Utenanthy

"Himemiya... I still couldn't tell you... how truly happy I was just to be with you."

- Utena to Anthy

UtenaxAnthy is the femslash ship between Utena Tenjou and Anthy Himemiya from the Revolutionary Girl Utena fandom.

Student Council Arc
Anthy lived centuries before Utena was born and was the sister of Dios/Akio. As a good prince, he lived for and to help others, and he left his skin to the point of almost dying from exhaustion. Akio himself tells us that, then, Anthy was practically a goddess, and decided to seal the powers of God in order to save her life. This meant that her brother could no longer play the role of prince savior. As a consequence, humanity became angry, held Anthy responsible, and murdered her. Not content with that, Anthy was condemned to eternal suffering. For years and years, she was pierced again and again by the swords of human hatred, and her brother never did anything about it.

And everything would have continued like this if it had not been for the fact that one day Dios brought Utena before a badly injured and unprotected Anthy, still looking like a little girl. Anthy's body was pierced by the swords and supported only by them. Anthy would still have to wait a few years for Utena to be old enough, but for the first time she was certain that someone was going to save her. In the last arc of the series, Akio tells Utena that Anthy could only be saved by the prince she trusted. The trust in Akio — for Dios ceased to exist — had disappeared because he never helped her, but now there was Utena. So Anthy remembered her. And when she saw her again in the Dueling Coliseum, in the confrontation with Saionji, Utena was fighting for Wakaba and not for her.

When the series officially begins, Utena is a 14-year-old teenager who wants to take over the world and who has forgotten about Anthy. Despite the latter, the idea of being a prince still remains in her, so she dresses in a traditionally masculine uniform, but feels insulted if they tell her that she is like a boy. Thus, she does not recognize Anthy at their first official meeting. However, the scent of roses brings back memories. In addition, she discovers that she is not the only one who wears a Seal of the Rose adorning her finger. Utena is a noble and just person and feels for Anthy when she sees how Saionji mistreats her. Her impulsive streak leads her to act without thinking and she confronts Saionji, challenging him to a duel.

After winning, Anthy goes on to follow Utena unconditionally, which implies a class change for Anthy herself to be able to be with her "owner" and a new room in which the two live together. Utena asks Anthy questions that are not answered and our protagonist does not feel much interest in the dueling system. When Saionji decides to get Anthy back, Utena thinks about losing on purpose because she is not interested in the whole subject of the Bride of the Rose, but she is unable to betray her way of thinking and wins again, reacting to Saionji's possessive attitude. She then assures Anthy that she has done it for her pet, Chu-Chu, because she doesn't want Anthy to feel responsible for the duel. After this, a bond is created between the two, but Utena still doesn't want to give up. For example, she refuses to accept being engaged to a woman, because she doesn't want to treat Anthy as if she were her mistress.

During the next duel, with Miki, he's sure that Anthy wants to be liberated from Utena, so he performs his best to win her. However, in the middle of the duel, Anthy shouts her encouragement for Utena, shocking Miki and making him lose the duel. As the series progresses, Anthy gets closer and closer to Utena. She worries about her and even defends her when Nanami insults her. One day, she even opens up to Utena and tells her that she doesn't like being the Bride of the Rose, that she just wants to be an ordinary girl. But this all changes during Utena's duel with Touga. Utena begins to doubt if she can really become a prince. She feels confused when she believes that Touga is the one who gave her her ring when she was little and these doubts will lead her to lose against him in the duel. And she is shattered, both in her ego and when she sees the reality of Anthy: obedience to whoever wins the duel. Touga tells Anthy to go away, already bossing her around as her new "owner". But Utena stops him in his tracks telling him she can't accept this. She tells Touga that she doesn't care about revolutionizing the world, only Anthy's happiness. But that's when Touga tells Utena that Anthy only cares about her owner's desires, to which Anthy agrees.

After this "betrayal" Utena feels with Anthy's words, she remains depressed, forcing herself to be "a normal girl", even using the femenine uniform to school. Still, she can't help but worry about Anthy with gestures like giving her her handkerchief. Later, Wakaba will go on to act as the voice of Utena's conscience, making her regain her courage to challenge Touga to another duel, telling him that she wants to regain something important to her. During the duel, despite the fact Anthy is not on Utena's side anymore, she misses her. She imagines that she is with her when Touga leaves her alone. Somewhat surprising, because it's been a long time since Anthy loved someone. Anthy finds herself looking forward to getting back with Utena, although that would break Akio's game rules and the schemas of her role as the Bride of the Rose. So during the duel, she takes away the powers of Touga's sword, facilitating Utena's victory in their rematch duel. Utena wins the duel, is herself again, and is happy to be able to return home to Anthy.

Black Rose Saga
Anthy and Utena's relationship does not show great changes during this saga at first glance. There is enough trust between the two for Utena to meet her friend's family. At this point in the story, we can only guess that Akio is Dios, and Anthy asks Utena not to tell her anything about the Bride of the Rose or the duels. It could be seen, at first, as an attempt to protect Utena from Akio, but the series practically confirms that everything is the work of Anthy following the orders of her brother, since she is a victim of Akio's abuse, and the scars that come with it have developed a strong dependency on him. Akio's presence makes Utena and Anthy get closer and apart at the same time .On the one hand, Akio is gaining trust with Utena, which excludes Anthy, but makes sure that Utena is well controlled through her sister. Even so, in the Coliseum of Duels, under the roles of prince and princess, they appear more united than in the previous arc. In the battle against Miki and Kozue, Anthy blesses Utena's sword, which allows her to win the duel. This is very important because this is the first time Anthy actively takes action during a duel, and it's with Utena.

One particularly funny and interesting revelation happens when Mitsuru asks Utena what is like to be an adult. Utena, a little taken aback by the question, tells him that being an adult is having experienced many things. At that moment, Anthy smiles at her and tells her that the two of them have done a lot of "adult things" together.

Akio's Saga
Utena and Anthy move from their dorm room on campus to Akio's house. The bond of trust that has been forged between Anthy's brother and Utena is great, enough for her to change residence and move to live with him. Anthy has started to seduce Utena and they have started sleeping together, face to face. The scene in which they go to rest, where they lie down interweaving their silhouettes, will be the leitmotif of this saga, since at that moment it will be where they talk about what worries them or what they are reflecting about, like a married couple. In addition, they hold hands with great confidence. Utena talks openly with Anthy, cares about her and assures her that she will always help her in whatever she needs.

However, Akio's interference does not allow the bond between Utena and Anthy to end as it should. He continues to harass Utena, complimenting her and "saving" her from situations, as if he was her prince, because he doesn't want Utena to be a prince, he wants her to come back to the role of princess that was assigned to her. At night, Utena and Anthy have one of their long talks as they always do. Utena tells Anthy about what Wakaba told her, that there's no such thing as "incorrect loves". Anthy tells her that she might be right since people can't choose who to love. Then, Utena asks her if she is in love with anyone, to which she replies "my prince".

The Apocalypse Saga
Even though Utena has allowed Akio to go so far with her, she doesn't give up her idea of being a prince one day. And she keeps watching over Anthy. We already have the scene that indicates this in the first chapter of this saga, where Wakaba shows her a series of photos of her class so that she can choose which ones she wants to copy, but Utena only notices that Anthy does not appear in any of them and decides to ask Akio to take a picture of the two of them together. And then one with all three of them in it. In addition, the true story of Akio and Anthy is revealed to us through a play "The Rose's Play". Then, Utena's backstory is also revealed, alongside the desire to want to save Anthy that led her to want to become a prince. But then she sees Anthy naked with Akio. There, Utena takes off her ring feeling that Anthy has betrayed her.

Juri and Miki offer advice to Utena since they have realized that everything she does is for Anthy. Even Juri asks her directly if she loves Himemiya, something to which Utena doesn't quite know how to answer. Her confusion, her inability to make up her mind are reflected when she talks to Anthy in another scene about the future, about laughing and having tea together 10 years from now as they are doing at the moment, while holding hands.

Then, Anthy tries to commit suicide and Utena rescues her, accusing her of wanting to flee. That's when they really confess what they really think, how one felt betrayed by the other. Anthy feels like a bad person for having taken advantage of Utena's innocence and goodness, who entered the world of the Bride of the Rose by pure chance. She confesses that she has used her and manipulated her so that she rejects her and leaves the academy. But Utena stays with Anthy. Utena chooses Anthy, despite her pleas for her to leave and have a free life. Determined to reach the end, Utena puts on her ring again and goes to the meeting to meet Akio, accompanied by Anthy. Although Utena already suspected it, she feels deceived and angered when she understands the manipulation to which Akio has subjected everyone, including her most beloved Anthy.

Akio pretends to be the prince and turns Utena into a princess, which she does not accept under any circumstances. She is not willing to let Anthy continue to suffer because of her brother. And then she remembers what she saw as a child, and all the swords of hatred of all humanity piercing Anthy's body. She understands that she decided to be a prince just to save her, to be Anthy's prince. Utena confronts Akio with all her might until Anthy stabs her, telling her that although she reminds her of Prince Dios, she can't be a prince because she's a girl. No matter how hard Utena tries to stop her, Anthy says goodbye and comes back to her assigned role of princess. Then, all the swords stop going after Akio, instead viciously attacking Anthy, followed by Utena's pained screams.

At that moment, Utena gets up with all her might and goes to open the door that is said to contain all power, just because she wants to save Anthy. As she struggles to open it, she forgets about her personal desire to be a prince, instead focusing on saving Anthy, just because she loves her and hates to see her suffer. Her tears of real pain for Anthy are what end up opening the door. There she sees a coffin with Anthy in it, and begs for her to get out. But, until the last moment, Anthy does everything for Utena's sake. Which is why she hesitates to hold Utena's hand from inside the coffin, because she knows that as soon as she does, the swords will turn against Utena.

Some time later, it's revealed that although Utena failed to be the prince she wanted to be, she got to revolutionize the world. Anthy finally gets to stand up against her brother, and leaves the academy to go search around the world for Utena, who seems to be missing.

The Adolescence of Utena (Movie)
The first time Utena and Anthy meet  she's being beaten by Saionji, a student also wearing a rose ring who calls Anthy the "Rose Bride", who also sees Utena's ring and challenges her to a duel. Utena tells him that he can't treat women that way and reveals that she is a woman. Saionji gets angry at this, but Utena's words shock Anthy enough to jump in front of her, telling her that it is illegal to duel without a sword. In that moment, she kisses Utena, and then gives her a sword that Utena pulls out of her chest. Utena emerges victorious.

That night, Anthy visits Utena's dormitory and attempts to initiate sex with her, but is rebuffed. When Utena questions Anthy about the duel and the rings, Anthy responds that the rings mark their bearers as duelists, that she is betrothed to whomever is the victor of the duels, and that whoever possesses the Rose Bride has the "power to revolutionize the world." After this, Utena meets with Anthy again and confronts her asking if she and Touga ever had something together and asking her if it's her fault that Touga left her. Crying defeated in Anthy's lap, Utena says that princes don't exist. Anthy comforts Utena and then with an axe, she cuts a pipe line, flooding the duel arena with water. Anthy and Utena start dancing together, under the stars and on top of the water. They tenderly smile at each other and realize the great connection they have, and how meaningless it is to see each other as enemies.

The next day, Anthy takes Utena to Akio's observatory, where Utena starts drawing Anthy as part of a school assignment in which they had to write their partner's essence. Utena thanks Anthy for last night and Anthy just replies that she did because she is her Bride of the Rose. Annoyed by this, Utena takes her ring off and tells her that she wants to start a genuine relationship with Anthy, from the start.

Later, the school's broadcasting club uncovers a video that suggests that Anthy was previously drugged and raped by Akio. Akio's corpse is found buried in Anthy's garden shortly thereafter, shocking the school with the revelation that he is long dead. A second video depicts Anthy lucid during her rape, which prompted a panicked Akio to stab her and accidentally fall out of a window to his death. Utena searches for Anthy and finds her, telling her that they should go "to the outside world," upon which Utena is swallowed by a car wash and metamorphosed into a car. Anthy enters the car and drives it away from the academy, though a fleet of tanks and Shiori – also in car form – attempt to thwart her. Anthy is assisted in her escape by Juri, Miki, Saoinji, and Wakaba, who have been inspired by Utena and Anthy to also go to the "outside world." An apparition of Akio attempts to stop Anthy, but she rebukes him in a burst of roses. Despite all the death warnings, the cars wrecked along the way, Utena and Anthy together manage to defeat Akio and escape from the Castle, heading to the world where they will have to manage on their own to get ahead. They step out naked into the outside world, and go in the skeleton of a car, running fast without clothes, with nothing but themselves, intertwined and smiling because they have each other. In that moment, they culminate it all with a kiss.

Fanon
Utena and Anthy's relationshiop develops as a friendship at the beginning, which leads them to be something more, and to be in love, slowly and naturally. Utena, along with the popular Sailor Moon (from the same director) are one of the first anime to show a stable couple between two women, without discrimination from the characters, and seen as something comitted and important for both of the characters' develpment. In the film, it is expressed through many symbolisms, which also showcase the acceptance of Utena's sexuality, culminating in the iconic kiss scene between Utena and Anthy, adored by many fans of the ship, and the series. Specially LGBT+ fans, that built a legendary-like status around the series.

This love story between the two lets both characters, apparently unsuccessful, naive and willing to sacrifice themselves, to develop into characters with great devotion, physical courage and the desire to serve their loved one, which frees them both from their torments even if that means making them their own, and suffering them as their loved on did.

Fandom
FAN FICTION