Episode 20: Wakaba Flourishing

Wakaba is sheltering the expelled Saionji, and the Black Rose necromancers use her as a zombie Duellist.

This is a summary of episode 20 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.

Students discuss the expulsion of Saionji; the girls, in particular, commenting on how they all used to have crushes on him.  Wakaba overheards some of these conversations as she's walking home, and feels very smug, because she knows he's waiting for her - ever since being expelled, he's been secretly living in her house.  Her family is not in evidence.

Wakaba thinks to herself that although she, like all the other girls, was in love with Saionji before, she never had a chance until now - she was always at the back of the crowd.  She's very happy.  Utena, and her other friends, notice that something is different about Wakaba - she seems very happy, and is excelling in sports and schoolwork, but never she sticks around to participate in after-school activities anymore.  Utena comments that she even seems prettier than before.  Akio tells Utena that it's because Wakaba is having the brief period of being special, "like a goddess whose name is recorded in the stars," that all ordinary people get to experience; she, Utena, might not understand because she's one of the rare people who are permanently special.

Saionji spends the lunch money that Wakaba gives him one day, to buy a "carving kit" with which he starts making a leaf-shaped hair clip for her, as a thank-you gesture.  Mikage materializes, apparently through the locked door, one day while Wakaba is out shopping.  He offers to have Saionji's expulsion reversed, for a very reasonable price, just a token, really...

Then Wakaba happens to pass Himemiya in the street.  Himemiya is wearing the leaf-shaped hair clip.

Wakaba takes a Black Rose interview and becomes a zombie.  She pulls a sword from Saionji's chest and challenges Utena.  They meet in the arena, where each desk bears a leaf-shaped hair clip; but Utena refuses to draw the Sword of Dios from Himemiya's bosom, saying that she can't use it against a friend.  Without a sword of her own, Utena somehow manages to grab the sword from Wakaba's hand, and uses it to remove Wakaba's rose, winning the duel.

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