Shiori the Actress:
Episode Sumaries
Here is sumaries of the pivotal episodes Shiori has appeared in. Enjoy!
Episode 7: Unfulfilled Juri
In this episode, we get an overview of who Juri is and what she does (or rather, does not) believe. From the start, see she is unhappy; even her talent at fencing Miki comments means little to her. She and Utena have a chat in the hallway, and we first hear the infamous line: "Believe in a miracle, that your wish come true." as the girl from her memory offers the orange rose. Juri concludes that it is foolish to fight for the Rose Bride, because the power of miracles does not exist.
At a council meeting later, the Duelists decide that it is Juri's turn to duel. Miki claims she has no motive to duel, but Touga quickly makes it known that she does. She wishes to disprove the power of miracles -- or perhaps she does not. Perhaps she wants the power of miracles to grant her her wish, her love.
Then we see into Juri's past, and learn about her two closest friends in middle school and what drew them apart. The girl steals a boy she thought Juri liked because she knows the boy likes Juri. Shiori refuses to regret her action as it was what she wanted for her heart, she loved this boy so much. Juri reads a letter from this girl, seemingly glad she is well, but also missing the times when all three were friends and bitterly jealous of her happiness.
Utena runs into Juri sitting by the fountains/water at night. Juri asks why she dresses like a boy, and Utena tells her of her memory of a prince. It had been rumored that Juri was like a wild animal, and here she becomes like one. Angry and bitter at Utena's idealism and foolishness, Juri claims she has no right to bear the Rose Signet and tries to rip it off her finger. Threatening to disprove Utena's miracles with her sword, Juri challenges her to duel.
When the duel starts, it is clear Juri has the upper hand all the way through. In the end, she disarms Utena and flings her to the ground. Sword pointed at Utena's neck, Juri is about to cut off the white rose when the Sword of Dios falls, slicing only through Juri's rose. Juri stubbornly refuses to admit this was a miracle.
Later, Touga calls her on her skepticism: can she doubt miracles now? Juri replies in a noncommittal way. After he leaves, she admits to herself she hates her middle school friend, whose picture she now carries in a gold locket, because the girl can't know her feelings.
Episode 17: Thorns of Death
Juri's friend, Shiori, returns to the Academy. She explains to Utena and Anthy that she grew up with Juri, and she always admired Juri and felt she was the only person she could trust completely.
Mikage and Mamiya have a metaphorical discussion concerning a lovely orange rose conveniently floating in their aquarium. Apparently then need an insect's venom to remove the dangerous thorns of the rose, the thorns necessary to complete their goals.
Nanami questions Miki about his encounter with his sister, and Juri excuses herself from the meeting. Shiori catches her outside. Juri ignores her coolly and moves off, but Shiori stops her, really wanting to talk. Shiori apologizes for stealing the boy away from Juri. Juri curtly dismisses her apology and tells her not to worry if that's what she felt guilty about. She never loved the boy. Shiori wants to know who is in Juri's locket then?
There is a brilliant double entendre here as Juri steps off of the balcony into a dark hall, we see a shot of Utena, and Juri says: "It's you." Utena asks Juri why she doesn't forgive Shiori (even though Utena has no clue what the situation is.) Juri smiles at her sadly and dubs her "cruelly innocent", just like Shiori. Utena discusses this with Akio and he tells basically the same thing.
Juri rips off her necklace and throws it into the water, claiming it was only her weakness that bound her to Shiori. Shiori finds it in her room, and goes to Mikage's seminar. There she reveals her jealousy for Juri, and her desire to alter the power in their relationship was what drove her to steal the boy in the first place. Staring at her own picture in Juri's pendant, now she feels she has power over Juri, possessing her secret; but is still horrified the secret is bound to her.
As a Black Rose Duelist, Shiori steals the sword from Juri, taunting her with the exposure of her secret. Utena and Shiori duel, Shiori occasionally shouting her triumph over Juri. No longer shrinking in her shadow, she now is the stronger of the two with the knowledge she holds. Utena defeats her, and Shiori appears not to remember anything as she casually greets Juri the next day. After Juri wakes up, her necklace is waiting for her. She is angry at herself in the end that she cannot break her attachment.
Episode 28: Whispers in the dark
Ruka, the fencing team captain, returns to the Academy, beating Juri in a fencing match and then attending a Council meeting. Apparently he was ill and has just returned to school, and he is a duelist as well. At the meeting, he decides to relax and enjoy campus life a while. Shiori opens his locker and a foil falls out. He catches her with it, and asks if she was the one polishing his sword for him every day while he was gone. She says yes, and he kisses her. The next day they walk to classes together amid gossip of their dating and Juri's shocked eyes watching them. She asks to speak with Ruka at "their" place.
This turns out to be a bench by the water where Ruka taught Juri how to fence. She tells him she doesn't care what he does so long as he keeps away from Shiori because Shiori is an "old friend" of hers. Ruka reminds her that he was going to have fun and why shouldn't be enjoy a romance with her if he wants to? That night, he meets Shiori at the fountains, and while making out with her looks straight at Juri. Juri fears he knows all about her love for Shiori.
The next day Juri tries to warn Shiori to stay away from Ruka, but Shiori rather nastily blows this advice off. That night, Touga invites Shiori and Ruka to see the Ends of the World. In the back seat of Akio's car, Shiori and Ruka discuss the power of miracles and also loose clothing at some point. Ruka challenges Utena to a duel. Ruka looses, faulting in part the weakness of a Bride. Shiori, hopeful that there will be another chance, tries to cheer him in his defeat, but he is convinced there will not be a next time. She is upset, and reminds him of her taking care of his sword -- and he tells her that she was lying, that was not his sword at all.
Later, back on their bench by the water, Juri reminds him she warned him to stay away from Shiori, to which Ruka replies she knew that more than anyone. Juri, somewhat anxious, asks what his plans are, calling his name as he calmly walks away.
Episode 29" Azure Blue paler than the sky
Ruka dumps Shiori publically. She's upset and doesn't come to school for several days. After having another moralizing covernsation with Utena, Juri tries to go talk to Shiori, but Shiori will have none of it. Juri tries to convince Ruka to go back out with Shiori, but he can't understand why anyone would want to date her, and rattles off a long list of her faults. He then turns his attentions on Juri...maybe he'll date her next? Juri tries to hit him, and he kisses her. While kissing her he somehow detaches her locket (the boy has fast hands, ne?) and threatens to crush it. She slaps him and rescues her locket. Ruka agrees to go back out with Shiori, and then Juri challenges him to duel. If he wins, she'd do whatever he wants. If he looses, he goes back out with Shiori. He agrees.
Juri looses, and Touga and Akio appear with the car. Juri says she doesn't want her wish, her only goal is to free Shiori from Ruka. Ruka is rather tacturn, because his goal in this is to free Juri from Shiori.
They set up for the duel, Ruka drawing Juri's sword. As the duel proceeds, we see flashbacks of the earlier Juri/Ruka duel. Juri appears to have the upperhand as Dios descends. Dios aims not for the rose but breaks the chain that holds Juri's pendant. It smashes on the ground as Juri stumbles drukenly in shock. As it starts to rain, she pulls off her rose, forfitting the duel. Ruka tells her not to worry.
The next day at fencing practice, a girl gets hurt. Juri goes to visit her in the hospital. The Shadow Girls, posing as nurses, talk about a patient who died. He had wanted to free the woman he loved in the fencing club with the power of miracles. Juri walks outside, composing in her head things to say to Ruka when she sees him. She wonders what he wanted the power of miracles for. As Shiori runs behind her, she hopes whatever Ruka wanted comes true.
A little about the Adolescence of Utena movie version of Shiori:
Takatsuki Shiori is one of the main villians in the movie and seems to be one of the characters that many people seem to love to hate. She has one main intent - revenge on the person who killed her prince.
Shiori is another student at Ohtori Academy, but unlike the other girls, her uniform sports several bits of frills and lace. She, along with Utena and Anthy, is the only person who is able to see Touga. Indeed, she does much of her plotting while in Touga's company.
Shiori has a story that goes like this: When she was young, she had a prince. However, the prince drowned. A girl fell into the river and when he rescued her, she died. Shiori was very sad because she wanted to be alone with the prince. If the story sounds familiar, it's because it is. Touga was her prince who rescued Juri at the expense of his life, and this created Shiori's grudge against the older woman.
Shiori also doesn't like the fact that Juri's locket as a picture of her in it, and that when Juri is alone she often looks at the picture. She says it makes her feel sick. This fuels her desire for revenge against Juri. At first she asks Touga to defeat her in a duel, but Touga says that he will not hurt Juri. When asked why, he says it's because "duelists have high ideals."
Shiori sets up her plans in a more direct way. She goes directly to Juri and uses the knowledge she learned from Touga (about the rose signet and the duels) to get Juri to duel with Utena. She tells Juri that Utena wants to be a prince because she loves Touga, giving Juri an edge. Juri agrees to the duel, and it's Shiori who hands her the sword as the duel begins.
During the duel, Shiori watches from the sidelines - but after a moment, she walks off. Later, after Utena defeats Juri, she reappears with the "scandalous video" of the Shadow Girls. Everyone's shocked at finding Akio's body in the rose garden, and Shiori tells them that it was all the fault of the Rose Bride - why else grow a garden but to hide the body? She tells them the evidence is on the video - although apparently the video is the one with Chu-Chu and Keropon.
Although her revenge on Juri seems to have worked (Juri lost the title of Prince to Utena), Shiori isn't out of the picture yet. As Anthy and the Utena car speed on the way to freedom, Shiori appears, also in car form. She slams into the Utena car, telling them that she won't let them go to the outside world, that only she could do something so wonderful. However, she is so intent on Anthy that she doesn't realize she's driving between the lines and crashes into a divider. The Shiori car goes up in flames, and the Locust/Beezelbub cars that zoom down the road later run over the license plate that reads "Shiori", flattening it
