It's interesting that the flashback doesn't seem to match the end of the last episode. Then, it was all about Anthy, and now it's about Utena being a prince or an ordinary girl. I'm not sure if that's meant to hint that flashbacks are unreliable or if we're meant to assume that both sequences happened and we just didn't see this part before.

Princely white roses when Anthy and Chu-chu leave, appropriate for Touga but could be something else.

It's interesting to use the cut sleeve to create ambiguity as to the significance of Utena wearing a girl's uniform, I like that maneuver. Utena still has her pink rose highlight, no matter how morose she is. (Also her fanclub.)

Ooh, but Anthy has a sort of salmon-y rose highlight now. And the highlight color Utena-in-Anthy's body had in the curry episode was salmon-y rather than Utena pink. So if that's Anthy's highlight color why does she get it so seldom? It's approximately the color used for the episode title cards, a darker shade of which is also used for pre-meeting-prince Utena. That could maybe have some interesting implications since Anthy is sort of the center around which the plot unfolds?

Wakaba has no idea what's going on but is determined to be supportive anyways. It sorta feels like Wakaba's mainly here to highlight how jerky and unhealthy everyone else is by, like, being a basically reasonable human being and friend.

Utena won't react to defend herself, but will to defend Anthy. That's about right. Poor Wakaba, though, she's really trying.

This episode is a good case study in Japanese honorifics and first/last name usage, etc.

Two student council room scenes in the same episode! An abbreviated Transition! What madness is this?!?

Cool to see a glimpse of Anthy's interiority, if ambiguously, though. It must suck to be the Rose Bride. In addition to Ella Enchanted reminds me a bit of Liril from Hitherby having lost her volition.

<3 Wakaba. This exploration of ordinary/normal for Utena is interesting given Utena wanting Anthy to want to be a normal girl last episode; Wakaba is sorta being Utena's Utena while Utena is acting with uncharacteristically Anthy-like passivity.

And Utena kisses Wakaba in a prince-like manner, as Touga mimicked last episode.

Utena confirmed to be on :green: Otherworldly 4?

The student council seemed to know when the duels were going to happen before, but Touga and Anthy both seem surprised (in different ways) now. What makes a duel sanctioned or unsanctioned?

<3 shadow puppet UFO.

Ooh, and vice president girl lends Utena a sword. What's her angle? Totally different music and staging here too. Quite a break in the pattern.

Utena gets a pink rose here, but got a white rose even before winning in her first duel. What does that mean? And Touga still gets a red rose despite his white highlight color.

If it wasn't for Touga drawing the Sword of Dios from Anthy, I'd think he was deliberately setting this up to be an unsanctioned duel. But we get the bells as well, it can't be too unsanctioned. (A boring person would just be like "they didn't use the normal stock footage because Utena's dressed differently.")

Cool to get more of Anthy's perspective during the duel. Maybe we couldn't get much of Anthy's interiority before this episode because it would've made the disconnect between what Utena ascribes to Anthy and Anthy's own perspective too obvious?

It seems like the Power of Dios won Utena the duel, but why did it present so differently this time. Is this why Touga wanted to understand it before challenging Utena, but he was outmaneuvered? And did student council girl deliberately plan for this, which is why she talked about "setting the last scene"? Did the plan need Touga to be overconfident to work?

So, Utena lost her princeliness, as confirmed by her pink rose, and is fighting to get that back based on her dialogue. That suggests it was her lack of confidence about princeliness in the face of Touga's maneuvering that lost her the last duel.

The preview suggests that the different duels have different thematic valences, which would be a great way to frame it in a ttrpg. I guess I'll have to wait until next week to see more!