Anthy is a riddle. Some see her as an innocent child trapped in her brother's perverted net. Others see her as a manipulative bitch who betrays everyone she loves. In truth, she is a little of both--a child who shed her innocence in order to survive in a painful world.

She was never going to be as important as her Princely brother and the one person who treated her with kindness could never love her like a Prince. Then she had to keep her brother from saving anymore Princesses and if they ignored her before, they hated her now. She became an eternally persecuted witch and the shell that remained of her brother was nolonger a Prince. He was... Akio.

She never tries to protect herself from those who wish to hurt her. She considers herself a doll to be used as End of the World sees fit. Anthy represents those who don't fight back, not because they can't but because they don't think they should. She did something which society called a sin. Perhaps she feels that she deserves this punishment.

Anthy represents many old ideas of feminity. She is submissive and quiet, never expressing an opinion of her own. She loves flowers and little creatures and seems to care little for her education. She is secretive, self abashing, manipulative, self sacrificing, and almost always smiles but rarely seems really happy. These are the things that are imposed on her. What makes her interesting is the push and pull this creates with nobel Utena who clearly rejects these ideas. In the end Anthy is able to shed this false identity and grow as a person.

Yes Anthy betrayed Utena, not out of a desire to hurt her personally but because she stood for something pure and true and Anthy's world had been stripped of truth. Ohtori is a place of fantasy and self imposed suffering. Truth cannot survive here. The fantasy Anthy was clinging to was that she had no choice. When she found that she could make a choice, she left her brother and went searching for Utena as Akio's fantasy world crumbles.

You can love Anthy, hate her, or not really care about her one way or another, but its hard to call her a typical anime female. She participates activily in her own fall, distruction, and finally her redemption.

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