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See design - costumes - Miki - Hermaphroditus and Salmacis - Episode 15 duel.
Kozue corresponds to Salmacis of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis. The twins are metaphorically inseparable because they are one being (and inseparable in practice because they value their family connection). It is part of their parallel with the inseparable Anthy and Utena. Salmacis desires Hermaphroditus, just as Kozue incestuously desires Miki.
When Miki takes Anthy as his “shining thing” it hurts Kozue in both ways: She is jealous because she desires Miki, and she fears separation of the family if he marries. She can’t stand for him to ever have a relationship with anyone else.
Miki is about naivety and Kozue is about betrayal. Together they suggest that the naive are easily betrayed—foreshadowing what happens to Utena.
Kozue’s personality is defined by family betrayal by separation. Though they are twins and were likely born minutes apart, Kozue as a little girl looked up to her older brother and felt inadequate in comparison. I gather she had already internalized the illusory lesson that boys are better. When the planned concert was derailed by Miki’s illness, she felt betrayed. (He should have known better!) Then she was betrayed again by their parents, who tried to make her go through with it alone. These are forms of separation, and Kozue rejects separation of the family.
By the time of the main story, the Kaoru mother has left the family and the father is remarrying. Kozue feels it as another separation and betrayal, breaking up the family. Miki also complains that he does not trust adults.
The parents divorced. I speculate that it was Anthy’s doing; Miki’s imaginary phone call scene hints that Anthy seduced Mr. Kaoru. Could Anthy have arranged the broken concert too? That seems harder, but not impossible in Utena-world. It seems likely to me, because it fits the pattern of Akio’s interventions in children’s lives.
Kozue reacts by betraying Miki in turn: She tries to ensure his attention and stay with Miki by antagonizing him, going with boys she knows he will disapprove of. In episode 26 she distracts him by leaning in as if to kiss Anthy—then after the duel calls him a coward for being distracted. Miki is irritated but helps Kozue when it most matters; he has a sense of justice. The twins are mismatched and grate on each other because Kozue is bad and Miki is good, another aspect of their parallel with Anthy and Utena. In a reversal, Anthy and Utena are not mismatched, but fit perfectly together.
In the dueling arena in episode 26, her princess earrings can’t decide what color they want to be. They flip between blue and gold, and sometimes both at once. Often they have a white highlight. See mysteries - Kozue’s princess earrings.
Here’s my best explanation. It’s not convincing, because there’s not enough evidence. I could have overinterpreted it.
The colors: Pale blue is the family color, meaning naive illusions. Gold is the color of the sun in Greek myth, and points to Dios who is the sun. The white highlight is a reflection of the sun, and Dios’s color is white. Based on the events below, I take it that gold—a treasure—is the Power of Dios that Miki might win in the duel, and the highlight—a reflection of Dios—is Miki himself, Kozue’s prince who is a reflection of prince Dios. The highlights are a kind of sparkle and are associated with miracles. I assume that the colors show Kozue’s mental state, which changes rapidly.
The events:
• Kozue stands alone, facing Utena and Anthy: Blue.
• Kozue stands with Miki, and they put arms across each other’s waists: Gold. Kozue focuses on the treasure to win.
• Closer view. Kozue calls to draw Miki’s sword. Blue with highlight—left image. She focuses on Miki.
• Drawing the sword. White. I guess it is all highlight for the miracle of the sword. There are sparkles.
• Kozue alone in the car. Blue.
• Anthy appears in the car. Gold without a highlight, matching Anthy’s earrings. Kozue speaks of the amazing power of being engaged to Anthy. Miki is out of her thoughts.
• Kozue asks “what kind of power?" Blue stud with gold dangle that has a highlight, again matching Anthy (except for the blue). Middle image. She wants the power in her family, I take it.
• Kozue puts her right hand on Anthy’s face. Hands are for manipulation and control, and other cases of a hand on the face are clear about it (see the picture at the top of the page). Blue.
• Kozue tells Miki to pay attention to the duel. Gold with highlight; right image.
Then Kozue leans down as if to kiss Anthy. Utena wins and the car crashes. The last couple points say to me that Kozue is not relying on Miki to win Anthy; she wants to win Anthy herself and take the power. She’s trying to become Anthy’s fiance and/or fiancee by the direct method of kissing her, not the indirect method of winning her in combat. Anthy seems to bear it with emotionless stoicism.
Kozue distracts Miki. After the duel, Kozue spitefully calls Miki a coward. She blames Miki for being distracted. I think she intended to distract him, though, so she’s essentially blaming him for caring about her... only not in the way she wants.
Jay Scott <jay@satirist.org>
first posted 11 June 2025
updated 28 June 2025