so, Sayo's super-subbiness prevented her from being mindfucked like the other two?
Yeah. The mascots are definitely working together.
Also, I don't think I like the new girl. Her design is nice and all, but her power is a bit too broken to be interesting. It seems like she just wins unless a deus ex machina stops her. Sure, she technically has some sort of time limit on her power use, but that's so ill defined that it's no better than plot convenience.
I don't think that's much of an issue in the sense that power levels have never really been a thing in this story. I'm going to guess that her power is meant as a thematic foil to Baiser's; Alice strips away their agency and pushes them into roles that she defines. Whereas Baiser physically restrains them but ultimately pushes them into discovering new things about themselves.
This is all wacky, galaxy-brain media analysis though, so more likely the author just liked the idea and rolled with it lol
I mean, when you think about it, this all plays into the villain team’s BDSM theme. Baiser’s just a straight up dominatrix, Kiwi’s abilities focus on inflicting pain, and Alice’s focuses on taking control. In a way, Utena’s teammates are just extreme versions of Utena herself.
You realize this means all 3 girls represent all 3 aspects of the trifecta? Kiwi's the SM (sadomasochism), Baiser's the B&D (bondage and discipline) and Alice is the D/s (dominance and submission)?
Huh. That makes a lot of sense. I hadn't really thought of Kiwi in terms of SM, largely because of how hard she falls for Baiser, but I can definitely see the connection, now that you've pointed it out. I wonder if we'll see a similar reflection on the hero's side.
I think that's the point. Utena is the MC but she's also the villain. She can be awful, a hypocrite, an asshole, and not be accountable or responsible for anything cause well, she's the villain. Azul is supposed to be one of the heroines. She's held to a higher standard. She's not allowed to fall that low or break, and if she does, she's expected to get back up. And I think, that's what Utena expects out of them despite her efforts to make them submit. She doesn't want them to be like her: falling cause of their desires. She looks up to magical girls after all.
Right, which is why its so jarring to see Utena of all people be the one to criticize her for it. Its like watching a criminal beat up some security guy and once the latter, wounded and tired, gives up and begs for mercy the criminal starts lecturing him and somehow the narrative acts like the criminal is somehow right. Which btw the whole idea that Azul is commiting some big sin here is also lost on me. Like these are 14 year old girls who got picked basically randomly cuz they were brave one time so her giving in is pretty understandable. Turns out, normal people cant just willpower their way through continuous abuse and not be affected by it, especially when theyre 14.
While Utena's behavior isn't particularly good, I'm not sure if it's as hypocritical as people seem to think.
Utena doesn't really believe in Enormeeta's nominal goals, which means she's not motivated by any long term victory. Instead, she seems to enjoy fighting against Tres Magia and watching them struggle. Actually defeating them, in the long term, would be counter to her goals, so one of their members giving up is just as much a loss for her as it is for them.
Put another way, she's more like a prize fighter than a soldier. Soldiers fight to accomplish some greater objective against enemies that try to stop them. So, for a soldier, a strong enemy is a good thing. Conversely, a prize fighter is motivated by the fight itself, and each individual win, meaning their opponents are a necessity. A prize fighters rival quitting is unlikely to get them closer to their goal (them not being their does not mean the fights are one) and actually deprives them of what they want. It is purely a bad thing.
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