Could I interest you in an anime called Princess Tutu?
Hey, don't you laugh at me!
What if I told you that it's about a duck who turns into a girl with the help of a magical pendant?
What if the pendant is given to her by a dead story teller?
What if the pendant can also transform her into a magical ballerina called Princess Tutu?
What if Princess Tutu's mission is to collect the missing pieces of a prince's heart?
What if I tell you there's more to the show than its awful title?
What if I throw in a knight, a raven and his daughter, a cat who teaches ballet, and Tchaikovsky references?
What if this is the text I've chosen for my media literacy post?
Alright! Before you think I've gone crazy, let me explain the plot in the simplest way I can think of.
Once upon a time, there was a dude called Drosselmeyer,
Before he "died", he wrote a tragedy about a prince,
and an evil monster raven.
To seal the Raven away, the Prince sacrificed his heart. It broke into many little pieces and was scattered into the real world, specifically a place called Kinkan Town, where Drosselmeyer lived.
Because he died before writing the ending, the other characters were also dragged into the town.
Like Princess Tutu,
the Raven's daughter, Kraehe,
and the fallen knight.
They're forced to resolve the story through their Kinkan Town counterparts, while a sadistic Drosselmeyer watches in glee.
Basically, it's stories within stories.
I don't watch alot of animes or read that many mangas, but I really, really enjoyed Princess Tutu.
The first thing that attracted me to the anime were the illustrations. Soft shades and contrasting colours (primarily black and white) are often used to emphasize the lights and shadows, resulting in dreamy, fairy tale-like sceneries. It reminded me of the storybooks I read as a child.
Created by Junichi Sato and Shogo Koumoto, Princess Tutu is a whimsical version of the traditional fairytale. The anime is largely influenced by Italian, French, Russian, and German cultures. For example, Kinkan Town is based on the historical town Nordlingen in Bavaria, Germany. The music draws heavily from many classical composers (Tchaikovsky, Satie), famous ballets (Swan Lake, Giselle), and Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet). The opening song itself samples the Nutcracker's Waltz of the Flowers.
There has been many different interpretations of the anime, especially about its ambiguous ending. If you don't mind reading a little bit more, this is what I thought of the themes presented.
1) Fairy tales and their flaws.
Let's take a popular example like "Cinderella", where Prince Charming falls in love with a beautiful girl at a ball. He is so captivated that he searches the entire town for her. And well, you know how it ends.
But when you think about it, the Prince fell for a girl in a pretty dress. That's it. He didn't know about the abuse by her stepmother, the talking animals, her family history, nothing! For all he knew, Cinderella could secretly be an opportunistic gold digger.
The same can be said for Mytho. In the earlier episodes, he is literally a walking puppet, and very easy to manipulate. Throughout the story, he has never known of Tutu's real identity. While she helps him recover his missing heart in exchange for his smile (aww..), Mytho becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysterious princess.
In reality, both of them are confusing gratitude with love. That's why in this story, the prince doesn't end up with the princess.
That line was spoken by Edel, a wooden puppet created by Drosselmeyer. She was designed to set the gears in motion when things were starting to get a little too boring for his taste. Through her interactions with Ahiru, she starts developing emotions. Dissatisfied by her purpose, she burns herself into flames to literally guide Tutu out of the darkness.
The second season saw the characters trying to break away from the endings that Drosselmeyer determined for them. Ahiru, who would vanish after confessing her love for the Prince. Fakir, trying to avoid the same death that had befallen the knight. And Rue, who would forever be cursed by the story as the Raven's daughter.
In the end, she chose to be a duck again, realizing that the role of Tutu was a dead end disguised as a dream. The longer she stayed in her fantasy, the longer the others would languish. Through the goodness of her heart *yes, that sounds cheesy*, the Raven is vanquished. The Prince takes Rue as his princess, and together they returned to the story.
Remember Fakir? He discovered he was a descendent of Drosselmeyer, therefore possessing the ability to make stories come to life. The majority of the fandom interpreted the scene above as Fakir writing a story to turn Duck into Ahiru again. Open endings like this are my favourite because it allows the viewers to create an ending based on their own perspectives.
The first time I watched this anime was when I was eight years old on TV2. The station aired reruns of the series in 2006, I was twelve at the time. When I turned fourteen, I was bored of the usual YouTube videos I often viewed. Suddenly, I remembered the eccentric anime and decided to search for the episodes online. Next thing you know it, I ended up spending most of my free time captivated by the series again.
Something about Princess Tutu resonated deeply within me. Maybe the fantasy aspect provided an escape from my ordinary life. Or maybe, even after all these years, I'm still reluctant to detach myself from the innocence of my childhood. Who knows?
What I appreciated most was the storytelling. The beginning of each episode starts with a prologue, which is related to the plot of that episode. Usually, it is a summary of a fairytale (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty). But at the end of each narration, there is always a darker feeling that the happy ending isn't as simple as it seems. Here is an excerpt from the 11th episode, La Sylphide:
Once upon a time, there was a handsome slave. What bound him were not heavy chains, but the love of a princess. Every day, every night, the princess whispered her love to the slave, and the slave responded in kind. Bound body. Bound emotions. The slave or the princess? Which of them is really the one who is unable to move?
*Before I blab any further, let me just warn you that the rest of this post contains spoilers*
There has been many different interpretations of the anime, especially about its ambiguous ending. If you don't mind reading a little bit more, this is what I thought of the themes presented.
1) Fairy tales and their flaws.
Let's take a popular example like "Cinderella", where Prince Charming falls in love with a beautiful girl at a ball. He is so captivated that he searches the entire town for her. And well, you know how it ends.
But when you think about it, the Prince fell for a girl in a pretty dress. That's it. He didn't know about the abuse by her stepmother, the talking animals, her family history, nothing! For all he knew, Cinderella could secretly be an opportunistic gold digger.
The same can be said for Mytho. In the earlier episodes, he is literally a walking puppet, and very easy to manipulate. Throughout the story, he has never known of Tutu's real identity. While she helps him recover his missing heart in exchange for his smile (aww..), Mytho becomes increasingly fascinated by the mysterious princess.
In reality, both of them are confusing gratitude with love. That's why in this story, the prince doesn't end up with the princess.
2) Predetermined destiny or defiance of fate?
"May those who accept their fate find happiness, those who defy it, glory."
That line was spoken by Edel, a wooden puppet created by Drosselmeyer. She was designed to set the gears in motion when things were starting to get a little too boring for his taste. Through her interactions with Ahiru, she starts developing emotions. Dissatisfied by her purpose, she burns herself into flames to literally guide Tutu out of the darkness.
The first season ended on a happy and predictable note. The Prince ended up with Tutu, the Raven's daughter was defeated, and everyone lived happily ever after. But remember, happiness doesn't last forever, not in Drosselmeyer's stories anyway.
The second season saw the characters trying to break away from the endings that Drosselmeyer determined for them. Ahiru, who would vanish after confessing her love for the Prince. Fakir, trying to avoid the same death that had befallen the knight. And Rue, who would forever be cursed by the story as the Raven's daughter.
By the end of the show, Ahiru is faced with a difficult decision. Her pendant was the last piece of the Prince's heart. If she returned it to the Prince, she would turn back into a duck. If she didn't return it, the story couldn't be completed, and Kinkan Town would be forever stuck in the story.
In the end, she chose to be a duck again, realizing that the role of Tutu was a dead end disguised as a dream. The longer she stayed in her fantasy, the longer the others would languish. Through the goodness of her heart *yes, that sounds cheesy*, the Raven is vanquished. The Prince takes Rue as his princess, and together they returned to the story.
So, what happened to Ahiru?
*END OF SPOILERS*
The first time I watched this anime was when I was eight years old on TV2. The station aired reruns of the series in 2006, I was twelve at the time. When I turned fourteen, I was bored of the usual YouTube videos I often viewed. Suddenly, I remembered the eccentric anime and decided to search for the episodes online. Next thing you know it, I ended up spending most of my free time captivated by the series again.
Something about Princess Tutu resonated deeply within me. Maybe the fantasy aspect provided an escape from my ordinary life. Or maybe, even after all these years, I'm still reluctant to detach myself from the innocence of my childhood. Who knows?
Princess Tutu is a world without limitations. Imaginations run wild without the fear of an imposing reality. Don't believe me? Then ask Neko-sensei, the ballet teacher who threatens his students with marriage if they fail to properly follow his teachings. Oh, and he's also a cat.
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