Welcome one and all to another week of Princess Tutu! This time we cover episodes 19 and 20, where we tackle “Love” in all it’s forms, across the entire cast. From Mytho and Fakir to Rue and Ahiru, none are safe, not even the side characters. So without further ado, lets dive in!
Starting off we have episode 19, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Being named after one of the most famous plays William Shakespeare ever wrote, it’s connections should be obvious. Everything within this episode is a callback to the play in some form or another. From the overarching theme of love, loves lost and loves ignored, to the very names of our side characters: Hermia and Lysander. Were this a western work I would almost call it to on the nose, with how blatant these references are. However, and I don’t know Shakespeare’s prevalence in Japan, this depth and understanding of the work feels so unique for anime. Most of the time we get schlock like the recent *Boarding School Juliet*. Thing’s that take the base premise, toss it in a school setting, and call it a day. Yer Princess Tutu does so much with the original work, and I love it.
You need look no further than our titular side character this week of Hermia to see that understanding. On the surface, it’s just the plot of the play, modified a bit. But it’s these modification’s that show Junichi Sato’s understanding of it all. As in the original most of the confusion of love and all that comes from the Fairy’s, having their fun and mucking it up. Yet in Princess Tutu Hermia isn’t held back by any magic or foul force, but by her own fear. She is unable to confess her love, and just like in the opening story, was prepared to be forgotten. What make’s this work though, beyond even how it fits into the overall story with Ahiru, is how real an issue it is. That fear of rejection, or desire to not change the status quo, is something I suspect everyone has felt at some point.
Meanwhile we have Ahiru who has a very similar, but completely opposite problem, in that she isn’t *allowed* to confess. It’s this relation between the two that makes the episode work so well for me. As all throughout we have Ahiru helping Hermia, talking with her. Trying to give her the confidence to confess to Lysander, knowing that she can never do the same without disappearing. And in the end, after Mytho attempts to subvert and abuse her lack of confidence, after he tries to force his selfish love on her, Hermia confesses. And in what should be a happy ending for her, Hermia got her love after all, I am only reminded of Ahiru. That for all of Ahiru’s struggles, for all of Mytho’s quest for love, even a false and selfish love in the name of the Raven, she can never have it. At least not with Mytho…
Speaking of Mytho he had some interesting stuff this week as well. As with the return of his most recent heart shard, it appears our Prince is fighting to regain control. Stumbling his way out into the woods, to the old ruin like stage, fitting for the title play. It is here that Kraehe finds him, and in a surprising twist she approaches him… kindly. Almost desperately even, in a scene that reminds me of the first cour finale at the underground lake. I love this scene. Everything from the angles to the shot composition and the music give it a terribly somber feeling. Even Kraehe’s own words, appealing to Mytho and how they share the same cursed blood, are self critical and accepting of the low place everyone assigns her. This is Kraehe at her most vulnerable, appealing to Mytho for real love… and he rejects her.
During the entire scene, Kraehe shows that she doesn’t want Mytho, the Raven Prince. She wants Mytho, the Storybook Prince. The old Mytho, the knightly and honorable and kind Mytho. That is the character she loves, and yet when the one she is promised, the Raven Prince, appears… He rejects and belittles her. With even the ravens around the stage, what used to be symbols of her power and her harbingers, laughing and cawing at her. What makes this scene all the more tragic though is this is the same location where Mytho accepted Tutu’s feelings. This is the same place they met and danced together earlier on the series. Where Mytho came to long for and accept Tutu, yet she could not confess to him because she would disappear. So for Kraehe to come and confess at the same location, only to be abused and shot down… its tragic.
Finally, we come to some of the side/meta content of the episode in Drosselmeyer and Ahiru/Fakir. Drosselmeyer can hardly be called “side content” considering the revelation he dropped on us this episode. That Ahiru has found all of the rogue heart shards, and the only ones left are the ones sealing the Raven. As Fakir said, this means the real fight is beginning. As to go any further means unsealing the Raven and finishing the original story that set this all in motion. In a way though, it sort of feels like Drosselmeyer is making it up, shifting the goalposts so to speak. Rewriting the story so it better fits what he wants. After all this whole thing started because he wanted a good story. And recently he has been mocking/disappointing in our leads. Most of all, considering episode 20’s revelations, it only makes sense.
Before we get there though, I want to talk about what I talk about every week, Ahiru and Fakir. Princess Tutu gave us some fun side content with them this episode, a good number of jokes. I particularly liked the opening gag with the stopped time. A flustered Fakir freaking out as Uzura pours water on an ostensibly sleeping Ahiru. It both made for a good visual gag as well as setting the stage for Drosselmeyer himself. Beyond that though, Princess Tutu continues to hint at Fakir being Ahiru’s true end game. Even going so far as the have Lillie and Pike write up a fake love letter that he wound up getting by the end. Its cute and all, but the big thing I got from it was this: Fakir didn’t refuse. He called it childish, and not to waste time with it. But that’s not a no.
Next we come to episode 20, A Forgotten Story. I have to admit, I wasn’t big on this episode of Princess Tutu. That isn’t to say it was bad of course. I don’t think Princess Tutu has had a bad episode yet. Just that this one didn’t reach the tremendously high bar that the rest of the series has set for itself. Throughout the episode I simply wasn’t that invested in Raetsel or her story. The love triangle of Raetsel, Hans and Karon came out of left field and I am not invested enough in any of these characters to really care all that much. Meanwhile the rest of our cast, excluding Fakir, didn’t really slot into this episode specific story as well as they have others. The long and short of it is that this episode only really exists for Fakir, and while I love Fakir, it feels… lacking.
That said, what we do have that relates to Fakir is some good stuff. As once again we see him struggle with this self-image of a Knight. Up until now his entire character has been defined as this sacrificial knight. This man who will give his life for his friend, so dedicated is he. Only… he failed to do that. He still lives, and Mytho is being corrupted by the Raven. As he so aptly puts it, he is a knight who wasn’t even able to protect the Princess last week. For all intents and purposes, he has failed his place in the story, and the story has left him behind. Yet it is outside the bounds of the story, unfettered by the same rules as the others, that Fakir finds his place. Because unlike everyone else, bound by the whims of the story, Fakir can write his own.
It’s a strange twist for Princess Tutu, but one that if handled well could work fabulously. I speculated early on how the show could be about defying fate. Of making your own choices in spite of the future that was written out for you. And here we see one of the characters within said story, able to write stories of their own. Something that, previously, only Drosselmeyer was capable of. I *am* curious how Princess Tutu is going to explain this of course, as this is coming out of left field. But I have faith it will do so well. Meanwhile Fakir’s power itself clearly has limitations. As it is explained early on that he can write stories, effect the world, but they don’t necessarily end how he writes them. So he can remove Drosselmeyer’s shackles of an ending, get them there, but after that they are on their own.
So, all in all, how were these two episodes of Princess Tutu? Overall, I definitely still enjoyed them. I am engaged with the story and the characters and I cannot wait to see how it ends. Will we get a tragedy, as Ahiru disappears after professing her love for Mytho? Will she end up Fakir and get a happily ever after, but one different from the original expected end? Or maybe something wild will happen and everyone will get sent back to their original stories except Fakir, leaving him alone. I honestly have no idea what Princess Tutu is going to do, and that is such an incredible feeling. To have a show I have enjoyed the whole way through, yet still have no idea how it ends is exactly what I watch anime for. I can only hope that Princess Tutu lives up to the standard it set itself.
