Episode 3: On the Night of the Ball

SCRIPT (version 1.0; 9/9/1998)

Narrator Once upon a time...
Narrator ...there was a princess grieving over the deaths of her mother and father.
Narrator Before this princess appeared a prince traveling upon a white horse.
Narrator His appearance gallant and his smile gentle,
Narrator the prince enveloped the princess in the scent of roses and wiped away her tears.
Prince "Little lass bearing up alone under grief,
Prince please lose not thy strength and nobility when thou growest up."
Prince "As a token of this day, please retain this."
Princess "Pray, shall we meet once more?"
Prince "This ring will guide thee to me."
Narrator Was the ring from the prince meant as an engagement ring?
Narrator That part was good,
Narrator but because of the strength of her adoration for the prince,
Narrator the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself!
Narrator But is that really good for her?

Title On the Night of the Ball

Utena And I still have this ring here. So that encounter was real. The Duel Arena, the Rose Bride... Did this ring guide me to all of that?
Anthy Good morning, Utena-sama.
Utena I'm finished. Will we always have to have breakfast and dinner by ourselves like this?
Anthy It's nice and quiet.
Utena You're...
Anthy Yes?
Utena You're always by yourself in class, but do you really not have any friends?
Anthy I do, right here.
Utena Well, besides him...

Utena Stop calling me "Utena-sama," will you?
Anthy I shouldn't?
girl It's Utena-sama!
girl Good morning, Utena-sama!
Utena Hi, morning!
girl Utena-sama!
girl Good Morning!
Utena Morning!
girl 'Morning!
Utena I know, they call me Utena-sama, but... when you say it, it doesn't sound like a joke.
Anthy But I've been engaged to you, Utena-sama.
Utena I've told you to stop mentioning stuff like "engagement" and the "Rose Bride."
Anthy Nevertheless...
Utena Look, no matter how you look at me, I'm a regular wholesome girl. I'm only interested in wholesome boys, not a bride or stuff like that.
Touga Well, that's a relief. Hello! I'm Kiryuu Touga, Student Council President, and a wholesome boy.
Anthy Good morning.
Utena Are you two close?
Touga Oh, definitely. After all, she is the Rose Bride.
Utena I see. You're one of those Duel game freaks.
Touga Have you mentioned it to anyone?
Utena Who'd try to tell anyone about a stupid thing like that?
Touga Excellent. Well, you look gallant and beautiful even when you're angry, ...Tenjou... Utena-kun.
Utena Don't get too fresh with me, Mr. President.
Touga Take it easy. Let's be good friends. You and I... aren't total strangers, after all.
Utena Why... Why do you have that?
Touga Just so I could meet you, of course.
Utena He couldn't be...?
Touga I'd like us to be really good friends.
Utena He couldn't be...?

touga If the egg's shell does not break, the chick will die without being born. We are the chick; the egg is the world. If the world's shell does not break, we will die without being born. Break the world's shell!
touga,juri For the sake of revolutionizing the world!
Touga Yesterday, Saionji fought Tenjou Utena for the second time, and was defeated.
Miki I've heard he's locked himself in his room since yesterday and hasn't come to school.
Juri I could care less about him. But Tenjou Utena... Is she trying to revolutionize the world like we are?
Touga No. Unlike us, she doesn't seem to receive the letters from the Ends of the World.
Juri If not, why does she bear the Rose Signet?
Touga Why, indeed?

Wakaba UUUUUUTENA! Utena! Utena! Utena-sama!
Utena Wakaba... That was very close...
Wakaba Was it? Oh, you were watching Touga-san! A-ha, I see...
Utena You see what?
Wakaba But you should give up on him.
Utena What?
Wakaba The rumor is that he's the biggest playboy in our academy, and he's reduced a lot of girls to tears.
Utena Such a playboy would never be a prince on a white horse...
Wakaba By the way, who'd you get for a roommate?
Utena Himemiya Anthy.
Wakaba Really? You got stuck with a lemon.
Utena By a lemon, you mean...?
Wakaba She's actually more popular among guys than she might seem, and I've heard bad rumors about her.
Utena Rumors?

girl It's your fault! You snared our Saionji-san and turned him into a loser!
girl He's been away from the Kendo Club, too!
girl What a dreadful girl!
girl Give us back our Saionji-san!
girl Say something!
Nanami What's going on here?
girl Nanami-sama!
Nanami Pray tell, what is all this commotion? Given the circumstances, I'll have to report it to the Student Council.
girl Well, uh...
girl It's not what it seems.
girl Excuse us!
Nanami Are you all right?
Anthy Yes, thank you. You're... Nanami-san, they said it was?
Nanami Since you're so popular among the boys, you tend to make people jealous. You're the most popular girl among the boys in my 7th grade class. At any rate, you've been nominated for the Queen of the Ball this year.
Anthy Queen of the Ball?
Nanami This weekend, we will choose the Queen of this year's Ball, and you've been nominated. You should come. It'll make the boys happy. And besides, I've always wanted to be your friend, too, Himemiya-sempai.

(Commercial break)

Anthy Oh, no! You trapped me!
Utena Say, Himemiya...
Anthy Yes?
Utena You really don't have any friends?
Anthy I do, right here.
Utena Well, besides him, okay?
boy Himemiya Anthy-sama, Tenjou Utena-sama, I have deliveries for you. On behalf of the executive committee, I present this dress to you as proof of your nomination for Queen of the Ball. We, the executive committee, heartily hope that you will attend the ball wearing this dress this weekend.
Utena That's awesome.
Anthy What's yours, Utena-sama?
boy And, this box is for Utena-sama from President Kiryuu.
Utena What? For me? But I have nothing to do with it. I'm not invited.
boy There should be an invitation and a message card in the box. Then, if you will excuse me...
Utena Yuck! What the heck is this? Does he think I'll go to the party wearing something like THIS?
Anthy You're not going?
Utena Nope. Not interested.
Anthy Then, neither will I.
Utena How come? You're nominated for Queen of the Ball, aren't you?
Anthy But I feel it's hard for me to deal with a place where there are so many people. Somehow, they all start to look the same, and that frightens me. Now, it's your turn, Chuchu.
Utena Well, YOU should go. You OUGHT to go! You need friends!
[Ed note: Chu-Chu makes an interrogative noise here]
Utena Well, you count, but... You should make a lot more friends!
Anthy If you insist, Utena-sama.
card On the night of the Ball --- Kiryuu Touga
Utena What in the world is he thinking anyway?

A-ko I wonder, I wonder... do you know what I wonder?
B-ko Ma'am, did you know...
B-ko ...the whole town is talking about the upcoming ball?
A-ko Calling it a "ball" sounds nice enough, but it's really just a place for hunting boys.
B-ko Young ladies today are so low.
A-ko&B-ko How shameless!

Nanami Guess who?
Touga Stop it, Nanami.
Nanami It's such a lovely evening, isn't it? Onii-sama...
Touga You're such a baby, little sister.
MC Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to this evening's Ball. We hold this Ball to celebrate a lovely spring evening with nature's blessings. We also have a contest to choose the Queen of the Ball. We beg you for your cooperation.
girl Utena-sama came in drag!?
girl How cute!
girl She looks gallant in a guy's uniform, but she looks perfect in a dress, too!
girl Lovely, Utena-sama!
Nanami How do you like it? Since you're always talking about Himemiya-san lately, I've gone ahead and invited her.
Touga Tenjou... Utena.
Utena I knew I shouldn't have worn this.
Anthy I'm sorry, Utena-sama. You look like you're embarrassing yourself in it for me.
Utena "Embarrassing?" Really?
Nanami It's so nice to have you here, Himemiya-sempai.
Anthy Nanami-san.
Nanami This dress looks really wonderful on you.
Anthy Thank you.
Nanami Since you're nominated, please come this way.
Utena A-ha, Himemiya does have a friend.
[Ed note: Chu-Chu makes an interrogative noise] Utena Well, besides you, of course.
Touga Wonderful! Even better than I imagined!
Utena I don't know what you imagined, but this kind of thing doesn't suit me.
Touga What are you saying? YOU are the true queen of our academy! I'd be glad if I could have a dance with you in that dress. I think we'd make a photogenic couple.
girl Nanami-sama, she's come wearing the dress we sent her.
girl It really suits her.
Nanami I will humiliate anyone who tries to steal my brother away from me.
Waiter Oh, I apologize, miss!
Anthy It's all right.
Nanami My, my... You soaked the special dress which I so graciously sent you. It has a little problem when it gets wet.
Touga So, let's dance.
Utena Hold on there. First off, this isn't my kind of party.
Touga If not, why did you come?
Utena 'Cause...
Touga 'Cause...?
Utena You might be...
Touga I might be... what?
Utena Himemiya!
Touga Is this Nanami's doing? What is she up to? Right when things were getting good, too...
Utena Himemiya!
Nanami What's that?
Anthy Utena-sama!
Utena Let's dance, Himemiya!
Nanami And everything was going according to plan... Who IS that girl?
Touga Nanami! Don't carry your mischief too far.
Nanami Whatever do you mean? By the way, who's that girl dancing with Himemiya-san?
Touga She's Tenjou Utena.
Nanami Tenjou Utena...
Touga Yeah, she's something else. But how could she throw away the dress I sent her?
Nanami My brother gave her a dress? HER?!

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Utena Kaoru Miki, a.k.a. Micky. He's a beautiful boy ranked nationally in both piano and fencing.
Anthy My...
Utena He's a super-genius who even takes some college curriculum in the seventh grade.
Anthy Amazing.
Utena It seems that he's the only one in the Student Council opposed to the Duels. More than that, he's offering to be Himemiya's tutor.
Anthy I'll do my best to make him comfortable.
Utena Next time on Shoujo Kakumei Utena: The Sunny Garden - Prelude
Anthy The Absolute Destiny: Apocalypse.
Truth (ending theme)

CREDITS ON THE SCRIPT

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE ON THE EPISODE

Utena      You really don't have any friends?
Anthy      I do, right here.
Utena      Well, besides him, okay?

Utena      I know, they call me Utena-sama, but...
Utena      when you say it, it doesn't sound like a
	   joke.