This is a very interesting video and super well done!! the one thing i disagree with is Mamiya "replacing" Anthy, because i think Anthy IS Mamiya, but like how she changes herself for each person to get them to fight (Looking like shiori in some scenes to Juri, making Miki think shes a replacement to Kozue, etc etc..) she's doing the exact same thing for Mikage by changing herself into Mamiya, but it was never Mamiya, it was always Anthy

It would take Wakaba years to realize it was all Akio's doing. By then, it'd be too late. Too late for anybody but her to care, so much time for him to slither away to his next nest of victims... It's how it happens in real life to victims that age even without adding in holograms, magic swords, ghosts, and the ego murder of a potential goddess.

Honestly the fact that Wakaba is the closest to actually winning and the connection between the Onion Prince and Miakge is why I always save those two episodes for right before the finale of the Black Rose Saga.

God I love Wakaba, happy to see Best Girl discussion

In my opinion and headcanon, Wakaba becomes an Utena after Utena revolutionises the world, Wakaba will become a noteworthy student with many good friends and a status as a class president.

This is alternate history. Yes, alternate history is a lot of fun, but not just that - by looking at how things could go differently in a timeline with fixed points of divergence, we explore the significance of those points for the timeline as a whole and for the end results. It really is sad how Wakaba completely disappears from the show, even after she was the one who stood by Utena after the only duel she ever lost, but it serves to show that as a fact of life - people drift apart when their bonds are just not strong enough, which is doubly true when people go through transformative events as Utena did. In the end, nobody was on what was left of the car as it left the school and the castle apart for Anthy and Utena. Gotta prioritise I guess!

Dude, how nobody has thought of this before? This idea is worth a billion!!

I’ve always wondered what happened to Wakaba at the end of RGU. Does she eventually realize the reality of the school and what Akio is doing or does she stay the same forever?

i love your Utena videos so much! i hope you make more in the future. It's also kinda funny to me how soo many essay channels start with Utena omg, like there are a lot of youtubers who's first video is about Utena and their takes on understanding it, and then they continue their video essay journey with other titles. I'm just glad you never stopped thinking about Utena cause i'm also like that, this show truly faccinates me, every time i think about it it amazes me and i just can't ever forget how it impacted me and my own art. Aaaand i love seeing new fan content about it!

Very well put together and tastefully considered. This is an incredibly intriguing possibility and well-reasoned too, with discussion on why the other Black Rose Duelists were lacking in conviction, except for Wakaba. Your expectations of what would happen after are sensible indeed. Whatever hollow victory Wakaba wins or prize she is given, along with the "Revolution" that is enacted, doesn't change anything.

its worth knowing that Wakaba is implied to be Utena's replacement in the final episode! so Wakaba is kind of special, just overshadowed by Utena

Theres a light novel where Saionji and Wakaba accidentally meet outside school in like a mall or something and then they have really cute fun together. Saionji even attempts to buy Wakaba a gift that "would be useful" like a cooking oil or toothpaste.

You know, thinking of the movie as another cycle of revolution (or maybe partial revolution, as it's only as soft reset), it also shows that vibe of a surface-level change. As if Utena's revolt and Anthy's subsequent quiet stand were not quite enough to break the system. Perhaps it required Anthy's more hardcore rebellion in the film to actually change anything.

Wakaba is the only one who actually runs AROUND Utena to try and act on the words "I WILL KILL THE ROSE BRIDE"!

Sometime it would be nice to cover more of the depths of her relationship with Saionji and more about what her normalcy means and her relationship to it.

My NSA surveillance agent clearly sent you to quench my just now relapsed thirst for Wakaba analysis after all these years...

Damn, I just love your videos, especially the Utena ones.

The wideo about Utena? In 2021? It's more likely than you think!

i loved this, i love Wakaba and a revolution for the characters that nobody sees coming from a distorted revolution after all its a revoution product of Akio and product of a usage of power and manipulation so therefor it would break the status quo yes, but it would only open for a new status quo that revolves around the same

Fantastic. It says a lot about Utena when it is still being discussed by totally new angles.