Tokiko replied to them at one point as well, if I remember correctly.

Yeah -- Utena, Anthy, Akio, Tokiko, and Wakaba all definitely see the Shadow Girls.  I don't remember Tsuwabuki seeing them, but if you say he did I believe you!  It seems that everyone can hear the Shadow Girls, but no one takes them seriously.  I'm not sure why not, since no one seems to know who they are (if memory serves, Ohtori Academy doesn't really have a drama club).  Maybe the Shadow Girls have Pullman-Gaiman invisibility, the kind where you slide out of people's consciousness as long as you aren't doing anything outrageous.

I kind of feel that yes, perhaps they were always "there" for the characters, who dismiss them as being background noise.

Or maybe they're only there half the time, and the other half they're only visible to the viewers?

Or MAYBE the Shadow Girls are only for the viewers, and the writers were trying to breach the Fourth Wall by having characters acknowledge them? O.O (That is, the Shadow Girls are a totally disconnected element from the actual story and serve only to give the viewer perspective. However, the characters occasional acknowledgment may be a way for the fantasy of it all to be put in perspective, reminding us that this IS just a show by reaching towards characters that aren't supposed to be there, like the audience.)

^This last one is my favored explanation. BUT MAYBE I'M READING TOO MUCH INTO THIS ORZ

Last edited by Azure (12-24-2010 11:40:08 PM)

nekozoya wrote:

I think that the shadow girls only let people hear them when they want to be heard, the rest of the time giving insight to the audience. They're a little bit like narrators, that way. And also, when things get extremely strange, you can always count on the good old shadow girls to keep you sane (if that makes any sense ).

Agreed. They inhabit the space between us and the cast, smack middle of the Fourth Wall. When they manifest to Utena "in the flesh", they seem to vanish without a trace, and Utena seems to be the only one to notice the arrows to their theatre. I would say that people can see and hear them when they want to be seen and heard, with no limitations to by who.

How could I not post in a thread like this?

I have spent much time considering the existence of the SPG, and pondering over how real they are. In the end, I've decided that they were girls once, who seem to have a grudge against Anthy for some reason (due to their interpretation of the story during their play), and they exist in Ohtori in a form in-between physical and spiritual. They might actually be/exist in the shadows, which is why they know everything that goes on in Ohtori, though they aren't necessarily under Akio's power (perhaps he or Anthy keeps them trapped their, or, if the space ship is any indication, they are free to do as they please). I don't think they are rooting for any particular side. They appear to study and make commentary on human behavior (so perhaps they really are aliens who are there for research purposes! )

And I think that only a few people hear them. I always assumed that if the camera were to turn around, you would see no bodies. Although, hmm, in some of the plays you see physical items scattered by the wall, or one of the girl's arms. Well, maybe they do have physical bodies that they use to perform their plays, but they can exist as part of the shadows, seeing everything.

..... Someone needs to make a macro: C-ko is watching you/Akio masturbate.

I also like CoffinBreaker's theory.