List of Revolutionary Girl Utena characters

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Main article: Revolutionary Girl Utena

Contents

[edit] Main characters

Utena Tenjou (天上 ウテナ Tenjō Utena?)
Utena Tenjou
Utena Tenjou
  • (romanized as Tenjou in the English manga and Tenjo in the English anime)
  • Voice: Tomoko Kawakami / Rachael Lillis
  • Rose Color: White, Pink
  • Rose Bride: Anthy Himemiya
  • Sword: Shinai, Sword of Dios, Rapier
  • (Anime) Drive to Duel: (progressively) the desire to protect Anthy.
In all versions of the story Utena is a tomboyish, courageous and naïve character who lives to emulate the idealized prince figure from her childhood. She is forthright, honest, and friendly, and nearly all the girls in school adore her.

In the manga series, her parents died when she was six years old. On that day she was wandering around, lost, and she fell through a hole in a fence that enclosed a river area. Utena nearly drowned but was saved by a mysterious Prince who kissed away her tears and told her that if she did not lose her noble heart, they would meet again. He left with her a rose signet ring (the Rose Seal as it is called by the duelists). Later on, Utena receives picture cards that give her clues as to where her prince is. By following these clues, she finds herself at Ohtori Academy.

In the anime, the initial story the anime presents is almost identical to that of the manga, except with more detail. Flashbacks show the young Utena climbing into a coffin upon her parents' deaths, seeing no point to living. She encounters the Prince, and — for reasons which eventually become key to the show's resolution — this encounter created in her the drive to become a Prince herself. Utena does not remember much of this encounter, and for the most part Utena herself does not clearly remember the full details of her history, until the very end.

In both the anime and manga, Utena accidentally becomes a Duelist and wins Anthy as the Rose Bride. Though critical of the Duels for objectifying Anthy, her honest desire to protect Anthy as a well as a drive to act like a prince lead her to become an active participant. As the series passes, her nobility is continuously tested, until she is finally forced to confront her own hypocrisy.

In the movie, Utena travels to Ohtori Academy after supposedly breaking up with her past boyfriend Touga. It is also assumed that after her separation from Touga she was in an emotional turmoil that led her to the academy. However, she sees him on her first day on campus. Her hair is cut short, giving her more of a male's appearance, causing Saionji to initially mistake her for a boy. Additionally, Utena is a more bisexual character in the movie being coquettish with Wakaba and does not seem to mind her more boyish appearance. She is extremely troubled by Touga's apparent abandonment of her, and her interactions with Anthy express a level of introversion not present in the anime series, though she also shows an unpredictable streak and is once physically violent towards Anthy in anger. This is said by fans to be Utena's adoption of a more masculine personality. Initially Utena's aim to be a prince is more subtle than prominent compared to the anime series. It is Touga's supposed abandonment of her that caused her to feel that she must be more idependent and a "prince" by nature. Though she states that Touga was always the prince she wanted the movie deals with her own metamorphosis in becoming a prince. Many fans noted that Utena and Anthy seemingly swap personalities in the movie, and that Utena is the one who must be saved by Anthy. Their physical appearances also seem to mirror their respective series incarnations(seeing that Utena has wavy hair and Anthy has straight hair which was the opposite in the series).

Anthy Himemiya (姫宮 アンシー Himemiya Anshī?)

A mysterious and shy dark-skinned girl whose sometimes vapid expression and superficial politeness seem to mask something deeper. Many people project their wants or desires onto her, and she's often the target of their eventual rage or hate. Her "doormat" behavior belies a far more complex personality.

Anthy appears to house the Sword of Dios within her own body. At the beginning of a duel, she slips into a trance and the Sword manifests, protruding from her chest so that her champion may draw it from her. This Sword is said to be a key to reaching the goal of Revolution, and in her position as the Rose Bride Anthy is said to be the key to obtaining it.

Anthy exhibits other unusual abilities as well, including magically embellishing Utena's uniform before the duel. She seems to be able to completely alter her appearance, or at least induce others to see her for someone other than who she really is. Likewise, there is some indication that she has the ability to transform others as well (as in the episode, "The Cowbell of Happiness").

According to the Adolescence of Utena manga, Anthy is in fact responsible for the dueling of which she is the prize. When her prince Dios (or Akio) died, she became reborn as the Rose Bride. When she took this role, the Dueling Arena appeared and the "game" was set in motion so another "Prince" could take Akio's place. In the anime series the duels are a strategic game set in motion to restore Akio's former powers and open the Gate of Revolution.

In the movie, she seems happier and is much more sexually aggressive towards Utena. Her physical appearance is also changed, as she does not wear glasses and her hair is loose (similar to her appearance in the last few episodes of the anime). The design of her dress is also different, being mainly white. Anthy seemingly saves Utena by encouraging her to move past her vice (Touga) and seemingly rescues Utena in a subversion of the damsel in distress archetype.

In the anime, she appears to be servile and obeidient to all, especially her current Victor, whose every wishes she must cater to. Because of this, many Duelists believe that she lacks a personality and thoughts of her own, and she is treated badly by them. However, Anthy only pretends to be so in order to keep them in the Duels, and often enjoys subtly taking revenge on those around her.

Both the anime and manga feature similar – but altogether different – circumstances wherein Anthy becomes the Rose Bride. In the movie, the world views her brother, Dios, as a prince. In reality, he is the tainted Lord of the Flies. He commits suicide when one of his most shameful secrets is revealed to Anthy, causing her to establish the Duels in order to find a replacement prince. Anthy later wholeheartedly accepts Utena as the prince she had been waiting for, but instead of staying, Utena decides that the two of them should travel to the world "outside" Ohtori where they will not be bound by the ideas of prince and princesses.

In the anime, Dios is an actual prince who saves of the girls in the world on a daily basis. The work eventually weakens him to the point of death, but the world still demands his services. Anthy ends up facing an angry mob alone in order to protect him, and is stabbed by a million swords. The swords eventually take a life of their own, eternally thirsting for a prince's blood. To combat the pain, Anthy splits herself in two, and seals the part of her containing the swords beyond the Rose Gate, becoming the Rose Bride. This incident destroys Dios' nobility and he is also split in two. One part of him becomes an altruistic but powerless ghost, while the other part becomes Akio. No longer a prince, Akio no longer has Dios's power, and establishes the Dueling Game to regain it. Anthy accepts her role as the Rose Bride despite the suffering it inflicts on her because she does not want to live in a world which had tortured her and her brother.

Anthy appears to be an Asian Indian, probably Tamil. She is noticeably darker than the other characters and wears a bindi mark or jewel.

Akio Ohtori (鳳 暁生 Ōtori Akio?)
  • Voice: Jūrōta Kosugi (TV series), Mitsuhiro Oikawa (Movie) / Josh Mosby
  • Sword: Sword of Dios

Anthy's older brother, the acting chairman of the academy. Although barely present in the first season of the show, he later plays a pivotal role in the second and third seasons. His given name derives from the Japanese name for Venus, the Morning Star, which is identified with Lucifer.

In his youth, Akio and Dios (Spanish word for "God") were apparently one and the same, but he became corrupted and lost his purpose as a "prince". Given the origin of his name and his role in the story, Akio may be compared to a fallen angel. In the manga, Anthy split the two intentionally; in the anime his fall is more vague — it appears to be catalyzed by Anthy, but likewise also by his own loss of faith in the world which tortures both him and his sister. In order to regain the power he lost when he lost his nobility, he creates the Dueling Game in order to create a Duelist with a sword noble and powerful enough to break the Rose Gate sealing his lost power. In the movie, "Dios" is merely an illusion created by Anthy to hide her brother's flaws so she can have a hero to believe in.

In the anime, Akio uses Utena's familiarity with his "better half" to his advantage and becomes her lover. He expresses a desire to see her as his princess and to relieve her of the burden of becoming a prince. In the end, however, he uses her in the same way he uses all the other duelists, though she rebels against his idea.

Akio appears to dominate his sister Anthy both personally and sexually; their incestuous and power-driven relationship is key to Anthy's behavior in both the anime (where Anthy is, or pretends to be, held in thrall to her brother) and the movie (where events cause the balance of power to shift dramatically). However, the power is not completely held by Akio, as he is dependent upon Anthy for various reasons. In the anime, Akio appears to show genuine love for Anthy, and even feels her pain, but he is driven by his selfishness and very nature to continue his role in the duels. He grieves over his lost role of the Prince, but — as Anthy herself points out — he chose the path he walked down.

Akio is also a remarkable playboy with many and varied conquests. The list includes Kanae, Utena, Kozue, Tokiko, Touga, and even Kanae's mother; there are also insinuations involving Saionji and Wakaba. Akio's trademark symbol is his jazzy automobile, in which he invites friends, Duelists, and potential sexual partners to take a midnight ride. Creator Ikuhara has stated Akio's general appearance and presentations, as well as his car, are meant to represent the adult world and adult power.

[edit] Student Council members

If the egg's shell does not break, the chick will die without being born. We are the chick; the egg is the world. If the world's shell does not break, we will die without being born. Break the world's shell! For the sake of revolutionizing the world! – Ohtori Academy's Student Council oath (paraphrased from Hermann Hesse's Demian).

Ohtori Academy's Student Council play a vital role in the series. Moved by his or her own personal interests, their great objective is to bring "World Revolution" and in order to obtain it, a true champion must rise from their battles to obtain possession of the Rose Bride. Instructed by letters sent from an entity called "End of the World", each of them possesses a rose signet ring similar to the one Utena received from her prince, allowing them to participate in the duels. Some view Utena only as a threat to their plans, while others develop some sympathy for her. During the duels, they place on their chests a single rose that matches the color of their hair or clothing.

Juri Arisugawa (有栖川 樹璃 Arisugawa Juri?)
  • Also romanized as "Jury Arisugawa"
  • Voice: Kotono Mitsuishi / Mandy Bonhomme
  • Rose Color: Orange
  • Rose Bride: Ruka Tsuchiya
  • Sword: Rapier
  • (Anime) Drive to Duel: To disprove the power of miracles

The captain of the academy's fencing team, Juri is one of Ohtori's most highly respected students, and even the teachers appear to be in awe of her. However, behind her aloof, intimidating manner, she is actually very vulnerable, as she has been hurt in the past by her friend Shiori, with whom Juri was secretly in love. While viewers are at first led to believe that Shiori stole Juri's boyfriend from her, it is later revealed that it was in fact Shiori who Juri cared about all along.

Juri adamantly insists that she doesn't believe in miracles, and wants the power of the Rose Bride to disprove the power of miracles. However, she desperately wishes for a miracle in order to resolve her situation with Shiori. Her hardened, bitter attitude often puts her in conflict with Utena because her naivete and optimism remind her of the person she once was.

She wears a locket with Shiori's picture inside, and in the Black Rose arc, Shiori learns of Juri's feelings after Mikage shows her the contents of the locket. In the third arc, Utena breaks Juri's locket during her final duel, prompting her to throw the match.

Juri is depicted in both versions as having learned all she knows about swordsmanship from an older student, Ruka Tsuchiya. In the manga, Touga reveals that Juri only became interested in him after Ruka disappeared. In the anime, Juri's true feelings are much more ambiguous, as she denies having any romantic interest in Ruka. In both versions, Ruka returns to the Duels despite serious illness in order to give Juri the power of miracles and save her from her burdens. Though they are unable to beat Utena, Juri is finally freed from her problems with Shiori by the end of her final duel. Juri and Utena's relationship then becomes more peaceful, with Juri jokingly asking for Utena's picture so she could put it in her new locket.

In the final episode of Utena, Juri tells a story about her elder sister, who nearly drowned. In her story, a boy dies trying to save her older sister; this was played upon in the movie (see below). Her final appearance shows her training her fencing club members, including the newly inducted Shiori.

In the manga, Juri is student council treasurer. Her nickname is 'The Beautiful Leopard' and she is the captain of the fencing club. In the manga, there is no Shiori; Juri is in love with Touga instead. Touga, however, is in love with Utena, and so Juri sees Utena as her arch-rival. Juri takes a far more actively antagonistic role against Utena in the manga, almost more similar to Nanami's role in the anime.

In Adolescence of Utena, Juri is the president of the Student Council (the Council's members are apparently Miki, Juri and Saionji). According to Wakaba, her nickname is "The Prince." She allows Shiori to manipulate her, but feels trapped by Shiori as well.

In the scene wherein a young Touga jumps into the river to save the drowning girl, leaving Utena behind on the land, we never see the girl's face or are told who she is. In the interview with Ikuhara in the extras included with the English release of the movie, Ikuhara reveals that the girl in the boat is, in fact, Juri herself (this is possibly why Juri plays "Prince" to Shiori, because she feels guilty for Touga's death). This is likely a play on Juri's story in the last episode of the TV series ("Someday, Together, We'll Shine" or "Someday, Shine With Me" as the closer translation of the original title), wherein it was her older sister who nearly drowned.

Juri's older sister never appears in the anime, movie or manga.

Miki Kaoru (薫 幹 Kaoru Miki?)

Miki is a highly skilled and polite seventh grader who befriends Utena, despite their role as possible opponents in the duels. A piano player par excellence, Miki has fond memories of playing songs with his twin sister Kozue in his childhood, but her refusal to play with him in the present — the symbol of a much deeper rift — gives Miki a sense of loss. His crush on Anthy in the anime (but on Utena in the manga) develops when he realizes that they remind him of his estranged sister. In both adaptations, his drive to duel stems from a desire to find something to replace Kozue in his affections. All the females of the school, even older ones, idolize him, but Kozue threatens any girls who attempt to get too close to him. Likewise he is very protective of her, and so she tries to make him jealous by dating as many boys as possible. He is a member of the Student Council, his position appearing to be the council secretary. He frequently appears with a stopwatch in hand. Miki is also a member of the fencing club.

In the movie, Miki is shown as having a stronger relationship with Juri, and he more clearly is beginning to resent his sister. He and Kozue bathe together in one scene, in which he tells her that they can never be as close as they once were and she presses razor to his throat and accuses him of being a traitor. It is implied he has a part in turning her into a car like Utena or Shiori, though this is never elaborated on.

Touga Kiryuu (桐生 冬芽 Kiryū Tōga?)
  • Voice: Takehito Koyasu / Crispin Freeman
  • Rose Color: Red
  • Rose Bride: Kyouichi Saionji
  • Sword: Katana, Sword of Dios, Longsword
  • (Anime) Drive to Duel: To possess the power of the "World Revolution" simply for the sake of possessing power

President of the Student Council, Touga is an arrogant and handsome young man whose desire to be powerful drives him to cruel and unscrupulous deeds. Although he says that he wishes to be noble, he has little empathy towards anyone, and his powers of manipulation are second only to Akio. He also shares his playboy attiude and has many female conquests. He is a childhood friend of Saionji, although their relationship took a turn for the worse at a point in their childhood that is the centerpiece of their respective personal journeys.

Toward the end of the series, however, Touga's facade of chivalry is replaced with an apparently truer concern for Utena, to the extent that he very subtly attempts to substitute his head for hers on Akio's chopping block. Arguably, this is also an example of Touga's inability to see Utena as who she really is, rather than in a stereotypical feminine role.

The Manga portrays Touga as taking a more obvious and definite personal love for Utena. He vows to serve her when she defeats him in their second duel, and tries his best to protect her from the machinations of Ends of the World. In the anime, this does not happen until the end of the series, and Touga's concern for Utena is far more ambiguous.

In the movie Touga's significance is amplified and his bad-traits completely removed. He is not a flirtatious, over-confident playboy but a man who sees and knows Utena and loves her. He is her childhood love and a significant figure in Utena's psyche. His seeming abandonment of Utena is the reason for her wish to become a prince, but as the movie progresses, Touga is revealed to be a ghost, who died to save a young girl (Juri) while he was with Utena. Near the end of the movie Utena's repressed memory of his death is uncovered and she accepts it, allowing his spirit to vanish from Earth.

Nanami Kiryuu (桐生 七実 Kiryū Nanami?)

Touga's little sister, the prototypical "queen bee" of the school. She is very fond of him to the point of their relationship having semi-incestuous edge, at least on her part. Nanami often makes various malicious attacks on students she deems inferior (or worse, those she suspects Touga is paying attention to). After Touga is wounded in a duel with Utena, she temporarily takes over as Student Council President, adopting a bright yellow uniform. In duels, Nanami uses a style of dual blade fencing.

A few filler episodes in the series are specifically dedicated to Nanami and are usually stand-alone type situations, breaking the convention of a standard Utena episode. Each has a metaphorical theme exploring Nanami's character in a sympathetic light, but are otherwise "gag episodes", meant to be humorous and are especially notorious for their bizarre content.

Nanami is not a main character in the manga and is only seen once in a picture with Touga. She is seen only once in the movie, in a reference to an episode in which she was transformed into a cow.

Kyouichi Saionji (西園寺 莢一 Saionji Kyōichi?)
  • Voice: Takeshi Kusao / Jack Taylor
  • Rose Color: Green
  • Sword: Sword of Dios, Katana
  • (Anime) Drive to Duel: To find "something eternal", to claim Anthy as his Rose Bride, and to finally defeat Touga

Vice-president of the Student Council and captain of the kendo team, and is the first duelist Utena fights. He is temperamental, egotistic, prone to angry rages, often cruel, and extremely possessive of Anthy. His belief that they are destined to be together no matter what drive him to be physically violent towards her and continue to pursue her even after their engagement is broken.

He and Touga practice kendo together, but Saionji is clearly very resentful of Touga, and especially cannot bear to be humiliated by him (a fact which Touga shamelessly exploits). Saionji is less perceptive, intelligent, and skilled as Touga, and despite his best efforts can never seem to best him. He is regardless affected by this estrangement from his childhood friend.

Though he stays for a short time with Wakaba Shinohara (whose crush on him and subsequent rejection were the catalyst for Utena's first duel) after being expelled from school. His obsession with Anthy ultimately draws him back, setting off a chain of events in the Black Rose Arc. He also tries unsuccessfully to covertly continue his relationship with Anthy through an "exchange diary". Near the end of the series Saionji and Touga uncover parts of their shared past and seemingly reconcile their relationship by the end of the series.

In the movie, Saionji has a fairly small part. His personality is exaggerated on the negative side, making him appear almost psychotically angry in the beginning and delusionally egotistical towards the end. He is also more blatantly abusive of the Rose Bride, treating her like a tool, and his love for her is never touched upon. His relationship with Touga is non-existent.

Ruka Tsuchiya (土谷 瑠果 Tsuchiya Ruka?)
  • Voice: Nozomu Sasaki / Wayne Grayson
  • Rose: Blue
  • Rose Bride: Shiori Takatsuki
  • Sword: Rapier
  • (Anime) Drive to Duel: To give Juri, the one he loves, the power of miracles.

A master swordsman, Ruka is former captain of the fencing team and occasional member of the Student Council. He considers Juri to be the most talented member of the club and considers himself her mentor.

In the manga, Anthy served as Ruka's Rose Bride on several occasions before he left the school due to an unknown illness. He reappears at the school after a prolonged absence, claiming that he has recovered, though still not well enough to duel. He pushes Juri to duel Utena once again, but she throws the match after overhearing what she thinks is Ruka discussing with Touga how he's manipulating her. When she refuses to duel, Ruka himself is forced to duel Utena, and the strain causes a relapse of his illness. As he lies on the dueling field, he confesses to Juri that he pushed her because he thought she was the one worthy of Dios's power. He is hospitalized and dies, to Juri's disbelief. Touga comments that Juri was in love with Ruka first, but when he left she switched her love to Touga. Ruka explains that he left Juri without saying goodbye to avoid the painful farewell.

In the anime, it is not clear whether or not Ruka was a Duelist before he returns. When he returns, he takes Shiori as his girlfriend, though it's made clear that he was simply manipulating her. He duels Utena once with Shiori as his Rose Bride and loses. He then dumps Shiori and begins to court Juri. From him we learn that it was Juri who told him, "If you believe in miracles they will occur." Ruka says he is in love with Juri and kisses her during a fencing match; he states that he believes she was in love with him before he disappeared. As in the manga, it is due to his feelings for her that he wants her to claim the power of Dios and defeat Utena in order to save her from her burdens. Juri denies she was ever in love with him. Ruka subsequently appears as Juri's Rose Bride in her final duel, after which he leaves the school. His "death" is reported by the Shadow Girls, though unlike the manga, the reality of his death is debatable.

Ruka does not appear in the movie.

[edit] Black Rose Duelists

Souji Mikage (御影 草時 Mikage Sōji?)
  • Voice: Hikaru Midorikawa / Dan Green
  • Rose: Black
  • Sword: Sabre
  • Drive to Duel: To make Mamiya Chida the Rose Bride. (Anime) To finally defeat Mamiya's sister, Tokiko.

Mikage is the pink-haired head of the popular Mikage Seminar at Ohtori Academy. He wishes to kill Anthy and install a boy, Mamiya, as the Rose Bride. Mamiya is the ill brother of a woman named Tokiko, and Mikage believes that he can save Mamiya if he wins the duels. His saber is reminiscent of the Sword of Dios.

The Mikage Seminar is held in Nemuro Memorial Hall, a building famous for a giant fire in which 100 boys died. Their coffins appear to be stored in the basement, and Mamiya harvests the roses to create his own Black Rose duelists.

When students are upset, they come to him for counseling and reveal their inner turmoil to him as they ride down to the basement in an elevator resembling a confessional. He gives each duelist one of the rose crest rings from the coffins, now black after the boys' deaths, while Mamiya stabs the duelist with the stem of the black rose. The duelist pulls a sword out of the body of the Student Council member he or she is most closely connected to (the only exception being Kanae Ohtori) and confronts Utena. After being defeated, the Black Rose duelist has no memory of the experience.

Mikage fights Utena as the final Black Rose duelist. Upon his loss, Akio reveals that Mikage's memories had been tampered with and used as a tool to push the duels to their next level. Mamiya had actually died years ago. Anthy had just used magic to disguise herself as Mamiya. Long ago, Mikage was called Nemuro, a professor at Ohtori Academy working a project to "obtain eternity". Emotionless and uncaring, he learned to feel when he fell in love with Tokiko, and threw himself into his research in order to save her ailing brother and preserve their family forever. His dreams were dashed when Akio seduced Tokiko, causing him to burn down Nemuro Hall because he believed it to be the last step to opening the gate to "revolutionize the world". Mikage leaves the school and the timeline returns to its normal flow, all the events of the arc wiped from everyone's minds.

In the manga, Mikage tries to duel Utena, saying that he will kill both Utena and Anthy. It's revealed that he chooses to duel in order to bring back Mamiya, who died in the fire that destroyed the Nemuro Memorial Hall. Mikage dies when the building collapses.

Mikage does not appear in the movie.

Kanae Ohtori (鳳 香苗 Ōtori Kanae?)
  • Voice: Ai Orikasa / Elizabeth Tarpon
  • Sword: Rapier
  • Drive to Duel: To get rid of her superficiality.

Akio's fiancée, daughter of the school's Trustee Chairman. She is unnerved by Anthy, who deliberately distances herself from Kanae. When Kanae enters the Black Rose interview, she reveals that she finds Anthy to be creepy and intolerable. Her distrust for Anthy drives Kanae's hatred during her Black Rose duel with Utena, starting the cycle of the Black Rose duels.

In the Final Saga of the manga, Kanae becomes a "Body Without Soul"; she doesn't move or speak and is always with Akio.

Kanae only appears briefly in the Utena movie. She is seen dancing with Akio and later appears grieving over his body when it is discovered in the rose garden.

Kozue Kaoru (薫 梢 Kaoru Kozue?)

Miki's twin sister, who feels overshadowed by his talent and dirtied by comparison with him. Kozue resents Miki's affection for Anthy Himemiya and is prone to "acting out" to grab her brother's attention, most notably by exercising loose sexual morals. Like Nanami, Kozue also seems to have an extreme brother complex. She is very protective of Miki and is the reason that he does not have a girlfriend (despite the affection of many of his schoolmates).

Kozue considers herself a "wild animal", wanting to be freed from adult rules and restrictions (in reality, she is resentful of her father's remarrying).

In Adolescence of Utena she is shown as being very possessive of Miki, even holding a razor to his throat and calling him a traitor when he refuses to divulge details of his personal affairs to her. A car with Kozue's name is also seen briefly, though the director merely states that she became a car for "the same reason as Utena" and does not elaborate.

In the manga, Kozue's character differs drastically from her anime and movie counterparts. She is merely overprotective of her brother, and does not act out to get his attention. She is hurt deeply when she sees him trying to kiss Utena in her sleep, and believes that Miki has betrayed their bond. She is led into the dueling arena by Anthy and is trapped in a glass coffin floating in the air, which is what leads Miki to duel Utena.

Shiori Takatsuki (高槻 枝織 Takatsuki Shiori?)

Juri's childhood friend. Shiori left the school after stealing the man she believed to be Juri's boyfriend in order to feel more powerful than her, leaving Juri devastated (contrary to Shiori's initial beliefs, however, Juri is hurt because of her love for Shiori). Shiori is in many ways an innocent character, in denial of her true feelings of admiration for Juri. Due to her inferiority complex, her attitude towards Juri is often downright sadistic (as her schemes are often designed to hurt Juri for no reason other than to see her suffer) and at the same time masochistic (as Shiori hurts herself every time she hurts Juri). Upon discovering Juri's love for her, Shiori becomes a Black Rose Duelist and pulls her dueling sword from Juri.

In the movie, her role as an antagonist becomes much greater by manipulating Juri into dueling Utena. She is also shown as having been in love with Touga and therefore considers both Utena and Juri to be rivals for his affections. She also is a very horrid obstacle in Utena's path. In the end she attempts to thwart Utena's role in becoming a prince, as she believes Utena is the main reason Touga does not love her the way she wants him to.

Mitsuru Tsuwabuki (石路 美蔓 Tsuwabuki Mitsuru?)

Nanami's most devoted lackey, a boy in fourth grade. He is obsessed with serving Nanami and wishes to be her adored "big brother", even going so far as to put her in danger in order to rescue her. He becomes a Black Rose Duelist after Nanami dismisses his opinions because she considers him too young. His recurring issues with adults and adulthood are one of the show's principle themes.

Tsuwabuki does not appear in the movie.
Wakaba Shinohara (篠原 若葉 Shinohara Wakaba?)
  • Voice: Yuka Imai / Annie Pondell
  • Sword: Saionji's Katana
  • Drive to Duel: To become special and destroy those who already are special.

Utena's best friend. Wakaba's cheerful personality hides an enormous inferiority complex, and she attaches herself to Utena and other people to feel important. In the first episode ("The Rose Bride") she refers to Utena as her "boyfriend." Utena first dueled Saionji after he posted a love letter that Wakaba gave to him in order to humiliate her. During the Black Rose Saga, it is revealed that she was harboring Saionji after his expulsion from school. When he returns due to his obsession with Anthy, she feels betrayed and seeks Mikage. Taking revenge, she pulls Saionji's katana out of his body to duel Utena.

In the movie, Wakaba appears only briefly. In her first scene, she gives Utena a tour of Ohtori Academy. Towards the end of the movie, she is shown as being transformed into a Jeep-like automobile and transporting the Student council members to rescue Anthy. (The movie makes a further pun on Wakaba's name by displaying a 'wakaba mark' — the green and yellow chevron that is used in Japan to signify a car being operated by a novice driver — on the back of the car.) Despite her initial interest in Utena she is later seen with another boy, who looks similar to her friend Tatsuya from the anime. Ikuhara suggested that this boy was supposed to represent that Wakaba was living a "normal" life in Ohtori as opposed to the world of the Duelists and revolution.

In the manga, Wakaba's role is basically the same, except her last name is Fujihara, instead of Shinohara.

Keiko Sonoda
Keiko Sonoda
Keiko Sonoda (苑田 茎子 Sonoda Keiko?)
  • Voice: Akira Nakagawa / Mandy Bonhomme
  • Sword: Touga's Katana
  • Drive to Duel: To make Touga hers and to kill Nanami.

Keiko is Nanami's best friend. Like many other girls at the school, she has a secret obsession with Touga. Keiko is in love with him and wishes only to be with him. She is also very insecure and has low self-esteem. However, she knows that Nanami's clout and Touga's rank makes it impossible to even approach him. She is tossed out of Nanami's circle after she shares an umbrella with Touga, and becomes a Black Rose Duelist. Later on, she becomes one of Touga's many girlfriends upon learning that he and Nanami are not actually related, so she lets Nanami know exactly what she thinks of her. Later, Nanami beats up Keiko, Aiko, and Yuuko, and they are seen following her once again. In the series finale, all three are seen together again without Nanami.

Keiko does not appear in the movie.

[edit] Minor characters

Dios (ディオス Diosu?)

The enigmatic "prince" from Utena's childhood. Dios's name, which means "God" in Spanish, as well as his presentation in the anime, suggest that he is to be considered Utena's guardian angel. During most of the duels, it is shown that his spirit enters Utena's body and aids her. This is an indication that Dios may have been a skilled swordsman before his imprisonment.

Despite his limited screen time, Dios is a central figure in the anime and is at the center of the plot. Dios was created when Anthy imprisoned the Prince, splitting him into two parts (the other of which is Akio). However, it is not known whether it was a physical separation or if Dios exists only as a spirit.

During the anime, Dios is seen repeatedly providing assistance to Utena; whether this is part of Akio's plans or Dios' own will is uncertain. At the end of the series, it can be seen either way; he is either giving up on Utena, or he is actually goading her to go on. This is open for much debate.

Chuchu (チュチュ Chuchu?)

Anthy's pet (whom she will only refer to as friend, but may be more properly described as a familiar). He is a small marmoset who acts as comedic relief. However, he also acts as an omen of bad fortune in certain episodes. He dresses similar to Akio, with a yellow-striped red tie and a single gold earring because Anthy appears to be enthralled by Akio and Chuchu wants to please Anthy.

ChuChu is drawn much furrier by Chiho Saito in the manga than he is drawn in the anime, the anime itself making him look more like a mouse than a monkey.

Shadow Girls (影絵少女 Kage'e Shōjo?)

Three girls (known as A-Ko, B-Ko, and C-Ko), seen only in silhouette, who spend about thirty seconds per episode energetically commentating on its events in symbolic allegory. Their antics provide both comic relief and insight into the show's plot. While they function much like a Greek chorus, their primary influence is shadow puppetry. A-Ko and B-Ko appeared during season one, but C-Ko became the sole Shadow Girl during season 2. All three girls appear in the third season.

They are frequently shown traveling in a spaceship shaped like a flying saucer. Ikuhara mentioned once that the three girls are actually aliens from planet Kashira, masquerading as humans to observe and study sentient life in our planet.

In episode 34, it is suggested that they are members of the school's drama club as well. In that episode, A-Ko and B-Ko act out a version of the story behind the series, suggesting that they may know about the nature of Akio and Anthy and their reason for the duels.

The movie reuses C-Ko and introduces two new Shadow Girls, E-Ko and F-Ko. The movie also introduces "Shadow Girl Central" (whose computers use KageOS), a studio where dozens of Shadow Girls act as announcers and help monitor the final race.

At the conclusion of Adolescence of Utena, all of the shadow girls in the "Shadow Girl Central" turn into straw dolls once the two heroines reach the outside world. The nametags on the straw dolls of E-ko and F-ko bear the names Anthy Himemiya and Utena Tenjou.

Tatsuya Kazami ( Kazami Tatsuya?)

Tatsuya is a childhood friend of Wakaba's. When they were little, she recruited him as her "Onion Prince" to protect her from the taunts of her classmates. As he's grown older, he's come to regard Wakaba with affection, but she has since turned her attentions to her new "Prince", Saionji. Tatsuya is the only character who goes through Mikage's confessional and is rejected as a duelist because his heart is "too pure" to be converted.

Mari Hozumi ( Hozumi Mari?)

Mari is a classmate of Tsuwabuki's, who tries to act as his common sense. She seems slightly jealous of his attentions to Nanami — and interestingly, vice versa.

Chigusa Sanjouin (三条院 千種 Sanjōin Chigusa?)
  • Sega Saturn character Only
  • Voice: Maya Okamoto
  • Rose Color: Blue

Chigusa is the antagonist for the main character (an unnamed one) in the Utena game for the Sega Saturn. She is an elegant girl who is very much like Utena in some ways, being boyish-looking and an athlete. Unlike her, however, Chigusa has a manipulative personality, much like that of Kozue or to an extent Akio. The game is changed with every choice (or friendship) the player makes, giving different endings and duels. This is measured by something called "Heart's Nobility": becoming a friend of Chigusa causes the Nobility to be lost, and if the player upsets Chigusa, Nobility is gained.

Mamiya Chida

The boy Mikage wants to replace Anthy with. His pale purple hair and dark skin resemble that of Anthy, Akio, and Dios. Mamiya is the younger brother of Tokiko Chida, a woman employed by the Ohtori Academy board, whom Mikage had become infatuated with back when he was Professor Nemuro. Mamiya was born with a mysterious, life-threatening illness, to which Tokiko hoped that the mysterious project Nemuro and the one hundred boys were working on could cure. Mikage became more driven to complete the project, also hoping that it could cure Mamiya.

At first, it was believed that Mamiya was the one who set fire to Nemuro Memorial Hall so the gates to the Dueling Arena could open, and years later Mamiya and Mikage would start sending out the Black Rose Duelists to challenge Utena Tenjou. During that time, Mikage was the only one whom Mamiya ever had contact with besides the Duelists, who bare no memory of the meeting once their black rose was destroyed, so his existence was not acknowledged by anyone else on campus besides Akio and Tokiko. Once the final black rose had been given to Mikage, it was revealed that Mamiya had actually died years ago, and that the Mamiya Mikage had been living with for all these years was an illusion Akio created, and that it was Mikage himself that set fire to the Hall, so he could give eternity to Mamiya. Once Mikage disappeared, it was revealed that the fake Mamiya might have possibly been Anthy.

In the manga, Mamiya is still the boy whom Mikage wanted to replace Anthy as the Rose Bride with, but his sister does not exist in the manga. Mamiya's role is similar, only he is not an illusion created by Akio, instead he only lives in Mikage's mind because he really died in the fire that destroyed Nemuro Memorial Hall.

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