Episode 10: Nanami's Precious Thing

Nanami kills a kitten and Utena forgets Touga's birthday.

This is a summary of episode 10 of the anime series Revolutionary Girl Utena.  You are welcome to link to it, but not to repost it elsewhere.  For more information, and other episode summaries, see the index.

Saionji has been expelled from school.  The last thing he does before leaving is to give Touga the exchange diary he'd been keeping with Himemiya; Touga promises to "take care of it," and is seen chucking it into the incinerator.  It's not obvious whether that's what Saionji intended or not.  Then the student council meets to discuss who will be next to duel Utena.  They've gotten letters from End of the World instructing them to have another duel soon.  Touga is in no condition to fight; Miki and Jury argue between themselves until Touga announces that a new Duelist has been identified.  We cut to the rose garden, where Nanami is slapping an unresisting Utena.  She's angry that Touga has been injured, and blames Utena.  Touga shows up and says it's no big deal.

Later, Utena is depressed and brooding, and Himemiya has a kitten in a cardboard box.  After feeding it some milk, she suggests that they take some roses to Touga as a get-well present.  Then there's a flashback to one of Touga's birthday parties, years earlier, at which Nanami tried to give him a kitten in a cardboard box.  Their parents were not impressed, but Touga was pleased, and kissed her.  In the present time, Nanami wanders outside in her nightgown, finds Touga practicing with a wooden sword, and demands a kiss.  He refuses, saying "We're not little kids anymore."

Utena and Himemiya arrive at Touga's house and discover (a surprise to Utena but not to Himemiya) that he's having a birthday party.  Utena gives him the bouquet of roses.  Nanami storms in and attempts to start a fight with her, swearing "I won't let you have him!" Later in the evening, Touga talks to Utena about Nanami and her "brother complex." He mentions the kitten she once gave him, and how it disappeared a few weeks later.  Just then Himemiya shows up with her own present, which turns out to be the kitten she had earlier.

Nanami is watching from nearby and sees that; then there's another flashback showing that after giving Touga the kitten, she started to regret it because the kitten was a rival for his affection.  Nanami challenges Utena.  Touga tells her that she can't fight except on orders from End of the World, on pain of being expelled like Saionji...  so he gives her a rose ring, to the amazement of Utena and the student council.  Nanami is the new Duelist.

Utena quickly wins the duel, disarming Nanami, but Nanami is a sore loser.  She pulls a dagger, attacks again, and presses Utena quite hard until Touga orders her to stop fighting.  There's one more flashback, revealing (for the slower viewers who hadn't figured it out already) that Nanami was the one who made the kitten disappear.  Nanami throws herself on Touga's bosom begging forgiveness, and he promises to protect her.  As the episode closes, he thinks to himself that with this new data, the power of Dios will surely be his.

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