New duelist; arena makeover
Utena is introduced to Akio, Anthy's older brother and Acting Chairman of Ohtori Academy. He is engaged to Kanae Ohtori, daughter of the ill Chairman of the Academy. Kanae is distressed over the seeming hatred that Anthy has towards her and seeks out psychiatric aid from the Black Rose Seminar, led by teen genius Souji Mikage. Mikage brainwashes Kanae using a Black Rose with the intent of killing Anthy and replacing her with his own partner Mamiya."The Boys of the Black Rose" provides examples of:
- Attack on the Heart: Mamiya drives his back rose into Kanae's chest after announcing that it will be her "new heart," but the attack appears to be more symbolic than literal. The point of contact with her chest is obscured by a spinning rose symbol (naturally a black rose) and although Kanae screams bloody murder when it happens, she does not appear to be physically injured later in the episode.
- Backing into Danger: Kanae is terrified by what she finds in the underground mortuary and backpedals toward the elevator that brought her there, but Mamiya grabs her from behind on the threshold.
- Beneath the Mask: Kanae reveals her dark side as a Black Rose duelist and calls this her true self.Kanae: This is the real me, the other me which slumbered within. As long as I have this black rose, I don't have to play being that phony me anymore.
- Buried Alive: Utena and Anthy happen across Miki near the entrance to Nemuro Memorial Hall, and he mentions the urban legend that 100 boys suffered this fate there a long time ago.
- Delayed Reaction: Utena does not have a strong reaction when Anthy explains that she visits her never-before-mentioned brother on Saturdays...at first. A few seconds later, she exclaims, "eeeeeh?! You have a brother!?"
- Door of Doom: The door to the interview elevator in Nemuro Memorial Hall shuts with a loud, echoing click, and once it closes, there's no turning back.
- Entertainingly Wrong: Utena is awed by her first visit to the chairman's office, and while checking out the giant projector mechanism, she asks, "is this your brother?" Anthy takes this completely seriously and replies, "No, this is a planetarium projector." While this could be a case of Utena picking up the Idiot Ball for a quick joke, with Anthy there is very little that's too outlandish to be outside the realm of possibility.
- Insistent Appellation: Mikage insists on referring to Mamiya as Rose Bride, even though Mamiya himself points out that Rose Groom would be more appropriate since he is a boy.
- Kuleshov Effect: Anthy's expression is static throughout the scene that introduces Kanae, but juxtaposed against Kanae's discomfort speaking with her, Anthy's expression seems more and more unnerving.
- Money Is Not Power: Faceless college professors attempt to pay Mikage under the table for ghostwriting a paper for them that secured them a consulting appointment, but he would rather they owed him a favor than accept their money or gifts. These grown men are clearly intimidated by the high school-aged Mikage.
- Offscreen Teleportation: Mikage and Mamiya are never shown entering or exiting—they simply appear or disappear from one shot to the next in vaguely unsettling ways.
- Plot-Based Photograph Obfuscation: Kanae is holding a photo of herself arm-in-arm with Akio during her confession scene, but as her monologue turns to her real issue, she shifts her hands, revealing that Anthy is also in the photo—wearing that same inscrutable smile that she had in their previous scene together.
- Rearrange the Song: This episode introduces a new arrangement of "Absolute Destiny Apocalypse" that features industrial-style percussion, a prominent baritone voice, and more vocal harmonies.
- Reduced to Dust: Kanae's black rose signet and sword crumble into dust when Utena defeats her.
- Sexposition: Downplayed, but a potential read of the scene where Mikage is explaining his murderous scheme to Mamiya is that it is a post-intimacy Sexy Discretion Shot, since Mamiya is putting his jacket on as they talk.
- Sorry to Interrupt: The first time Utena lays eyes on Akio and Kanae they are making out in the chairman's office. Utena is embarrassed and hustles Anthy back to the entrance, stage whispering about not interrupting their fun. In the next shot, the formal introduction occurs and Utena is too bashful to look the couple in their faces. Even Akio has a disarming bit of color in his cheeks.
- Splash of Color: When the elevator opens onto the underground crypt, the only color is blue light from within the elevator and the occupant standing in it.
- Sweat Drop: Chu-Chu gets a nervous, embarrassed look (with an accompanying bead of sweat) when Utena asks why he's not joining Anthy when she leaves to visit Akio. Chu-Chu knows.
- Tempting Fate: Kanae says nothing bad ever happens at Ohtori Academy. She is the only person in that room who believes it, and if she was being honest with herself, she'd admit that she knows it isn't true.
- Wakaba engages in this later in the episode. She wishes aloud, "our academy's just too darned peaceful. I wish something surprising would happen," as Utena finds her first duel challenge card taped inside her locker. It's also a bit of longer-term foreshadowing since having something exciting happen to her specifically would make her special.
- Wham Episode: One of the biggest examples in the series. Utena finds out that Anthy has an older brother, and the ending of the episode reveals that Anthy's regular visits to her brother are for the sake of committing incest.
