utena:  That wasn't a compliment.

Someday, I'm going to find some god damn rose hips.

I've looked. Oh...I've looked.

Hiraku wrote:

If Anthy is supposed to represent the harsh reality of womanhood (read it somewhere, forgot where), shouldn't she typically have skill in making food?
On the other hand, I remember reading somewhere that it was Utena who likes to cook. But other than the curry, I've never seen her wearing an apron.

Yes, but if the Rose Bride is a proto-typical Trophy Wife, well, Trophy Wives can't cook, right?

It's even possible that Akio insists on being the cook/nurturer. It's another way to keep her dependent on him and rub her nose in the fact that she is so pathetic that she cannot even fulfill that typical femine role, although I admit that is quite a stretch. Or maybe he is afraid he'll get poisoned. 

During the Prince who runs in the Night episode Utena's monolog indicates that she routinely shops and  cooks for them.

Raven Nightshade wrote:

B) She intentionally made a body-swapping potion that happened to resemble bad curry for reasons that remain unclear.

She did it as part of her revenge on Nanami for the ballroom episode.  All of the Nanami comic relief stories involve Anthy magically and subtly getting revenge.  The Egg, the Cowbell, and the Curry are all seemingly innocent episodes that actually come from Anthy using her witch powers.

Funny I always thought that the great body-swap happened because Anthy wanted to take a break from being the Rose Bride, tired of being picked on, and wanted to stop doing that stupid trade journal but heaven forbid she act out of character. So she decided to make Utena do it for her.
Nanami suffering was just icing.

I just re-watched the episode where Touga is deceiving Utena into believing he is her Prince. He has a longish conversation with Anthy where she says she would like to learn to cook but he tells her that a Rose Bride is not supposed to know how to cook. He really rubs her nose in her Rose Bride role and she looks very crestfallen. She shows a lot more emotion early on than  I remembered. She clearly wants to learn how to cook. Utena herself doesn't seem to have understood that.

Utena was not present at the time. This may indicate that Anthy was yearning for something else even back then, though perhaps without knowing it. It also implies that Utena's instinct about Anthy was correct on a very deep level, although there are certain complications she does not know about just then.

Last edited by brian (03-10-2007 07:31:52 PM)