~!Sword: Saionji's Katana Drive to Duel: To become special and destroy those who already are special.!~ Utena's best friend. Wakaba's cheerful personality hides an enormous inferiority complex, and she attaches herself to Utena and other people to feel important. In the first episode ("The Rose Bride") she refers to Utena as her "boyfriend." Utena first dueled Saionji after he posted a love letter that Wakaba gave to him in order to humiliate her. ~!During the Black Rose Saga, it is revealed that she was harboring Saionji after his expulsion from school. When he returns due to his obsession with Anthy, she feels betrayed and seeks Mikage. Taking revenge, she pulls Saionji's katana out of his body to duel Utena. In the movie, Wakaba appears only briefly. In her first scene, she gives Utena a tour of Ohtori Academy. Towards the end of the movie, she is shown as being transformed into a Jeep-like automobile and transporting the Student council members to rescue Anthy. (The movie makes a further pun on Wakaba's name by displaying a 'wakaba mark' — the green and yellow chevron that is used in Japan to signify a car being operated by a novice driver — on the back of the car.) Despite her initial interest in Utena she is later seen with another boy, who looks similar to her friend Tatsuya from the anime. Ikuhara suggested that this boy was supposed to represent that Wakaba was living a "normal" life in Ohtori as opposed to the world of the Duelists and revolution.!~
