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.
On Mytho and Fakir, while it was nice character wise, it did require some suspension of disbelief. Really though that shouldn’t be a problem considering we are 13 episodes into a Magical Girl show. What I mean is the whole thing with fighting vaguely human ravens over a frozen lake. Only for that lake to turn into water once its done, etc etc. Normally this, along with the mostly alright animation, would bug me. However what makes it work, and why I love it, is one simple fact: Princess Tutu has presented itself, both in and out of universe, as a ballet. From the beginning shots were framed like stages, with stage lighting and stage props. Setting the whole thing in a ballet school only reinforces this. And it’s this extra flavor, this tone, that takes otherwise absurd or campy scenes… and gives them an extra gravitas in my mind.
Beyond Mytho and Fakir, the big example of this for me is Tutu herself. From the start, she was a Prima Donna and this was a ballet. She has solved problems through dance, so solving this one through it made sense. It was a clever way for Tutu to confess her feelings without speaking them. Yet what really makes it work was the added meaning of dancing a Pas De Deux alone. Simultaneously showing Mytho that not only does Tutu need him, but desires to dance with him and him alone. So much so that she is willing to do lifts without him, falling to the floor without him to catch her. I thought it was a fantastic culmination to Ahiru’s growth throughout the cour. Initially so unsure of herself, finally confident and determined to do what needs to be done. The graceful character animation her didn’t hurt either.
Yet I don’t think it would have worked so well without Kraehe’s bits before it. Both in tempting Tutu to profess her love, erasing her from the story, and in attacking her self esteem. Telling her that she is only borrowing Tutu’s power, that inside she will always be Ahiru. The clumsy girl who can’t even dance back in school. Part of me wants to say this is Kraehe projecting her own insecurities as Rue. But the more I think about it, the less that actually works. As Kraehe’s whole bit is she has everything Ahiru doesn’t, except for Mytho’s love. Yet Ahiru doesn’t even have that outside of being Tutu. Really, everything Princess Tutu did here is rather straight forward. Or at least it feels that way. The messages came across clearly, the arcs concluded and everything just fit together cleanly. And isn’t that how a finale should feel?
That said, there were some parts that didn’t go as I expected, that maybe could have been better. The big one here is Fakir and Ahiru. Going into this, I was expecting the two to work together more, to support each other. Perhaps dance a Pas De Deux together against Kraehe in some kind of… dance off. Part of this is because I think the two have a more interesting relationship with each other than either do with Mytho. But it’s also because I think it would have hammered home Princess Tutu’s point about not doing it alone better. That said, their words/actions did end up supporting each other in some ways. Such as Fakir stopping Ahiru from confessing and disappearing, accepting her role in saving Mytho. And it did give us Tutu’s solo Pas De Deux, which I loved. So while not what I expected, it still worked.
Finally we come to the most surprising, and arguably heartbreaking, part of the episode in Edel. Princess Tutu side-swiped me with this, as I was expecting Edel to continue onto the 2nd half. To be like Pinocchio or something, growing a heart and wanting to be a real person. Instead her story ends in a sort of hopeful tragedy. Both saving Fakir and giving her own life, burning herself to keep him warm and show them the way out. Asking them to dance together so she can see/experience human emotions. All because she wanted to be more like them, the ones she had observed for so long. In a way though this is good, as Edel was Ahiru’s primary support. Edel was always there when Ahiru needed advice or rejected being Tutu. So now Ahiru stands not necessarily alone, but without her oldest support.
This leads us to episode 14 of Princess Tutu, The Raven. Even for a pilot episode, which both recapped and repeated a lot of episode 1, it was interesting. All throughout the episode we got parallels to Season 1’s opening episode, with slight changes denoting the difference. For instance we got the opening scene of Ahiru as a duck and Mytho dancing on a lake. Only this time for Ahiru to rise up to join him, then for her dream to become a nightmare. Both showing her progression and the danger still to come. Or when Mytho leapt from the window, where last time he fell, only for Tutu to save him once more. Reestablishing the core dynamics and purposes of all the characters, while showing just enough changes to make it interesting. I wish it could have done more, but overall I don’t think the parallels were bad.
The big changes though are to the characters relationship dynamics. No longer is Rue by Mytho’s side, nor Fakir abusive. Instead Ahiru is Mytho’s trusted friend. Meanwhile Fakir and Ahiru are no longer at odds, instead clearly supporting each other. I wouldn’t necessarily call them friends, as Fakir is still rather cold to everyone other than Mytho. But he is supportive of her, helping her hide her secret from Mytho and letting her listen to his talk, so she can get some insight into the situation. He even goes so far as to tease her, showing a much warmer side that before we only saw when he was alone. It makes me excited to see where the two will go this season. Because as I said before, I find their relationship to be one of the most interesting ones in the series. With Kraehe being the only possible exception.
Speaking of Kraehe, this episode also introduced her as a villain from the start. Having her lurk around corners or in shadows, even showing us her father, the new big bad of the season. It would seem that if the last one was primarily around Mytho’s heart, this one is the story itself. As Kraehe and Fakir told Tutu multiple times, her influence has started the Prince and the Raven again, most likely waking the Raven up. I had thought that Drosselmeyer was going to be the big bad, and he still might get involved. But its looking more and more like he will get away with all this. Meanwhile as far as the Raven goes, I don’t think he wants anyone to win, including Kraehe. I don’t believe him for a moment when he promises her Mytho, seeing as he introduced himself by trying to kill him.
Speaking of trying to kill Mytho, that was a very nice connection back to the first season. Using the corrupted heart shard again to influence Mytho makes sense, as it was a huge story moment. That said, it could be terrible for Princess Tutu if used poorly. Mytho finally has character, he finally has some semblance of agency. So to take that away and make him the villain half of the time with the Raven could undermine all of that. As Tutu and Fakir can hardly fight Mytho, and they no longer have the sword with which to break his heart and start anew. For now, I am going to put my trust in Princess Tutu to pull this off well. But it could very easily fall apart, and considering what I have heard of the 2nd half, I am hoping it doesnt.
So all in all, how were these two episodes of Princess Tutu? For me, they were just as great as the last few. I am invested in the characters, the greater arc, and the presentation is right up my alley. The finale was everything I wanted, far earlier than I was actually expecting it. Meanwhile, as I have said before, framing everything as a stage ballet is perfect. It feels unlike anything else I have watched, while also coloring the entire series in this tragic coat. Giving every action, every scene, a slight sinister or tragic undertone. Considering my biggest problem with Magical Girl shows up until now was their diabetes inducing sweetness, its perfect.I can only hope that Princess Tutu manages to keep this up until the end. Because halfway through, its one of the best experiences I have had in a long time.
