It's unlikely that the anime would deviate from the manga's portrayal of Magia and Azul. It would be very misleading. We'll definitely get more of Sayo's "love" though, that's for sure. So if that's what you mean, I agree. But I don't think they'd add anime only scenes.
As for the fandom stuff: the early Azul fandom was largely based on her having the first prominent arc in the manga, but after these key moments, the series' direction becomes clearer. The upcoming episodes, including the Kiwi/Utena hotel scene and confession/promise, will solidify the direction of the relationships just like in the manga and the series never looks back after that:
That's what I meant though, because KiwiTena becomes more tangibly canon after that, IF they ever want to milk the Utena x Azul fanservice with extra scenes between them at all, now would be the last time to do it since afterwards the KiwiTena ship definitely sets sail and Azul falls into a more permanent "enthusiastic sub for anyone" role.
But for sure, since Kiwi managed to be endearing from the get-go in the anime, I don't think the anime-onlys will be as split on who Utena should be with as the manga readers were back at the start, so there may just not be much to milk there anyway.
Other characters have their own arcs, UtenaXKiwi develops and becomes a constant, Sayo molds into a leader (really only focused on supporting others and "love"), and Magenta and Sulfur become a pair, etc. They really can't mess with that, the rest of the series depends on these relationships. Plus Kiwi is very popular as well, as you said. It's been a long while since those early days.
Personally, I would love for them to add in some hints of Sulfur's feelings earlier than the manga did, because let's face it; it kinda came out of nowhere in the manga. I still like it and don't mind how it was done, but I think it would be better if they'd laid the groundwork earlier.
last edited at Mar 28, 2024 3:36PM
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