| “ | In the end, all girls are like the Rose Bride. | ” |
— Anthy Himemiya | ||
Anthy Himemiya (姫宮 アンシー Himemiya Anshī) is a mysterious girl who is said to have no thoughts or desires besides what her current master expects of her. Because of her "doormat" behavior, other characters tend to project their wants or desires onto her and she's always the target of their eventual rage. Her past and current personality are simultaneously tragic and vengeful, but her personality shifts between selfless love, passive-aggressive revenge and learned helplessness. Like Utena Tenjou, Anthy also subverts and conforms to the stereotypes she embodies as both a princess and a witch.
Appearance[]
Anthy appears to be South Asian, probably from Indian descent. She is noticeably darker than the other characters and wears a bindi mark or jewel.
Anime[]
As in the later part of the manga, Anthy is in the entirety of the anime depicted in standard Ohtori uniform with her violet hair pinned up around her head, although on occasion (such as in Episode 3 "On the Night of the Ball", at Nanami Kiryuu's party, or Episode 20 "Wakaba Flourishing", while walking past Wakaba Shinohara) she adorns her hair with ribbons or hair clips. When performing her duties as the Rose Bride, Anthy wears a red dress reminiscent of those worn by traditional princesses, albeit with several additions such as military shoulder tassels. Her dress, which is sleeveless, is bordered with a sea green fringe at the edge of the bodice, and includes two separate cuffs worn similarly to bracelets. Moreover, when in her Rose Bride costume, Anthy dons a golden spiked tiara. As in the manga, her hair is extremely thick and wavy when let down, and although it is a darker shade of violet than her brother Akio's. Her eyes are a green similar to the frills on her Rose Bride costume. In the last episode of Utena, "Someday, We'll Shine Together", as Anthy departs from Ohtori in search of Utena, she wears an entirely different outfit than from the rest of the series; her hair is loose and free, under a white beret, she wears a pink travel suit with a white undershirt and matching white mary-janes, and she abandoned her glasses entirely, leaving them on Akio's desk.
Manga[]
Anthy is originally depicted in the manga as having thick, black hair which is pinned around head resembling a crown. However, as the manga progresses, Anthy's hair is more consistently depicted as black, and her Rose Bride costume, initially white and blue, stabilizes as the red seen in the anime. Her school dress is the standard Ohtori Academy uniform consisting of a white blouse with puffy sleeves and a neck-tie, paired with a sea-green pleated skirt, white ankle socks and loafers. Anthy also wears over-sized circular glasses, which are later revealed to be unneeded entirely. Her hair, when released from its bun, is extremely thick and curly, and is approximately the same shade of violet as her brother Akio's. Her eyes appear to be brown.
Movie[]
In the film Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence of Utena, aside from her school uniform, Anthy's appearance is radically changed. Anthy's skin tone appears lighter, as well as when Utena and Anthy first meet in the film, Anthy's hair is not only loose, but it is a more medium shade of violet than in the anime and completely straight. Utena's, by contrast, is quite curly. Her school uniform is unchanged from the anime, although her Rose Bride costume is redesigned, and much more similar to Utena's duelist costume than in the anime. Her Rose Bride costume now consists of a form-fitting, floor length dress with a thigh-length slit in the front, and surrounded by a sheer pink over-skirt of sorts. The dress itself is two-tone, with the front and back being white while the sides are both red. Anthy continues to wear the red cuffs and tiara as she did in the series. In a flashback to Anthy's childhood as a "witch", Anthy is depicted wearing the same large, puffy yellow dress that the Utena was presumed to have worn in the original introduction to the series.
Personality[]
Anthy initially expresses no personal emotions or thoughts for herself whatsoever, other than her care for Chu-Chu, although this is only an extension of her identity as the Rose Bride. In order to obey her fiancée's wishes, Anthy attempts to limit her visible persona to one of subservient docility. In reality, however, Anthy's true emotions are often dark and at times vengeful, due to the amount of abuse she has been subject to. For this very reason, Anthy holds little hope in humanity and thus refuses to trust others with her feelings until Utena endeavors to destroy the barrier between herself as a duelist and Anthy as the Rose Bride.
She has childlike mannerisms, also possibly as a result of her abuse. She seems to express genuine enjoyment in caring for animals. She also enjoys piano, shaved ice and watching the shopping network.
Throughout the series, Anthy also appears to be loyal and soft-spoken.
Abilities[]
Anthy appears to house the Sword of Dios within her own body. At the beginning of a duel, she slips into a trance and the sword manifests, protruding from her chest so that her champion may draw it from her. This Sword is said to be a key to reaching the goal of Revolution, and Anthy, in her position as the Rose Bride, is supposed to be the key to obtaining it.
Anthy exhibits other unusual abilities as well, including magically embellishing Utena's uniform before the duel. Because of her symbolic role as a witch, it is hinted that she has the ability to transform others, such as in the "Cowbell of Happiness".
Story[]
Manga[]
In the manga, Anthy is hinted to be an ageless goddess. Her relationship with Utena Tenjou is romantic in nature.
Anime[]
Student Council Saga[]
At the beginning of the Student Council Saga, Anthy is engaged to the openly and physically abusive Kyouichi Saionji. In the first episode, Saionji is seen having an argument with Anthy and slaps her. True to her initially demure personality in the anime, she does not resist him. When she is not in class or in her dorm with her pets (especially her monkey friend Chu-Chu), Anthy remains in the greenhouse, tending to the roses. For most of the Council saga, Anthy acts more or less as a puppet, believing that it is her duty as the Rose Bride to obey her "master", the current dueling champion. She displays shock when Utena manages to defeat Saionji, and happily refers to him as "classmate" after his defeat.
After Utena becomes engaged to Anthy, she attempts to get her to make more friends. It works, until Anthy admits that she is only doing as Utena wishes because they are engaged. As the Council Saga progresses, Anthy comes out of her shell more and more.
Black Rose Saga[]
In the Black Rose Saga, Anthy becomes even more important, as a new group of duelists seeks to kill her and install a terminally ill boy as the Rose Bride. The Black Rose saga also reveals that Anthy's brother Akio is the chairman of the school and that she goes to visit him on weekends. She tells Utena that she keeps her involvement as the Rose Bride a secret from him, and though she begins to take Utena with her on occasion, asks her to keep it from him as well, feeling that he would be displeased with her.
It is implied in the beginning of the Black Rose Saga that there is a darker side to Anthy than has been previously seen, and also that she may have an incestuous relationship with Akio.
Although Anthy is vital to this saga in the respect that someone is trying to kill her, she also takes a backseat in the storyline for much of the saga as Utena is reluctant to use the power of Dios within Anthy to fight the Black Rose duelists for fear they will be harmed. This arc mostly revolves around the side characters and their development.
Akio Ohtori Saga[]
This saga establishes Akio as an antagonist and manipulator before hitting it in further in the End of the World Saga. The two are arguably one big saga.
This saga presents some changes to Anthy's role as the Rose Bride, since each duelist who challenges Utena now chooses a bride for him or herself. Anthy and the challenger's Bride each play much more supporting roles to their respective duelists. The relationships between each duelist and his or her Bride play a major part in whether or not the duelist wins.
It is also revealed that Akio has been sexually assaulting Anthy. This is discovered by Nanami Kiryuu, who victim-blames Anthy, but keeps it secret.
End of the World Saga[]
The End of the World Saga is the final Saga in Revolutionary Girl Utena. A rift begins to grow between Anthy and Utena, as both have things they need to confess but can't seem to speak them out loud. Utena refuses to admit that she has witnessed Anthy and Akio's incest, deepening the distance. While maintaining her innocent appearance to the end and promising Utena that they will remain friends forever, Anthy hides her own suicidal tendencies and self-hatred. She jokes about poisoning Utena, showing her belief that she is a toxic figure to Utena's life. Utena trusts Anthy fully and jokes that she too poisoned Anthy.
Anthy is continuously sexually assaulted by Akio. She appears in Utena's dreams to be a cursed witch who a young Utena vowed to save. She begins to experience pain on the way to Utena's future duels, due to the immense guilt she feels for manipulating the duelists which prompts her to almost commit suicide, only to be saved by Utena. Anthy becomes ill as the final duel approaches, leading Akio to show Utena an illusion of Anthy's "true" form as a witch. Utena tries to protect Anthy from him, believing that it isn't true. In the penultimate episode Anthy, who has been manipulated into believing she doesn't deserve to be free betrays Utena, literally stabbing her in the back.
In the final episode, Anthy falsely claims that although Utena reminds her of Prince Dios when she loved him, Utena is a girl and thus incapable of ever being her prince. Still, she hesitates to give the sword to End of the World. Akio notes that she must feel guilty for hurting her friend and claims to feel Anthy's pain and love her. Calling Utena stubborn and reckless, Anthy leaves her and is then pierced by a million swords in place of Dios/Akio. Utena continues fighting for Anthy, until a coffin containing Anthy's true self appears. Tears falling down her face, Anthy tries to take Utena's hand and appears to fall to her death. In the end, Anthy walks down a hall unharmed as people talk about Utena. In the chairman's office, Akio tells Anthy he's restarted the rules of the Rose Crest. She takes off her glasses and tells him she's leaving to find Utena. In a voice-over, she swears to find Utena, telling her to wait for her. Whether or not Anthy ever finds Utena is left ambiguous. After the ending credits, a photograph of Utena and Anthy together is shown with Akio cropped out. In a voice-over, we hear a conversation between Anthy and Utena. At the end of the conversation, the title card reading "And Someday, Together, We'll Shine" appears on the screen. The final image of the series is a close up of Anthy and Utena's clasped hands from the photo.
Movie[]
Anthy is first seen in the movie while tending to her roses when Utena mistakenly happens upon the garden. She easily opens up to Utena, telling her that the chairman is her brother, and that this allows her special perks at the academy, including being one of the few allowed into the rose gardens. Anthy is clearly aware of the duels and what Utena's ring means, whereas Utena herself is oblivious. Anthy also has a tendency to assume that Utena is more aware about the duels than she actually is, and expresses shock when she learns that Utena is totally unaware of how the duels work.
Anthy appears to show a disinterest in the duel between Utena and Saionji as she spends most of it with her back turned to the duelists. Only when she hears Utena defending her does she turn and begin to watch. When Saionji pushes Utena off of the edge of the arena, it is Anthy who jumps to her rescue, kissing Utena and allowing her the use of the sword of Dios.
After Saionji's loss, Anthy shows up in Utena's dorm room. Utena offers for her to stay the night, which Anthy gladly accepts. The two discuss the nature of the duels before Anthy makes romantic and sexual advances towards Utena. Her advances are shot down and her persistence angers Utena, who jumps up from her bed and turns the lights back on.
It is also of note that Anthy either takes a back seat or vanishes with no explanation at all when not with Utena or Akio in part of the storyline, and she is never seen close to any male characters except her brother, Touga and Saionji (though the latter is by force, not choice).
Notable relationships[]
Utena Tenjou[]
Utena is a middle school girl with whom Anthy develops a friendship and blossoming relationship after she is saved from her abusive "master" Kyouichi Saionji. Over the course of the anime, Utena becomes Anthy's friend. She strives to become Anthy's prince, and later sacrifices herself so Anthy can be free from her curse as the Rose Bride.
As Anthy gets closer to Utena, Anthy becomes more outgoing and she even made friends with some of Utena's friends. It is her relationship with Utena that gives her the strength to leave Ohtori Academy at the conclusion of the anime, as she wishes to find Utena, though it is never revealed if they are reunited.
Akio Ohtori[]
Akio is the interim chairman of Ohtori Academy and the older brother of Anthy. At first, Anthy appears to simply be Akio's loving and proud sister. However, her relationship with him is much more complex as Akio is controlling, manipulative and abusive towards Anthy. Later in the anime, it is revealed that Anthy's selfless love for her brother has been exploited by him in order to keep himself in power. The two are in a incestuous relationship, forced onto Anthy by Akio. Anthy's feelings for him cycle between resentment and sisterly love, as she struggles to break free. Akio loses her to Utena in the end when Utena Tenjou frees Anthy, granting her the strength to refuse when he wishes to begin the duels anew. His abuse was what led to the creation of Anthy's identity as the Rose Bride.
Chu-Chu[]
Chu-Chu is Anthy's pet monkey. For a time, he is also her only real friend and her seemingly favorite pet as he is almost always with her. For a pet, Chu-Chu is extremely protective of Anthy, disliking Kyouichi Saionji and instantly taking a liking to Utena Tenjou when he learns she wants to free Anthy from the duties of the Rose Bride.
Trivia[]
- The name Anthy means "bloom" in Greek.
- Anthy's surname Himemiya means "princess" (姫) (hime) and "temple, shrine, palace" (宮) (miya), which means "princess temple".
Gallery[]
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