I Promised To Do A Break Down On Azz's And Clara's Relationship Specifically Since The Initial Post Was

I promised to do a break down on Azz's and Clara's relationship specifically since the initial post was so long (Iruma's relationships within the love trio) so here it is! This is long compared to my initial post breakdown of the relationships since I am just focusing on these two. And I wanted to do these two right since so many people think Azz doesn't like or appreciate Clara.

As we know, in the beginning the two of them mostly revolved around Iruma. Azz was very much annoyed with Clara's personality, there wasn't much to tie Clara to Asmodeus besides playing, and as they mention in the manga, more than likely they would have never met and/or become friends without Iruma. Iruma was very much needed for the initial start of their relationship. However, that doesn't mean that by this point in the story we don't see they both care deeply for each other outside of just getting along for the sake of having Iruma.

Similarly to Iruma, Clara has enabled Azz to experience more playfulness and childlike fun than he ever experienced previously. Clara is not just some afterthought within the love trio. She is necessary for the two of them to open up more emotionally. Especially Azz. Asmodeus in general is a very closed off person by nature, stemmed from a fairly isolated childhood of no one wanting to interact with him. We see this when the soulmates are first seperated because they have to join other clubs. Azz basically never interacted with the other members unless he had to. It's hard for him to open up and let his excitable, lovely side shine through. Clara is one of the people that inspired that in him because even with just Iruma, Asmodeus wouldn't know how to just let himself be playful. Sure, the first time him and Clara played together was because Iruma asked him to, but that was more than likely the first time he has ever done this.

Additionally, Clara gives Azz an extra challenge. She's not easy to understand and is someone he feel like he must compete with for Iruma's affections (of course that has changed drastically in the latest volumes and chapters). Asmodeus is used to being the best, outshining anyone and anything in his path. He's a young genius. But that means he didn't have something to push him to grow. Clara is someone who is so widely different from him that it causes him to have to strive towards understanding her. When they have to work together for the hell dance, Azz realizes that yeah, she thinks about the world in an entirely interesting way compared to him. And he can learn from this new perspective. Azz has really grown to care about Clara because he knows she can open up sides of him no one else can.

Clara on the other hand learns about more structure then she ever had before. Clara has been on a character development of realizing that yes, unadulterated chaos can be great. But it can also just cause trouble for yourself and for others. She can rely on Azz to shut down some of her more outlandish ideas, not because of meaness but because the situation doesn't call for it (though he'll shut it down in the sassiest way possible of course). She lives beyond the comprehension of most people and that's what makes her so wonderful. But she can go overboard and doesn't tend to second guess things. With characters like this, you need somone/something to stop them before something ends up being a giant mess.

And Clara felt the same as Azz too about the way he thinks. To Clara, he also makes zero sense. That's why she also needs to strive to understand him and be more considerate of his feelings. She understands that emotions and care doesn't come easy to Asmodeus. And she gives him room to express them however he can and gives him the encouragement he needs. She truly is the best at understanding the emotions that Azz and Iruma are experiencing. Her role as the emotional challenger/instigator pushes Azz to understand why he is feeling that way.

Like I said, Clara is very much needed in the group. I'll fight anyone who thinks she isn't. Because without Clara's brazen approach to feelings, these two boys wouldn't push themselves. Like, sure she group in her toy box because she could see something is wrong with iuma, but it was as much for Azz as it was for him. Because she would also know when he's feeling down about something too. I saw someone call her their safe place on twitter and its true. She's someone they can go to when they just need to talk to someone or vent to. And like a trained big sister, she will pet their hair and listen.

I really hope we get to see just these two interact more as the story progresses as well as Clara Iruma solo time. Because I care about the love trio so much, they are basically free therapy for me. Oh and in case you were wondering, yes I am obessed with Azz wanting to take a picture of Clara in her cute swimsuit. He's so in love with his soulmates it's so cute. I know he has the best icloud service and still has to backup his photos often from how many pictures of Iruma and Clara he owns.

no, fr i have been thinking about this too. they both deal with his loss differently (both in positive and negative ways) but poro never allowed themself to heal and is just clinging onto the memories of delkria. and by holding on so tightly, he is ignoring or blind to how this is only hurting what delkria wants. this isn't healthy.

i keep thinking about the dialogue where poro tells sullivan he can't replace delkira and points to iruma and its like PLS. omg, did you ever think sullivan knows this? that he's not trying to replace him but instead move on? sure, he maybe wants a connection like he once had. It doesn't mean he wants iruma to be like delkira. poro is too scared/unwilling to let go and its only going to hurt him in the process. sullivan has healed to a point that he can adopt iruma. poro however just believes no one can ever uphold the same quality and just stopped trying. and it really hurts to see

i cant wait for more interactions between them and seeing more into poro's and delkira's relationship

Nah bro the contrast between how Sullivan and Poro deal with Delkira's absence is heart-wrenching.

Poro is entirely focused on Delkira himself, and holding onto the personal memory of the demon. Sullivan is still sad about Delkira's absence, but he upholds Delkira's legacy by keeping the netherworld as much as Delkira kept it, and raising the next generation to inherit his will.

And Delkira obviously wouldn't want Poro to be aligning with terrorists and essentially destroying his netherworld if he was there, but Poro's too blind to see that, or realise that after this long, there's no way their old love will ever be the same.

Sullivan is loyal to Delkira's ideals and what he left behind. Poro is loyal to Delkira himself, or at least his lovesick memories biased by nostalgia.

Seeing former friends clash because of a lost friendship/love they both shared is just depressing and tragically beautiful in writing

i think the scene in episode 33 where utena and akio play othello is very interesting because there's just a whole lot to read into with it. after they start playing utena gets distracted, and when she looks at the board again she realizes she's losing. really badly. this is symbolic, in that she's losing to akio in the game that he is playing, the one she doesn't know she's a part of. but also, the board is invalid. no legal moves would lead to the pieces being arranged like that, which means the reason utena begins to lose when she looks away is because akio is cheating. again symbolic, in that utena thinks they're on equal footing and playing by the same rules, when they aren't. cheating in what is meant to be a friendly round of a board game is really just taking advantage of your opponents trust. which is what he's always doing. i've also heard someone (probably in one of the podcasts i listened to) bring up that utena's two white pieces being separate and isolated (but also not that far from each other on the board) might be symbolic of her and anthy, and how akio is tearing their relationship apart. and there's probably even more to the scene if you want to look for it, it's so cool.

obsessed with how Utena uses both definitions of revolution: a change, a spark but also rotation, circular movement that repeats and repeats (a perpetual motion machine). change vs staying the same (not growing up)

thinking about how Akio is associated with rotation (the carousel, maybe even the Ferris wheel?) how when the road he drives on appears curved, circular

how he takes the students in his car on this road after they give up on the duels, not allowing them to escape/stop participating in the system, trapping them in this cycle

if the road is circular, it doesn't go anywhere. It eventually comes back to where it started (how the characters regress sometimes). It also means Akio isn't taking them anywhere, he's just tricking them (bc he's a manipulative piece of shit + shows how he's giving them a false sense/idea of adulthood since none of them actually graduate aka grow up)

thinking about how he claims that Utena didn't bring revolution while he's preparing for the next set of duels (he completed a revolution, now it's time to start over)

Yet while Akio tries trapping them in this eternal cycle, he fails. The ending (will get to that later) but also the students grow and develop. They are not the same people they were at the start of the show. You know who doesn't change though? Akio. On to the ending: I love the ending of Utena so much. The students are talking about growing up, about changing!! The student council, Tsuwabuki, Kozue, Shiori, Wakaba have all clearly changed. They are no longer partaking in the same behaviours they kept repeating throughout the show (all their relationships are noticeably healthier, no one is obsessing over anyone anymore, hanging out w/out animosity between them). Utena and Anthy escape and leave!!!!! Anthy is no longer trapped in the cycle of abuse Akio put her through. Anthy is no longer going to keep playing the role of the rose bride, Akio is free to continue playing prince (revolving), but she has to go now (revolution).

you can bet on me!