

I made [this
question](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/28849/spoiler-whats-the-
actual-plot-in-revolutionary-girl-utena) before but since a single answer
won't suffice, I have broke it down into different post as suggested by other
users. **TL;DR:** I'm tring to understand the story, **not the analogies.**

So, What is the power to bring revolution? Is it actual power (like the type
you see in shounen animes) or is it just an analogy about making the world
accept behaviors like homosexuality and incest (as seen in events related with
Akio & Touga or Akio & Anthy)?


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revolutionary-girl-utena
In Revolutionary Girl Utena, what's the power to revolutionize the world?


My interpretation of the series was that every candidate had their own
impression of what it meant to "revolutionize the world". When Utena finally
managed to do it, I understood that she had created an alternate reality,
given Anthy the opportunity to follow her there, and left Akio oblivious to
its existence. This changed the world completely for all three of those
parties, getting Utena out of a situation she didn't care for and offering
freedom and friendship to Anthy.


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# Touga's explanation in the manga

In the third volume of the manga, before their second duel together, Utena
asks Touga:

> Why do you want it so much? "The power to revolutionize the world" … I've
> never understood it.

Touga's response to this is:

> Oh. That's easy. Tenjou, have you ever felt that you were an outsider? That
> this place we look down upon … It's like _another_ world, far away from the
> _real_ one? Our _true_ world exists someplace _else_. We _all_ want to get
> that world back so we can finally return to our _deepest_ selves. This world
> we inhabit — it's like an egg … A small world encased in a _hard_ shell. The
> chick will _die_ , unborn, if it doesn't _break_ through that shell … Die
> without ever knowing that it's a _bird_! If we don't break the _world's_
> shell, we'll die without beyond _born_ , without knowing we can _fly_! And I
> _want_ to fly. _That_ is why I will revolutionize the world … So that I can
> be _myself_!

(Italics are from original text. Some of the punctuation is my own.) This
implies that in the _Utena_ manga, this "power to revolutionize the world" is
not necessarily about physical power. Rather, it is about being able to make a
proper place for oneself in the world.

# Can a similar interpretation apply to the anime?

The anime diverges from the manga somewhat in plot, but this interpretation
helps clarify the anime's own discussion of the "revolution." We often are
shown a sequence where the student council members say:

> If it cannot break its egg's shell, a chick will die without being born. We
> are the chick. The world is our egg. If we don't crack the world's shell, we
> will die without being born. Smash the world's shell! For the revolution of
> the world!

This is very similar to the second half of what Touga says in the manga. There
is the same notion of self-realization and overcoming the world here.
Furthermore, Mikage's response in the anime after students recount their
troubles — "Your only choice is to revolutionize the world." — shares the
element of "revolutionizing the world" for _personal_ reasons.

When Nanami substitutes for Touga, she introduces a variant in the sequence:

> If it cannot break its egg's shell, a chick will die without being born. The
> chamber of freedom and the cage of freedom. Without revealing the vastness
> of the sky, both care for the chick. Smash the world's cage! For the
> revolution of the world!

The meaning of this is less immediately clear, but it does not seem
inconsistent with the interpretations earlier.


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