The Different Forms of Intelligence: Mikage versus Miki
or another late-night essay -- version 2.0 -- 2 January 2004
This is the sad product of reading too much Jungian psychology in my free time when I could be doing something more productive, like updating the website or learning how to use Photoshop CS. It is the night before New Year’s Eve, or, by the time this is finished, the last day of the year. This is how I celebrate. More intellectual argument and rambling that will, inevitably, go off topic. Look at me go already.
Mikage Souji and Kaoru Miki are the two characters within the show cited as “geniuses”, and there is no arguing against the fact that they both are. Both characters show a great deal of almost supernatural comprehension and brilliance in the concrete fields of math and science. Miki takes college level classes while being a first year junior high student, and Mikage writes thesis papers and presentations for college professors. This is well established and well known. However, the exact nature of their intelligences in a manner past concrete calculation and comprehension (i.e. one plus one equals two) is almost diametrically different.
One of the key themes of Utena is innocence versus worldliness and jadedness. Miki is innocent; Mikage is worldly and jaded. The exact cause of this is off topic for this particular essay. One of Miki’s powers, Juri notes, is his innocence. It gives him imperfections that, in turn, give him edges over more experienced opponents. One might interpret this to mean that Miki’s innocence and inadvertence to the established norm gives him an originality all but ignored by the experienced as ‘ignorance’ or ‘the wrong way’, but in terms of intelligence this is not the case, as is later clarified. Juri was referring to Miki’s fencing, a physical activity that, although tied to the brain on a higher plane than, say, eating and sex (though I can argue the “sex as intellectual stimulation” angle elsewhere)--but still tied nonetheless--is controlled more by the cognitive area of thought than the cerebral. To think too much during any sort of fighting match is not helpful—it just leaves openings—so judging by Miki’s quick reactions he places his cognizant mind on autopilot while fencing. He drills over and over so that this is possible; athletes know this feeling well. He and Mikage are the two Duelists who have the most profound inner monologue during the duels, reinforcing the fact that both of them follow this pattern of cognizant-autopilot running-cerebral-in-the-background. For comparison’s sake, Saionji dedicates more of his mind to the physical task at hand. He thinks about how his opponent moves and his opponent’s techniques as opposed to thinking of the great mysteries of creation and life and how said mysteries are tied to the duel.
Miki is, one will notice, a person who likes to uphold established norms and systems when it comes to intelligence and morality. In the manga it is cited that Miki’s personal motto is “A life with order”. He is similar to Utena in his glorification of pure ideals and his foolish innocence. He searches for his “Shining Thing”, he is the only Student Council member who believes that Anthy should not be used against her will, and, unlike the vast majority of people at Ohtori Academy, he is not a manipulative bastard. It would seem as though he has no concept of manipulation on a more-than-denotative level, or even the higher mind games, for that matter. He maintains a firm doctrine of morality. He can read psychology and recite it with the best of them, surely, but he has not fully grasped every idiosyncrasy that can only be understood with maturity and practical application. He follows the psychological pattern of a stereotypical nerd thus far, though, he is only thirteen. He is sheltered, and there lies his vice and virtue. He does not yet understand (or closes his eyes to the fact as does a fool) that to grasp his desires he must dirty his hands, which serves as a core theme during his final duel in episode 26.
Mikage, on the other hand, is manipulative, esoteric, and far more abstract than Miki. He is not in the least bit innocent and has consciously dirtied his hands, accepting it as a mere consequence of his actions. He views morality as a factor to be analyzed in others and exploited as their weakness. He probably views morality as an arbitrary factor that serves as a refractor for clarity of vision and truth. He is worldly; he has knowledge of mind games, psychology, and religion on a more-than-textbook level. Mikage represents the black rose--something corrupted and dark, yet aware—while Miki’s rose color is relatively light: blue, the color of the sky. The blue sky is a childish allegory for clarity and absence of things that are sad and muddling (i.e. rain clouds), in much the same way that Miki tries to rid himself of things that would muddy himself or his ideals.
The age difference is a cardinal variable to consider. Miki is thirteen years old, still very young and therefore expected to be immature. Mikage is over a hundred years old. A difference in abstract intelligence (not native intelligence, or the relative of the IQ) is expected, but Miki is showing underdeveloped potential for his great native intelligence in the areas of abstract awareness. It is as if he closes his eyes to the psychological games and esoteric occurrences around him so as to keep pure. The “Shining Thing” that he wishes to grasp may be a subconscious allegory for keeping or retaining his own innocence, or something ‘high’ and ideal that he could grasp and from which he would not receive corruption.
Assuming that both Miki and Mikage were the same age, and even with the very same life experiences, it is doubtful that they would develop into the same persona. The native orientation of the two shows evidence of being quite different. From the womb, Miki and Mikage are fundamentally different in the way that they perceive reality. They share many fundamental similarities, by the same token—genius and heightened awareness being vital—but the difference in orientation alone is enough to assume that their lives would follow different paths given the aforementioned circumstances.
In a Jungian sense, Miki would be a sensory learner (more specifically, a sensor-judger, or Guardian), and Mikage would use his intuition (or an intuitive-thinker, a Rational). In a nutshell, to be sensory is to think using the concrete realities perceived by the senses, or live in the “here and now” – this music sounds like this, these notes fit into this pattern and it pleases the ear, one plus one is two, if I add this chemical this happens – in a very logical order, whereas intuition takes everything into one big picture and draws an immediate conclusion, orienting one’s self in a timeless increment. Definitely, everything – music or chemistry, for example – could be approached and mastered in both ways, and Mikage and Miki can switch from sensory to intuitive if they wish easily, but there still remains a key difference in the way they rationalize reality with what comes most naturally to them.
Therefore, with this in mind note also that Miki likes to maintain harmony between people and avoid upsetting the status quo, while Mikage has no reserve for causing chaos and psychologically torturing people to get what he wants. Ironically, when considering sensing versus intuition, Mikage is far more objective than Miki. Miki has strong morals and beliefs in a right-and-wrong, and he will not violate them given any choice. Mikage sees everything in the light of gray relativity – morals, people, and reality. The man burned alive a hundred students for an abstract ideal he waned to pursue. Miki wouldn’t hurt Chu-Chu if he had any choice.
This may be an indicator of a differential view of reality. Miki is far more in touch with the concrete reality than is Mikage. Mikage sees reality as the crucible for ideas; he bends reality to achieve his ideas and theories with little regard for real-world consequences. Miki bases theories on reality and what he observes, not the other way around as does Mikage. Mikage’s ultimate reality is within his own head. Miki’s ultimate reality is in the world around him.
In this sense, Miki is the equivalent of Aristotle, believing that the absolute reality is the one perceived with the senses. Mikage is the equivalent of Plato or Socrates, believing that the highest reality is the one reasoned. Of course, Miki has his own originating-in-his-head demons and delusions, and Mikage is highly aware of his surroundings and reality when he needs to be.
The esoteric is often associated with the ‘rationals’, or the Mikage-like people, because of its highly theoretical nature and almost spiritual faith. In some ways, Mikage holds more things on faith than does Miki – he believes that things that exist in his idea of logical, like eternity, exist because it makes sense to him. Miki does not make inferences until he sees physical evidence. However, Miki holds things such as right-and-wrong and taboos on the faith that they are right because he feels it and sees their consequences in the social order, while Mikage regards such things with skepticism and disregards them as invalid and unreasonable. Miki sees the value in social order; Mikage does not. As far as the esoteric is concerned, Mikage has a mentality that is often reminiscent of a Wiccan or alchemical doctrine concerning thought energies controlling reality. Miki is a far more straightforward mathematician-like person with little esoteric thoughts.
Ironically, alchemy, the first form of science that was as much science as it was religion and magic, is used as the basis of Miki’s third duel chorus “Heizoku Uchuu ni Fumetsu Koutei” (An Immortal Emperor in a Mundane Universe). Consider the following lyric translation from Cantarella Cookie:
Existence: wondrous alchemy
Base metals; precious metals
From right to left,
Start to end…
“Base metals, precious metals, from right to left” refers to the arrangement of elements on the periodic table, the latter of which came into existence long after the birth of alchemy. The entire duel song refers to Miki as a brilliant mind or an “emperor”--something holy and endowed by birthright within a universe of the mundane. He was born with a mind that has the capability to perceive great things. Both of Miki’s duel choruses use science and the evolution of the intellect from the womb as their basis.
Mikage’s only duel song, “Watashi Kuusou Seimeitai” (I Am an Imaginary Living Body), focuses, as does the last two episodes of the Black Rose Arc, on his delusion and wild inner universe that overrides his perception of reality, among other subjects. Mikage is so reliant on his inner thoughts that he was able to suspend time and become an immortal because he believed it was so, regardless of what the outside world told him. He believed that Tokiko was manifested in Utena because it made sense to him, regardless of the fact that Utena did not at all resemble Tokiko in personality. He also saw the real Tokiko in the hallway, but said nothing to her. He was so fixated on his idea that he ignored reality, dismissing it as incorrect because it did not mesh with his internal theory.
So there is another example of difference: Miki would have cut bait and modified his idea the second he saw Tokiko, for once, because of his reliance on reality to shape his ideas. He would not have allowed his theory on Tokiko’s existence to become so farfetched in the first place, anyway. He also would not have created delusions about Mamiya’s life, or lack thereof. Indeed, it can be argued that Akio’s power over Mikage was only effective because of Mikage’s inner-reality reliant mindset. Had Mikage not already fabricated mental illusions about reality, Akio would have little control with an illusionary Mamiya and eternity. Miki, placed in the same position, would be far more difficult to manipulate.
By that token, Mikage’s delusions give him powers that Miki could never have attained being placed in the same situation. Mikage became immortal because he believed time was suspended. Miki would have looked at reality for what it was and would have grown old with it. In a world like Ohtori, where the mind determines so much, people like Mikage hold the true power. In the “real world” Mikage would probably just be locked in an asylum. There is something to be said for the fact that with genius comes inherent insanity. This would be a wonderful opportunity to argue this point, but it is not within the scope of the essay, and the more separate essays I have on the site the more impressive and intelligent I look; random deity knows I need all the help I can get.
Of course, Miki still believes in his Shining Thing and is a very emotional boy. Miki has his illusions and ideas, and they drive him strongly, but they do not skew the way that he thinks or shade his view of reality most of the time. His social views (and probably just his relatively normal gut) tell him not to engage in incestuous sex with his sister, whereas it would not surprise anybody if Mikage shrugged off social taboos as pointless and banged his sister and / or brother into next week if he wanted to do so, and the author would like to volunteer as his sibling under such circumstances. Mikage would be aware of the danger of, say, a genetically malformed baby or STDs, and it may be the only thing that keeps him from said banging.
In areas of genius outside of the analytical, Miki is a musical prodigy while Mikage has shown no signs of exceptional artistic ability, or any, for that matter. Mikage probably has a healthy respect for the arts in his Mikage form, and Professor Nemuro, “the living computer”, probably did as well, contrary to the accusations that he is a lifeless, programmed individual. The arts are a stimulator of the cerebral, and Nemuro probably appreciated this without allowing himself to fully appreciate the purely emotional aspects. Professor Nemuro is important to consider when looking at Mikage’s psychological and analytical development. Nemuro far more resembled Miki in the aspect that he was dry in analysis and did not cotton esoteric theories, but unlike Miki in his disregard for anything not purely scientific. One product of the transformation from Nemuro to Mikage was a multiplied faith in intuition alone without concrete, practical logic to validate theories. This is also an elevation in insanity, respectively.
Following this analogy, if Mikage could evolve from Nemuro, could a more intuitive Miki evolve from the one known now? His duel songs provide hints that he will bloom into somebody resembling Mikage in ways, but it is doubtful that he will become as manipulative or as delusional. Miki is far kinder and more emotional than Nemuro ever was. Nemuro was dry and boring; Miki is artistic and eloquent. Miki and Mikage are separate entities with separate destinies, of course, but in Ohtori history repeats itself and allegory represents in layers. It is not being inferred that Mikage’s development from Nemuro was merely an allegory for Miki’s development. Mikage was a stand-alone tragedy. Mikage may, however, be a representation of the path that all geniuses eventually take, or at least parallel in some ways.
If one is to look at the contrasting mentalities to search for psychiatric problems, Mikage is schizoid and schizotypal, while Miki is obsessive-compulsive and a neurotic perfectionist. Miki is too afraid of authority while Mikage has no regard for it. Miki is too observant of social norms while Mikage is not at all observant. Miki is a pure-winged-angel while Mikage is fallen. Miki takes a symbolic fall during the Akio arc when he surrenders a small degree of his innocent foolishness in acceptance of the fact that he must dirty himself to grasp his desires, following a downward path as Mikage did. The question still remains of how long he will remain the pure fool.
Though Mikage’s mind-over-matter mentality gave him a small degree of power, he still remained a puppet within a coffin. Miki’s pure foolishness was similar to the power that, in the end, allowed Utena to revolutionize the world. Fools do the impossible because they do not know that it is impossible. Miki’s intellect, still it its untarnished form, may have given him the fool’s power. This is where Miki and Mikage are the same: knowing too much of the world as it exists prompts one to wish for a world in which the accumulated knowledge makes sense, for in a world in which their knowledge was worthless they would lose the ‘intelligence’ they both value. Neither one could revolutionize the world because they were both, simply, too smart. Intelligence is tarnish for a fool’s mind. Sometimes intelligence is mere foolishness in itself.
