Utena x Wakaba

"No matter what happens, I'm always on your side, Utena."

- Wakaba UtenaxWakaba is the femslash ship between Utena Tenjou and Wakaba Shinohara from the Revolutionary Girl Utena fandom.

Canon
Utena and Wakaba are best friends who go to the same Academy. The two of them share a close friendship, although Wabaka seems to have a crush on Utena. She's constantly praising her and talking about how cool Utena is. In fact, in the first episode of the anime, where the two of them are introduced, Wakaba is tightly hugging Utena from the back, almost making her fall from the embrace. Wakaba tells Utena, then, that she will always be her true love and that she is cooler than any boy she knows.

Wakaba is the first person to inspire Utena to duel with Saionji, who hurt her friend. The thing is one day a group of young boys were all gathered around a letter that was pinned to a board at school, laughing and making fun of the person who wrote it. As Utena and Wakaba hear the noise, they get closer to see what's going on. And at the shock of seeing her love letter was the one everyone was making fun of, Wakaba runs away crying. Utena goes after her and when she finds her crying against a tree, she realises that Wakaba delivered that love letter for Saionji, who completely ignored her and pasted it there for everyone to make fun of her. In fury for what Saionji did to her best friend, Utena challenges him to a duel.

After Utena loses to Touga in one of her latest duels, and after she loses what hurts her the most, Anthy, she is seen devastated. The first person to notice this is Wakaba, when she realizes that Utena stopped going to school. She decides to go to Utena's shared dorm with Anthy and is shocked to not see Anthy there with Utena. Utena is so devastated that she starts using her traditionally femenine uniform (something she never did up until that point), and starts being numb to everything, even Touga's harassment, although she would quickly react and get away from him in her usual way. Seeing her best friend is not acting like her real self, Wakaba gets furious and tells Utena that she should make Touga stop if she doesn't like his behaviour. Since Utena doesn't react, Wakaba aims at her, wanting to throw water at her, but instead wets Anthy, who got in that way. First, she apologizes, but then Wakaba tells Anthy that she deserves it because it's her fault Utena is like this. In that instant, Utena gets up and slaps Wakaba. Instead of reacting angrily or offended, Wakaba smiles at her, because she knows her best friend is back to being her usual self.

Once again Wakaba's words inspire Utena to fight back for herself. Later on, Wakaba is very mad at Utena for her change of self and tells her that her new feminine uniform doesn't suit her since what is normal to the rest of people isn't normal for Utena herself. She also tells her that if she really wants something, she must fight for it, which motivates Utena. She thanks Wakaba and tells her that is ready to come back to her "usual self". Having said that, she kisses Wakaba's tear away from her face, just like her prince did to her when she was little, once again showing Utena's true "prince side".

During the Black Rose Arc, Saionji takes refuge in Wakaba's dorm after being kicked out of the Student Council, and she starts to think he might be in love with her. However, soon her feelings get crushed when she realizes that Saionji is in love with Anthy. With this revelation, she decided to challenge him to a duel, just to kill Anthy in it. However, Utena realizes Wakaba's intentions, and starts fighting against her to defend Anthy.

Finally, after Utena's Revolution, no one seems to remember her all that well, and Wakaba makes a new friend that acts the exact same way towards her that she used to act around Utena.

Adolescence of Utena
Utena and Wakaba meet for the first time in school, like in the anime, and Wakaba gets close to her face asking her if she likes her new school. Utena replies that if all the girls in school are as pretty as Wakaba, then she'll do good, flirting with her. Then, Wakaba guides Utena through the school to show her all about it, as she seems to be a new student there.

Fanon
is not a popular ship within the fandom. However, it is one of Wakaba's most famous ships and one of Utena's most dear ones. Many fans hold the theory that Wakaba might've had a crush on Utena, and that she might've seen her as more than just a friend. However, that love would go unrequited since Utena loves Anthy, and that's something that usually gets portrayed in fanfics of this ship. As of currently, the ship only has 8+ works in AO3.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

Trivia

 * In chapter 18 of the manga, Wakaba has a jealousy outburst, where she tells Utena that she has been spending way too much time with Anthy recently. Utena then tells her that when she's with Anthy, she's at peace, like she doesn't have to say or do anything forced. Wakaba tells her that the exact sort of thing married people say, and that Anthy is her wife now. So, sobbing, she hugs Utena and tells her that she will be her mistress and that she will fight the legal wife, Anthy, over Utena's love.

Variations

 * Utena x Anthy x Wakaba refers to the two and Anthy