Uncomfortably close siblings; exhibit 1
After the failure of Kanae, Mikage decides to target students close to the Student Council so he can use them to extract the soul swords of the council members and defeat Utena. His first target is Kozue, the estranged sister of Miki."The Landscape Framed by Kozue" provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Gay: The One-Shot Character music teacher that's inappropriately affectionate with Miki is a rather flamboyant dresser and the only character in the show to have facial hair—a Porn Stache. Yet, he's sufficiently peripheral that he isn't named, so establishing his sexuality beyond a few stereotypical cues is out of the question.
- Borrowed Catch Phrase: Nanami starts filling in for Touga as student council president, and she says the motto at the start of the meeting as usual, but changes the words to suit her own situation.Nanami: Break the world's cage!
All: For the sake of revolutionizing the world! - Cannot Talk to Women: The prospect of asking Anthy out on a date turns Miki into an awkward, stammering, self-conscious mess.
- Creepy Twins: This episode showcases Miki and Kozue's dysfunctional sibling dynamic by showing Kozue's side of the equation. It's been established that Miki rejects Kozue as she is now, but finds he can't ignore her. Kozue courts negative attention from Miki out of fear that it's the only attention she can get from him. She is also a Knight Templar twin sister, threatening and enacting bodily harm on those whom she deems a threat to him; a reality that he seems to be unaware of. There's also the fact that Kozue twice attempts to kiss her brother, before and after she gets her Black Rose.
- "Eureka!" Moment: A villainous example. Mamiya thinks up a solution to the dilemma that he and Mikage face. Their first duelist lacked the inner strength to stand up to Utena, but the student council members have powerful hearts (in the metaphysical sense) which may crystallize into weapons that their duelists could wield to make up for their deficits. As Mikage warms up to the idea, he notes that the tricky part will be recruiting people capable of claiming the soul-swords of the student council members.
- Fly Crazy: Chu-Chu flips out when a fly pesters him. He waves his little arms and squeals, but it just won't go away! Meanwhile, Anthy sits next to Chu-Chu, calmly watching Miki hem and haw in the doorway, making excuses for himself. This scene is one of several that fuels the theory that Chu-Chu expresses feelings that Anthy can't openly express - in this case, that Anthy is secretly annoyed by Miki's attention.
- Hidden Depths: Even though Kozue was very rusty when she played piano in episode 5, she plays perfectly after becoming a Black Rose duelist in this episode. Is she a better player than she gives herself credit for? The show offers no answers.
- Power Copying: As a Black Rose duelist, Kozue fights like Miki and she's good enough to disarm Utena during their fight.
- Reflective Eyes: Kozue's eyes reflect Miki as he is approached by the unsavoury music teacher.
- Right Behind Me: Miki is standing at the entrance to Utena and Anthy's dormitory, psyching himself up to ask Anthy on a very low-stakes date with him, when Utena walks up behind him and he nearly jumps out of his skin.
- Seamless Scenery: A stream of bubbles is used as a transition from a scene set in the Nemuro Memorial Hall underground to a scene at a swimming pool on the Ohtori campus. The camera follows Kozue's hand as she raises it out of the water, where she is sitting on the edge of the pool.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The music teacher runs for his life after an encounter with Kozue at the top of a flight of stairs.
- Standard Snippet: Touga is listening to Dvořák's No. 9 symphony, a widely-heard snippet in Japan that is often played in businesses at closing time.
- The Summation: After Kozue chases off the music teacher for good, Juri confronts her about how according to rumor, the music teacher didn't fall down a flight of stairs but rather was pushed, and how someone recently threatened him again. Juri's last question for Kozue is why does she hate that teacher so much?
- That Came Out Wrong: When Miki and Utena go on a tangent about Chu-Chu versus chuu-chuu there is a another layer to the pun: "chuu" is the onomatopeia for kissing, like the English "smooch," and it has juvenile connotations. So one of the reads of Miki asking Anthy if she "likes chuu-chuu" is that he's asking her if she likes making out, but manages to sound like an 8-year-old while he does it.
Anthy not only humors Miki's awkwardness by responding that she does like chuu-chuu, but she uses it for deliberate innuendo during her next visit with Akio. - Teacher/Student Romance: The music teacher's body launguage implies that he is sexually interested in Miki, who is either oblivious to his advances or not willing to cause a scene. Or, at least, Kozue sees it that way.
- Twincest: The episode toes the line with Kozue, whose obsession with Miki seems to border on the sexual and she twice attempts to kiss him.
- You Are in Command Now: Nanami decides to take charge of the student council since Touga's depression is proving to be profound.
