Forum - View topicANNCast - Tutu Time
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invalidname
 Contributor Posts: 2476 Location: Grand Rapids, MI |
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I'm only about halfway through the podcast, so apologies if this gets mentioned later, but one thing that got me into the series was a lovely bit of writing on Princess Tutu's Wikipedia page (which, like all great writing on Wikipedia, has long since been deleted by overzealous editors, but yay history).
What the article says is that the key to the two seasons is something Edel says back in episode 2: "There is happiness for those who accept their fate. There is glory for those who defy their fate." These arc words define the entire series, and the two seasons of the show play this out: the first season is everyone playing their appointed roles and reaching a Happy Ending. Where it gets good is the second season: the good prince goes bad, the loyal knight becomes disloyal, the evil princess doesn't want to be evil… and from defying their roles, we get the much more satisfying Glorious Ending. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Thank goodness for New Game+. |
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marcos torres toledo
Posts: 269 |
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Since I love Opera and Ballet and am familiar with some the story reference. I think I would enjoy this anime series it was the short story The Most Dangerous Game that got me to watch Madame Butterfly because the villain in the story is whistling a tune from that opera while he's trying to hunt down the hero of that story.
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sunflower
 Posts: 1080 |
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Wait... I could have sworn that one of the reasons I bought the DVDs for the show was Zac saying that this was a wonderful anime that deserved more attention (way back when the DVDs had just finished coming out).
I love this anime for the emotional resonance it creates. I get tears in my eyes fairly often while watching shows, but few anime make me weep with joy. This one always does at several points toward the end, even though I've watched it repeatedly. The first half of it is decidedly boring at many points, enough that there are some episodes I skip entirely. There are some where I only watch the interactions of the main characters. But I see that as set up for the second half where the real purpose unfolds. Regarding references, I never fault an anime for having too many or being deeper for having to learn about them. I mean, Gintama. Or for that matter any anime that delves into Japanese folklore and history. I don't know about anyone else, but one of the things that drew me to anime in the beginning was references I didn't understand, from children storing their shoes in lockers at school to the Shinsengumi to yokai. I love seeing it and looking it up and learning about something different from my culture and understanding. But I know that's not for everyone. Well, if it wasn't Zac who recommended Tutu, thank you to whichever ANN staff member said that in the comments one day. You introduced me to an anime I treasure. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1442 |
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Thanks for this podcast. I enjoyed Princess Tutu as it came out, but have never revisited it. This podcast makes me want to do so, especially Rose's commentary about some of the music.
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purplepolecat
 Posts: 130 |
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Next year I demand a new ANN feature, Why Your Favorite Anime Sucks, by Zac. That man could pick holes in a chunk of titanium.
Hold Me Now is always held up as an example of how a well-made AMV can encourage anime sales. When it premiered at Anime Boston 2006, the dealers room sold out of Tutu box sets shortly afterwards. A while ago my co-worker mentioned that his daughters, who were around 10, were getting interested in anime, so I lent him Princess Tutu. They loved it! Anything else from my collection would have probably led to him not talking to me again. Thanks, PT! |
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Roxas4ever
 Posts: 152 |
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I think there's a lot to love about Princess Tutu, even for individuals who don't know ballet, or opera, or classical music. I know next to nothing of those things, and yet Princess Tutu is one of my favorite anime of all time. For me, half of the draw was the characters (who, over time, endear themselves to you), and the other half was the metafictional element of stories within stories, characters fighting the author, etc.
Now that being said, this was probably my very first experience with a piece of narrative addressing metafictional ideas, and if you've seen other similar works and are familiar with these themes, I can see how you might be underwhelmed. |
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Roxas4ever
Posts: 152 |
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Also, Zac, you mentioned Kaori Yuki's style would lend itself well to Princess Tutu. Are you a fan of her work? She's my favorite manga-ka.
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Shay Guy
 Posts: 2240 |
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The talk of Princess Tutu as "Utena Junior" made me think of something I read in "Marriage, a History", about revolutionary social movements being followed by groups who don't want to remove institutions, just change how they engage with them. In that light, while Utena does go all "Princes Considered Harmful", it might not be accurate to call Tutu a "watered-down" version of the same thing. They do fit together well on the theme of forcing people into roles, but that doesn't necessarily make Tutu's acceptance of fairy-tale archetypes in general a half-measure. It's just a different stance.
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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Personally I love Princess Tutu way more than Madoka & Utena. And I completely think it deserves all the hype it gets.
And like many fans I initially got into it because of the Hold Me Now AMV. I don't usually watch AMVs for a series I never saw so I guess it was just fate. |
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sunflower
Posts: 1080 |
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Very true. And honestly, other than on the most general level, they're about different things. Tutu is a descendent of Utena, but while the first focuses very specifically on gender and sexuality, Tutu focuses more generally on art and the common stories that our elders write out for us and expect to follow. I feel the latter series is speaking to the artistic and creative spirit in all of us, telling it to wake up and make our own stories. Because of that the creator needed to use familiar tales with archetypes, and ballet and fairy tales are an exquisite choice. He could have used heroic legends, with "manly" themes, but isn't it more appropriate to use a form considered feminine and the epitome of control to speak about breaking free of expectations? |
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Ojamajo LimePie
 Posts: 772 |
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Tutu's creator is a woman, Itoh Ikuko. |
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Lili-Hime
 Posts: 569 |
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That and Princess Tutu's target audience is pretty obvious (younger girls). The age range is a lot younger than Utena or Sailor Moon. That said I am a little disappointed with the art style in Tutu. Itoh Ikuko did the anime designs for Sailor Moon and they were really gorgeous. Here everything does look pretty bland; especially Fakir and Mytho. I think the art style really does turn a lot of people off from the more mature themes in the story. A lot of people I know won't even watch Utena because 'it looks too girly'. Tutu is that x10; and the name "Princess Tutu" doesn't really help it cross over to older or male audiences either. Zac doesn't seem like he hates Tutu at all. Giving something a 'B+' is still praise. I can kind of sympathize with his point of view as well. If you watch Tutu when you're over 20 and have seen Utena, then yeah- it's not going to have the same impact it would on newer / younger anime fans. But I don't really care to see this story 'more mature' or with a Kaori Yuki art style because it can be a great gateway anime for younger girls much like Sailor Moon was. |
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CandisWhite
Posts: 282 |
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The song was "Hall Om Mig" which was sung by Swedish popstar Nanne Gronvall; I actually bought her album because of that song, and I heard that song for the first time in the Princess Tutu AMV.
I'm not too fond of the idea that the designs need to be "less girly" in order to resonate with more people; It's like suggesting Jem needs to have less makeup and light pop music in order for its more serious themes to be taken seriously. I think it's more about getting the show to its audience than making an audience: I would have loved the hell out of this show as a kid; I saw it as an adult, and loved it. It's all about kids having the right kind of parents; It's not even about parents being snooty or pretentious about what their kids see: The material just needs to be easily accessible to the right buyer. My parents were neither plebian nor patrician: They simply bought, or taped off of cable, what was available and they thought I would like; My collection of Disney VHS is* as big as my taped collection of anime and European cartoons (found on cable probably because their licenses were so cheap). *Actually, I should say "was" since I gave away A LOT of my old hometaped stuff. Stupid, stupid, teenage self. I still have many but not what I once had. I've been trying to buy some of what I lost, and it can be pulling eye teeth to find things. Princess Tutu needs to be marketed in the same way as The Last Unicorn; I would even outright compare the 2 on the packaging. The fanbase is there: You just need to find it, and know that it is not restricted to people solely in the anime community. |
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sunflower
Posts: 1080 |
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I tend to forget her, because while she came up with the basics, Junichi Sato's vision is what made it a masterpiece.
Not really. I watched it first when I was 40, and pushed it on my adult friends who were open to anime. They appreciated the depth and beauty and sheer emotional impact of the way the story was told. Half of us had seen Utena long before. They just weren't the same story. I think the realities of the romances in the second half make this a draw for adults, male and female who've grown past the easy fairy tales. {Fixed your 2nd set of quote tags for you. ~nobahn} |
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