Princess Tutu – 15/16 – Throwback Thursday

Another week, another double feature of Princess Tutu! This week see’s the Raven start to make some moves, Fakir get ostracized and Mytho struggle internally. Does any of it work? Lets dive in and find out!

To start, these two episodes are perhaps the most disappointed I have been in Princess Tutu since we started. Everything about these two, or arguably 4, episodes were rough. The pacing is off, the content is either to rushed or to slow, and its rather repetitive. No doubt this is all tied back into how this 2nd season was originally aired. Rather than 13 full length episodes, it aired as 26 half-length episodes, and were cut up accordingly. This meant though that each half length episode required its own beginning, middle and end. So when you stitch the half length episodes together, you get this weird mess where it starts and ends twice. Compared to the mostly phenomenal pacing of the first cour, it’s a complete let down. I can only hope that Princess Tutu finds its dancing legs again soon, or else this 2nd cour will fall short.

To talk details, lets begin with episode 15, Coppelia. It contains both the highest highs and the lowest lows of this weeks episodes. As everything done with Fakir was fantastic. I loved that his previous kind of relationship with Mytho, incredibly abusive, came back to bite him. As Kraehe and the Raven are playing on it to ostracize him from the school. Even going so far as to make it seem like Fakir is bullying Mytho into keeping quiet about it. Driving a wedge between them and working to separate Mytho from as much of his support group as possible. Had this been attempted in the first season, before the finale, it would never have worked. As it wasn’t until the finale that we started to truly understand Fakir and see him change as a person. It’s a devious plan, and I love and hope we see more of it.

Sadly, most everything else from the episode ranged from meh to alright. Some of the biggest offenders though were Mytho/Rue, and how Princess Tutu constantly reestablished everything. I understand this is the beginning of a new season, but please. You have opening credits referencing old stories or the story of the week for a reason. Use those, instead of constantly rehashing everyone’s relationships, rehashing Kraehe’s obsession or Ahiru’s naivete. A clear example of this is the change to Mytho’s heart shard. Where before a ravens feather was put in it, now it has been soaked in the Raven’s blood. It’s a small thing, not particularly important and arguably the original scene could be interpreted either way. I could just do without constantly being reminded in the same episode of the same plot point constantly. It’s like Princess Tutu is slowly turning into a regular, modern, dull Magical Girl show.

That said, while it gets the point across, I am being a little bit harsh on Princess Tutu. Because for all the repeating and rehashing information, we did get some new Mytho and Kraehe stuff as well. For instance Mytho’s inner turmoil, his Smeagol and Gollum moments, have a lot of promise. So far Princess Tutu is just playing it straight, having him occasionally go “Rawr, i’m evil” to “Oh no Tutu! Save me!”. But the possibility for more is there, as Mytho begins to more directly confront Ahiru. I would love to see the evil side of him play on it, play on Tutu’s love and sympathy. Perhaps fake being normal and happy in an attempt to strike at or distract her. Or perhaps the normal Mytho attempts to save everyone by harming himself, destroying his evil side. And with Princess Tutu’s track record, I can see it happening.

Meanwhile we have the Raven and Rue, where we learn about their plan and relationship. I’m unsure what exactly the Raven needs with a maiden’s heart though. I thought they only needed the rest of Mytho’s heart shards to be gathered, to free him and continue the story. But now it seems they also need a heart, perhaps to replace Mytho’s if their plan is for him to be controlled by the Raven? Regardless, what I did like about this bit wasn’t the greater plan, but the Raven’s relationship with Kraehe. Princess Tutu is no stranger to abusive relationships after all, and it seems we are getting another. As the Raven constantly puts her down, even saying that only he and Mytho could possibly love her. I called Kraehe a tragic character back in Season 1, and I stick by that. But I am really looking forward to this comeuppance.

Finally we come to Ahiru’s two friends, who had a rough time of it this week. Both Pike and Lillie acted out of character, but where Pike has an excuse, Lillie has none. As Pike was being tempted and influenced by the Raven and Mytho, trying to steal her heart for sacrifice. That all makes sense. But Lillie spent most of this episode almost… sadistically. Trying to start fights between Ahiru and Pike, and making snide jabs. I would call it teasing, or playing, but for the sheer glee she gets out of them. As if she enjoys putting them down or making light of their relationships. It was cute in the first season, in small doses, she enjoyed putting Ahiru in tough spots but knew being outgoing was for the best for her. But now its as if her character was taken to an extreme, on I don’t enjoy.

This brings us to episode 16, Maiden’s Prayer. If the last episode felt like to little happened, this one had to much shoved in. It was as if Princess Tutu was trying to put two full length episodes into two half length ones. The entire thing ran at a mile a minute, not letting anything linger or really have time to sink in. The biggest offender of all this, and the part I disliked the most, was actually Uzura. Not only do I dislike her mannerisms, voice and catchphrase, her place as a seeming mascot, but I dislike what she does to Edel. One could make an argument that its sort of Edel’s spirit living on, a sort of take on reincarnation or children and the like. But for me its just tying an annoying character to a fantastic finale it has no place tarnishing.

Meanwhile pacing wise, Princess Tutu didn’t fair much better here either. As I said, it tried to fit a lot into a single episode run, as we can see with Freya. As not only did Princess Tutu introduce her and attempt to have Mytho take her heart, it did it again in the 2nd half. Redoing effectively the same scene in a different location, making Mytho having attempted this 3 times in 2 episodes. I understand that this is the seasons new “thing”. It’s going to replace the heart shards for a bit and try to play up Mytho as a possible villain. But as far as entertaining anime goes, it lacks the maturity and depth that I came to love from the first season. Where each episodes conflict was lovingly and carefully crafted for the full episodes runtime, each shard fitting in perfectly.

The worst part is what was sacrificed for this repeated plot. As while episode 15 managed to do some great some with Fakir, and some decent stuff with Mytho/Rue, we got none of that here. There was no real progress for any of the leads beyond Ahiru learning about the blood. However that only progresses the plot, not their characters. At least with the heart shards we had obvious, but clear, progression for Mytho. As each shard he got opened him up to a new emotion and to new conflict with Fakir and Rue. Here it just exists because we need episodic conflict. Add on to that how awkward this conflict is, how forced Tutu’s dances with the girls are, and it becomes dull. These dances don’t have the meaning of her solo Pas Du Deux or her dance with the Ghost in episode 5. They are lifeless.

That said, I did get one thing out of this, my OTP. After the first season finale, Fakir and Ahiru have a much more compelling relationship than either do with Mytho and I love it. And the further we move into this 2nd cour, the more Princess Tutu seems to agree with me. Playing with Ahiru’s concern over Fakir’s ostracisation while utilizing Mytho’s turn to start breaking down her love for him. Even Uzura played into this, turning her human in front of Fakir multiple times. Playing on his reactions and care for her. All the while Lillie and Pike tease Ahiru about seeming to like Fakir more than Mytho. I can only hope this carries through to the end, as it is simultaneously a tragic yet loving ending. Fakir and Ahiru, Mytho and Rue. The Princess fails to get the Prince, but both live happily ever after.

So all in all, how were these two episodes of Princess Tutu? For all that they contained some things I loved, they were ultimately disappointing. I enjoy everything Princess Tutu does with Fakir of course. Expanding on his relationship with Ahiru or taking him to task for his previous treatment of Mytho. And the Raven’s relationship with Kraehe is similarly compelling. It’s mostly just Mytho who is suffering so far. As collecting his heart shards, bringing back his emotions and giving us visible progress, was a far more compelling plot than what we have. It allowed our heroes to be proactive, rather than reactive. So that when Kraehe did take control and go on the attack, it felt legitimately threatening. Now though it has simply become par for the course, dull. Unless Princess Tutu starts to shake things up, this 2nd cour will waste the 1st’s incredible potential.

Those are just my thoughts however, let me know yours down below and I will see you next week!