Shiori Takatsuki (Utena the movie: Adolescence Mokushiroku)
Title: The Poison Vine
Author: gaisce
Spoilers: Heavy spoiler analysis for the movie and episodes 7 and 17 in series
“I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,”
-“The Poison Tree” by William Blake
The hardest part about writing a character essay about Shiori Takatsuki is discovering that she’s not a character in and of herself. She’s a symbolic figure, and a darkened mirror image and a foil but there is something not quite whole about her that leaves one grasping for understanding.
To be fair, the movie version Adolescence Mokushiroku (Adolescence Apocalypse) is essentially an alternative universe of the founding series and manga, Shoujo Kakumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena), which leaves the entire cast stripped down to a perspective for the roles and relationships suitable for the format. However, it is only Shiori’s character that is a complete departure in form and temperament from her previous role. Her path is an interesting one, developing from nonexistent in the manga, a catalyst for some characters in the series, to the main antagonist in the movie.
The Garden of Ohtori: The Utena-verse
“I won’t let you be the only one that escapes this world!”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (dub)
It’s a good idea to give warning to all people not familiar with Utena that the story is an acid-trip of symbolism and fractured fairytales, while Adolescence Mokushiroku ups the dosage into PCP-levels. The common theme of all of them is that once upon a time a girl named Utena Tenjou suffered a life-altering trauma that left her broken of the will to live until a prince came and saved her. Instead of the usual prince and princess routine Utena’s love manifests as a desire to emulate her prince, which inevitably gets her involved in defending the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya, from a secret organization of duelists that fight to possess her so they may “revolutionize the world” and achieve whatever deep-seated wish they hold.
Most of the conflict is not the characters crossing swords but emotional battles, either against those who stand in the way or a struggle in the self over what is craved and what the world dictates. Those who act as the villains of Utena usually have the same motivations as the so-called heroes, but they are more willing to submit to their darker aspects and in turn hurt others to get what they want.
The theme of corruption runs deep in Utena. It is the foundation of the antagonists, both as their reason for evil and their main way of coercion. The villain in the manga/series is Akio Ohtori, Anthy’s brother and Utena’s former prince, but he has since fallen from grace like the devil he personifies. His desire to regain his former glory is why he sets up the duels and uses his sister as a prize, all so that he can achieve revolution for his own ends. Every movement and conflict is under his orchestration seemed to subvert even the noblest of character, which is what made the series so interesting.
So imagine my surprise when in the movie it was not the demonic Akio Ohtori that arises to manipulate events between Utena and the Student Council, but the former side-character of Shiori Takatsuki-a girl whose prior motivation was her own insecurity; now transformed into a creature that cares nothing for gaining revolution or obtaining the Rose Bride but simply ensuring that no one else gets the opportunity.
Studying the “Character Gallery”: Where Shiori started and what led her to Adolescence
“You must hate me for what I’ve done.”
-Shiori Takatsuki, series episode 7 “Unfulfilled Juri”
I started watching the Utena series about four years ago, during the lag where the dubbing company had completed the first season and looked as if they were never going to translate further. It was also around that time that Adolescence Mokushiroku was released and the fansubbing community just finished their version. Cheapskate that I am, I waited until I could get both the series and the movie before buying, which left me with a lengthy amount of time to analyze the canon from what I had (namely the first season) and then watch the stark difference in her incarnations back to back.
The first season features Shiori only though a picture and a memory. She is the reason the Student Council Treasurer, Juri Arisugawa, duels in the game and it’s symbolized by her picture in Juri’s locket. Yet Shiori’s harmful acts are not at all like Akio’s or Anthy’s; indeed, they are rather petty. She seduced a boy who was their mutual friend because she thought Juri liked him, leaving school with him in tow. Juri is obviously devastated from the act as seen whenever she has flashbacks to the way things were.
What is construed from Shiori’s actions toward Juri is that she is horribly insecure of herself, so Shiori mutually depends on and resents others for that exact weakness. She honestly wanted to love the boy, but knew the ulterior motive for taking him away from Juri was out of spite. And yet, at the same time Shiori is ignorant of how she really hurt Juri, because Juri’s main affliction comes from the fact that the one she truly loved was Shiori, and despite the betrayal she can neither bring herself to let go nor confess her feelings.
There is a lot of debate over Shiori’s motives after the fact, where she returns in the second season. She, like many of the side characters, becomes a one episode duelist as her resentments lead to revealing the very ugly nature of her jealousy. Shiori is the one who seems the most unreasonably vindictive in her transformation, where her overtures of reconciliation turn into gloating once she discovers Juri’s locket. In the confessional elevator she describes her happiness that she finally has something to lord over her friend and that it gives a sense of self that she never had before-that she’s finally beaten her. However, once it sinks in that Juri does indeed love her, she becomes hysterical and starts screaming.
“I can just see her, alone and miserable, looking at my picture. Poor Juri. Poor pathetic Juri. It’s no use! It’s still no use! Why do you look at me like that?! Why! Why does it have to be this way?!”
-Shiori Takatsuki, series episode 17 “Thorns of Death” (subtitled)
That speech can be taken any number of ways, as the Japanese itself is ambiguous. Official and fan subtitles are close in translating her shock along the lines of realizing how futile Juri’s subjugation is in making her feel better about herself. Or expressing a kind of frustrated remorse for causing her pain as well as disbelief that Juri would have feelings for her that could have arisen from her self-loathing. The dub takes more of a relationship slant, where she instead screams at Juri for not confessing to her, and translates the “it’s no use” as “it’s not good enough.” Any number of theories can be attributed to her words and this obviously leads to vastly different views of Shiori’s nature.
Regardless, once Shiori is defeated by Utena her memory of this confession is erased. Later on, the entire second season is wiped from the cast’s collective memory, save for Akio and Anthy. This leaves Shiori at the same place she was before in the first season, where she proceeds to act in the exact same way in the rest of the series, but with disastrous results that may or may not have left her with the will to sincerely attempt changing herself.
We never find out what she really meant in her moment of hysteria. It’s not even concrete how much she truly meant during her confession. It’s pure speculation on the influence of the black rose either bringing out her dark side or amplifying it to unnatural proportions, not to mention the fact that she’s a proven liar if it suits her needs. Yet Shiori claims during the duel that this embittered version is the truth, “the real me that surpasses the light.” And whether or not it was an act this “true” nature seems to be the jumping off point for the development of the movie version.
Lazarus’ Message: Truth, lies and scandalous videotapes
“Shiori’s feelings are like that of a ghost. When you come right down to it, Shiori is a character that’s possessed...She’s very self-conscious about being possessed but she’s not one who would do anything about it herself.”
- director Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
Shiori Takatsuki of the movie is different creature than her series counterpart. Whereas Shiori in the series is tormented by being in the shadow of those she perceives as special, Shiori of the movie is confident and set apart. You can see it the very instant she comes onscreen, as her character design is different from the other students but close enough to “normal” that she blends. Her uniform is accentuated with ruffles in her sleeves, underskirt and stockings but she doesn’t wear a distinct Student Council uniform or one like Utena’s.
In a canon that makes clear distinction between the special characters and those that are normal, it is anomalous to see Shiori exercise both roles. However this makes an important distinction in Shiori Takatsuki as someone who is hanging between opposites, she exists in both spheres of the duelists and the spectators. And more importantly as a link between the living and the dead.
For someone who has a lot of influence Shiori acts childish in many respects. Her voice switches from vindictive to petulant with ease, her dialogue contains colloquialisms that people in either young or stereotypical feminine roles would assume. For example, instead of using the symbolic term “engaged” to describe her old romance she uses “gone steady.” When she asks Juri and Touga to do things for her she adds the negative softener in examples like “you’ll beat her, won’t you?” to accentuate her point.
This is the way she works. Though she’s fully aware of her manipulative abilities she prefers playing the damsel in distress. The distance she places on outsiders as compared to the intimacy she gives those who work for her, such as sleeping with Touga or grazing Juri’s hand, is like a princess bestowing favors but they mean very little to her. And in a movie where the characters have to sacrifice in order to grow up in order to escape to “the outside world,” Shiori is the only one who remains firmly entrenched in her childhood trappings, where even her last words are insisting that she is the only one worth anything.
Shiori is careful to build upon herself as a way of enhancing her ideal to be special. There are scenes where she paints her nails or has Touga do it for her. When he goes to sleep she draws a character named Keroppon on his back, and later on it becomes a rival for Anthy’s animal familiar in a “scandalous video.” These rituals of beautification and possession are not to catch the attention of others, but seem to portray a theme of the movie that there is beauty even in evil things. Shiori is beautiful in her moments, just as she is incredibly weak even when she exercises the most control.
The Princes Intended: Sans Foy, Sans Joy, and Sans Loy
“Everything here is built entirely around the prince. Yet there is no prince in the flesh. That’s why this dueling game is necessary in order to fill that void.”
-Touga Kiryuu, movie (dub)
The idealism of the prince’s role is what drives Utena Tenjou into the games that make up the bulk of the movie’s plot. But there are many types of princes in this world, as well as their foils who could either compliment or hinder them. Shiori is symbolically tied to all of them in some way, and we discover later on that it is the tragedy of loving the prince/princess ideal that has drove her to become what she is. In a way, Shiori is the character that embodies the negative traits of those who are aspiring princes. She gives voice to Touga’s presence, she has Juri enslaved into the role of her protector, and her attempts to expose Anthy’s crimes is the final rallying point for Utena to decide on traveling to the outside world.
“Which reminds me, I used to have a prince myself. But that prince died. An old friend of mine killed him...”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (fansub)
Regardless of where one stands viewing in the relationship of Juri and Shiori in the series, compared to their movie incarnations all the bitterness and secrets between them look positively hospitable in light of what they mean to each other in Adolescence. They are still old childhood friends; Juri still wears a locket that holds Shiori’s picture in it, but from there on their dynamic is one fueled by hate and regret. Whereas Shiori before had ambivalent feelings, one could assume there might be a genuine love she holds toward Juri for being kind to her even as she self-destructs their relationship. Yet Shiori’s main conviction in the movie is her hatred of Juri, and she declares her intentions to make her suffer for all time.
The introduction to Shiori has her idly scribbling down a letter. This contrasts the series version where Shiori’s first mention comes from Juri reading a letter from her. In a way it is reflecting they come full circle. Where we see Juri’s perspective in the series, Shiori gets to tell her side in the movie. And it is a sad tale, confusing and strangely detached when she tells it, but it the creation of what Shiori came to be.
Their entire relationship deconstructed on a day long ago when a boy drowned. The theme of drowning is seen in all incarnations of Utena, and it is hinged on the themes of memory and princely sacrifice. Shiori tells Touga that the boy was her sweetheart and they were supposed to have dated. It was because Juri fell into the water that he jumped in and saved her at the cost of his own life. In a strange echo, Shiori supplies the reason was “he was in love with her.”
“But he went missing. So I’ll never forgive her. I’ll make her be the prince for the rest of her life.”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (sub)
Shiori had either symbolically or emotionally acquired Juri as her champion because of the prince’s sacrifice. Whether or not the title of prince became Shiori’s idea of a curse after his death, she shows how much she detests the chivalrous ideals that cost the boy his life. Even as she demands Juri to abide by them as a punishment. On the other hand, Shiori makes use of the conventional weapons of a Japanese schoolgirl-namely flirting, gossip and verbal backstabbing.
“She has my photo in the locket and stares at it when she’s by herself. It makes me so sick. It’s become a rumor and I’m haunted by it.”
“Ah, I wonder who was spreading the rumor.”
Shiori and Touga- movie (dub)
Juri doesn’t appear to enjoy her yoke any more than Shiori does at the trade off. When she and Miki are alone in the garage, Juri confesses her reason for dueling is to escape everything that constrains her. Miki is confused as to what that means until Shiori literally steps out of the darkness and induces Juri to duel against Utena. It is only then, with Shiori’s arms tightly wound against Juri’s own, that Miki whispers back her reason with sudden clarity.
“The reason that Shiori is with Touga is because we wanted to convey the sense that Shiori is one who is haunted by the dead.”
- director Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
All of the real princes have died in this world. They only exist as lingering memories, so since Touga and Akio are real princes-and effectively dead-Shiori takes up the mantle of the orchestration. She was apparently drawn into the duels by a phone call from Akio, with Touga beside her as a lover and conspirator for most of the film.
Touga and Shiori exist in limbo, a room covered entirely with white sheets that serves as their only meeting place. As the back story of the Rose Bride and the Prince is uncovered, more sheets slip away to show paintings of the fairy tale as it unfolds. Touga himself is uncovered by a sheet when Shiori asks him what he meant when he reflects that Utena is dreaming. From there on they discuss how he will grasp the power of revolution and why Shiori assists him.
I think the Touga and Shiori dynamic is the most interesting, especially considering every conversation they have is loaded with double meaning and symbolism. Most of the movie’s so-called non sequiturs end up providing information in their actions. Even more than that, there are scenes where the visual metaphors take over the storytelling.
In the arguably best scene of the movie, Touga describes how his “father” bought him and chased him into a cabbage field where he was sexually violated. This scene uses two ways of telling the story, with Touga’s narration giving way to a dialogue with Shiori and the merging of their limbo into images of his past. As he reminisces, the bed sheets begin winding into a spindle that transforms into a cocoon. The image is then juxtaposed with Shiori’s naked form sprouting wings that are the same white color of the sheets. The artistic implication that this is his baptism of fire, the first inclination to the drive that keeps Touga lingering in the living world. Shiori is a spectator to the event, and when everything is finished and Touga lies helplessly on the ground he stares up at the shadows of the moths that are flying away. The sequence ends when the winged Shiori flies toward him with her arms outstretched, it blacks out and returns to the normal world (if there’s such a definition in Utena).
“And the meaning of this, Shiori’s malicious feelings and Touga’s sad past…they join and come together as one force of evil.”
-Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
Touga relives his worst moment with Shiori beside him. It is only in his refusal to harm Juri that he returns to their world. Shiori asks him why not and as he drifts off to sleep he says that duelists have high ideals. Though Shiori doesn’t press the issue further, the way she leans over him in silence shows that their relationship is something more than a mutual parasitic bond. For her to play such an important and symbolic role in Touga’s memory shows that while they may not be the romantic ideals, there is something more than lusting for power. Their intimacy seems like a twisted kind of mockery of how Utena and Touga’s past relationship was. And considering the events that Touga was the one who drowned while saving Juri, it leaves a lot to be answered.
“Playing prince because of some guy?”
“It’s wrong for someone like that to get the power to revolutionize the world, isn’t it?”
-Juri and Shiori, movie (sub)
When Shiori incites Juri to fight Utena, one can see how the duelists were characterized to play off each other. Juri is annoyed with Utena’s reason for dueling because she is trying to reconcile with Touga, while at the same time Touga’s death is forcing her to act as a prince. Utena ends up dueling Juri in order to protect Anthy, which is the polar opposite of how the prince/princess dynamic works with Juri and Shiori. Where Juri resents, Utena accepts. Where Anthy’s passive behavior has the foundation of sacrifice and love, Shiori’s is based on selfishness and an unwillingness to grow.
Shiori’s hatred of Utena probably sprang from different sources. The fact that she is very similar to Juri, that she protects the Rose Bride and her role as the duel’s victor seem like the main reasons. When Touga makes reference to Utena, Shiori ignores it and speaks of her own past and her prince. It seems likely that she is very aware that Touga and Utena were once-and still are-in love. However she doesn’t display the same jealousy or resentment that motivates her beseeching Touga to hurt Juri.
When Juri fails, Shiori steps in to discredit Anthy with a videotape proving that she “killed” Akio Ohtori. Utena is shocked but still chases after Anthy. The path she takes leads her to an elevator, much like the confessional that Shiori first screamed out her weaknesses in the series. Except for Utena her weakness is Touga, who stands across from her and provides the final temptation for her to overcome: stay with the one she loves and forsake Anthy, or continue on and leave him behind.
This exchange is ironically the most information we get about Shiori, despite her never being mentioned. Utena says that she forgot how they broke up, but his sudden abandonment was what made her want to be a prince. Utena recalls that their breakup wasn’t how she remembered it, as Touga stares off to the side like in the butterfly scene where the true images of their memories are interposed with their conversation. She suddenly blurts out that she remembers a boy who drowned at the time they separated, and as the memory continues we see for our own eyes that it was Touga.
“Utena, won’t you come with me? I’m always thinking of you. I promise to love you until the end of the world. Isn’t that enough? Let’s be happy here.”
“You said that back then too.”
-Touga and Utena, movie (dub)
Utena feels responsible for his death, and she relates to Anthy because they both killed their princes. Anthy is responsible for letting her brother do evil things that led to his downfall; and Utena’s guilt by calling for him to help the drowning girl when he had already walked away. And right until that moment Utena had repressed her guilt and her connection to Touga’s drowning, just as Shiori did earlier.
The scene itself is very confusing. Relationships are suddenly discovered after those involved only mentioned it indirectly. When the movie first came out many fans thought Shiori had pushed Juri into the river out of spite; however, there was no one around when Juri fell from her boat. It also calls into question Touga’s role. It may be very easy for Shiori to lie and delude herself that Touga loved her, to embellish it like she did her relationships in the series, but then why was Touga with her? Why does Juri, who was forced to take up Touga’s mantle, love Shiori so?
The elevator confessional provides speculation for any numerous possibilities. I tend to think that Shiori is a manifestation of Utena’s dark and flawed side. It explains why they are the only two who remember Touga and why Touga is in his relationship with Shiori. At the moment of his death the part that is Utena moved on and decided to become a prince, the part that is Shiori decided to latch onto his death and subsequently sealed her own fate by refusing to move on. It’s why she literally sleeps with ghosts, why she is so desperate to cling onto Juri’s role even though she despises her and sees her as a murderer, and why she absolutely refuses to let Anthy move on.
Of course that doesn’t stop Anthy and Utena from doing so. And without Touga or Juri to rely on it’s only a matter of time before Shiori follows with her own undoing.
The Point of No Return: It’s Finally Over
Shiori’s final appearance comes after the elevator confessional, in a section of the movie that most fans still have trouble discussing because it is simply beyond explanation. So I’ll spare the speculation and say it.
She turns into a car.
Shiori turns into a car because Utena has turned into a car in order to escape to the outside world. While Anthy is driving the Utena car, Shiori comes up from behind them and tries to run them off the road. She is at her last resort, with no one else to turn to and the only thing left to drive her is her hatred. She rails against them as she tries to push them off the road, telling them that she is the only one deserving of going to the outside world.
However, the idea that a car needs a driver just like a princess needs a prince seems to hold true here. While Shiori is so busy declaring her superiority she hits an orange cone, then another, and a few more until she hits the partition and tumbles across the highway until she is no more than burning wreckage.
I fully admit that I laughed when I saw it. I was ecstatic that she failed after all the misery she put the characters through. It was a fitting end for someone so singled-minded that they are unable to avoid the obvious danger in front of them. And a lot of others see this as a deserving fate because Shiori is very successful at being a villain you can hate, whose every word you want to deny. To quote a character from the series about her: “She’s selfish, pushy, self-centered, and a liar to boot. Sorry, but who the hell would want someone like that?”
With the exception of masochists I can’t think of anyone, so it begs the question: Why write about her?
That’s exactly why. She’s vindictive, petty, and completely twisted, but you can’t help pitying her. It’s not the pity one would feel from a weak character or a victim, but it’s that kind of hopelessness that one arrives at the irredeemable. And movie Shiori is indeed unredeemable. You can see the tragedies and failures that shaped her life and set her on the path to self-destruction, but unlike Utena or Juri she is incapable of becoming better from it. You don’t feel sorry for her actions, but for all that she represents.
For every dashing prince there has to be someone who failed, someone who drowned or someone who needs saving. Shiori is the character in Adolescence that is so compelling in her misery. Her journey is very static, but the way she pushes the other characters and reflects against them makes her the vital link of the movie. Her intricacies and inconsistencies make up the kind of engaging character story that keeps you coming back and looking at it from a different angle over and over again. It makes you question if that kind of hatred exists in everyone, and although most people don’t want to admit it Shiori makes an engaging case otherwise.
Stories and Essays (Given Shiori’s role in the movie, some of the stories contain sex, squick and other elements that aren’t for everyone)
“Other People” by Jon Carp
“Butterfly in Nine Laps: Shiori” by Luc Court
“Color Comparison” by girlchild
“Symbiosis” by whispering-wings
“Papillion” by Kristine
Official Fanlisting
Poisonous Mistress -this site makes no distinction between series and movie versions.
Author: gaisce
Spoilers: Heavy spoiler analysis for the movie and episodes 7 and 17 in series
“I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe;
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water'd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with my smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright;
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,”
-“The Poison Tree” by William Blake
The hardest part about writing a character essay about Shiori Takatsuki is discovering that she’s not a character in and of herself. She’s a symbolic figure, and a darkened mirror image and a foil but there is something not quite whole about her that leaves one grasping for understanding.
To be fair, the movie version Adolescence Mokushiroku (Adolescence Apocalypse) is essentially an alternative universe of the founding series and manga, Shoujo Kakumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena), which leaves the entire cast stripped down to a perspective for the roles and relationships suitable for the format. However, it is only Shiori’s character that is a complete departure in form and temperament from her previous role. Her path is an interesting one, developing from nonexistent in the manga, a catalyst for some characters in the series, to the main antagonist in the movie.
The Garden of Ohtori: The Utena-verse
“I won’t let you be the only one that escapes this world!”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (dub)
It’s a good idea to give warning to all people not familiar with Utena that the story is an acid-trip of symbolism and fractured fairytales, while Adolescence Mokushiroku ups the dosage into PCP-levels. The common theme of all of them is that once upon a time a girl named Utena Tenjou suffered a life-altering trauma that left her broken of the will to live until a prince came and saved her. Instead of the usual prince and princess routine Utena’s love manifests as a desire to emulate her prince, which inevitably gets her involved in defending the Rose Bride, Anthy Himemiya, from a secret organization of duelists that fight to possess her so they may “revolutionize the world” and achieve whatever deep-seated wish they hold.
Most of the conflict is not the characters crossing swords but emotional battles, either against those who stand in the way or a struggle in the self over what is craved and what the world dictates. Those who act as the villains of Utena usually have the same motivations as the so-called heroes, but they are more willing to submit to their darker aspects and in turn hurt others to get what they want.
The theme of corruption runs deep in Utena. It is the foundation of the antagonists, both as their reason for evil and their main way of coercion. The villain in the manga/series is Akio Ohtori, Anthy’s brother and Utena’s former prince, but he has since fallen from grace like the devil he personifies. His desire to regain his former glory is why he sets up the duels and uses his sister as a prize, all so that he can achieve revolution for his own ends. Every movement and conflict is under his orchestration seemed to subvert even the noblest of character, which is what made the series so interesting.
So imagine my surprise when in the movie it was not the demonic Akio Ohtori that arises to manipulate events between Utena and the Student Council, but the former side-character of Shiori Takatsuki-a girl whose prior motivation was her own insecurity; now transformed into a creature that cares nothing for gaining revolution or obtaining the Rose Bride but simply ensuring that no one else gets the opportunity.
Studying the “Character Gallery”: Where Shiori started and what led her to Adolescence
“You must hate me for what I’ve done.”
-Shiori Takatsuki, series episode 7 “Unfulfilled Juri”
I started watching the Utena series about four years ago, during the lag where the dubbing company had completed the first season and looked as if they were never going to translate further. It was also around that time that Adolescence Mokushiroku was released and the fansubbing community just finished their version. Cheapskate that I am, I waited until I could get both the series and the movie before buying, which left me with a lengthy amount of time to analyze the canon from what I had (namely the first season) and then watch the stark difference in her incarnations back to back.
The first season features Shiori only though a picture and a memory. She is the reason the Student Council Treasurer, Juri Arisugawa, duels in the game and it’s symbolized by her picture in Juri’s locket. Yet Shiori’s harmful acts are not at all like Akio’s or Anthy’s; indeed, they are rather petty. She seduced a boy who was their mutual friend because she thought Juri liked him, leaving school with him in tow. Juri is obviously devastated from the act as seen whenever she has flashbacks to the way things were.
What is construed from Shiori’s actions toward Juri is that she is horribly insecure of herself, so Shiori mutually depends on and resents others for that exact weakness. She honestly wanted to love the boy, but knew the ulterior motive for taking him away from Juri was out of spite. And yet, at the same time Shiori is ignorant of how she really hurt Juri, because Juri’s main affliction comes from the fact that the one she truly loved was Shiori, and despite the betrayal she can neither bring herself to let go nor confess her feelings.
There is a lot of debate over Shiori’s motives after the fact, where she returns in the second season. She, like many of the side characters, becomes a one episode duelist as her resentments lead to revealing the very ugly nature of her jealousy. Shiori is the one who seems the most unreasonably vindictive in her transformation, where her overtures of reconciliation turn into gloating once she discovers Juri’s locket. In the confessional elevator she describes her happiness that she finally has something to lord over her friend and that it gives a sense of self that she never had before-that she’s finally beaten her. However, once it sinks in that Juri does indeed love her, she becomes hysterical and starts screaming.
“I can just see her, alone and miserable, looking at my picture. Poor Juri. Poor pathetic Juri. It’s no use! It’s still no use! Why do you look at me like that?! Why! Why does it have to be this way?!”
-Shiori Takatsuki, series episode 17 “Thorns of Death” (subtitled)
That speech can be taken any number of ways, as the Japanese itself is ambiguous. Official and fan subtitles are close in translating her shock along the lines of realizing how futile Juri’s subjugation is in making her feel better about herself. Or expressing a kind of frustrated remorse for causing her pain as well as disbelief that Juri would have feelings for her that could have arisen from her self-loathing. The dub takes more of a relationship slant, where she instead screams at Juri for not confessing to her, and translates the “it’s no use” as “it’s not good enough.” Any number of theories can be attributed to her words and this obviously leads to vastly different views of Shiori’s nature.
Regardless, once Shiori is defeated by Utena her memory of this confession is erased. Later on, the entire second season is wiped from the cast’s collective memory, save for Akio and Anthy. This leaves Shiori at the same place she was before in the first season, where she proceeds to act in the exact same way in the rest of the series, but with disastrous results that may or may not have left her with the will to sincerely attempt changing herself.
We never find out what she really meant in her moment of hysteria. It’s not even concrete how much she truly meant during her confession. It’s pure speculation on the influence of the black rose either bringing out her dark side or amplifying it to unnatural proportions, not to mention the fact that she’s a proven liar if it suits her needs. Yet Shiori claims during the duel that this embittered version is the truth, “the real me that surpasses the light.” And whether or not it was an act this “true” nature seems to be the jumping off point for the development of the movie version.
Lazarus’ Message: Truth, lies and scandalous videotapes
“Shiori’s feelings are like that of a ghost. When you come right down to it, Shiori is a character that’s possessed...She’s very self-conscious about being possessed but she’s not one who would do anything about it herself.”
- director Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
Shiori Takatsuki of the movie is different creature than her series counterpart. Whereas Shiori in the series is tormented by being in the shadow of those she perceives as special, Shiori of the movie is confident and set apart. You can see it the very instant she comes onscreen, as her character design is different from the other students but close enough to “normal” that she blends. Her uniform is accentuated with ruffles in her sleeves, underskirt and stockings but she doesn’t wear a distinct Student Council uniform or one like Utena’s.
In a canon that makes clear distinction between the special characters and those that are normal, it is anomalous to see Shiori exercise both roles. However this makes an important distinction in Shiori Takatsuki as someone who is hanging between opposites, she exists in both spheres of the duelists and the spectators. And more importantly as a link between the living and the dead.
For someone who has a lot of influence Shiori acts childish in many respects. Her voice switches from vindictive to petulant with ease, her dialogue contains colloquialisms that people in either young or stereotypical feminine roles would assume. For example, instead of using the symbolic term “engaged” to describe her old romance she uses “gone steady.” When she asks Juri and Touga to do things for her she adds the negative softener in examples like “you’ll beat her, won’t you?” to accentuate her point.
This is the way she works. Though she’s fully aware of her manipulative abilities she prefers playing the damsel in distress. The distance she places on outsiders as compared to the intimacy she gives those who work for her, such as sleeping with Touga or grazing Juri’s hand, is like a princess bestowing favors but they mean very little to her. And in a movie where the characters have to sacrifice in order to grow up in order to escape to “the outside world,” Shiori is the only one who remains firmly entrenched in her childhood trappings, where even her last words are insisting that she is the only one worth anything.
Shiori is careful to build upon herself as a way of enhancing her ideal to be special. There are scenes where she paints her nails or has Touga do it for her. When he goes to sleep she draws a character named Keroppon on his back, and later on it becomes a rival for Anthy’s animal familiar in a “scandalous video.” These rituals of beautification and possession are not to catch the attention of others, but seem to portray a theme of the movie that there is beauty even in evil things. Shiori is beautiful in her moments, just as she is incredibly weak even when she exercises the most control.
The Princes Intended: Sans Foy, Sans Joy, and Sans Loy
“Everything here is built entirely around the prince. Yet there is no prince in the flesh. That’s why this dueling game is necessary in order to fill that void.”
-Touga Kiryuu, movie (dub)
The idealism of the prince’s role is what drives Utena Tenjou into the games that make up the bulk of the movie’s plot. But there are many types of princes in this world, as well as their foils who could either compliment or hinder them. Shiori is symbolically tied to all of them in some way, and we discover later on that it is the tragedy of loving the prince/princess ideal that has drove her to become what she is. In a way, Shiori is the character that embodies the negative traits of those who are aspiring princes. She gives voice to Touga’s presence, she has Juri enslaved into the role of her protector, and her attempts to expose Anthy’s crimes is the final rallying point for Utena to decide on traveling to the outside world.
“Which reminds me, I used to have a prince myself. But that prince died. An old friend of mine killed him...”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (fansub)
Regardless of where one stands viewing in the relationship of Juri and Shiori in the series, compared to their movie incarnations all the bitterness and secrets between them look positively hospitable in light of what they mean to each other in Adolescence. They are still old childhood friends; Juri still wears a locket that holds Shiori’s picture in it, but from there on their dynamic is one fueled by hate and regret. Whereas Shiori before had ambivalent feelings, one could assume there might be a genuine love she holds toward Juri for being kind to her even as she self-destructs their relationship. Yet Shiori’s main conviction in the movie is her hatred of Juri, and she declares her intentions to make her suffer for all time.
The introduction to Shiori has her idly scribbling down a letter. This contrasts the series version where Shiori’s first mention comes from Juri reading a letter from her. In a way it is reflecting they come full circle. Where we see Juri’s perspective in the series, Shiori gets to tell her side in the movie. And it is a sad tale, confusing and strangely detached when she tells it, but it the creation of what Shiori came to be.
Their entire relationship deconstructed on a day long ago when a boy drowned. The theme of drowning is seen in all incarnations of Utena, and it is hinged on the themes of memory and princely sacrifice. Shiori tells Touga that the boy was her sweetheart and they were supposed to have dated. It was because Juri fell into the water that he jumped in and saved her at the cost of his own life. In a strange echo, Shiori supplies the reason was “he was in love with her.”
“But he went missing. So I’ll never forgive her. I’ll make her be the prince for the rest of her life.”
-Shiori Takatsuki, movie (sub)
Shiori had either symbolically or emotionally acquired Juri as her champion because of the prince’s sacrifice. Whether or not the title of prince became Shiori’s idea of a curse after his death, she shows how much she detests the chivalrous ideals that cost the boy his life. Even as she demands Juri to abide by them as a punishment. On the other hand, Shiori makes use of the conventional weapons of a Japanese schoolgirl-namely flirting, gossip and verbal backstabbing.
“She has my photo in the locket and stares at it when she’s by herself. It makes me so sick. It’s become a rumor and I’m haunted by it.”
“Ah, I wonder who was spreading the rumor.”
Shiori and Touga- movie (dub)
Juri doesn’t appear to enjoy her yoke any more than Shiori does at the trade off. When she and Miki are alone in the garage, Juri confesses her reason for dueling is to escape everything that constrains her. Miki is confused as to what that means until Shiori literally steps out of the darkness and induces Juri to duel against Utena. It is only then, with Shiori’s arms tightly wound against Juri’s own, that Miki whispers back her reason with sudden clarity.
“The reason that Shiori is with Touga is because we wanted to convey the sense that Shiori is one who is haunted by the dead.”
- director Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
All of the real princes have died in this world. They only exist as lingering memories, so since Touga and Akio are real princes-and effectively dead-Shiori takes up the mantle of the orchestration. She was apparently drawn into the duels by a phone call from Akio, with Touga beside her as a lover and conspirator for most of the film.
Touga and Shiori exist in limbo, a room covered entirely with white sheets that serves as their only meeting place. As the back story of the Rose Bride and the Prince is uncovered, more sheets slip away to show paintings of the fairy tale as it unfolds. Touga himself is uncovered by a sheet when Shiori asks him what he meant when he reflects that Utena is dreaming. From there on they discuss how he will grasp the power of revolution and why Shiori assists him.
I think the Touga and Shiori dynamic is the most interesting, especially considering every conversation they have is loaded with double meaning and symbolism. Most of the movie’s so-called non sequiturs end up providing information in their actions. Even more than that, there are scenes where the visual metaphors take over the storytelling.
In the arguably best scene of the movie, Touga describes how his “father” bought him and chased him into a cabbage field where he was sexually violated. This scene uses two ways of telling the story, with Touga’s narration giving way to a dialogue with Shiori and the merging of their limbo into images of his past. As he reminisces, the bed sheets begin winding into a spindle that transforms into a cocoon. The image is then juxtaposed with Shiori’s naked form sprouting wings that are the same white color of the sheets. The artistic implication that this is his baptism of fire, the first inclination to the drive that keeps Touga lingering in the living world. Shiori is a spectator to the event, and when everything is finished and Touga lies helplessly on the ground he stares up at the shadows of the moths that are flying away. The sequence ends when the winged Shiori flies toward him with her arms outstretched, it blacks out and returns to the normal world (if there’s such a definition in Utena).
“And the meaning of this, Shiori’s malicious feelings and Touga’s sad past…they join and come together as one force of evil.”
-Kuniko Ikuhara, movie DVD commentary
Touga relives his worst moment with Shiori beside him. It is only in his refusal to harm Juri that he returns to their world. Shiori asks him why not and as he drifts off to sleep he says that duelists have high ideals. Though Shiori doesn’t press the issue further, the way she leans over him in silence shows that their relationship is something more than a mutual parasitic bond. For her to play such an important and symbolic role in Touga’s memory shows that while they may not be the romantic ideals, there is something more than lusting for power. Their intimacy seems like a twisted kind of mockery of how Utena and Touga’s past relationship was. And considering the events that Touga was the one who drowned while saving Juri, it leaves a lot to be answered.
“Playing prince because of some guy?”
“It’s wrong for someone like that to get the power to revolutionize the world, isn’t it?”
-Juri and Shiori, movie (sub)
When Shiori incites Juri to fight Utena, one can see how the duelists were characterized to play off each other. Juri is annoyed with Utena’s reason for dueling because she is trying to reconcile with Touga, while at the same time Touga’s death is forcing her to act as a prince. Utena ends up dueling Juri in order to protect Anthy, which is the polar opposite of how the prince/princess dynamic works with Juri and Shiori. Where Juri resents, Utena accepts. Where Anthy’s passive behavior has the foundation of sacrifice and love, Shiori’s is based on selfishness and an unwillingness to grow.
Shiori’s hatred of Utena probably sprang from different sources. The fact that she is very similar to Juri, that she protects the Rose Bride and her role as the duel’s victor seem like the main reasons. When Touga makes reference to Utena, Shiori ignores it and speaks of her own past and her prince. It seems likely that she is very aware that Touga and Utena were once-and still are-in love. However she doesn’t display the same jealousy or resentment that motivates her beseeching Touga to hurt Juri.
When Juri fails, Shiori steps in to discredit Anthy with a videotape proving that she “killed” Akio Ohtori. Utena is shocked but still chases after Anthy. The path she takes leads her to an elevator, much like the confessional that Shiori first screamed out her weaknesses in the series. Except for Utena her weakness is Touga, who stands across from her and provides the final temptation for her to overcome: stay with the one she loves and forsake Anthy, or continue on and leave him behind.
This exchange is ironically the most information we get about Shiori, despite her never being mentioned. Utena says that she forgot how they broke up, but his sudden abandonment was what made her want to be a prince. Utena recalls that their breakup wasn’t how she remembered it, as Touga stares off to the side like in the butterfly scene where the true images of their memories are interposed with their conversation. She suddenly blurts out that she remembers a boy who drowned at the time they separated, and as the memory continues we see for our own eyes that it was Touga.
“Utena, won’t you come with me? I’m always thinking of you. I promise to love you until the end of the world. Isn’t that enough? Let’s be happy here.”
“You said that back then too.”
-Touga and Utena, movie (dub)
Utena feels responsible for his death, and she relates to Anthy because they both killed their princes. Anthy is responsible for letting her brother do evil things that led to his downfall; and Utena’s guilt by calling for him to help the drowning girl when he had already walked away. And right until that moment Utena had repressed her guilt and her connection to Touga’s drowning, just as Shiori did earlier.
The scene itself is very confusing. Relationships are suddenly discovered after those involved only mentioned it indirectly. When the movie first came out many fans thought Shiori had pushed Juri into the river out of spite; however, there was no one around when Juri fell from her boat. It also calls into question Touga’s role. It may be very easy for Shiori to lie and delude herself that Touga loved her, to embellish it like she did her relationships in the series, but then why was Touga with her? Why does Juri, who was forced to take up Touga’s mantle, love Shiori so?
The elevator confessional provides speculation for any numerous possibilities. I tend to think that Shiori is a manifestation of Utena’s dark and flawed side. It explains why they are the only two who remember Touga and why Touga is in his relationship with Shiori. At the moment of his death the part that is Utena moved on and decided to become a prince, the part that is Shiori decided to latch onto his death and subsequently sealed her own fate by refusing to move on. It’s why she literally sleeps with ghosts, why she is so desperate to cling onto Juri’s role even though she despises her and sees her as a murderer, and why she absolutely refuses to let Anthy move on.
Of course that doesn’t stop Anthy and Utena from doing so. And without Touga or Juri to rely on it’s only a matter of time before Shiori follows with her own undoing.
The Point of No Return: It’s Finally Over
Shiori’s final appearance comes after the elevator confessional, in a section of the movie that most fans still have trouble discussing because it is simply beyond explanation. So I’ll spare the speculation and say it.
She turns into a car.
Shiori turns into a car because Utena has turned into a car in order to escape to the outside world. While Anthy is driving the Utena car, Shiori comes up from behind them and tries to run them off the road. She is at her last resort, with no one else to turn to and the only thing left to drive her is her hatred. She rails against them as she tries to push them off the road, telling them that she is the only one deserving of going to the outside world.
However, the idea that a car needs a driver just like a princess needs a prince seems to hold true here. While Shiori is so busy declaring her superiority she hits an orange cone, then another, and a few more until she hits the partition and tumbles across the highway until she is no more than burning wreckage.
I fully admit that I laughed when I saw it. I was ecstatic that she failed after all the misery she put the characters through. It was a fitting end for someone so singled-minded that they are unable to avoid the obvious danger in front of them. And a lot of others see this as a deserving fate because Shiori is very successful at being a villain you can hate, whose every word you want to deny. To quote a character from the series about her: “She’s selfish, pushy, self-centered, and a liar to boot. Sorry, but who the hell would want someone like that?”
With the exception of masochists I can’t think of anyone, so it begs the question: Why write about her?
That’s exactly why. She’s vindictive, petty, and completely twisted, but you can’t help pitying her. It’s not the pity one would feel from a weak character or a victim, but it’s that kind of hopelessness that one arrives at the irredeemable. And movie Shiori is indeed unredeemable. You can see the tragedies and failures that shaped her life and set her on the path to self-destruction, but unlike Utena or Juri she is incapable of becoming better from it. You don’t feel sorry for her actions, but for all that she represents.
For every dashing prince there has to be someone who failed, someone who drowned or someone who needs saving. Shiori is the character in Adolescence that is so compelling in her misery. Her journey is very static, but the way she pushes the other characters and reflects against them makes her the vital link of the movie. Her intricacies and inconsistencies make up the kind of engaging character story that keeps you coming back and looking at it from a different angle over and over again. It makes you question if that kind of hatred exists in everyone, and although most people don’t want to admit it Shiori makes an engaging case otherwise.
Stories and Essays (Given Shiori’s role in the movie, some of the stories contain sex, squick and other elements that aren’t for everyone)
“Other People” by Jon Carp
“Butterfly in Nine Laps: Shiori” by Luc Court
“Color Comparison” by girlchild
“Symbiosis” by whispering-wings
“Papillion” by Kristine
Official Fanlisting
Poisonous Mistress -this site makes no distinction between series and movie versions.