Her lowest point
"It's scary how the roots of hatred spread underground, where you can't see them."
Keiko goes to great effort to help Nanami plan a party for Touga, since he has been so withdrawn lately. After Nanami prevents Keiko from attending the party, Keiko's grows resentful and seizes an opportunity to get close to Touga. In retaliation, Nanami kicks her out of her Girl Posse and seeks to destroy her life. This sends Keiko to the Mikage Seminar.
"Troublesome Insects" provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Keiko is a flawed person. She has ulterior motives for pretending to be Nanami's friend, harasses Anthy on a regular basis, and would probably sell out Aiko and Yuuko if she had the chance. However, that doesn't change the fact that she cannot pursue her dreams with Nanami there to stand in her way, and that in the relationship that Nanami has with her Girl Posse, it's Alpha Bitch Nanami herself who's far more like a parasitic insect.Keiko: That's right. The real parasite... is Nanami.
- Can't Get Away with Nuthin': When Keiko decides to take what could be her only chance of getting close to Touga by sharing her umbrella with him, Nanami quickly finds out and punishes her for it.
- Cinderella Plot: In this episode Keiko follows this trope to the point of parody, with Nanami filling the role of the evil stepmother. As Keiko gets close to Touga at last, she switches roles with Nanami, starting to humiliate her. To crown the subversion, Keiko ends up beaten and "princeless".
- Comically Missing the Point: In the day after the duel with Keiko, after seeing that she's back into Nanami's group, Utena comments to Anthy that she "doesn't get it". Recalling that Utena didn't know Keiko's name until the previous day, Anthy reminds her that the girl with the pigtails is Keiko, the girl with the shoulder length hair that curls outwards is Aiko and the girl whose hair curls in around her cheeks is Yuko. Utena clarifies that what she doesn't get is why Keiko went back to being friends with a girl she hates and with two girls that will choose to side with Nanami over her if it's convenient to them.
- Creator Thumbprint: When Nanami and the Girl Posse are hassling Utena for having the nerve to show up at a party they invited her to, Aiko has nothing to add but some cutesy-sounding gibberish. Liner notes for the episode mention that the episode director, the notably quirky Hiroaki Sakurai, often incorporates this sort of thing into his works.
- Dances and Balls: Nanami decides to throw a ball at her home to cheer up Touga. Keiko gets fired up about making it a success and invites what seems like everyone at Ohtori. And Chu-Chu, too.
- A Day in the Limelight: This episode focuses on Keiko, a character who any other day is nothing more than the most talkative of Nanami's lackeys.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Keiko offers her umbrella to Touga. Nanami's response? Remove her from all her clubs, positions of power at the school, and every other group she is involved with and basically ruin her life.
- False Friend: This episode explores how Keiko really feels about Nanami — deep down, she hates her, but still sucks up to her so she can get closer to Touga.
- Fell Asleep Standing Up: Anthy is nodding off on her feet while Nanami and her lackeys accost Utena, and once they all leave Anthy wakes up and seems flustered. Utena mentions that Chu-Chu was awake crying during the night as a justification, but this is not the only episode in the Black Rose arc where Anthy struggles with sleepiness. While it's never explained, repeat viewers suspect that trying to manage her obligations to Utena while also posing as Mamiya is taking a toll on her. Burning the candle at both ends isn't easy.
- Foreshadowing: Anthy explains to Utena that the reason Keiko is willing to associate with Nanami, Aiko, and Yuko despite how horribly they treated her is because it gets her closer to Touga. And that people are willing to do all kinds of horrible things in the name of love.Anthy: If it's for someone you love, your feelings for any other people don't matter. You can deceive yourself as much as you need.
- Girl Posse: This trope gets deconstructed in this episode: this window into Keiko, Aiko and Yuuko's interior world shows that they don't really care that much for Nanami, but pretend to be her friends to get closer to her brother Touga. When Nanami kicks Keiko out of the group, the three girls aren't that loyal to each other either, as Aiko and Yuko turn their backs on Keiko without a second thought. There is no true friendship to be found among the four of them, but in the end Keiko still rejoins the "friends" that rejected her.
- Lonely Among People: Despite the episode barely focusing on him, its events show how lonely Touga really is. He is wildly popular with girls at Ohtori, but he doesn't have any actual emotional connection to anyone outside of the Student Council, and even that is shaky due to how he treats everyone. This results in Keiko being the only person Mikage can find that has a strong enough connection to Touga to take his soul sword, a girl that only had about five minutes of actual conversation with him, and whose issues are more about Nanami that they are about Touga.
- Outside-Context Problem: Utena is known for being oblivious, but in this case she's justifiably confused as Keiko rants throughout their duel about how much she hates Nanami. The only thing Utena knows about her is that she hangs around Nanami all the time. She didn't even know her name. So of course Utena would have no clue why Keiko has Touga's sword or why she wants Nanami dead.
- Parasol of Prettiness: Lots of umbrellas in this episode.
- While Keiko's umbrella is a fairly simple, functional one, Nanami's is cute and pastel, and she wears a matching dress with it.
- Keiko's duel token is her orange umbrella, but among the many copies of it there is a frilly red parasol that resembles Keiko's party dress. At one point Anthy holds it and it matches nicely with her Rose Bride dress.
- Rollerblade Good: Keiko wears inline skates (which clash mightily with her frilly party dress) to save time while setting up for Nanami's party. She is committed to making it a success.
- Silent Treatment: Yuuko and Aiko refuse to acknowledge Keiko's presence after Nanami blacklists her. Afterwards Keiko endures a day of shunning before turning to the Mikage Seminar.
- Team Hand-Stack: After meeting Nanami and learning that she is Touga's younger sister, Keiko, Aiko, and Yuuko reflect on their good fortune and conclude that they have been "chosen." The three of them hold hands as they resolve to "work together and give it our best shot" concerning getting in good with the Kiryuu siblings.
- Things That Go "Bump" in the Night: In the shadow play, the antagonist mantis borrows the catchphrase of an Oni-like boogeyman from Japanese folklore called the Namahage. The Namahage searches for naughty children to eat, and asks, "Are there any bad children?" in a specific regional dialect, but in this instance the mantis asks, "Are there any bad bugs?" instead, referencing the theme of the episode.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: Keiko shares her umbrella with Touga; it is a particularly romantic gesture in Japanese culture and Nanami is enraged when she spots them together.
- Uptown Girl: Keiko thinks of Touga as living in a different world from her, and that she's not special enough to be worthy of his notice.Keiko: The only one who can get near the prince is the princess from his fairy-tale world.
- Wall Glower: Nanami sends Keiko on a trivial but time-consuming errand at the moment the party she worked so hard to plan is about to begin. Afterwards, Keiko returns to the Kiryuu mansion and sadly watches the party through the windows before turning and running away.
- Worth It: A subtle example. While Mikage is annoyed at the failure, he was amused by Keiko calling the leader of her Girl Posse an insect.
