Point of no return
"Let's have tea and laugh together ten years from now, okay? Promise?"
Utena reconsiders her dream of becoming a prince, and as she reflects on what she really wants, she buries the hatchet with the student council members and reconnects with Anthy. After Anthy attempts suicide, Utena again takes up her vow to protect her and goes to fight the duel named "Revolution."
"The One to Revolutionize the World" provides examples of:
- Character Development: In this episode, the characters demonstrate their positive growth.
- The cantarella scene shows Utena operating on Anthy's very subtle, very dark level in a way that would have gone over her head earlier in the series.
- Anthy takes initiative and responds to Utena's unspoken need for comfort by taking her hand.
- Nanami achieves Lovable Alpha Bitch status. She is still snobby and condescending, but she knows that Utena is walking into danger and doesn't want to see her get hurt.
- Evil Is Petty: Akio thinks everything is breaking in his favor, so viewers often interpret his actions this episode as messing around with these confused kids just because he can.
- Friendly Rivalry: Miki and Juri are officially out of the dueling game but they have no hard feelings about it. They have a very frank conversation with Utena about what they've all been through and what she's going to do next, interspersed with a pick-up game of badminton played between them that's used as a sort of framing device.
- Interrupted Suicide: Anthy attempts to throw herself off the top of Akio's tower, but Utena grabs her hand in time.
- Jerk Justifications: In a car ride scene between Akio and Anthy where Anthy is gasping in pain, Akio's displeasure comes from frustration rather than sympathy and he shifts blame for her condition away from himself.Akio: Does it hurt, Anthy? Well, I'm not the one causing your pain. It's the world.
- Liar Revealed: Akio tells Utena that he actually has no interest in the stars. One of the things that initially attracted her to him was his passion for astronomy.
- Love Epiphany: Juri asks Utena if she loves Anthy, aware of the commonality in their attractions. Utena tries to wave off her love for Anthy as merely platonic, but after a moment's hesitation, her words trail off and she can't figure out the right way to describe her feelings. Like so much else in Utena, it's not stated outright and left up to the audience's interpretation, but it's easy to read this scene as Utena's epiphany. After this conversation, Utena's resolve to save Anthy from Akio is solidified for the rest of the series.
- Paper Destruction of Anger: Utena tears up her letter from the End of the World. Precisely what motivates her in this moment is multifaceted and left up to the viewer to decode, but hearing Anthy talk as if their twisted love triangle with Akio is a thing she can tolerate is understandably something to lash out about.
- Planning for the Future Before the End: Anthy and Utena agree to "have tea and laugh together" in ten years' time. Are they able to keep this promise? No one knows. But the episode juxtaposes this scene with Anthy giving in to despair and attempting suicide.
- A Shared Suffering: Anthy delivers an iconic line in this episode when Utena, who is sorting through her feelings for Akio and is disturbed by what she's discovered, reaches out to her. It's a difficult line to sum up with a variety of grim implications, especially in the context of relationships. But it means that they share a similar pain.Anthy: In the end, all girls are like the Rose Bride.
- Shower of Angst: Utena takes one in the aftermath of finding out the truth about Anthy and Akio's relationship.
- Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: By the end of the episode, Utena shows she is still willing to believe in true love and friendship even after everything she's seen and her all blockheaded behavior in the past.Touga: Only fools believe in such a thing as true friendship.Utena: Don't you know? I am a fool.
- Smash Cut: An intentionally jarring transition from Anthy and Utena's Intertwined Fingers as they renew the connection between them, to a windy nighttime rooftop that Anthy intends to throw herself off of.
- Standard Snippet: Johann Sebastian Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" plays during the cantarella scene, and skips like a faulty record when the heroines claim to have poisoned each other.
- Symbolic Hero Rebirth: Utena is soul-searching this episode, and although she doesn't spell it out, she's no longer certain that her ideals are valid and meaningful. Her doubt is signified by her removing her rose signet at the start of the episode. At the end of the episode she's made the choice to wear the ring again, and it sparkles like a jewel on her finger as she sets off on her final test.
- Tampering with Food and Drink: In a scene that often baffles during the initial watch but gains significance in rewatches, Anthy hints to Utena that she poisoned the cookies she's eating. Utena then tells Anthy that her tea is poisoned too. Each compliments the other on how delicious their treats are and carry on with teatime.
- Taught by Experience: After the shocking reveal that concluded episode 36, Utena is wising up and taking matters into her own hands. This episode echoes scenes from episode 30 where Utena's strength was undermined, but shows her figuring things out and building resolve instead.
- Verbal Backpedaling: During Utena's conversation with Juri, she equivocates when she discusses her feelings for Anthy, realizing partway through that she isn't giving Juri's feelings for Shiori a fair shake. She hasn't fully figured herself out yet, but she has learned to see things from other people's point of view.
- You Can Turn Back: Anthy offers Utena one last exit ramp at the end of the episode.Anthy: Miss Utena. There's still time. You can still turn back.
