All in Good Storytime is an interactive, bookish, book club podcast hosted by Alanna, Katya, and Tia. To join the club, make sure you're following us on Twitter to get updates on what book we're reading and to what chapter we are reading through (or what anime we're watching and what episode we are watching through), and listen to the podcast here or on iTunes (see link below) to join in on the discussion. And don't forget to read along!
In the 43rd episode of All in Good Storytime, we watch episodes 7, 6, and 9-13 of Revolutionary Girl Utena (the order in which the episodes were intended). In these episodes, the questionably incestuous relationship between Nanami and Touga is revisited, Nanami exposes herself as a kitty murderer, Juri's tragic queer past is revealed, Touga pretends he is the prince who saved Utena following her parents death, Utena is defeated by Touga and temporarily loses Anthy, and we finally meet the real prince.
We discuss the dynamics of Nanami and Touga's relationship and how the undercurrents of vaguely incestual feelings that Nanami harbors for Touga are made very overt when the lines are blurred between what it means to be a boyfriend and brother in episode six. We draw similarities between Touga and Nanami's relationship and Micki's own complicated relationship with his sister.
While never forgetting how unquestionably evil Nanami is for being a cat killer, we also acknowledge that her cruel and manipulative brother has fostered a disturbingly toxic and codependent relationship. We address how the sole instance where Anthy is demonstrated to have autonomous thoughts occurs during Utena's second duel with Touga. We hypothesize that the myriad of exotic animals featured in Utena, from the kangaroo to the elephants, are somehow due to Anthy. Finally, we predict that Anthy will either be revealed to be an alien or that the mysterious prince is her brother. And that they are both aliens.
In two weeks, we will be watching episodes 14-19 of Revolutionary Girl Utena.
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