Category: Finished Series: Romance

2 more episodes, and 8 more to go for Princess Tutu! This week on Throwback Thursday Princess Tutu returns to form in the most unexpected of ways. Meanwhile Rue and Mytho get some much needed conflict and my OTP takes another step forward. So lets jump right into it!

Starting off we have episode 17, Crime and Punishment. It’s been a long time since I started an episode so poorly, and loved it so much by the end. You see, at the beginning, I couldn’t stand Femio. Everything from his VA to his over the top nature felt out of place and fit Princess Tutu poorly. You need look no further than his interpretive dance, a perfect representation of my problems with modern at, for proof. Yet by the end of this very same dance, his place in the episode and the story became clear. Effectively lamp-shading both Kraehe and Mytho and the current state of their characters. I thought this episode was effectively going to be filler, to be honest. Yet like Princess Tutu is wont to do, by the end Femio fit in perfectly. So without further ado, lets talk specifics.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 17/18 – 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.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 15/16 – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all to the end of the first season of Princess Tutu and the start of the second! A lot happened this week. Fakir confronted his fears, Kraehe competed for Mytho’s heart and Tutu made her feelings known. The only question is: Was it any good? The answer is yes, it was very good, and I really want to talk about it. So lets dive in!

Right off the bat we have episode 13, Swan Lake, the finale of Princess Tutu’s first season. And I have to say, I loved it. Princess Tutu managed to not necessarily resolve, but bring all of its character arcs to a head at once. Mytho made his own decision, choosing both Tutu and to face his emotions. Fakir faced his fears, fought through them, and in the end broke the sword he once broke Mytho’s heart with. Ahiru managed to make her feelings known and come to terms that she and Tutu are one and the same. Even Edel got a culminating arc, as she was responsible for saving them all in the end. It really impressed me how Princess Tutu managed to bring all of this together without any character feeling neglected. So strap in because we have a lot to talk about after the break.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 13/14 – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome to the halfway point of Princess Tutu! It’s hard to believe, considering how this has all the makings of a finale. But considering Kraehe’s arc, Drosselmeyer’s position as the true villain and recent developments, it only makes sense. So let’s jump right into it!

Immediately, I want to talk music, because I love Princess Tutu’s. Yes, I know it primarily uses existing classical pieces that weren’t originally made for the show. But in my mind that makes it all the more impressive. Because Princess Tutu is able to take these hundreds of year old pieces, with their own histories and meanings, and make them work. Every time I recognize a piece, it fits. Every time I look one up I didn’t know, and read up on the work, it fits. An example of that this week is episode 12’s usage of “The Story of the Kalendar Prince” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Focusing on and using the inherent adventure of the piece and ascribing it to Fakir and Ahiru’s journey through the underground. I could go on, referencing pieces such as “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” by Tchaikovsky, but I think you get the point.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 11/12 – Throwback Thursday” →

Hello once again to week 5 of Throwback Thursday with Princess Tutu! I hope everyone is doing well, what with all this Corona Virus business floating around. I’d like to say if the world has you down, a cheerful little magical girl show could fix that. But what Princess Tutu covers this week, focusing in on Fakir and Rue, doesn’t really fit that bill. Still, thanks for reading, and lets jump right in!

Now, I want to talk about the structure of these two episodes, because we are doing something different this week. Instead of going through each episode independently, instead I want to focus on Fakir and Rue. Deep diving into them, who they are, where they where, etc. Because my initial impressions of these episodes were… not necessarily filler, but hardly plot focused. Very little in regards to the greater plot was really advanced. Instead Princess Tutu focused in on these two, for better or worse. I say that because some segments were fantastic, Fakir and Rue getting some growth is well deserved at this point. But there were also some rather dull or outright annoying segments such as the extended marriage jokes. And even if some of these elements tied back in at the end, it made for a less enjoyable experience. So with that done, lets talk about Rue!

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 9/10 – Throwback Thursday” →

Every week I go in to Princess Tutu expecting it to fall off, to finally disappoint me. And every week Princess Tutu manages to shut me up with another pair of good episodes. This week, we focus in on Fakir and Rue, Mytho stands up for himself and Drosselmeyer intervenes. Let’s dive in!

Right off the bat, I want to talk about how Princess Tutu is constantly surprising me. Specifically here I want to point out the pacing, and how quickly we are actually moving. Princess Tutu has managed to tell more story in 8 episodes than most shows do in a full 12. Even taking ones that I started off thinking were filler and turning them into full blown major plot reveals. And yet even with the amount covered, I don’t have any fear about the plot in the 2nd half. There is still plenty of content that could be covered, from Fakir or Rue centric episodes to Mytho’s past to confronting Drosselmeyer himself. It really is impressive how much compelling content Princess Tutu manages to stuff into straight-forward Magical Girl plot. So that said, let’s get into the episodes proper.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 7/8 – Throwback Thursday” →

Welcome all to week 3 of Princess Tutu! A bit early this week, but that ain’t so bad. There’s a bit of a global emergency going on right this moment, but thats no reason to forget the little things. And this week Princess Tutu did a great job of distracting me from this crazy world with 2 more really good episodes. So without further ado, let’s dive in!

Starting off, I want to commend Princess Tutu for just how quickly it is moving. That might seem strange to some, considering how often I harp about pacing here, but let me explain. I was fully prepared for Princess Tutu to become an episodic monster of the week. Where every ep we recover a new heart shard and return to the status quo. Only really moving forward big plot points every 10 or so episodes. So when I mean Princess Tutu is moving unexpectedly fast, I mean that its moving at all. Because so far, every episode has not only had the episodic heart shard, but also noticeably advanced the plot. Whether it be Rue meeting Tutu, Fakir and Rue competing for Mytho, or just explaining Ahiru’s predicament a bit more. Every episode we have gotten more than I expected. And I really like that.

Continue reading “Princess Tutu – 5/6 – Throwback Thursday” →