conviction

When Touga begins making passes at Utena she initially ignores him, but when she catches sight of his duelist ring, she begins to wonder if he is the prince she met so long ago. When she goes to the dance wearing the dress he sent her, she almost asks him if he is the prince from her memories. Their convresation is interrupted when Nanami's plans suceed and Anthy is left in the shreds of a dissolving dress. Utena dashes off to help Anthy without a second glance.

The Student Council Saga

The Black Rose Saga

The Akio Ohtori Saga

The Apocalypse Saga

The Utena Movie

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When he decides he wants to learn more about Utena, he begins observing her from a distance, whether at school or on the dueling arena. When Miki sees him doing this one day, he asks what he is looking at. "A lonley princess," is his response. "You can't see her. No one can see her except for me." "You mean it's an illusion?" he asks. "No, she really exists. " Touga responds.

When Utena begins to really wonder if Touga really is her prince, he only encourages the deception. The only things that seem to keep her from truly giving in to his charade is that she can't believe her prince could be such a playboy and that he treats Anthy like nothing more than a caged bird.

She is nearly convinced,

though, when he risks his own life to protect her when Saionji tries to kill her in the arena when Anthy is kidnapped.

When Touga goes to the rose garden to find Utena, he speaks to Anthy , telling her she is a beautiful bird in a cage and if he posessed her, he would never let her out. When Utena rushes into the garden, she is mad at Touga for always treating Anthy like some sort of prize and insists Anthy tell him her true feelings about being the Rose Bride, how it makes her unhappy and she is just a normal girl.

Touga laughs at this, telling Utena that Anthy is like a parrot and will reflect her engaged one's wishes. When she asks him why he is there, he responds that he needed to see her.  When he says that he is her prince, telling her about the time he found the young girl in the coffin, she is convinced. He leans in to kiss her but pulls back, stating that it would be improper to do that in front of the Bride. "There's something I had to tell you," he says.

"I challenge you to a duel." He leaves the garden, Utena still reeling from the shock. Utena tries to build herself up to face Touga, trying to force her emotions aside, but her worry is evident as she greets Anthy at the top of the stairs. They hold on to eachother as if both were drowning, and she then turns to face him as her opponent. "Are you sure we must fight?" she asks.

His is jesting, apologizing for cutting into her busy schedule. "Shall we begin?" he asks impatiently. Utena draws the sword from Anthy and makes a straight run for Touga's rose. He steps aside and tells her to fight well, otherwise she might end up killed if she underestimates her opponent. He seems to pay little attention to fighting her, waiting for the spirit of Dios to descend from the castle as she fights him and herself.

When Dios appears, she makes her final move. Touga also dashes forward, but when she nears him, he drops his guard, lowering his sword and opening himself to her. She falters, hearing his words, "Wasn't your prince a guy like me?" she looks at Touga, standing defenseless and lowers her sword as she slows down. As she passes him, he lifts his katana, cutting her rose in a flurry of white. The afterimage of Dios leaves her

and the sword of Dios vanishes from her hand. "Don't take Anthy, please! I can't be seperated from her! I don't want the power to revolutionize the world, but she needs me!" she cries. Touga speaks to Anthy, telling her to say she is happy being the Rose Bride, that she dosen't need friends, and is happy being alone. She repeats his words like a small child. "To make her an ordinary girl was your wish. Now that you have lost this duel, your

connection has been severed. Forget about her and this duel." "It's a lie! Anthy, tell him the truth, that you hate being the Rose Bride and you want to make friends!" Utena drops to the arena floor as she dissolves into tears. "See you later, Utena" Anthy says as Touga leads her off. "It's not true!" Utena cries.

When Utena returns to school after a visit from Wakaba, her uniform and attitude have suddenly changed. She is cold and withdrawn, even completely ignoring the passes Touga makes at her. When Wakaba tells him to leave Utena alone and accidentally splashed Anthy with a glass of water, he leaves. When Wakaba accuses Anthy of Utena's sorry state of mind, Utena gets angry, slapping her. Wakaba stands and slaps her right back and leaving.

When Utena finds Wakaba to apologize, Wakaba stops her. She says it is almost as if someone has stolen a part of her, and she needs to take it back. To Utena, these words hit home. Her usual demeanor returns and she apologizes to Wakaba, and tells her that she is going to get her normal self back. She leaves Wakaba in a state of shock from her kiss on the forehead, and seeks out Touga.

Touga has already paraded his trophy around, boasting of his victory to the other student council members, telling them of how his deception led him to win the duel against Utena. They seem doubtful that this victory will be the ending to the story, though. When he leaves Anthy at the council chambers, she sits at the table imagining Utena is across from her, smiling and laughing.

When Utena finds Touga in the rose garden, he thinks she is asking him on a date. "Right now?" he asks her playfully. "I want to go to the dueling arena," she responds. As she walks to the forest, she is met by Juri, who holds out a sword. "Use this," she says. "You will need it to set the decoration of the last scene." Utena takes the sword and moves on to the rose gate, climbing the stairs.

When she arrives at the top, she is confronted by Touga and Anthy. He asks her why she is challenging him again. "Because ther is something I want to make more important than you" she replies. "You've recovered yourself," he observes. "But I don't think I will lose to you," When he draws the sword, he calls out to her "I think you know this is no ordinary sword, but I wonder if you know of this way of using it as well?"

"Bride of the roses," he calls "Cast off your body and protect the sword," Anthy kneels at his feet, pressing the blade of the sword to her lips. An explosion of light is seen and the sword begins to glow red. "Well, isn't it beautiful?" he asks. This is the true power of Dios' Rose Bride. I wonder, can you win against this power?" "I will! I will win for sure!" she cries, raising her sword and tensing.

"There's no way she can win against Touga," Anthy thinks. "It's such a shame," It will be over very soon,

Touga instantly puts Utena on her guard, slashing at her and removing pieces of her uniform and hair. "Do you see the power of

this sword? This is the true power of the Rose Bride, and without knowing these things you posed as her prince? And you still don't understand!" They lock swords and when she comes away, the blade has been broken off where the swords met. "There is something strange about Utena," Anthy thinks. "She could die. Why is she fighting this duel?" "I may not know anything about Anthy, but I want to get back what is normal for me!"

"Pathetic," Touga says as he knocks her down and their blades lock again. "It's over, Utena," he says as the sword cuts into her own. "I've seen this before, I know...I know I have...This is...this...I know, just as it was back then..." Anthy remembers. The sword's glow disappears in a flash, and Utena jumps out from her precarious position. Gaining some distance, she turns once again to face him.

"Give me back...what's normal for me!" she shouts as she rushes towards him. He tries to counter, but is no match. As Utena dashes past, she removes his rose, scorching his front side with a blaze of power. He stands there shocked as the sword of Dios vanishes. Anthy stands on the sidelines, her eyes wide from shock, tears gathering in her eyes as she watches. When she meets Utena after the duel, shesays "I've been waiting for you,"

"from this day forward..." Utena stops her, smiling, "Anthy, it's okay now. Let's just go home."