We need this rose’s thorns, don’t we?

Shiori returns and proceeds to wreck Juri (again)!

also there will be many images. because apparently toxic yuri is just my jam.

Shiori: “Believe in miracles, and they will know your feelings.”

Juri: You’re so cruel…the miracle never happened.

Shiori: “You must hate me for what I’ve done.”

Juri: Yes…I do hate you.

Juri’s just hanging out in the greenhouse and contemplating her relationship with Shiori…but it might not be random, as Shiori had just transferred back into school, and immediately goes to watch her fencing practice.

But she does meet Utena observing the fencing team, too, and subsequently invites her and Anthy to her room. She explains that Juri was her friend in middle school, but she transferred out for a while.

Shiori: I just transferred back in and started living the dorms today. Sort of like a prodigal daughter. Glad to meet you.

Significantly, she seemed to want a warm welcome from Juri (as was the case with the story of the Prodigal Son), but of course Juri wouldn’t quite know how to feel about her return.

Utena: So, have you known Arisugawa-senpai for a long time?

Shiori: Yes, I have. We were more than childhood friends. Juri-san and I really grew up together. Juri-san was always so wonderful…so strong…so imposing…

Utena: Yeah, I can almost see that.

Shiori: She always protected me. Juri-san was my only friend…she was the only person I could ever depend on with all my heart. But now I don’t deserve any of that…

Utena: Shiori-san?

Shiori: I’m so embarrassed! I never meant to say any of that! I don’t have a roommate, so please come visit me again.

Meanwhile, Mamiya and Mikage are plotting again. But first, Mamiya pricks himself on the thorns of an orange rose…

Mikage: I said to be careful, didn’t I? A rose may be most beautiful when it blooms, but that’s also when its thorns are most dangerous. […] You did it on purpose.

Mamiya: We need this rose’s thorns, don’t we?

Mikage: Correct.

Mamiya: With rose thorns more beautiful and dangerous than anyone else, we’ll defeat Utena Tenjou.

Mikage: But how will we harvest the thorns? You saw what happens if we carelessly try touching it.

Mamiya: That’s simple. The rose has a natural parasitic enemy.

Mikage: We use the parasite’s poison, then? Will it work on this rose, though?

Mamiya: Things are already set to go.

and thus we proceed to break juri’s heart again

But first, Nanami interrogates Mickey about his experience with a Black Rose Duelist (because the student council presumably never heard about the incident with Kanae).

Nanami: Now, your report mentions that a third party aside from the student council is after the Rose Bride.

Mickey: Yes, that’s correct.

Nanami: I can’t believe it.

Mickey: It’s the truth! And they’re obviously a definite threat!

Nanami: Besides that, they caught you, a member of the student council, completely off guard, didn’t they?

Mickey: Well…! I wasn’t expecting it…

They seemed to establish earlier that he’s been off his game since the Black Rose got to him…

Nanami: Oh, oh, by the way…what did it feel like?

Mickey: What do you mean?

Nanami: What do you think? I bet it hurt.

And this is the episode where they really start hitting you over the head with the sex metaphors!

Juri doesn’t contribute much to the meeting, seemingly consumed with her worries about Shiori.

And then Shiori (quite sensibly) just tries to talk to her! I mean, considering that Shiori seemingly came back to patch things up with Juri, why put it off?

Shiori: In the end, we broke up. But, the fact that I stole him away from you remains…you’ll never forgive me for it, will you? Still, I think how nice it would be to go back to the way it was. I felt that way the minute I got back here. This school is so full of memories…those were happy times…with you and me and him…

Juri: Is that all you have to say to me? If so, then excuse me.

Then a bird flies into the window, breaking its wing…

Juri: I’ll just say this…I have no feelings for him at all. Not now or ever.

Shiori: You mean…!

Juri: Yes. I never loved him. That’s why I don’t have any hard feelings for you now.

Shiori: But, then…whose picture do you have in that pendant? You keep it hidden under your shirt, even now!

I mean, she SHOULD have hard feelings about that! Even if she never loved the guy, Shiori still did something she expected to hurt Juri! AND THAT WASN’T EVEN AN APOLOGY!

juri’s just a mess and i am here for it

Utena: That was Shiori-san you were talking to up there, wasn’t it?

Juri: And what if it was?

Utena: I don’t know what the details are, but how about forgiving her? She’s a nice girl, you know? You used to be friends, didn’t you? She really seems to trust you…

Juri: You’re just like Shiori…so cruelly innocent…

Utena: What do you mean?

Juri: Listen! This is none of your business!

Because what she secretly wanted to hear from Shiori was that she returned her feelings, but that thought is just as far from Shiori’s mind as it is from Utena’s.

and then utena goes stargazing with akio, because he’s a trusted adult for her

Utena: Arisugawa-senpai is so narrow-minded! I mean, she didn’t have to speak to me like that!

Akio: You’re just like Ganymede, the boy of the constellation Aquarius. Innocent and pure. But such innocence can hurt other people. Be careful.

Utena: She sorta said the same thing to me.

Akio: Everyone has something they’d rather not let other people touch.

Utena: I guess that’s life…

Of course, Ganymede a loaded character. While some tellings are explicit about him having a purely platonic relationship with Zeus, others say the complete opposite. And naturally, Utena’s as innocent about the connotations of Ganymede as she is about Juri’s sexual identity.

Juri: (internally) “Believe in miracles…believe…”

Because even now, she still wants to believe that she and Shiori can work out despite LITERALLY EVERYTHING and i can’t

And then she finally tosses the locket into a pond.

Juri: Not throwing your picture away was my weakness. But I don’t believe in miracles!

And the stage is set for the Black Rose folks to swoop in…

Shiori find this in her room…and then the locket seemingly flies in and tips the vase. And with that, she ventures over to Nemuro Hall, because apparently that’s the only place you can get any sort of counselling in this school.

Shiori: I’ve hated Juri-san since we were children. She’s talented, beautiful, popular with everyone…I was jealous of Juri-san. That’s right…I did love him…but I also wanted to take something precious away from her! That’s all I wanted. And so…and so…

Mikage: Deeper…go deeper…

Shiori: It’s not that! Juri-san was always so kind to me. But she was just making a fool of me! I thought she was being kind to me out of sympathy for not being as great as she was! That’s what I thought…it seemed so pathetic! That’s why I wanted to change the relationship we had. But what I did with him made me feel even more pathetic than before! I thought I wanted him for me! But now…now she and I are equal! No, I’ve beaten her! I’m the one who’s always been there in her heart! I’ve beaten her in the end!

Since the water comes out, this seems to indicate that Shiori never opened the locket until now…thus implying that she suspected this was what she’d find.

Shiori: Oh, what to do…knowing my friend’s secret makes me so happy I can’t stand it! I can just see her, alone and miserable, looking at my picture…oh, Juri-san…you pitiful thing… It’s no use! It’s just no use! Why do you look at me like that?! Why?! Why does it have to be this way?!

She isn’t sure what to do with Juri’s feelings…but of course, Mikage knows what he wants to do with them.

So Shiori finds Juri again and shows her the locket…

Juri: Where did you get that?! Then, you saw…inside…

Shiori: If you’d asked, I would have given you a nicer picture. So pretty…I loved the look in your eyes when I hurt you…

Juri: Shiori…don’t push me…

Shiori: I always thought you were stronger than anyone, and yet now you seem so weak.

Because in the 90s, being gay was social napalm. and yet she still has feelings for shiori

and then she draws the sword from her heart

Juri walked right into Shiori’s cage, because sometimes, you prefer a love that only causes you pain to not loving at all.

Which leads us to the shadow play.

The girl is scared that her secret is coming out (the fact that she wears woolen underwear), and of course, Utena just responds that she should stop wearing it, but if her secret got out, it would haunt her for years. The parallel to Juri potentially being outed is clear to the audience (especially when the girl complains that “no one will marry me”).

And for this duel, we have birds on the desks, who can so innocently fly into glass and kill themselves…

Shiori: I shall win this duel and kill the Rose Bride! Upon the Black Rose, I swear!

Utena: Why are you…?

Shiori: This is me. The real me! Not the pathetic loser who cowered in the shadow of Juri’s brilliance. The real me, lost in that brilliant glare…yes…the one who controls Juri is me!

Note the absence of honorifics when Shiori talks about Juri now, when she always used to refer to her as “Juri-san”, thus indicating that she now thinks of her as an equal, when before she looked up to her.

The infinitely opposing relationship in the interval between two mirrors.
The ever-growing desires and the fickle, cruel lies.
Aah! Man does not exist... 
Aah! Within the darkness...
Aah! The sound of the waves...
Even light makes darkness
I am opposed against myself!
Outbreak of loneliness, that's the reason...I am opposed against myself!

It’s unclear whether the duel song is about Shiori or Juri – either one could be described as “opposed against herself”.

Utena: Why do this? I thought you liked Juri!

Shiori: Because now I see! […] I see that Juri-san isn’t the person everyone thinks she is! And that I’m stronger than I thought I was!

In this context, it seems like Shiori refers to “Juri-san” as the person that people believe Juri to be (or perhaps the person she pretends to be).

But Shiori isn’t as strong as she thinks she is, as she’s defeated by the Prince attack (which Juri managed to evade).

And afterward, Juri reclaims her locket, and Shiori forgets all about it.

Utena: Shiori-san seems like a whole different person.

Anthy: You think so?

Utena: Huh? But, she’s…

Anthy: She hasn’t changed. Not a bit.

Shiori might be back to referring to her as the more respectful “Juri-san”, but her heart’s the same as ever: Someone who would take advantage of Juri in a heartbeat if she could.

and juri’s still stuck on her

Juri: And once again, you’ve come back to me, even after I was able to let you go once…why can’t I be stronger?

this show

until next time