+ Touga Kiryuu - Shoujo Kakumei Utena +
Character: Touga Kiryuu
Series: Shoujo Kakumei Utena
Title: The Tragic Prince
Author: seitokaichou
Email: seitokaichou@livejournal.com
Spoilers: Mostly about the series + a little about his childhood past from the movie. Heavy on scripts so be forewarned.
Notes: It's my first time to write a character analysis. I must admit I was feeling very inferior to write one, because of the many outstanding authors out there whom I fear might regard my work as a failed attempt. I will be honest with my opinion likewise with my reasons, in hopes that I would be able to enlighten those who see Touga as nothing more than an object of hate. It would mean very much to me to share you a piece of my love dedicated to my favourite misunderstood character of all time.
WHO IS SEITOKAICHOU?
Whenever I come online to chat, a new friend can’t help but ask this seemingly unending question:
"Of all Shoujo Kakumei Utena characters, why have you chosen a name representing the most detestable character of all?"
I must admit this question never fails to stir my thoughts and amuse me at the same time. So.
Why am I enamored of a character hated by all?
Well. I believe that the key to understanding Touga’s complexity is to overlook all the qualities which make him shine-- because these qualities blind us from accepting the less seen genuine side of his personality.
Simply put?
Let me elaborate.
I wouldn’t be true to myself if I deny that part of the admiration I have for Touga was inspired by my unusual flair for good-looking men in the animé/manga world especially those who sport long gorgeous hair.
But then, I can be a walking contradiction since I’m not one of the ladies and unfortunately, I wasn’t born a man as well. But let’s not go to that. Seitokaichou is not me. Seitokaichou is Touga.
K I R Y U U 桐生 Living Paulownia
T O U G A 冬芽 Winter Bud
AGE: 17
BIRTHDAY: June 4 [Gemini]
BLOOD TYPE: A [honest, loyal, introverted]
Level: 11th Grade
AFFILIATION: Seitokai [Student Council] + Kendo Club
POSITION: Seitokaichou [Student Council President]
His beauty was simply part of why I admire him-- the trivial part to be precise. How sad though that his physical attributes seem to count more, when his character was created not just to charm the beholder’s eyes. His existence, just like every character in the mystical academy of Ohtori, has a purpose. He is as important as the main protagonist in the story. It’s like saying, if there’s a cause there’s an effect. When there is good there is evil. And for me, he is half-protagonist and half-antagonist. Not one to love at first but not one to hate for life.
Touga: And even if I'm not worthy of you, please, be with me for at least this instant.
Touga: Just that will do.
Touga: If I can just carve the memory of this night, the two of us together, within me,
Touga: That will be enough. Will you permit me that much?
Utena: I understand.
Episode 36 And the Gates of Night Open
Sure he is beautiful. A lady charmer indeed. He doesn’t even have to try so hard. He is perhaps the envy of all men in Ohtori. His cellular phone rings to no end even when night turns into day and day into night. From the Rose Garden to the Music Room, from his infamous bedroom to his favourite armchair, if not performing his illustrious mission to smash the world’s shell, he is never seen without a woman whose yearning arms are wrapped around him or at least paying attention to a woman caller who seeks not only a less savoured kiss.
Touga: Oh, I see...
Touga: What are you saying? That's not true.
Touga: I'm always thinking about you.
Touga: I've heard that story.
Touga: No, I hadn't heard that. Yeah... yeah...
Touga: Well, I'm not really doing anything right now.
Touga: It's true. Okay.
Touga: It can't be helped. I'll be there in a minute.
Touga: I'm sorry, Anthy. Wait here for a minute.
Episode 12 Perhaps for Friendship's Sake
But why did it take one lady to open his eyes to see that he can’t always have what he wants? A simple answer would be because the lady perhaps detests what he is - a playboy? But the argument begins here. Utena plays the prince who can save the day that’s why she pays no attention to any man. Perhaps she thinks that what a man can do she can do better.
Touga: Well, you look gallant and beautiful even when you're angry,
Touga: ...Tenjou... Utena-kun.
Utena: Don't get too fresh with me, Mr. President.
Touga: Take it easy. Let's be good friends.
Episode 3 On the Night of the Ball
But then another question would rise: "If so a playboy is what a woman hates then why do women still find him irresistible?"
girl: I hear there's going to be a duel in the kendo dojo!
girl: Touga-sempai and Saionji-sempai again?
Utena: A duel?
girl: Yeah, go for it!
girl: Dreamy!
girl: Oh, Touga-sama, look over here!
girl: Dreamy! Cool!
girl: Get him, Saionji-sempai!
girl: Sempai!
girl: Hooray! Hooray! Touga-sama!
girl: Get him! Get him, Saionji!
boy: Shh, they're starting.
Utena: Heh... he's pretty good.
Utena: Guess he's not just some Casanova, after all.
Utena: Looks like Mr. President won this one.
girl: Saionji-sempai!
girl: Touga-sempai is the greatest!
Girls: Oh, you are my prince!
Utena: Prince?
girl: He's so cool!
Episode 9 The Castle Said to Hold Eternity
I mean no offense but in my humble opinion, a lady who has a heart and a soul as pure as a true born female would fall for any man whether he’s handsome or not. Opposites attract as we put it. Or at least, the lady would feel attracted to some manly aspects that only she can perceive as desirable.
I’m sure most of us have lusted after beautiful men/women in our time, and that we have our own personal reason for such attraction. But most common of all, I’m sure, would be because beauty is enticing. It can ignite one’s desire as it defies self-control. And if I may say so, to add a bit of humour, Resistance is futile.
Touga: As your prince, I have something important to tell you.
Utena: Prince?
Utena: Then...
Utena: Then Mr. President is my prince after all...?
Touga: You were crying then...
Touga: ...shedding so many sparkling tears.
Utena: Yes,
Utena: I was crying then.
Utena: Are you really the one who saved me that time?
Touga: Do you want proof?
Utena: Proof?
Touga: Now, didn't it feel something like this?
Utena: He's going to kiss me...
Utena: But then, it...
Utena: ...felt like this.
Touga: Excuse me. It was imprudent...
Touga: Two Duelists, in front of the Rose Bride...
Episode 11 Graceful and Ruthless; The One Who Picks the Flower
Touga uses and abuses this physical gift because he believes that if he remains to be the center of every woman’s attention, he is the ultimate prince. If we weave through this clouded notion for acquiring the attention of women, he deserves sympathy. A sympathy for the devil, more likely. He is misunderstood by many all because he, himself, misunderstands his true nature and what he truly wants. It is so easy to mock his existence in the complex universe of Shoujo Kakumei Utena. That is, if we brand him a playboy and nothing more. In my humble opinion, that would be such an unfair act towards a character who is much more than that.
I feel pity for him but only to debase the evil in him. I feel sorry for his weakness to battle all these factors which mold him into a perfect puppet of sin. But then again, we’re only humans-- born to make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect-- true. But it’s the imperfection which makes a person change for the better.
Akio: Are you enjoying this game?
Touga: Of course.
Akio: Then, it's all right, isn't it?
Akio: Be nice to your friend.
Touga: You're an evil man, you are.
Episode 25 Our Eternal Apocalypse
I strongly believe he can be a true gentleman without the need to deceive and yet lies and deception are greatly a part of his being ambitious and hungry for power. He can be that knight in shining armor in women’s fantasy without having to devote himself to please each one of them. And yet he thinks that to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh would be his only means to prove his manliness. He can be that noble prince he dreams to be, if he will only learn that love is not as impure as giving your heart away to not one but many-- but he can’t even believe in friendship.
Touga: Don't look at me so grimly... my dear friend.
Saionji: Who's your dear friend?
Touga: How heartless...
Touga: Aren't you my one and only friend?
Saionji: Enough!
Touga: Yes, Saionji will be punished by expulsion.
Touga: Nonsense.
Touga: Anyone who truly believes he has friends is a fool.
Episode 9 The Castle Said to Hold Eternity
His corrupted faith feeds on empty promises because he seeks the realization of his wishes, even if it means being an unsuspecting victim of an illusory world. He even attempted to defile the bond between his younger sister and himself-- simply because he thought that all women were alike and they all wanted the same thing from him.
Nanami: No, let me go!
Touga: Isn't this what you always wanted me to do?
Nanami: No, it isn't!
Touga: After all, we're not siblings.
Nanami: That's not it!
Touga: Then, what do you want?!
EPISODE 32 Romance of the Dancing Girls
He believes that being a slave of passion, he treats every lady like a princess on his bed. He beguiles with sweet chivalric words because that’s his perfect instrument-- but only to put up an illusory world for any lady to believe that he is what every woman fantasizes-- a knight in shining armor.
Utena: Touga! Why?
Touga: Wasn't your prince...
Touga: ...someone like me?
Saionji: Why do you always...
Touga: I'm a gentleman, that's why.
Episode 9 The Castle Said to Hold Eternity
The way I see him, he greatly fears losing his glory.
Touga: Why have you decided to challenge me again?
Utena: It's just that there's something that I want to make more important than you.
Touga: I see.
Touga: So you've recovered yourself?
Touga: But I don't feel that I will lose to you.
Episode 12 Perhaps For Friendship’s Sake
He always wants to be the talk of the town.
It thrills him to hear his name being spoken by all.
Yuuko: Isn't that Kiryuu Touga-sama?
Aiko: It is, it's Touga-sama, the Student Council President!
Keiko: Then this girl is...
Yuuko: Touga-sama's little sister?!
Trio: It's so dreamy!
Trio: Ah, what a wonderful encounter!
Episode 21 Troublesome Insects
He rouses sexual interest. And though partly unintentional, it is to his advantage because it conspires with his trademark of manipulating his victim to get what he wants. But not everything he wants is all about making love. And I honestly say this in contradiction to all misconceptions of him being nothing more than a sinister romantic whose happiness is as trifling as a man who only seeks sexual intercourse like a hard habit to break.
Touga: Morning, Kaoru Miki-kun.
Touga: Your sister is as pretty as you are.
Touga: And just as agreeable...
Episode 5 The Sunny Garden - Finale
Touga is the Student Council President or Seitokaichou in Japanese terms. Even if he abuses this authority for simply being popular, for being a member of the elite Kiryuu household and for being secretly intimate with the Dean-- doesn’t make him less of a leader. Saionji is indeed the Kendo Captain-- but he is not Seitokaichou. Juri is the Fencing Captain but she is not placed in that high position as well. These Student Council members are no doubt superior in their standings but why is Touga Seitokaichou?
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!
Despite of popular belief that he knows how to get what he wants and because the Dean can give all of these, I humbly think he rightfully deserves the title. Not only because of his unquestionable loyalty and respect toward Rijichou, but also to his firm determination in achieving his goals-- even if it means sacrificing the trust of those who believe in him.
"A prince who desires to maintain his position must learn to be
not always good, but to be so or not, as needs require."
-Machiavelli, The Prince
From the very beginning of the series and before he finally decides to break free from Akio’s control, he remains a pawn in his princely game. And being the leader that Touga embodies to his Student Council, he maintains his position by taking full responsibility even if he becomes an epitome of arrogance and greed.
Listen, can't you hear it? So long as your soul
hasn't given up entirely, then you should be able to
hear this sound, running about the ends of the world.
Come, journey with us, to the world which you desire!
I suddenly remember being asked another question:
"I see that you have a Touga name, does that mean you find thrill in breaking women’s hearts as well?"
I firmly believe that Touga is not a heartbreaker. Every woman knows that to fall for such a foolish type is to be a fool herself. So. Why are they even swarming around him if he was that type of man? Touga’s relationship with his women is -give and take-. He steals the heart of many, yes. But he tickles their hearts with sweet lies meant to make them fall for him even more. He doesn’t make them believe nor does he promise every woman that he is their property alone. He is responsible enough that even if he seeks temporal joy in being with more than one woman, he makes sure he gives them attention-- not once but as much as they want him to.
But what really is Touga?
A PLAYBOY OR A PHILANDERER?
As described in this favourite dictionary of mine, which is Funk and Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, a playboy is one who constantly seeks pleasure at nightclubs, social gatherings, etc. While a philanderer is one who makes love without serious intentions.
The former is absolutely not Touga. He’s not the one who "constantly seeks" pleasure. The enamored ladies are the ones who seek his amourous tricks. If there is no demand there will be no room for sin. If love-struck women were not gullible, Touga’s heart would have been for one woman alone. Man is weak against temptation. So. Who is Touga to refuse a yearning lady when to conquer her is to feed his ego and please his flesh at the same time? Not to mention, it’s being served to him freely. In my humble opinion, his personality falls in category to the latter. One thing is for certain though, "love" is not why he is granting these women what they want.
Another quote befitting him:
To know nor faith, nor love nor law;
To be omnipotent but friendless is to reign.
-Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound
And that is enough to give him justice that even if he is yet to know the importance of being noble for the sake of love, he doesn’t intend to give his heart away just yet. His lips may speak of love on countless occasions but not that genuine affection meant for only one special person...
Akio: That's right. You've fallen for her, haven't you?
Touga: Yeah.
Touga: It sure was a shock losing that Duel to her.
Touga: No, it wasn't losing the duel, it was realizing there was a girl who could shake my way of thinking.
Touga: That was the first time anything's ever made me reconsider how I've led my life.
Episode 30 The Barefoot Girl
...until it had to be Utena who owned his heart all along.
Utena: ありがとう。あんたは本当にボクの王子様だったんだ...
[Thank you. You were truly my prince...]
--Movie Adolescence Mokushiroku
The movie Adolescence Mokushiroku revealed that Touga was violated by his foster father when he was a mere child. So how can someone who had an ugly past still indulge himself in his present immorality?
I humbly believe that, what died the moment that bitter scene took place was not his will to live, but the ideal gentleman he dreams to be. His perception of what true love is has been stained by this unwanted past. Ever since that unforgettable incident he thinks that he is no longer complete and that something needs to be returned to him. From this spawns his own desire for revolution, simply for the realization of his wish. He masks his childhood scar with his selfish desire for power and authority acting as his defense mechanism, because deep inside him he still longs for that which was stolen from him-- his innocence.
He pleases all the ladies who come to him to make him forget that a person of his own gender ravaged him. And that he is still the gentleman he dreams to be if he can satisfy every woman to no end. He submits himself even to the man who is in control of him, because he thinks he was born solely for those who endlessly long for the pleasure his flesh can offer-- like what his foster father did which made him believe this.
Touga is more of abused because those who call out to him have their own reasons for wanting him. However, in the end those reasons meant one and the same thing-- he is the Slave of Passion.
SCRIPTS WERE BORROWED FROM EMPTY MOVEMENT.