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I'm all right, look what I'm drivin'~
So I got bored the other day and started thinking, and the result is this pots, which consists of me yammering on about colour symbolism in the Utena anime. There's a lot of east-west crossovers, and a lot of interesting stuff that I'm pretty sure is just me going OH NIFTY and not something Ikuhara put in on purpose (he totally put SOME stuff in on purpose)...but he COULD have, because I mean, the movie, CARS, etc.
Anyway.
I don't think these are the only meanings of the colours in the show and I'm totally happy to discuss other stuff and fling ideas aorund in comments.
Spoilers for THE ENTIRE ANIME abound.
Now on with the colourfulness.
WHITE - Can represent innocence, cleanliness, 'good guys', purity (in more than one sense), sterility, emptiness, cold, and death.
UTENA'S USUAL DUEL ROSE - This is in the innocence/good guys/purity category. Utena's our heroine, she wants to be a prince (and there's a connection between the colour of her rose and the princes' garb), she is our 'good guy'. The first time we see her fight it's for the sake of her best friend; the rest of the time it's arguably to protect Anthy. Her motives sometimes seem a bit less clear-cut than she figures they are; Utena's good at fooling herself, and while she is not a cruel person she is incredibly naive The white rose points back to that too. Victorians assigned a white rose the meaning 'I am worthy of you' - and it's anyone's guess whom that's directed at. Dios? Akio? Anthy?
THE PRINCE'S UNIFORM - Oh, here we get into the eastern meanings of white. Certainly, Dios's white duds show him to be an innocent prince with pure intentions, but he is also a dying prince and arguably representative of a sacrificial god. But look over at AKIO in the SAME colour, and you're looking at a man in funeral garb. For all he snarks about Dios, Akio does regret the death of his past self. Doesn't mean he's gonna do anything about it, but - yes. Mourning. Akio's wearing white is basically 'lol I am dead/Dios is dead'. The inside of the car is white, too (and goddamn I don't know how it STAYS white) while the outside's red. When you consider the connotations of red, this becomes a rather eerie combination. Death within passion. I could easily make a lol petit mort joke here, but the 'death' in this case is a purely figurative one. When you get to the Ends of the World, your ideals all fall over bang-dead like Onyxia didn't.
PINK - Can represent femininity (though it used to be considered a masculine colour!), innocence or a slight lack thereof, female sexuality (and it often ties into a madonna/whore complex, eyeroll@socety), marriage (this surprised me, but answers.com claims it's legit), and in the case of pale cherry blossom pink, transience.
UTENA'S HAIR - Oh wow is she ever pink. That was my best friend P's reaction to her when he first saw her; "WOW she's pink." If you take pink as the ultimate girly colour, this is kind of funny, because Utena is not much of a girly girl at all. If you consider that pink used to be considered a masculine colour, it's still funny (I'm serious - pink/light red used to be for boys, and pale blue for girls - this was in the era when they were sure bright colours made women's delicate brains all crazylike). Looking at pink from the perspective of its 'female sexuality' meaning works, too - the anime follows Utena along the road to 'adulthood' in many different guises. This sort of coming-of-age bildungsroman cast-aside-your-childish-ideals thing is something you usually see with a dude starring in (see: Shirou Emiya) - oh Utena, how I love you and your gleeful bird flipping at many gender role expectations.
UTENA'S DUEL ROSE IN THE 'SELF' DUEL - It's pink. They probably did this so it shows up against the puffy-sleeved white blouse of doom, but considering what she is wearing and what happened to her in the previous episode (Touga being a troll), I don't think it's JUST that. Pale pink roses represent affection (as opposed to red, which is burninating passionate love) - and considering who she's fighting for here, I squee. Yes, I ship them.
UTENA'S ROSE BRIDE DRESS - IT'S PINK. Someone once insulted me for calling it pink; I got the last laugh. XD After all, there's a few damned good reasons her dress isn't white. For one, pink is the girly girly colour, and the fact that Utena's dress is pink means she's kind of been taken over by the 'princess' role Akio handed to her. For two...well, forgive my lack of tact here, but it's also pink because she's not the prince...and not a virgin. She's slept with Akio, remember. White weeding dresses, while they started out as just a sign of Queen Victoria's snappy fashion sense, came to symbolize the virginity of a bride in the west. By that logic: Utena is not a virgin, she can't wear white. (See what I mean about pink and the madonna/whore complex? On the one hand feminine innocence, on the other NONVIRGIN.) She also can't because she's not the prince, but considering Akio I really think it's the femininity/loss of innocence meaning at work. Of course, she goes "SCREW ALL THAT" in the end...
MIKAGE'S HAIR - This is where the 'transience' meaning happens. Mikage's hair is cherry-blossom pink. It's not the same pink as Utena's dress or her hair. He's pink to mark him as sort of an anti-Utena type, but also to denote his own transient nature. See also: Professor Nemuro. (The fact that his name can mean 'sleep' is unnerving.) Cherry blossoms are pretty for a very short while, and then gone. They're lovely to look at while they're around (and so is Mikage), but they don't last. Once blooming time is over they're gone. So it was with Mikage. Once he did his job, he 'graduated'. What that means is ANYONE'S guess and I doubt we'll ever get a straight answer out of Akio.
PURPLE - Royalty, mysticism, nobility, the ajna chakra, arrogance, mourning, death (if you're in Japan), LGBT pride.
ANTHY'S HAIR - She is very purple, yes, and ANY of those meanings can apply. As Utena's pink is associated with the LGBT movement too...yes, I ship them! XD Anyway. Anthy is the symbolic princess who needs rescuing (nobility), the witch who's supposed to be the mastermind (mysticism and mystery), someone who knows a whole hell of a lot more than any ordinary woman could (ajna chakra), and the downfall of many a wannabe-prince (death). The ajna chakra thing might seem a bit odd, but when you consider Anthy's tilaka (the mark on her forehead) it makes sense. That's right where her third eye chakra, the ajna, is. This is the seat of insight and concealed wisdom, and according to wiki the exit point of kundalini energy. Note the associating with Shakti, the divine feminine. I've seen very good arguments made for Anthy and Akio being at least half divine in nature.
AKIO/DIOS'S HAIR - Lavender isn't quite the same as purple. XD In the 1950s and 60s it was teh ghey colour. (Incidentally I've never seen a perfectly straight anime guy with lavender hair. They may be out there, but.) Akio isn't so much gay or straight as he is omnisexual but there you go and there you are. He shares all the associations Anthy has with purple - the death of the prince and of everybody's ideals, the mysticism and insight (he wears the tilaka, too), and so on. I'm not sure if the paler hue of his hair is significant or not. Maybe its an indicator that Anthy holds the real power? I don't know, really.
AKIO'S ROSE - Lavender roses mean enchantment/love at first sight. I'd say it symbolizes both of those INCOMING rather than outgoing, as there's very few people who don't go ass over teakettle for Akio in one way or another.
GREEN - Inexperience, envy, the heart chakra, love and lust (medieval colour symbolism), decay (the 'aged pheasant' of those batty painters), and Oscar Wilde's carnation.
SAIONJI'S HAIR AND ROSE - ...Oh, poor Saionji. He's an asshat, and I do not excuse his behaviour, but I really do feel for him. He is iN WAY over his head and his green hair is a big flashing BEHOLD THE NOOB sign. Oh, he TRIES to be as worldly as Touga, he really does, but he is still an extremely innocent punkass. Part of him is still very much the kid who freaked out in the church. And therein lies the envy. Saionji is very, very jealous of his best friend whom he's grown apart from. Touga's all suave and grown up and has it all together and shit, and Saionji can't win a single damn kendo match against him!? ARGH. Yeah, Saionji's life is not easy, and most of that is his own fault, but some of it has to do with the wirepulling Akio gets up to...sometimes by way of Touga. His relationship to Touga's based on more than just teh jellus, though. I honestly think that Saionji has it bad for Touga, but has no idea himself and doesn't know how to deal with that. So he picks fights and tries to outdo him, but in the end he keeps giving in. Look at his weird kendou stance - he is COMPLETELY OPEN to Touga's sword. ...Heh heh heh uh sorry. Yeah. I don't think there's any coincidence when it comes to the similarity of Saionji's rose colour and Oscar Wilde's boutonniere. With regard to this, the heart chakra association might seem funny - after all, green is supposed to be the colour of a healthy heart chakra. In the case of most Utena characters, though, if they have a chakra association it's a beacon for which one's BLOCKED. Saionji's relationships are a mess. He's scared of them.
It's interesting to note that pink is also associated with the heart chakra, and Utena and Saionji have similar hangups and motives at the core.
BLUE - Sorrow, calm, optimism (blue skies are gonna clear up tra la la), inexperience (in Japan this is the case - ao can mean green or blue, and both mean noobery), male gender (but remember what I said about pink up there, it's important), throat chakra.
MIKI'S HAIR AND ROSE - All of this applies. Sadness at his drifting apart from Kozue, calm in that he's the only duelist who seems to be able to keep his hair on (Touga comes unglued a couple times), optimism in that - well, you've seen Miki in action, he never stops trying. Inexperience - oh damn right. Miki is one of the more innocent characters on the show. The colour of his rose is supposed to represent mystery, and that can probably apply as well. Just...what is the 'glow' he goes on about? Does Miki even know? Anyhow - in this case the blue does double as masculine indicator (because Miki is definitely a boy and he has the chivalrous thing going) and femininity (because he's an artist, sensitive, etc. - note I'm using society's assumption about what masculine and feminine are here, and that I think the terms are mostly arbitrary).
RUKA'S HAIR AND ROSE - This is where the throat chakra thing comes in. Saionji has a heart block; Ruka has a throat block which means impaired communication. Sure, he smooth-talks Shiori into being a total dingbat for him...but he cannot for the life of him see to be frank and honest with Juri. He's gotta strut, he's gotta pose, he's gotta yank her pigtails. He can't just tell her that he loves her, and that he doesn't give a damn if they get together because her company's enough. For all he's a douche, he douches with a goal in mind (which doesn't make him less douchey really, but at least he has a motive). He is desperate to get Juri out of the game because he cares for her. Ruka is a decent guy at heart, and in the end he kind of pays for that. And because he communicates oddly, he doesn't know Juri as well as he thins he does.
Note that Ruka and Miki both complement Juri's orange. They can both be seen as foils (*groan*) for her, and she for them.
ORANGE/CORAL - Sacral chakra, courage (in Elizabethan times), enthusiasm, warmth, demanding attention, desire (roses), pride (same).
JURI'S HAIR AND ROSE - Oh god this was such a pain in the - XD; Orange is a hard colour to find symbolism info for. I found the rose one just fine - and yes, they do often combine orange and coral roses under one heading. But anyway. I'm going to discuss the rose and chakra stuff, principally. Juri DEFINITELY has courage, that's for damn sure. Enthusiasm - yes, but it's tempered like damn. I'm not sure about demanding attention but she certainly commands it. So we're left with the rose and chakra. With regard to the chakra - oh boy, you wouldn't thinkto associate this one with Juri at first glance. The sacral chakra deals with - well, relationships, sexuality (obviously), emotional needs, violence, addictions, and pleasure. You could apply any of these to Juri. She is an extremely rough duelist - she flings Utena around in the arena. She grapples with Utena on the fountain for the ring. She's not concerned with any of this being womanly - she BITES Ruka when he's a choad and kisses her without permission. Juri is harsh under the ringlets. She's also very emotionally unfulfilled, because Shiori is...a bit of an airhead. I don't think she is ay more malicious than your average semipopular teenage girl, but Juri's crush flies way over her head. She thinks she's stealing Ruka from Juri. I mean, c'mon. Shiori ties into the addiction thing too - the locket. Juri seems to NEED to be in that state of semi-unhappiness. I don't know why, but she's hellbent on remaining there for a long time. It's Utena who really snaps her out of it, though Ruka did bring her to that point. Either way - yeah. Relationships and sexuality: Juri has a roadblock there. The coral/orange rose denoting passion and desire is another big blinky sign about Juri's hangups. I don't think the desire is limited to her just wanting to be with Shiori. She's after emotional fulfillment. She would like there to be miracles somewhere, but she won't hope because that leads to disappointment.
RED - passion, love, beauty, lust, violence, root chakra, sin, guilt, anger, courage, sacrifice, joy, heroism (Japan), weddings (many Asian countries), good luck, prosperity, honour, success, passion/passionate love (roses).
TOUGA'S HAIR AND ROSE - The most complicated pain in the butt character gets the most colour meanings, and ALL OF THEM CAN POTENTIALLY APPLY. Mother of fuck! Anyway - here we go. The most unlikely-seeming come first - heroism, honour, courage, sacrifice. Looking at Touga's antics in the early series, one can be forgiven for the ROFLMAO. But as the plot unfolds, we start to see beneath his dudebro metrosexual jerk act. Touga is - no shit - trying to play Akio, to an extent, in order to protect Utena. he's literally and figuratively in bed with Akio, but he's trying to get between them. Akio fucking knows it and seems to have a hell of a lot of fun letting Touga THINK he is teh smrts, but in the end they both know what's what and all Touga can do is drop the smarm and be honest. Unfortunately, passion blinds him. he has it for Utena and as such he's out of his depth. Meaningless flings, Touga can do. Actually liking someone? Well, if he can't tease the shit out of them like he can Saionji (he tries, and it ends badly for him in the glowy sword duel), he has no idea what the fuck. And here's where we see his honor - once he starts to clue in about Utena, he stops skanking at her. This MEANS something and he needs to do it right. He - sort of manages.
On to the rest - sin? Yes, he does willingly and happily, whether for a reason or just 'cuz. Lust? good god, yes. Beauty? Uh, yuh. He knows it, too, which is part of the problem. XD Guilt and anger are a little harder. He seems to have some lingering pangs on account of not being able to coax Utena out of the coffin those years ago. Complex guy, Mr. Kiryuu. As for prosperity and good luck - the Kiryuu crew is ROLLING IN IT when it comes to the financial. They are very well off (so are the Kaoru clan). Touga is fairly lucky when it comes to his scheme-ity crap but in the end...the story's going to tilt in favour of the prince, whether she has pink hair or he drives a shiny car.
Red's the colour of the base-of-spine chakra as well. That one's the seat of Kundalini, and what it deals with principally is longing. Says wiki: "Key issues involve sexuality, lust and obsession. Physically, Muladhara governs sexuality, mentally it governs stability, emotionally it governs sensuality, and spiritually it governs a sense of security." Well, if that's not apt, I don't know what is. Recall Touga and Nanami's childhood. Think of why Touga's such a social climber. Sense of security: he do not has. Touga, too, has a munged chakra sign.
AKIO'S CAR - Ah heh heh uh. Um. Yeah. This seems to be an extension of Akio's will and power, almost. Everything that applies to it applies to him. Anger? The only time we see Akio show unsubtle visible anger, he is in the car. Who he's angry with is unclear - Anthy? The world? Himself? - but the fact remains that this is the only time you see Akio doing the kind of gritted-teeth expression that'd be more at home on one of the younger men. Lust, passion, sin: yes, yes, yes. Beauty? OH ARE YOU KIDDING, I WANT THE CAR. XD Passion? Oh hell, think of what goes on in the backseat and consider Akio himself. All of the carnal meanings of red apply to the car.
ANTHY'S DRESS - Red is matrimonial in many Asian countries. Red is matrimonial in southern Asia, where it seems to be hinted Akio and Anthy might be from. So you have this interesting contrast between the western passion/carnality meanings for the colour, and the eastern joy/propserity/positive ones. A lot of people focus ONLY on the western meanings, which I find pretty short-sighted. NA anime fans can be - colonialist. Not all of them are but a lot can be. So you get stuff like Utena fans writing these huge things on the lust/danger/witchy meanings of red and commenting that it's SO WEIRD that her bridal dress is RED, man...while totally neglecting the fact that white is often FUNEREAL in Japan and in a hell of a lot of eastern cultures red is a very good colour. Ikuhara probably knew damn well what he was doing playing with these contrasts. XD Also note that the lining on Anthy's dress is white, which ties her to Dios/Akio.
AKIO'S SHIRT: His civilian shirt is red. Like, really, really red. We go back to the luck/prosperity for this one, and also get a hint of misdirection on Akio's part. Remember the honour and heroism meaning? Yeah, now think of Akio's prince antics that make Utena get all flaily. He's purposefully picked a colour with those connotations, I'd bet. Also, the red links him visually with Anthy and shows there's more to him than meets the eye. Akio is very VERY aware, though he's good at presenting himself as out-of-the-loop at first. We assume he doesn't know about Anthy's role, but if you consider it, that shirt suggests otherwise. That's not an innocent colour.
YELLOW - Cowardice, envy, courage (in Japan), hope, happiness, caution, jealousy (rose), decrease of love (rose), infidelity (rose), solar plexus chakra.
NAMAMI'S HAIR AND UNIFORM AND ROSE - Oh Nanami, you are the most obvious thing in the universe. I mean, WOW. You really do not need to guess what her image colour is. And as with her brother, just about every meaning applies. Nanami is pretty damned positive - the the pep talk...things (read: attempted Tougalike posturing - there's no way that wasn't supposed to be all like EVERYTHING IS NORMAL RITE :D) at the student council come to mind, and because of her connections just about everything goes her way (except for curry and dance parties). Courage? While it doesn't seem like it with the way she hides behind Aiko, Yuuko and Keiko, she does have this. It probably took a lot of working-up-guts to ask Touga whether or not they're actually siblings, and then to move into the tower. It took guts to get in that damn car after seeing what she did with Akio and Anthy, and to shove Touga right the hell out of her face. When it comes down to it Nanami is a tough cookie. She is also one very unhappy weird little girl, though not a soulless one. I shrieked at the TV when they showed the kitten thing and I really wanted to pitch her the fuck off the arena, and then I realized why she flashed back there: that HAUNTS her. She knows damn well how wrong that was and childhood ignorance doesn't count for anything. (The fact that she keeps getting steamrolled by wildlife is hinted to be karmic retribution.) Nanami has the guilt, though most of the time the cowardice factor kicks in and she ohohohoho-laughs it off or hides behind the trio or something. Jealousy? OH GOD THAT'S THE REALLY OBVIOUS ONE. Anything Touga is interested in, Nanami is jealous of. Her catty pissyfit at Anthy is rooted in this. Her catty pissyfit at Keiko likewise. She pissyfits at Utena, too, but Utena just gives her the exasperated side-eye. For someone who's usually impulsive Utena seems to be really good at rolling with it, when it comes to Nanami. This may well be a result of mongoose-in-the-desk-drawer desensitizing her, but anyway. The chakra yellow deals with is the solar plexus. Says Wiki: "Key issues governed by Manipura are issues of personal power, fear, anxiety, opinion-formation, introversion, and transition from simple or base emotions to complex. Physically, Manipura governs digestion, mentally it governs personal power, emotionally it governs expansiveness, and spiritually, all matters of growth." The digestion thing made me giggle when I saw it. Recall "I HAVE A DELICATE STOMACH D:" Everything else seems to be spot-on. Personal power and fear? Yes. Oh yes. She must be the queen bee. Transition from simple (childish) emotions to complex (adult) ones? Nanami bonks her head on this again and again. Anxiety? Well, Nanami, that's prrrobably why you have a delicate stomach.
I want to get into the more minor colour symbols and duel uniform nitpicking as well (Mikage's blue and its links to Miki and communication, Touga's uniform being red and white and what that means besides lol prince cosplay, some of the colour symbols that show up on the Black Rose Duelists etc.) but my hands are sore from typing so I'll stop here. XD
Anyway.
I don't think these are the only meanings of the colours in the show and I'm totally happy to discuss other stuff and fling ideas aorund in comments.
Spoilers for THE ENTIRE ANIME abound.
Now on with the colourfulness.
WHITE - Can represent innocence, cleanliness, 'good guys', purity (in more than one sense), sterility, emptiness, cold, and death.
UTENA'S USUAL DUEL ROSE - This is in the innocence/good guys/purity category. Utena's our heroine, she wants to be a prince (and there's a connection between the colour of her rose and the princes' garb), she is our 'good guy'. The first time we see her fight it's for the sake of her best friend; the rest of the time it's arguably to protect Anthy. Her motives sometimes seem a bit less clear-cut than she figures they are; Utena's good at fooling herself, and while she is not a cruel person she is incredibly naive The white rose points back to that too. Victorians assigned a white rose the meaning 'I am worthy of you' - and it's anyone's guess whom that's directed at. Dios? Akio? Anthy?
THE PRINCE'S UNIFORM - Oh, here we get into the eastern meanings of white. Certainly, Dios's white duds show him to be an innocent prince with pure intentions, but he is also a dying prince and arguably representative of a sacrificial god. But look over at AKIO in the SAME colour, and you're looking at a man in funeral garb. For all he snarks about Dios, Akio does regret the death of his past self. Doesn't mean he's gonna do anything about it, but - yes. Mourning. Akio's wearing white is basically 'lol I am dead/Dios is dead'. The inside of the car is white, too (and goddamn I don't know how it STAYS white) while the outside's red. When you consider the connotations of red, this becomes a rather eerie combination. Death within passion. I could easily make a lol petit mort joke here, but the 'death' in this case is a purely figurative one. When you get to the Ends of the World, your ideals all fall over bang-dead like Onyxia didn't.
PINK - Can represent femininity (though it used to be considered a masculine colour!), innocence or a slight lack thereof, female sexuality (and it often ties into a madonna/whore complex, eyeroll@socety), marriage (this surprised me, but answers.com claims it's legit), and in the case of pale cherry blossom pink, transience.
UTENA'S HAIR - Oh wow is she ever pink. That was my best friend P's reaction to her when he first saw her; "WOW she's pink." If you take pink as the ultimate girly colour, this is kind of funny, because Utena is not much of a girly girl at all. If you consider that pink used to be considered a masculine colour, it's still funny (I'm serious - pink/light red used to be for boys, and pale blue for girls - this was in the era when they were sure bright colours made women's delicate brains all crazylike). Looking at pink from the perspective of its 'female sexuality' meaning works, too - the anime follows Utena along the road to 'adulthood' in many different guises. This sort of coming-of-age bildungsroman cast-aside-your-childish-ideals thing is something you usually see with a dude starring in (see: Shirou Emiya) - oh Utena, how I love you and your gleeful bird flipping at many gender role expectations.
UTENA'S DUEL ROSE IN THE 'SELF' DUEL - It's pink. They probably did this so it shows up against the puffy-sleeved white blouse of doom, but considering what she is wearing and what happened to her in the previous episode (Touga being a troll), I don't think it's JUST that. Pale pink roses represent affection (as opposed to red, which is burninating passionate love) - and considering who she's fighting for here, I squee. Yes, I ship them.
UTENA'S ROSE BRIDE DRESS - IT'S PINK. Someone once insulted me for calling it pink; I got the last laugh. XD After all, there's a few damned good reasons her dress isn't white. For one, pink is the girly girly colour, and the fact that Utena's dress is pink means she's kind of been taken over by the 'princess' role Akio handed to her. For two...well, forgive my lack of tact here, but it's also pink because she's not the prince...and not a virgin. She's slept with Akio, remember. White weeding dresses, while they started out as just a sign of Queen Victoria's snappy fashion sense, came to symbolize the virginity of a bride in the west. By that logic: Utena is not a virgin, she can't wear white. (See what I mean about pink and the madonna/whore complex? On the one hand feminine innocence, on the other NONVIRGIN.) She also can't because she's not the prince, but considering Akio I really think it's the femininity/loss of innocence meaning at work. Of course, she goes "SCREW ALL THAT" in the end...
MIKAGE'S HAIR - This is where the 'transience' meaning happens. Mikage's hair is cherry-blossom pink. It's not the same pink as Utena's dress or her hair. He's pink to mark him as sort of an anti-Utena type, but also to denote his own transient nature. See also: Professor Nemuro. (The fact that his name can mean 'sleep' is unnerving.) Cherry blossoms are pretty for a very short while, and then gone. They're lovely to look at while they're around (and so is Mikage), but they don't last. Once blooming time is over they're gone. So it was with Mikage. Once he did his job, he 'graduated'. What that means is ANYONE'S guess and I doubt we'll ever get a straight answer out of Akio.
PURPLE - Royalty, mysticism, nobility, the ajna chakra, arrogance, mourning, death (if you're in Japan), LGBT pride.
ANTHY'S HAIR - She is very purple, yes, and ANY of those meanings can apply. As Utena's pink is associated with the LGBT movement too...yes, I ship them! XD Anyway. Anthy is the symbolic princess who needs rescuing (nobility), the witch who's supposed to be the mastermind (mysticism and mystery), someone who knows a whole hell of a lot more than any ordinary woman could (ajna chakra), and the downfall of many a wannabe-prince (death). The ajna chakra thing might seem a bit odd, but when you consider Anthy's tilaka (the mark on her forehead) it makes sense. That's right where her third eye chakra, the ajna, is. This is the seat of insight and concealed wisdom, and according to wiki the exit point of kundalini energy. Note the associating with Shakti, the divine feminine. I've seen very good arguments made for Anthy and Akio being at least half divine in nature.
AKIO/DIOS'S HAIR - Lavender isn't quite the same as purple. XD In the 1950s and 60s it was teh ghey colour. (Incidentally I've never seen a perfectly straight anime guy with lavender hair. They may be out there, but.) Akio isn't so much gay or straight as he is omnisexual but there you go and there you are. He shares all the associations Anthy has with purple - the death of the prince and of everybody's ideals, the mysticism and insight (he wears the tilaka, too), and so on. I'm not sure if the paler hue of his hair is significant or not. Maybe its an indicator that Anthy holds the real power? I don't know, really.
AKIO'S ROSE - Lavender roses mean enchantment/love at first sight. I'd say it symbolizes both of those INCOMING rather than outgoing, as there's very few people who don't go ass over teakettle for Akio in one way or another.
GREEN - Inexperience, envy, the heart chakra, love and lust (medieval colour symbolism), decay (the 'aged pheasant' of those batty painters), and Oscar Wilde's carnation.
SAIONJI'S HAIR AND ROSE - ...Oh, poor Saionji. He's an asshat, and I do not excuse his behaviour, but I really do feel for him. He is iN WAY over his head and his green hair is a big flashing BEHOLD THE NOOB sign. Oh, he TRIES to be as worldly as Touga, he really does, but he is still an extremely innocent punkass. Part of him is still very much the kid who freaked out in the church. And therein lies the envy. Saionji is very, very jealous of his best friend whom he's grown apart from. Touga's all suave and grown up and has it all together and shit, and Saionji can't win a single damn kendo match against him!? ARGH. Yeah, Saionji's life is not easy, and most of that is his own fault, but some of it has to do with the wirepulling Akio gets up to...sometimes by way of Touga. His relationship to Touga's based on more than just teh jellus, though. I honestly think that Saionji has it bad for Touga, but has no idea himself and doesn't know how to deal with that. So he picks fights and tries to outdo him, but in the end he keeps giving in. Look at his weird kendou stance - he is COMPLETELY OPEN to Touga's sword. ...Heh heh heh uh sorry. Yeah. I don't think there's any coincidence when it comes to the similarity of Saionji's rose colour and Oscar Wilde's boutonniere. With regard to this, the heart chakra association might seem funny - after all, green is supposed to be the colour of a healthy heart chakra. In the case of most Utena characters, though, if they have a chakra association it's a beacon for which one's BLOCKED. Saionji's relationships are a mess. He's scared of them.
It's interesting to note that pink is also associated with the heart chakra, and Utena and Saionji have similar hangups and motives at the core.
BLUE - Sorrow, calm, optimism (blue skies are gonna clear up tra la la), inexperience (in Japan this is the case - ao can mean green or blue, and both mean noobery), male gender (but remember what I said about pink up there, it's important), throat chakra.
MIKI'S HAIR AND ROSE - All of this applies. Sadness at his drifting apart from Kozue, calm in that he's the only duelist who seems to be able to keep his hair on (Touga comes unglued a couple times), optimism in that - well, you've seen Miki in action, he never stops trying. Inexperience - oh damn right. Miki is one of the more innocent characters on the show. The colour of his rose is supposed to represent mystery, and that can probably apply as well. Just...what is the 'glow' he goes on about? Does Miki even know? Anyhow - in this case the blue does double as masculine indicator (because Miki is definitely a boy and he has the chivalrous thing going) and femininity (because he's an artist, sensitive, etc. - note I'm using society's assumption about what masculine and feminine are here, and that I think the terms are mostly arbitrary).
RUKA'S HAIR AND ROSE - This is where the throat chakra thing comes in. Saionji has a heart block; Ruka has a throat block which means impaired communication. Sure, he smooth-talks Shiori into being a total dingbat for him...but he cannot for the life of him see to be frank and honest with Juri. He's gotta strut, he's gotta pose, he's gotta yank her pigtails. He can't just tell her that he loves her, and that he doesn't give a damn if they get together because her company's enough. For all he's a douche, he douches with a goal in mind (which doesn't make him less douchey really, but at least he has a motive). He is desperate to get Juri out of the game because he cares for her. Ruka is a decent guy at heart, and in the end he kind of pays for that. And because he communicates oddly, he doesn't know Juri as well as he thins he does.
Note that Ruka and Miki both complement Juri's orange. They can both be seen as foils (*groan*) for her, and she for them.
ORANGE/CORAL - Sacral chakra, courage (in Elizabethan times), enthusiasm, warmth, demanding attention, desire (roses), pride (same).
JURI'S HAIR AND ROSE - Oh god this was such a pain in the - XD; Orange is a hard colour to find symbolism info for. I found the rose one just fine - and yes, they do often combine orange and coral roses under one heading. But anyway. I'm going to discuss the rose and chakra stuff, principally. Juri DEFINITELY has courage, that's for damn sure. Enthusiasm - yes, but it's tempered like damn. I'm not sure about demanding attention but she certainly commands it. So we're left with the rose and chakra. With regard to the chakra - oh boy, you wouldn't thinkto associate this one with Juri at first glance. The sacral chakra deals with - well, relationships, sexuality (obviously), emotional needs, violence, addictions, and pleasure. You could apply any of these to Juri. She is an extremely rough duelist - she flings Utena around in the arena. She grapples with Utena on the fountain for the ring. She's not concerned with any of this being womanly - she BITES Ruka when he's a choad and kisses her without permission. Juri is harsh under the ringlets. She's also very emotionally unfulfilled, because Shiori is...a bit of an airhead. I don't think she is ay more malicious than your average semipopular teenage girl, but Juri's crush flies way over her head. She thinks she's stealing Ruka from Juri. I mean, c'mon. Shiori ties into the addiction thing too - the locket. Juri seems to NEED to be in that state of semi-unhappiness. I don't know why, but she's hellbent on remaining there for a long time. It's Utena who really snaps her out of it, though Ruka did bring her to that point. Either way - yeah. Relationships and sexuality: Juri has a roadblock there. The coral/orange rose denoting passion and desire is another big blinky sign about Juri's hangups. I don't think the desire is limited to her just wanting to be with Shiori. She's after emotional fulfillment. She would like there to be miracles somewhere, but she won't hope because that leads to disappointment.
RED - passion, love, beauty, lust, violence, root chakra, sin, guilt, anger, courage, sacrifice, joy, heroism (Japan), weddings (many Asian countries), good luck, prosperity, honour, success, passion/passionate love (roses).
TOUGA'S HAIR AND ROSE - The most complicated pain in the butt character gets the most colour meanings, and ALL OF THEM CAN POTENTIALLY APPLY. Mother of fuck! Anyway - here we go. The most unlikely-seeming come first - heroism, honour, courage, sacrifice. Looking at Touga's antics in the early series, one can be forgiven for the ROFLMAO. But as the plot unfolds, we start to see beneath his dudebro metrosexual jerk act. Touga is - no shit - trying to play Akio, to an extent, in order to protect Utena. he's literally and figuratively in bed with Akio, but he's trying to get between them. Akio fucking knows it and seems to have a hell of a lot of fun letting Touga THINK he is teh smrts, but in the end they both know what's what and all Touga can do is drop the smarm and be honest. Unfortunately, passion blinds him. he has it for Utena and as such he's out of his depth. Meaningless flings, Touga can do. Actually liking someone? Well, if he can't tease the shit out of them like he can Saionji (he tries, and it ends badly for him in the glowy sword duel), he has no idea what the fuck. And here's where we see his honor - once he starts to clue in about Utena, he stops skanking at her. This MEANS something and he needs to do it right. He - sort of manages.
On to the rest - sin? Yes, he does willingly and happily, whether for a reason or just 'cuz. Lust? good god, yes. Beauty? Uh, yuh. He knows it, too, which is part of the problem. XD Guilt and anger are a little harder. He seems to have some lingering pangs on account of not being able to coax Utena out of the coffin those years ago. Complex guy, Mr. Kiryuu. As for prosperity and good luck - the Kiryuu crew is ROLLING IN IT when it comes to the financial. They are very well off (so are the Kaoru clan). Touga is fairly lucky when it comes to his scheme-ity crap but in the end...the story's going to tilt in favour of the prince, whether she has pink hair or he drives a shiny car.
Red's the colour of the base-of-spine chakra as well. That one's the seat of Kundalini, and what it deals with principally is longing. Says wiki: "Key issues involve sexuality, lust and obsession. Physically, Muladhara governs sexuality, mentally it governs stability, emotionally it governs sensuality, and spiritually it governs a sense of security." Well, if that's not apt, I don't know what is. Recall Touga and Nanami's childhood. Think of why Touga's such a social climber. Sense of security: he do not has. Touga, too, has a munged chakra sign.
AKIO'S CAR - Ah heh heh uh. Um. Yeah. This seems to be an extension of Akio's will and power, almost. Everything that applies to it applies to him. Anger? The only time we see Akio show unsubtle visible anger, he is in the car. Who he's angry with is unclear - Anthy? The world? Himself? - but the fact remains that this is the only time you see Akio doing the kind of gritted-teeth expression that'd be more at home on one of the younger men. Lust, passion, sin: yes, yes, yes. Beauty? OH ARE YOU KIDDING, I WANT THE CAR. XD Passion? Oh hell, think of what goes on in the backseat and consider Akio himself. All of the carnal meanings of red apply to the car.
ANTHY'S DRESS - Red is matrimonial in many Asian countries. Red is matrimonial in southern Asia, where it seems to be hinted Akio and Anthy might be from. So you have this interesting contrast between the western passion/carnality meanings for the colour, and the eastern joy/propserity/positive ones. A lot of people focus ONLY on the western meanings, which I find pretty short-sighted. NA anime fans can be - colonialist. Not all of them are but a lot can be. So you get stuff like Utena fans writing these huge things on the lust/danger/witchy meanings of red and commenting that it's SO WEIRD that her bridal dress is RED, man...while totally neglecting the fact that white is often FUNEREAL in Japan and in a hell of a lot of eastern cultures red is a very good colour. Ikuhara probably knew damn well what he was doing playing with these contrasts. XD Also note that the lining on Anthy's dress is white, which ties her to Dios/Akio.
AKIO'S SHIRT: His civilian shirt is red. Like, really, really red. We go back to the luck/prosperity for this one, and also get a hint of misdirection on Akio's part. Remember the honour and heroism meaning? Yeah, now think of Akio's prince antics that make Utena get all flaily. He's purposefully picked a colour with those connotations, I'd bet. Also, the red links him visually with Anthy and shows there's more to him than meets the eye. Akio is very VERY aware, though he's good at presenting himself as out-of-the-loop at first. We assume he doesn't know about Anthy's role, but if you consider it, that shirt suggests otherwise. That's not an innocent colour.
YELLOW - Cowardice, envy, courage (in Japan), hope, happiness, caution, jealousy (rose), decrease of love (rose), infidelity (rose), solar plexus chakra.
NAMAMI'S HAIR AND UNIFORM AND ROSE - Oh Nanami, you are the most obvious thing in the universe. I mean, WOW. You really do not need to guess what her image colour is. And as with her brother, just about every meaning applies. Nanami is pretty damned positive - the the pep talk...things (read: attempted Tougalike posturing - there's no way that wasn't supposed to be all like EVERYTHING IS NORMAL RITE :D) at the student council come to mind, and because of her connections just about everything goes her way (except for curry and dance parties). Courage? While it doesn't seem like it with the way she hides behind Aiko, Yuuko and Keiko, she does have this. It probably took a lot of working-up-guts to ask Touga whether or not they're actually siblings, and then to move into the tower. It took guts to get in that damn car after seeing what she did with Akio and Anthy, and to shove Touga right the hell out of her face. When it comes down to it Nanami is a tough cookie. She is also one very unhappy weird little girl, though not a soulless one. I shrieked at the TV when they showed the kitten thing and I really wanted to pitch her the fuck off the arena, and then I realized why she flashed back there: that HAUNTS her. She knows damn well how wrong that was and childhood ignorance doesn't count for anything. (The fact that she keeps getting steamrolled by wildlife is hinted to be karmic retribution.) Nanami has the guilt, though most of the time the cowardice factor kicks in and she ohohohoho-laughs it off or hides behind the trio or something. Jealousy? OH GOD THAT'S THE REALLY OBVIOUS ONE. Anything Touga is interested in, Nanami is jealous of. Her catty pissyfit at Anthy is rooted in this. Her catty pissyfit at Keiko likewise. She pissyfits at Utena, too, but Utena just gives her the exasperated side-eye. For someone who's usually impulsive Utena seems to be really good at rolling with it, when it comes to Nanami. This may well be a result of mongoose-in-the-desk-drawer desensitizing her, but anyway. The chakra yellow deals with is the solar plexus. Says Wiki: "Key issues governed by Manipura are issues of personal power, fear, anxiety, opinion-formation, introversion, and transition from simple or base emotions to complex. Physically, Manipura governs digestion, mentally it governs personal power, emotionally it governs expansiveness, and spiritually, all matters of growth." The digestion thing made me giggle when I saw it. Recall "I HAVE A DELICATE STOMACH D:" Everything else seems to be spot-on. Personal power and fear? Yes. Oh yes. She must be the queen bee. Transition from simple (childish) emotions to complex (adult) ones? Nanami bonks her head on this again and again. Anxiety? Well, Nanami, that's prrrobably why you have a delicate stomach.
I want to get into the more minor colour symbols and duel uniform nitpicking as well (Mikage's blue and its links to Miki and communication, Touga's uniform being red and white and what that means besides lol prince cosplay, some of the colour symbols that show up on the Black Rose Duelists etc.) but my hands are sore from typing so I'll stop here. XD
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Thus, this is the only one that's actually made sense to me. Good job. ♥
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Eee.