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Princess Tutu, ep. 01-05
(I need to make myself a Princess Tutu icon, but for now, I feel the Utena one is quite on-topic)
I write this up for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
octopedingenue, who I think has been attempting to get the entire world to watch Princess Tutu (and quite rightly so, by the way).
I have been meaning to watch this for at least a year now, and possibly for two. It's gotten many comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena, one of my favorite brain-breaking anime series (the other being Neon Genesis Evangelion), along with the fact that it's about a duck who becomes a girl who becomes a magical ballerina and saves the world through ballet!
I mean, I knew this!
And yet, when I watched, and saw the duck become a girl become a magical ballerina, I laughed and laughed and laughed in delight because it was SO AWESOME. I do not mock. It is honestly that awesome!
The story begins with sepia-toned illustrations and an old woman's voice intoning, "Mukashi mukashi..." (the Japanese version of "Once upon a time..."). It goes on to talk about a prince who was fighting an evil raven and ended up shattering his heart to imprison the raven. But! The author of the book (Herr Drosselmeyer -- yes! Can you start to see why this is SO AWESOME?!) died before the book was finished, and the characters managed to escape. The old woman's voice says, "The most tragic thing is a story that never ends," or something to that effect.
So already, in the first two minutes, there are layers of narrative. Then we're introduced to Ahiru (literally "duck" in Japanese, and I love that the subtitles just call her Duck), who is sitting in a pond, watching a prince dance on the lake (yes, on the lake). She wants to dance with the prince, and the very creepy figure of Drosselmeyer steps in, essentially pauses the show, and gives her a mysterious red amulet.
Next thing you know, a slightly goofy-looking pink-haired girl wakes up, wondering if she was dreaming about being a duck (or was she a duck dreaming about being a girl?).
Ahiru's been entranced with Mytho, an unemotional ballet dancer somehow held in check by his best friend/keeper Fakir and pursued by the prima ballerina Rue. Of course, Mytho is the prince from the story, and Ahiru begins turning into Princess Tutu to collect shards of his heart.
I love this so much! First of all, there's the whole fairy tale thing. Ahiru's the ugly duckling who turns into a swan/ballerina, as referenced in the opening titles, and it's no surprise that Princess Tutu is dressed like Odette from Swan Lake. Then there's a strange green-haired lady who wanders around giving Ahiru advice like the old women/fairies/etc. in the stories. Like Cinderella and the little mermaid, there are conditions to Ahiru's human condition -- once she behaves like a duck, she turns back into one. Only in her case, jumping back in water will turn her back into a girl again (like Ranma 1/2!). She actually uses her duck form to do things, btw, which is just more kinds of wonderful. And, of course, there is the prince without a heart. The best part is, in every episode, the opening sepia-toned illustrations and narration change to give the viewer more and more of the fairy tale.
Then there's the fact that it's a story within a story, as referenced by Drosselmeyer, who every so often pops in to comment on the plot. He's almost always shown in a blank space surrounded by gears, referencing both the Drosselmeyer character from The Nutcracker, who is an inventor and toy-maker, and the fact that he's essentially turning the gears of the story. So far, there's been a crisis point three-quarters of the way through each episode, in which we'll see Ahiru framed in a clock gear with Drosselmeyer standing over her, asking, "What will Princess Tutu do now?" And she'll transform.
Also, Ahiru's world so incredibly surreal! I love that her being a duck isn't just one of those hand-wavy anime things; when she shows up to class, she comments, "The teacher is a cat?" And then she stops and says, "Well, I guess I'm a duck." And then! The best part is, everyone else is confused by the teacher being a cat, but then they think, "Wait, I think the teacher was always a cat!" because Ahiru has changed the story just by becoming a girl, and you can see the entire narrative changing around her! The cat also acts just like a cat and cleans himself when he gets flustered. Also, a dancing anteater shows up, and there is the same confusion for a second, until everyone thinks that the anteater was somehow always there. I love that Ahiru's existence totally breaks down the wall between human and animal. Also... dancing anteater!
And then! As if that weren't enough, there is the fact that it's such a great take on the magical girl thing. Everytime Ahiru undergoes the transformation, there's the henshin sequence with floating feathers and an egg and the red pendant turning into the Sooper Speshul Princess Tutu Power Pendant, ala Sailor Moon. Except, she conquers the world through the power of ballet! So far, there hasn't been quite as much done with the Magical Girl thing, but I expect there to be, given that it's already taking on fairy tales and ballet. Oh, extra special bonus points for referencing Utena with the pink hair and Ribon no Kishi with the fifties-style animation. I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by the style at first, because the characters all have giant heads and willowy bodies, huge sparkly eyes framed with thick lashes, and perfect crescent curls of hair. But it totally works because it is referencing the very old-school shoujo style, and I only wish I'd seen/read more of fifties shoujo to know what it's taking off of.
And! There's the whole ballet thing! I love that Princess Tutu moves in ballet steps and seems to always be posed as a ballerina, though I can't say for sure because I don't know that much about ballet. But the music constantly references ballet or directly comes from ballet (usually Nutcracker and Swan Lake), and I'm sure there are a lot more that I can't reference because I'm not familiar with them. But I love hearing those familiar strains of music. And, of course, there's an episode that's basically Giselle, but slightly different.
I cannot wait to watch the rest. I'm halfway through disc 2 already, and it's going even better places, but I will write it up when I am done.
I write this up for
octopedingenue, who I think has been attempting to get the entire world to watch Princess Tutu (and quite rightly so, by the way).I have been meaning to watch this for at least a year now, and possibly for two. It's gotten many comparisons to Revolutionary Girl Utena, one of my favorite brain-breaking anime series (the other being Neon Genesis Evangelion), along with the fact that it's about a duck who becomes a girl who becomes a magical ballerina and saves the world through ballet!
I mean, I knew this!
And yet, when I watched, and saw the duck become a girl become a magical ballerina, I laughed and laughed and laughed in delight because it was SO AWESOME. I do not mock. It is honestly that awesome!
The story begins with sepia-toned illustrations and an old woman's voice intoning, "Mukashi mukashi..." (the Japanese version of "Once upon a time..."). It goes on to talk about a prince who was fighting an evil raven and ended up shattering his heart to imprison the raven. But! The author of the book (Herr Drosselmeyer -- yes! Can you start to see why this is SO AWESOME?!) died before the book was finished, and the characters managed to escape. The old woman's voice says, "The most tragic thing is a story that never ends," or something to that effect.
So already, in the first two minutes, there are layers of narrative. Then we're introduced to Ahiru (literally "duck" in Japanese, and I love that the subtitles just call her Duck), who is sitting in a pond, watching a prince dance on the lake (yes, on the lake). She wants to dance with the prince, and the very creepy figure of Drosselmeyer steps in, essentially pauses the show, and gives her a mysterious red amulet.
Next thing you know, a slightly goofy-looking pink-haired girl wakes up, wondering if she was dreaming about being a duck (or was she a duck dreaming about being a girl?).
Ahiru's been entranced with Mytho, an unemotional ballet dancer somehow held in check by his best friend/keeper Fakir and pursued by the prima ballerina Rue. Of course, Mytho is the prince from the story, and Ahiru begins turning into Princess Tutu to collect shards of his heart.
I love this so much! First of all, there's the whole fairy tale thing. Ahiru's the ugly duckling who turns into a swan/ballerina, as referenced in the opening titles, and it's no surprise that Princess Tutu is dressed like Odette from Swan Lake. Then there's a strange green-haired lady who wanders around giving Ahiru advice like the old women/fairies/etc. in the stories. Like Cinderella and the little mermaid, there are conditions to Ahiru's human condition -- once she behaves like a duck, she turns back into one. Only in her case, jumping back in water will turn her back into a girl again (like Ranma 1/2!). She actually uses her duck form to do things, btw, which is just more kinds of wonderful. And, of course, there is the prince without a heart. The best part is, in every episode, the opening sepia-toned illustrations and narration change to give the viewer more and more of the fairy tale.
Then there's the fact that it's a story within a story, as referenced by Drosselmeyer, who every so often pops in to comment on the plot. He's almost always shown in a blank space surrounded by gears, referencing both the Drosselmeyer character from The Nutcracker, who is an inventor and toy-maker, and the fact that he's essentially turning the gears of the story. So far, there's been a crisis point three-quarters of the way through each episode, in which we'll see Ahiru framed in a clock gear with Drosselmeyer standing over her, asking, "What will Princess Tutu do now?" And she'll transform.
Also, Ahiru's world so incredibly surreal! I love that her being a duck isn't just one of those hand-wavy anime things; when she shows up to class, she comments, "The teacher is a cat?" And then she stops and says, "Well, I guess I'm a duck." And then! The best part is, everyone else is confused by the teacher being a cat, but then they think, "Wait, I think the teacher was always a cat!" because Ahiru has changed the story just by becoming a girl, and you can see the entire narrative changing around her! The cat also acts just like a cat and cleans himself when he gets flustered. Also, a dancing anteater shows up, and there is the same confusion for a second, until everyone thinks that the anteater was somehow always there. I love that Ahiru's existence totally breaks down the wall between human and animal. Also... dancing anteater!
And then! As if that weren't enough, there is the fact that it's such a great take on the magical girl thing. Everytime Ahiru undergoes the transformation, there's the henshin sequence with floating feathers and an egg and the red pendant turning into the Sooper Speshul Princess Tutu Power Pendant, ala Sailor Moon. Except, she conquers the world through the power of ballet! So far, there hasn't been quite as much done with the Magical Girl thing, but I expect there to be, given that it's already taking on fairy tales and ballet. Oh, extra special bonus points for referencing Utena with the pink hair and Ribon no Kishi with the fifties-style animation. I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by the style at first, because the characters all have giant heads and willowy bodies, huge sparkly eyes framed with thick lashes, and perfect crescent curls of hair. But it totally works because it is referencing the very old-school shoujo style, and I only wish I'd seen/read more of fifties shoujo to know what it's taking off of.
And! There's the whole ballet thing! I love that Princess Tutu moves in ballet steps and seems to always be posed as a ballerina, though I can't say for sure because I don't know that much about ballet. But the music constantly references ballet or directly comes from ballet (usually Nutcracker and Swan Lake), and I'm sure there are a lot more that I can't reference because I'm not familiar with them. But I love hearing those familiar strains of music. And, of course, there's an episode that's basically Giselle, but slightly different.
I cannot wait to watch the rest. I'm halfway through disc 2 already, and it's going even better places, but I will write it up when I am done.
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The vid in question which I don't have a link to, "Hold Me Now", is odd in that it's not really spoilery at all if you don't know anything about the series/characters, but once you know a little bit you watch it and are like "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I JUST SAW THAT!" Utterly GORGEOUS vid, though.
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GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
And I love that Tutu doesn't get crushed under its own "WE WILL NOW OVERLOAD YOU WITH METANARRATIVE EEEOOOEEEEOOO" weight and forget to be entertaining. You've still got Ahiru being charming and funny and having wacky slapstick with duck!Ahiru and naked!girl!Ahiru dashing back and forth trying to snag all her clothes without anyone seeing her. And snarky banter and friendships and Ahiru/Fakir/Rue fighting over Mytho which is sad/funny/sad again and Neko-sensei being Neko-sensei and ballerina anteater dance-battle!
I want badly to know everything about fairy tales and ballet and classic shoujo so that I can be even more excited by Tutu! And I love that it makes me want to learn stuff. I want to know more about Ribon no Kishi and Swan and Utena! I want to know Japanese so I can catch all the wordplay I must be missing, and so I can go to Japan and find Junichi Sato and eat pie with her and
fangirldiscuss Tutu plotting for a month!That is so cool about the '50s throwback art style. Do you think the water droplet at the beginning of the Tutu opening sequence is an Utena reference? I'm so excited you are watching so that you can catch all the ginormous Utena and classic shoujo references I missed!
Drosselmeyer is so wonderfully creepy. Why is there a giant lizard on the back of his cape? And Ahiru is the best mahou shoujo girl ever. She's curious, sensible, clever, kind, occasionally cranky, and courageous. And sneaky like ninjaduck!
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Also, the talking animals totally remind me of all the cracktastic Nanami cow episodes.
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
OMG I am so squee-full and this is the Best Thing Ever, and yes, I know that Saiyuki and FMA are also the Best Thing Ever, but this is so totally the Best Thing Ever in an entirely new and different way and it is so exciting!
And I forgot to add how much I loved the Hansel and Gretel reference in the food episode, and Ahiru's voice actor, who is awesome and actually sounds like a duck-turned-girl, and the references to Sleeping Beauty in ep. 5!
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Oh, and Tutu always speaks in polite mode, and the dancing anteater? Was also speaking in polite mode, especially to Mytho, whom she addressed at least once using the honorific forms of some verbs (which is how you talk to someone who outranks you, like your sensei).
I even liked the commentary tracks (the guy who writes the English script was a German major in college, and is totally up on all of the German fairy tale references as well as all of the classical music), and also the "In the Studio" bits with the American voice actors, because Luci Christian (who plays Duck) is a total fangirl of the series.
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Doh. I returned the first disc without checking out the commentary tracks, but I will have to look into that for the rest of them.
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Anteaterina was using the super-polite form of verbs toward Mytho (well, there was at least one use of irrashaimasu).
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
Re: GOALS: 1)Princess Tutu World Domination 2)nap
"Shape-shifting is one of fairy tale’s dominant and characteristic wonders: hands are cut off, found and reattached, babies’ throats are slit, but they are later restored to life, a rusty lamp turns into an all-powerful talisman, a humble pestle and mortar becomes the winged vehicle of the fairy enchantress Baba Yaga, the beggar changes into the powerful enchantress and the slattern in the filthy donkeyskin into a golden-haired princess. More so than the presence of fairies, the moral function, the imagined antiquity and oral anonymity of the ultimate source, and the happy ending (though all of these factors help towards a definition of the genre), metamorphosis defines the fairy tale."
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double commenting
More generally--Oyce, why did I assume you'd seen Tutu already? *baffled* But I'm glad you're loving it so! And other than that, I'm commenting largely to point you at
Re: double commenting
Possibly you assumed so because I have been meaning to for over a year and never quite got around to it? ;)
Also... National Knit Month! Teh Awesome! I think I will attempt to join just to get my numerous scarves finished in time for the holidays.
Re: double commenting
Yay knitting! I haven't touched mine since
the last time Ginny was hereApril, but I mean to poke at it again this winter. ^^ Good luck!*glances down-thread* Yeah, the no-shoes pointe work was incredibly twitch inducing. Just no.
Re: double commenting
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