Utena - halo catalog
This collection is to help me figure out halos. I think I collected most of the important ones. Halos are rings, though sometimes they are more like disks or bubbles. Traditionally, they are holy symbols (see halo on Wikipedia). Both meanings align halos with Dios. The meaning of each halo must depend on its color. But the halos are diverse and I don’t see how to interpret all of them.
Dios and Akio are associated with light and fire. Dios is the sun, so a halo around the sun is Dios. Utena as prince is Jesus, so Dios as the sun with a halo could be the Christian God. I’m not convinced, but you might say that Dios is the Father and Utena is the Son in the Christian trinity. A halo around an artificial light should mean Akio and refer to illusions. A burning candle may mean both. In Manichaeism, halos are part of the good light mixed in with Akio’s evil darkness. There should always be a connection with goodness, though it may be misguided goodness under Akio’s evil control.
Utena has both static halos and expanding halos like ripples of light; they match ripples of water. Some water ripples are vertical, as halos usually are. No two halos in the show are alike; all are visually distinct. Each one must have a different shade of meaning.
Most water ripples are caused by tears, sometimes time-reversed tears that leave the water surface. I think that includes the water drops from Mamiya into the basin of the Black Rose; Mamiya leaks more tears than Anthy because the Black Rose is full of death.
Drawing the sword in a duel comes with a whole array of halos and/or shoujo bubbles. In the Apocalypse Saga Anthy draws the sword from Utena instead, and there is a different array of halos.
In the Student Council arc, when Utena calls down Dios from the castle in the sky her ring glows pink. It’s the color of the ring and Utena’s color. I think that pink has its usual meaning of homosexuality and, via the symbolism of love, says that Utena is a rebel against Akio’s system.
When ghostly Dios descends, he emits a blue ring that quickly widens out of sight—it must be a water ripple. Blue is the color of water and illusions. Dios on the right seems to be lit by a distant spotlight.
Lamplight is often surrounded by a halo-like glow. This overhead light presumably stands for the sun, which is considered yellow (for jealousy) or golden (for Dios). Even though it’s white. See comparisons - yellow ceiling light for analysis specific to the episode.
In episode 30, Utena must blow out all three candles to be corrupted. The last candle has a halo that appears when the other candles are out. Later, on the horse rides with Touga and Akio culminating in the Second Seduction, the sun is surrounded by a halo. The halo seems to promise goodness as long as the light remains, but in episode 30 Utena blows out the last candle, and in the Second Seduction she stays in the woods with Akio until evening.
I think the halos mean Dios. The blown-out candle brings darkness and means Akio.
The headlights of Akio’s car have halos. They certainly don’t imply holiness. The wide circles are moving halos. They are not centered on the headlights. Seen closer, the headlights have inner and outer halos.
Has Akio co-opted all halos into his service? He tries to, but at heart light is his enemy.
The headlight halos come in different forms. The halos behind Anthy in the duel of episode 25 are unusual. I assume they are part of comparing Anthy’s opaque glasses to the car headlights.
It seems significant that there is no separated halo when Akio does his flip onto the car hood, though there is a diffuse glow.
The headlight of Touga’s motorcycle gets a double halo too, when we’re close. It’s not identical to the car headlight halos: It’s larger and fades more gradually toward the center.
In episode 32, End of the World sends Nanami to visit Touga, who announces Akio’s car. Touga sits in light (it’s moonlight) while Nanami is in darkness, and there’s a halo around his lamp. The lamp is purple, the color of corruption.
