It's Probably Obvious But I Never Noticed It Either - Tumblr Posts

when I first watched utena I noted how peculiar it was that people depicted in their coffins were always curled up in a fetal position instead of the typical coffin position of lying on their back with their hands crossed over. it just hit me now that it probably has to do with the egg speech given at the start of the student council sequences. the one inside the coffin shows the chick that died without breaking the shell, or being born. the coffin shows the safety of eternity at the cost of never growing or changing. the coffin is the egg that doesn't crack. the juxtaposition of the egg (new life and potential) and the coffin (death and stasis). the ending of Utena is open-ended, as Anthy has emerged from her coffin and has cracked the shell of the egg/her world, and now she's creating a life of her own. the coffin seems eternal but it can be escaped, that's why they aren't posed as if already dead. oh my god