Princess Tutu’s fifth episode poses one central question: “are you afraid of the dark?” This question is framed in literal terms through its ghost story embellishments and light-emitting focus character, with Mytho himself moving from a dark and lonely library to a warm yet sterile tomb. But it also speaks to more metaphorical concerns, like the ambiguous nature of Mytho’s memories. Darkness is security, in a way; darkness is nothingness, darkness is inaction, darkness is the absence of pain. Light and understanding can bring us joy, but they can also bring us suffering. Those who know nothing may be the happiest of all.
Tag Archives: Princess Tutu
Princess Tutu – Episode 4
The story has changed. No longer does Princess Tutu open with the tale of the prince and the raven, the tragic and unfinished final story by Drosselmeyer. Princess Tutu’s fourth episode instead introduces us to a “sad love that would never be requited.” But, the narrator tells us, “that alone does not make a story. The man with the task of spinning this tale of love was no longer of this world. The story lives on with its love forever sorrowful. Having lost its storyteller, the story is now wandering in search of its conclusion.”
Princess Tutu – Episode 3
More fragments of Drosselmeyer’s half-finished tale arrive as we begin Princess Tutu’s third episode. We learn that along with his heart, the prince had both his kindness and his memories stolen. We also learn that the shards of his heart found their way to people with voids in their own heart – a classic conceit of the magical girl genre, here applied to a tighter narrative frame where that choice directly ties into the story’s overarching themes. Princess Tutu is well aware of the power stories have to shape our own feelings, and even direct our own lives. As our narrator warns, among those who were possessed by the shards, many found their own tales twisting awry.
Princess Tutu – Episode 2
Princess Tutu’s second episode begins with an echo of its original prologue, telling the story of the storyteller and his characters, the crafty raven and the tragic prince. But this time, the story continues, as if lines had been secretly appended to its unfinished pages. We learn now that the prince took out his own heart to seal the raven, and that his heart was shattered in the process. Scattering across the town, the shards of his heart turned this town into a place where stories and reality intermix.
Princess Tutu – Episode 1
Today we embark on one of my most anticipated backlog titles, Princess Tutu. By reputation, I know Princess Tutu to be one of the most highly regarded anime of all time, and easily one of the best shows specifically intended for children. I also know that it is a story about stories, and that it’s one of the crown jewels of its director Junichi Sato’s catalog. Sato would be magical girl and children’s anime royalty even without Princess Tutu – after all, he directed both the first two seasons of Sailor Moon and a great deal of Ojamajo Doremi, two other towering standouts within the field. And even today Sato remains an influential figure, from his highly lauded slice of life productions like Aria to his ongoing work with the Pretty Cure franchise.