Ramblings
A little idle chat.... Some of my other theories about
Juri and the characters in her saga.
SHIORI
"Juri...... you're pathetic."
Many Juri fans are rather inclinded to hate Shiori. I don't hate
her; I pity her. Anyone who would steal a boy they thought their
best friend liked just to try to outshine them at something has a fairly
sad set of priorities. She feels she can never be above Juri, no
matter what. Her intense jealousy of Juri and needing to find worth only
by dating guys points to low self-esteem.
And she's not completely without a conscience; she does feel
bad afterwards for stealing the boy. For me its easier to pity her
than to hate her, because she just doesn't have a good sense of herself
or what friendship is. She steps on the best thing in her life. She
never will surpass Juri due to her inherent weaknesses of this --
and it's sad that she bases her friendship on competition.
RUKA
"Are you doing well? Next time we meet......"
Most Utena fans conclude that Ruka dies after episode 29 due to his absenses
from school and the Shadow Girls' lecture in the hospital. First of all,
Juri is standing there and overhears the Shadow Girls. If Ruka is
dead, why in the next scene does she speak about Ruka as though she is
going to talk to him again? And secondly, the Shadow Girls' plays are allagorical
the entire series; why should they suddenly be literal now? Thirdly,
he does get sick in the manga but lives. So, its my opinion that
Ruka lives after episode 29.
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