* Icons * Shadow Girls *
The Shadow Girls play a minor but important role in the background. They are 3 in number. We mostly see the shilouettes of E-ko and F-ko, but C-ko also makes her appearances in various places.
The Shadow Girls have a radio play for most of the movie, telling little tidbits of information here and there. The things they say aren't entirely random - they offer hints of what's going to happen, although it'll take an extra viewing to realize it. One of their first hints is "Don't draw something on your boyfriend's back if he's going swimming the next day." - Shiori draws a picture of Keropon on Touga's back, an allusion to how he dies - jumping into the river to rescue Juri. Their scandalous video shows the secret behind Akio and Anthy.
However, it is at the end of the movie where the Shadow Girls get their spotlight. When Anthy takes the Utena car down the road, the Shadow Girls are the one broadcasting a live play-by-play report of their escape on channel 81.4. They have a massive command center reminiscent of NASA filled with high-tech computers. They warn Anthy of what's happening, telling her the Shiori car is coming, trying to figure out what the Locust cars actually are, etc.
When the castle car appears, the Shadow Girls tell Anthy to escape and to return to the previous world, but when Anthy refuses to run away, the Shadow Girls warn her about the dangers, closely following her progress, and helping Anthy and Utena escape to the outside world.
One of the strangest parts of the ending is the fact that the Shadow Girls' command center turns into a desolated ruins after the destruction of Akio and the castle car, with 2 straw dolls where E-ko and F-ko were. These dolls bear nametags reading "Himemiya Anthy" and "Tenjou Utena." What does this mean?
This is my interpretation of it. Anthy says that she and Utena were born in the outside world and that they are now returning to it. I think that the shadow girls are part of Anthy and Utena - the part they left behind when they entered the world of Ohtori Academy. These 'ghosts' of the two are like 'shadows' of their former selves, and thus they help Anthy and Utena escape back to where they are, the outside world. When the two do manage to escape, the Shadow Girls turn into straw dolls because they are reunited with the rest of themselves, that is the two parts merge again. Of course, this is my interpretation of the ending, and if you have a different one, feel free to email me or post a message on the forum.
