Utena. <- Previous • Next -> Yuuko.
In progress. Wakaba is a central character: She appears at the very beginning of the series, and the exact center, and has a role after the end. She is Utena’s only friend at first, and Utena’s heroic successor at last.
See design - costumes - Wakaba’s duel - web of characters.
Wakaba’s character arc sounds simple when summarized. At the start, she is Utena’s only friend; she is the first character we see after the episode 1 prince story. In the Black Rose, Anthy manipulates Wakaba into dueling against Utena, echoing Saionji’s attack on Utena in episode 9 and the betrayals of the final showdown. Wakaba’s duel is in episode 20. After Utena has vanishes from the Academy at the end, evidence (starting from episode 1) says that Wakaba becomes the next hero in the sequence of heroes.
Wakaba and Utena have similarities. Wakaba is gendermixed like Utena. Utena wants to be a prince; Wakaba wants Utena’s specialness, or in other words, the same thing. Wakaba loves fiction; Utena lives fiction. Wakaba has a playful personality. It is defensive, like Utena’s cheerful personality. She loves Utena, which means that she is a rebel against Akio’s system. But she treats it as a joke; she’s “just playing around.” I think she’s hiding her rebellion from herself as much as from Akio. Her desire for Saionji that she shows off as serious is nothing of the kind, and her desire for Utena that she shows off as playful is serious. The similarities reflect that Wakaba is Utena’s successor.
Wakaba takes her prince to be Saionji. But in the Black Rose she imagines a mysterious faceless prince. In her heart, she knows better. In the epilog, Wakaba’s prince must become the nearly-forgotten Utena; see Wakaba afterstory. (See costumes - princess Wakaba for a little more discussion.)
Wakaba does not place her hand on the imaginary prince’s chest to indicate desire. It’s on his side. Compare the examples of women’s hands on chests in the page about Utena breaking up with Akio in the final showdown, and how Anthy commonly places her hand on the center of Utena’s chest, and this image of Anthy placing her hand on Touga’s side to show lack of desire after Touga defeats Utena in episode 11. Wakaba’s hand is higher than Anthy’s on Touga, but is not on the prince’s chest. Wakaba shows no desire, or limited desire. It reminds me of how she exclaims that Utena is the only one for her, but doesn’t take it seriously.
The duel is in episode 20, the center of the series with 19 episodes before and 19 episodes after. Some points set it apart from other Black Rose duels: Wakaba lays a hand on Saionji’s sword to draw it out; other swords pop out on their own. Utena refuses to draw the Sword of Dios from Anthy to fight, but ends up stealing Wakaba’s sword instead. Defeated Wakaba does not fall into a red outline on the arena floor; Utena holds her up. (See the down catalog for many examples of being down.) I think that Wakaba’s duel is literally central in the series, and is given special treatment, because she is the next hero, and that is central to Utena’s story. Akio is not defeated when Anthy leaves the Academy. Everyone must leave, or nearly everyone, and Wakaba continues the process.
Parallel to episode 9. The duel combat is visually compared to Saionji striking at Utena in episode 9.
Parallel to the final showdown. Wakaba both loves and resents Utena for her specialness. In the duel, her resentment is foremost—and that’s the only time. Before and after her two-episode Black Rose arc, Wakaba is largely a good friend to Utena (though she is pushy). In that aspect she’s parallel to Anthy, who loves and despises Utena and, unlike Wakaba, successfully sticks a sword into Utena. But, like Wakaba, the backstab is the only time that Anthy’s hatred is directly visible. At other times, Anthy warmly loves or coldly manipulates Utena, and her hatred is obscured.
Jay Scott <jay@satirist.org>
first posted 31 December 2025
updated 1 January 2026