Juri Arisugawa

However, behind her aloof, intimidating manner, she is actually very vulnerable, as she has been hurt in the past by her friend Shiori, with whom Juri was secretly in love. While viewers are at first led to believe that Shiori stole Juri’s boyfriend from her, it is later revealed that it was in fact Shiori who Juri cared about all along.

Juri adamantly insists that she doesn’t believe in miracles, and wants the power of the Rose Bride to disprove the power of miracles. However, she desperately wishes for a miracle in order to resolve her situation with Shiori. Her hardened, bitter attitude often puts her in conflict with Utena because her naivete and optimism remind her of the person she once was.

She wears a locket with Shiori’s picture inside, and in the Black Rose arc, Shiori learns of Juri’s feelings after Mikage shows her the contents of the locket. In the third arc, Utena breaks Juri’s locket during her final duel, prompting her to throw the match.

Juri is depicted in both versions as having learned all she knows about swordsmanship from an older student, Ruka Tsuchiya. In the manga, Touga reveals that Juri only became interested in him after Ruka disappeared. In the anime, Juri’s true feelings are much more ambiguous, as she denies having any romantic interest in Ruka. In both versions, Ruka returns to the Duels despite serious illness in order to give Juri the power of miracles and save her from her burdens. Though they are unable to beat Utena, Juri is finally freed from her problems with Shiori by the end of her final duel. Juri and Utena’s relationship then becomes more peaceful, with Juri jokingly asking for Utena’s picture so she could put it in her new locket.

In the final episode of Utena, Juri tells a story about her elder sister, who nearly drowned. In her story, a boy dies trying to save her older sister; this was played upon in the movie (see below). Her final appearance shows her training her fencing club members, including the newly inducted Shiori.

In the manga, Juri is student council treasurer. Her nickname is ‘The Beautiful Leopard’ and she is the captain of the fencing club. In the manga, there is no Shiori; Juri is in love with Touga instead. Touga, however, is in love with Utena, and so Juri sees Utena as her arch-rival. Juri takes a far more actively antagonistic role against Utena in the manga, almost more similar to Nanami’s role in the anime.

In Adolescence of Utena, Juri is the president of the Student Council (the Council’s members are apparently Miki, Juri and Saionji). According to Wakaba, her nickname is “The Prince.” She allows Shiori to manipulate her, but feels trapped by Shiori as well.

In the scene wherein a young Touga jumps into the river to save the drowning girl, leaving Utena behind on the land, we never see the girl’s face or are told who she is. In the interview with Ikuhara in the extras included with the English release of the movie, Ikuhara reveals that the girl in the boat is, in fact, Juri herself (this is possibly why Juri plays “Prince” to Shiori, because she feels guilty for Touga’s death). This is likely a play on Juri’s story in the last episode of the TV series (“Someday, Together, We’ll Shine” or “Someday, Shine With Me” as the closer translation of the original title), wherein it was her older sister who nearly drowned.

Juri’s older sister never appears in the anime, movie or manga.