Episode
Revolutionary Girl Utena: Tracing a Path
Overview
In this episode, we review episodes 1 through 12 with Ohtori Akio's monologue (In the next episode, we will learn he is Anthy's brother). When he appears in the Arena, the midair castle falls down. Akio talks to Dios sleeping in the castle. He calls each of Utena's duels as follows: 1. friendship (amitie); 2. choice (choix); 3. reason (raison); 4. love (amour); 5. adoration (adoration); 6. conviction (conviction); 7. self (soi). Akio says Utena might be the one they (Akio and Dios?) have been looking for. At this rate, she could reach to the duel called "revolution" and Dios could be released.
Details
- Series
- Revolutionary Girl Utena
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 13
- Air date
- 1997-06-25
- Runtime
- 24 min
Episode context
Tracing a Path is Episode 13 in Season 1 of Revolutionary Girl Utena. It aired on 1997-06-25. The runtime is 24 min.
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Episode 12: For Friendship, Perhaps
Utena was defeated. But the real shock for her was not the fact that she was defeated, but the fact that from Touga's explanation, she learned that Anthy was just playing the role of the bride around Utena, which means Anthy pretended she wanted to quite the bride, become an ordinary girl, and make many friends, *because* Utena, or the Victor of the Duel, so wished. Utena now loses herself. Wakaba, although she knows nothing about what's going on with Utena, she tries to cheer her up. Gradually, Utena gets back to herself. Utena goes to the rose garden to see Touga. Touga thinks she's come to accept his date offer. However, she challenges him to a duel.
Episode 14: The Boys of the Black Rose
Utena meets Anthy's brother, Akio. Akio has been engaged to Ohtori Kanae whose father is the chairman of the board of trustees of Ohtori Academy. Her father is deceased, so Akio is the acting chairman. Mikage Souji is a twelfth grader who organizes Mikage Seminar, aka the Black Rose Association. He is such a genius that he even writes papers for professors. The building of Mikage's office is called Nemuro Memorial Hall, where it is said that one hundred boys were buried alive long ago. Chida Mamiya has a right to become the Rose Bride. Mikage says he will do whatever it takes to make Mamiya the Rose Bride, and will obtain the Power of Dios and the eternal secret. Mikage says the End of the World admitted Mikage and Mamiya. They say they need a duelist good enough to beat Utena. In the elevator of Nemuro Memorial Hall, Kanae confesses she is suffering. She can't get along with Anthy no matter how hard she tries. Taking advantage of that, Mikage makes her a Black Rose Duelist.
More episodes from this season
Episode 11: Gracefully Cruel - The One Who Picks That Flower
Having observed the last five duels, Touga is now positive that he has completed collecting sufficient data to defeat Utena. Touga has been implying to Utena that he is the prince she has been looking for. One day, in the rose garden, Touga shows Utena that he is her prince in concrete terms. However, he challenges Utena to a duel. Believing that Anthy wants to quit being the Rose Bride, become an ordinary girl, and make many friends, Utena decides to beat her prince for Anthy's sake.
Episode 15: The Landscape Framed by Kozue
Mikage and Mamiya figure that they can make use of the Student Council members to make duelists strong enough to defeat Utena. They say they were defeated just because they couldn't control their minds, not because of their skills. They say if they arrange someone whose mind they can control and make him/her draw the sword and skill from a student council member, then maybe it is possible to make a duelist and have him/her defeat Utena by mind-controlling.
Episode 10: Nanami's Precious Thing
Taking the Rose Bride to the Arena without a duel besides inflicting a wound to Touga, Saionji is now expelled from school. Nanami blames Utena for Touga's wound. Utena apologizes, but Nanami doesn't forgive her. A memory crosses her mind that she gave a kitten to Touga as a birthday present when they were very young, and later, from jealousy she killed the kitten. At Touga's birthday party, Utena brings a bunch of flowers to express her gratitude. But Nanami is very upset. Touga suggests them fighting a duel on the Arena by the code of the
Episode 16: The Cowbell of Happiness
Nanami holds a party to show off her designer's brand pendant. However, Juri shows up with a more gourgeous pendant. Luckily for Nanami, a packet comes for Nanami and according to Juri and Miki, the designer's brand is the top class. Nanami decides to wear it. However, the thing appears to be just a cowbell. Not knowing what a cowbell is for, from then on, Nanami is always wearing it and showing it off. Other people are aware of it, but can't bring themselves to tell her the truth. What's worse, Nanami is gradually turning into a cow because of the curse of the cowbell.
Episode 9: The Castle Said to Hold Eternity
In the Kendo Dojo, Saionji and Touga are fighting a Kendo duel. Touga defeats Saionji by a narrow margin. Utena hears from Saionji that they has fought hundreds of duels in the last ten years. Saionji also tells Utena that he wants to win the duels and take Anthy to the midair castle above the Arena. A memory crosses his mind about that raining day when he was a young boy... One day, he receives a letter from the Ends of the World, in which they say the castle will fall down to the Arena today. On the other hand, Utena gets a phone call from someone and he says Anthy is being kidnapped at the Forest of the Arena.
Episode 17: The Thorns of Death
Shiori, who Juri got a secret crush on, has transferred back to Ohtori Academy. Juri, however, is so cold to her. Shiori thinks the reason is that she took a guy she thought Juri had a crush on away from her. But Juri tells her that she didn't even care about that. Shiori wonders then whose picture is in Juri's locket. One day, Juri finally decides to throw her locket away. However, someone picks it up and puts it in Shiori's dorm room so that Shiori will find what's inside. Now Shiori knows that Juri has been suffering from the secret crush on her. Shiori feels relieved from the sense of inferiority that she has been suffering from and struggling to get over with for a long time. Besides, she even feels a sense of superiority to Juri. However, she is also upset with the way Juri has been looking at her. "I understand." says Mikage to Shiori "I suppose you have no choice but to revolutionize the world. The way before you has been prepared."
Episode 8: Curried High Trip
Somehow, Anthy's curry and rice explodes and that shock switches Utena and Anthy's personalities. Now Utena is feminine while Anthy is tomboyish. The cause of the incident seems to be Nanami's practical joke, trying to mix in the curry the "100X Curry, an Indian Specialty Hot Enough to Make You Breathe Fire". which has mistakenly been replaced with the "Super Spicy 900 Billion X Curry, So Hot It Will Blast You to Smithereens and Make Phantom Elephants Trumpet Loudly". Scolded by her brother, Nanami flies to India to obtain more of the same spice.
Episode 18: Mitsuru's Impatience
Tsuwabuki has still been serving Nanami as if he were her servant. Tsuwabuki's friend, Mari, isn't happy with him for being like that. She says Tsuwabuki is just being taken advantage of because he is just a child. Later, he begins to realize that he is treated as a child by Nanami. He wishes he were Nanami's age. Tsuwabuki asks Utena what he has to do to become a grown-up. Utena says it is probably to experience various things. Tsuwabuki tries to "experience various things" by watching kiss-scenes in films. Mari makes a fun of him, saying it is obvious that one who has experienced a real kiss is more grown up than one who has seen a hundred kiss-scenes. Tsuwabuki tries to do it with Mari and gets slapped. Nanami witnesses. When she asks him about the affair, Tsuwabuki realizes that he is treated as a child after all. At Nemuro Memorial Hall, he confesses that he wishes to grow up right now. Mikage takes advantage of him.
Episode 7: Unfulfilled Juri
Juri believes there are no miracles. In the past, she secretly loved someone, but she couldn't win the person's heart. She thinks if there were miracles, she could have achieved her love. One day, Juri talks with Utena, and she gets enraged by Utena's words that she believes in miracles for the destiny between her "prince" and herself. Juri challenges Utena to a duel and tells her to show that there are miracles by defeating Juri by a miracle.
Episode 19: A Song for a Kingdom Now Lost
One day, Utena receives a love-letter from a guy. And the guy turns out to be Wakaba's childhood friend, Tatsuya, who she calls "Onion Prince". The reason why she named him "Onion Prince" is that when they were very young and she was made fun of her hair as "Onion Headed", he helped her out as "Onion Prince" (but the flashback doesn't look like...). Gradually, Utena figures out that Wakaba is still in love with him. Utena tells Wakaba to be more honest. Besides, Utena also finds that Tatsuya is actually still in love with Wakaba and the reason why he sent Utena a love-letter is to get close to Wakaba. Then Utena tells Tatsuya that it's worth confessing his feelings to Wakaba because Utena is sure that they are both in love with each other. Now what's left is that Tatsuya confesses to her on the hill with the legendary tree. So far such a beautiful story! However...