It's always been the goal of Hasegawa to present characters as if they are 'naked', that is, to try and represent psychological concepts with the body and appearance of a character, to open their mind to the viewer wholly. That being said, DAMN, this is one hell of an image. It's not just that it's overtly sexual- there are discrepancies in it. The oldstyle Utena presented in the context of an ad for the movie where all the characters were redesigned? Unless this picture predates the redesigns, something -else- is going on here. Notice that the lock bears the EXACT same symbol as what new Himemiya now bears on her forehead...

Given the placement of the lock, (chastity belts, anyone?) and its mark, this image becomes even more disturbing beyond the overt sledgehammer device of putting Utena in bondage. We are given an unresolvable paradox; Utena is both open and closed, put on display and sealed up at the same time. This Utena, who might be the 'whole' and unsplit Utena as opposed to her newer form(s) in the movie, is no longer free, she is contained... by Himemiya? Then again, was Utena ever truly free, even in the series?

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