I had to give this a lot of thought before responding!
I do think there's something to the fact that Sailor Moon (something between "Usagi" and "Serenity") heals, acts that Anthy or even the Rose Bride don't seem to do. At best, Anthy seems to stay close to her brother, healing him in a sense by taking away the power of Dios.
It's a little hard to compare after a certain point, since the story gets all symbol-y and so deciding what symbolizes what (did the world really have only one guy to protect girls? What's with the swords? Does Dios exist at all?) is hard. If we go with the idea that Anthy in a sense could control the healing or rescuing power of Dios yet couldn't rescue (or be rescued) herself I think the comparison to Sailor Moon stands. Usagi/Serenity can make the path of someone like Galaxia or Nehelenia change, but can't change her own path.
Leaving out the idea that there never was a real Dios (though even Akio does suggest it in the last episodes, with his points about the castle being a fantasy as well) Anthy's ability to heal still is questionable. Anthy has a powerful influence on others as well as what happens to others, and it may be less inability and more a lack of will to help others. Anthy is aware of her role as the world's scapegoat and sacrifice, something Usagi seems to ignore, and seems malicious as a result. It also raises the question of whether Anthy was the witch before she 'sealed Dios'; if Dios was the only prince, that'd make his sister also unique as the only real princess, but also the only person with no one else to save her. If the Silver Moon Crystal is in Usagi/Serenity, she can use it to save others, but the mad lust others have for that power seems to imply it could also be used for less pleasant means, and if Serenity started going around controlling or harming others they might well call her the witch instead. Akio claims Anthy is happier as the witch. I wonder if Usagi could someday feel the same, especially if she ever had to quit saving people only to get cursed and hurt by those she had helped protect.
The other question is whether Sailor Moon actually saves people. Sailor Moon is surrounded by friends, but is Usagi? Increasingly, Usagi's acquaintances are all people Serenity knew. The time she spends around other friends, like Naru, decreases. Even when something or someone new comes along (as Seiya seemed to) they have to be cleared by everyone else in her group first to even get in and generally vanish soon. Usagi's school life, like Anthy's school life, is a joke--Usagi knows her future and doing well in school is more to stay near the other sailors in school than to actually succeed, because one day she'll be Queen. Even Usagi's Earth parents are soon near invisible, aside from accepting in strange Sailors who brainwash them.
Anthy's main power over others seems to be the power of manipulation, emotional and slightly supernatural. This is Serenity's ultimate power, too. Anthy doesn't fight with swords, that's what princes do, and I don't think she'd have used ChibiChibi's sword (edit: unless Galaxia turned around and made a really inviting target with no fight needed ^^;.) Anthy portrays herself as and possibly even makes herself a victim at school, gradually luring in Utena for her brother to take the sword. But if she portrayed herself as a goddess of light, like Serenity, would she be much different? Dios descends in a halo of light and possessed others. This is the power Anthy has pushed away and rejected, only to want back. Serenity warmly extends a hand to Galaxia to save her, and Galaxia is won over, but is that all? Forgiving her seems gentle, but it's also what stops her, when force is useless. Is it the light flipside of Anthy's manipulations of, say, Mikage? Or Utena herself?
I do feel bad for Rei. I think she had more personality than the rest, but ultimately, she too was more in orbit to Usagi/Serenity than anything else. Just as Ohtori seems to circle around Akio and Anthy even when people are unaware of it, Usagi/Serenity's world gradually settles into Serenity's path.
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Utena TV Spoilers, Sailor Moon Spoilers
Date: 2009-12-29 07:57 pm (UTC)I do think there's something to the fact that Sailor Moon (something between "Usagi" and "Serenity") heals, acts that Anthy or even the Rose Bride don't seem to do. At best, Anthy seems to stay close to her brother, healing him in a sense by taking away the power of Dios.
It's a little hard to compare after a certain point, since the story gets all symbol-y and so deciding what symbolizes what (did the world really have only one guy to protect girls? What's with the swords? Does Dios exist at all?) is hard. If we go with the idea that Anthy in a sense could control the healing or rescuing power of Dios yet couldn't rescue (or be rescued) herself I think the comparison to Sailor Moon stands. Usagi/Serenity can make the path of someone like Galaxia or Nehelenia change, but can't change her own path.
Leaving out the idea that there never was a real Dios (though even Akio does suggest it in the last episodes, with his points about the castle being a fantasy as well) Anthy's ability to heal still is questionable. Anthy has a powerful influence on others as well as what happens to others, and it may be less inability and more a lack of will to help others. Anthy is aware of her role as the world's scapegoat and sacrifice, something Usagi seems to ignore, and seems malicious as a result. It also raises the question of whether Anthy was the witch before she 'sealed Dios'; if Dios was the only prince, that'd make his sister also unique as the only real princess, but also the only person with no one else to save her. If the Silver Moon Crystal is in Usagi/Serenity, she can use it to save others, but the mad lust others have for that power seems to imply it could also be used for less pleasant means, and if Serenity started going around controlling or harming others they might well call her the witch instead. Akio claims Anthy is happier as the witch. I wonder if Usagi could someday feel the same, especially if she ever had to quit saving people only to get cursed and hurt by those she had helped protect.
The other question is whether Sailor Moon actually saves people. Sailor Moon is surrounded by friends, but is Usagi? Increasingly, Usagi's acquaintances are all people Serenity knew. The time she spends around other friends, like Naru, decreases. Even when something or someone new comes along (as Seiya seemed to) they have to be cleared by everyone else in her group first to even get in and generally vanish soon. Usagi's school life, like Anthy's school life, is a joke--Usagi knows her future and doing well in school is more to stay near the other sailors in school than to actually succeed, because one day she'll be Queen. Even Usagi's Earth parents are soon near invisible, aside from accepting in strange Sailors who brainwash them.
Anthy's main power over others seems to be the power of manipulation, emotional and slightly supernatural. This is Serenity's ultimate power, too. Anthy doesn't fight with swords, that's what princes do, and I don't think she'd have used ChibiChibi's sword (edit: unless Galaxia turned around and made a really inviting target with no fight needed ^^;.) Anthy portrays herself as and possibly even makes herself a victim at school, gradually luring in Utena for her brother to take the sword. But if she portrayed herself as a goddess of light, like Serenity, would she be much different? Dios descends in a halo of light and possessed others. This is the power Anthy has pushed away and rejected, only to want back. Serenity warmly extends a hand to Galaxia to save her, and Galaxia is won over, but is that all? Forgiving her seems gentle, but it's also what stops her, when force is useless. Is it the light flipside of Anthy's manipulations of, say, Mikage? Or Utena herself?
I do feel bad for Rei. I think she had more personality than the rest, but ultimately, she too was more in orbit to Usagi/Serenity than anything else. Just as Ohtori seems to circle around Akio and Anthy even when people are unaware of it, Usagi/Serenity's world gradually settles into Serenity's path.