One Day At Ohtori

May 20, 2006

My friend Jess and I have wanted to do a photoshoot together for a while, and doing one of Utena made sense, as Jess has been a fan for far longer then I have, and her college campus just screams "Ohtori." Naturally I begged Lou to wear Touga one more time, and I knew I could talk Brian into being Anthy again. This was also my friend Richie's first foray into the cosplay world, but hopefully not his last! We had a lot of fun, and the weather complied by supplying us with plenty of dramatic anime winds.

Touga approaches Utena from behind...
...and gently touches her hair.
Neat little manga looking pose.
A closeup on our faces.
"I could be your prince..."
Aw, we look engaged.
Utena considers Touga as a possibility.
Touga pushes his luck.
This would be the start of many "anime" winds.
Still pushing his luck...
...yet more...
He looks pretty sexy, though.
These kinds of shots are easy to do when you're dating.
And fun!
Even if they're not very "canon".
See why we chose this location?
It looks just like Ohtori!
Ooh, Jess takes nice photos!
Caught me unaware.
Yay for redheads!
Touga relaxing.
Touga with the Sword of Dios.
There's no symbology here, no, none at all...
Some captions write themselves.
"En garde!"
Touga facing off.
Touga at Ohtori.
Standing in front of the tower.
The tower.
The tower again.
Me as Utena.
The obligatory stretching pose.
From another angle.
Close up on my face.
The rose crest.
Another shot of me.
Touga and Utena duel.
Another shot of the duel.
Brian as Anthy.
Anthy also gets to enjoy the anime wind.
Quintessential Anthy.
Anthy at Ohtori.
Dreaming of freedom.
Anthy with her sword.
Standing alone in the garden.
Isn't she beautiful?
A close up of Anthy's face.
Anthy holds Touga close to her.
An awkward moment.
Still searching for words
Touga holds Anthy close to him.
A second take.
Just friends?
Touga employs his seduction techniques.
Touga and Anthy.
Who's in charge here?
Brian and Lou behind the scenes.
Anthy fits Utena with her rose for the duel.
"The person whose rose gets scattered loses the duel."
Trying to compensate for our height difference.
Utena's Rosebride.
"Good luck to you."
"Oh roses of the noble castle..."
"Oh power of Dios that slumbers within me..."
"Harken unto thy master and reveal to us..."
"...the power to revolutionize the world!"
Brian and I.
"And so, the Rose Bride and I are engaged."
"Since you are my bride, I want you to always be at my side."
Seems like Anthy doesn't seem to mind.
But then again, do we ever really know what Anthy's thinking?
"I think you know that this is no ordinary sword..."
"...but I wonder if you know this way of using it as well."
A convoluted love triangle.
One Touga seems to revel in.
"Yes, the letter sent to Saionji tonight was from me."
"Right, in your name."
"Anyone who truly believes he has friends is a fool."
"Stop wasting my minutes, Nanami!"
"Care to take the wheel?"
"That was a rather indecent proposal, Mr. Chairman."
"She sacrificed herself to save her beloved Prince."
"Even though she was the only one who truly loved the Prince..."
"And what's more, the Prince who loved her was no longer the Prince she knew, but instead..."
"...he became the Ends of the World."
The dangers of Ohtori.
Akio explains to the Rose Bride what he wants to do.
Anthy adoring her brother.
"Good night, brother."
Crowning the Rose Bride.
Where would Revolutionary Girl Utena be without incest?
Tenjou gets all the boys.
Too bad she doesn't want them.
This looks like some sort of alternate dimension Three's Company.
Unable to choose.
Another love triangle.
Boys, boys, don't fight!
Lou and I waiting for our turn.
Relaxing a bit.
Waiting for Brian to change.
I bite him!
We're pretty cute.
Even if we're completely out of character.
Fixing Lou's costume.
Lou on the phone.
"You shouldn't force yourself. I'll carry you."
"You're a playboy, aren't you?
"You're sort of, not very Chairman-like, or maybe...kind of bad."
"We may just be two of a kind."
"I'd heard the rumor, but this is really an eye opening transformation."
"That uniform really looks good on you."
"So how about it? Won't you have dinner with me this Sunday?"
"Why won't you give me an answer?"
"Though you pose as a prince, in the end you're just a girl."
"Well, I think this is a good chance for you to return to being a normal girl, don't you?"
"But, I'm your Prince. You came all this way to meet me."
"What sort of dreams have you been dreaming lately?"
"I always dream of the castle."
"The castle where the Prince and the princess will live..."
"...happily for ever and ever and ever after."
"The Prince is me. And the princess is you."
"You are my true princess."
"Swords no longer suit you."
What...where's my color?
Now THIS is an interesting scenario.
The chairman and his students.
FISHIES! (I'm easily distracted.)
"All right, so, the plan is..."
"Guess who!"
"Who are you talking to?"
"Uh..."
"...my sister? Yeah, that's it. My sister."
Utena and Touga in happier times.
Taking our cue from Shiori.
This could have happened.