#I just really like Princess Tutu

[scruu]

oh no oh no I'm late for school •́o•̀

[fate-defiant]

Kinda pisses me off actually how Mytho had more really really good character moments in like season one when he had less of a sense of self than he did later on in season two where they coulda really gone absolutely insane sicko mode with him. But no

[nnoodlewhale]

boy dinner

[felinedae]

Someone on this site will complain about annoying tropes in battle shounen anime and everyone in the tags will come out of the woodwork like "This is EXACTLY why I don't watch anime." or "Can anyone give me recs for anime that don't hate women? If they even exist 😞" as if it would kill them to just watch the ones made for girls. Or even anything not tailor made specifically for 14 year old boys. Or even the ones made for 14 year old boys that are just written by women.

[lesbianfakir]

Talking about fakir with fakir fans: while fakir is a fun and genuinely likeable character the show dropped the ball on recognizing and holding him accountable for how he behaved towards mytho in season 1. The show has an element of fairytale violence to it—not meant to be taken too seriously—but fakir has been downright abusive towards mytho for YEARS and that leads to some genuinely uncomfortable scenes that are not treated with the gravity they deserve. The show could have benefited from either toning down the extremity of how fakir’s actions or taking the time to create a proper resolution to his and mytho’s relationship. As it stands, the nonchalance with with the show treats mytho’s abuse is, in my opinion, one of its biggest flaws

Talking about fakir with the mytho heathens: YOUR HONOR IN HIS DEFENSE FAKIR WAS JUST GETTING A LITTLE SILLAY WITH IT

[juricore]

25+ episodes in i have so much to say about rose of versailles as a precursor to utena btw but fr the funniest thing about looking at the relationship between the two shows is that it's straight up not about that. yes a ton of visuals were lifted and yes rov has something to say about gender roles and presentation and inevitable tragedy but it's literally not about that. the fucking peasants are starving

[diathadevil]

Do you ever think about how Fakir, after him and Ahiru finally broke everything that kept the town of Goldkröne in the ghostly hands of its writer, after they finally have some air of peace over the town finally being able to live in its intended early 2000s environment, that Fakir still feels at times like it's not real and that for a while he fears that if he closes his eyes it'll be back in Drosselmeyer's control. Like it just doesn't feel real to him during that first year of calm, until he feels the dull pain on his recovering hand injury and Ahiru who follows him without a pendant anywhere to be found.

He doesn't feel it's real, the calm finality of this town, but he makes sure to feel the scar on his hand. And he makes sure to hold the little duck and realize that she is who she has always been. Him and the town are finally living peacefully.

[chaossery]

Some thoughts regarding chapter 419

I needed some time to stomach the revelations of chapter 419, but now that that’s done I think the story’s been building up to that moment for a very long time. It’s an extremely painful chapter to read, but, in my opinion, it had to happen. I’ll try to explain why I think so.

Tomura’s lack of/struggle with agency had always been a core theme of his character, perhaps even the central theme. However, I feel like this aspect of his character often got overlooked in favor of other aspects like his bond with the other members of the League of Villains, his development into a more competent and threatening villain, his issues with the shortcomings of BNHA’s society in general and heroes in particular, etc. Well and then, chapter 419 happened and brought this core theme to the forefront with a vengeance, pretty much overshadowing everything else. (It was really kind of a… challenging read.)

Personally, I think this chapter’s purpose is neither to make Tomura more redeemable nor to let Nana and Kotarou off the hook for the decisions they made. I doubt that people who were against Tomura’s redemption before chapter 419 dropped, are on board with it now. And I can’t really imagine Horikoshi expecting them to change their minds with this reveal. (He would have to be beyond naive to believe that.)

The decisions, Nana made, were entirely her own – chapter 419 changed nothing about that. And regarding Kotarou: Just because a cherished friend gives you parenting advice, you’re not obliged to follow it. Especially, since All For One didn’t even tell Kotarou to be strict with Tenko, he merely encouraged his strict ways. He encouraged what was already there. He used what was already there to his advantage. This chapter may bring Tomura’s agency into question, but it certainly doesn’t do so with Kotarou’s.

(Furthermore, I don’t see anything in the story that indicates All For One as the cause of all of society’s flaws. He merely knows how to use these flaws to his advantage. He threw quite some bombshells at Tomura and us in this chapter, but he never mentioned having anything to do with all those civilians ignoring little Tenko in his hour of need. If he were also behind that, why wasn’t he bragging about that as well? Now would be the perfect time.)

So, what is the purpose of this chapter, of All For One’s revelations? I think it’s to finally shatter Tomura’s illusion of agency. It’s to pull the rug out from under his feet and push him into the deepest depths of despair. At its core, Tomura’s story is a tragedy in its purest form (or at least it has been up to now) and chapter 419 marks the lowest point.

In chapter 379, Tomura is able to one-up All For One and regain control over his body for a while. He manages to do so by clinging to his origin as Tenko Shimura. At this point, he is already aware (at least to some degree) that All For One has groomed him since picking him up after the Shimura tragedy. He knew that “Tomura Shigaraki” was All For One’s creation. But at least he still has “Tenko Shimura”. “Tomura Shigaraki’s” decisions may belong to All For One, but “Tenko Shimura’s” decisions are his own. Or so he thought.

“Tenko Shimura” was his final weapon against All For One, the shield protecting him from getting completely overtaken by his abuser. And also the life ring he was clinging to to keep himself from sinking into despair. But now, All For One has destroyed that, too, and Tomura has nothing left to hold onto.

“Tenko Shimura” is All For One’s creation as well. “Tenko Shimura’s” decisions belong to All For One as well. All that is “Tenko Shimura/Tomura Shigaraki”, all that ever was, all that ever will be, belongs to All For One. “Tenko Shimura/Tomura Shigaraki” is not his own person. He is nothing more than a tragic figure in the story All For One is writing. Or so All For One wants him to think.

What I believe All For One has done in this chapter is to destroy Tomura’s illusion of “I have control over my life and the decisions I make” by setting up a new illusion for Tomura: “I have and never had any control over my life and my decisions whatsoever”. He pushed Tomura out of one extreme narrative straight into the next one. Both of which are at odds with the truth, however.

When dealing with All For One, we mustn’t forget that he is a liar and a manipulator, a groomer and an abuser. (In fact, he is so good, that he can even manipulate the fourth wall and make the BNHA fandom believe every little thing he says.) Naturally, he’ll always tell his victims what makes it easiest for him to manipulate them, be it lies, the truth, or a little bit of both.

Thus we should be careful to take his words at face value. He is definitely exaggerating when he claims that all of Tomura Shigaraki’s/Tenko Shimura’s decisions actually belong to him, his abuser. One example: Does anyone really think it was All For One’s decision that Tomura cares for the other members of the League? That he grew to genuinely trust Himiko, Twice, and even notorious anti-team-player #1 Dabi? Befriended Spinner? Fed Mr. Compress all the sushi he wanted? Decisions like these go completely against All For One’s modus operandi.

For me, the key to growing to appreciate this chapter and its revelations was to bring together all these extremes regarding Tomura’s struggle with agency, Tomura’s flawed perception of himself, other character’s flawed perceptions of Tomura, All For One’s exaggerated claims about Tomura and well… I guess to kinda conciliate them with each other. Tomura was groomed by All For One and thus has struggled with agency. He made many decisions All For One groomed him to make. But he also made decisions of his own.

Tomura is not a transcendent being. He is not a god. He is not destruction incarnated. He is not the angel of death. He is not an innocent little baby boy (not with a kill count like that). He is not a character in All For One’s story.

He is a victim but not just that. He is a villain but not just that. He is a hero to some but not just that.

In fact, I think the story (namely chapter 411, courtesy of Izuku Midoriya) already gave us the perfect term for what Tomura Shigaraki/Tenko Shimura truly is: a human being, nothing more, nothing less.

And I guess the key to giving this story a happy ending is to convince Tomura of that as well; that he is a human being whose first 21 years were shaped by All For One’s toxic influence, yes, but there is also a future for him without All For One. Where he can truly be free, make his own decisions, and grow into his own.

[schafpudel]

Things about early drafts of Fakir I’m haunted by:

was referred to for an unknown period of production as “the black prince” (to Mytho’s “white prince“), including during the development of the 2001 trailer. (source) (source) (source)

machine translation of the last source: “Since the character of Fakir was still in the process of being set up, the "black prince" image that director Kawamoto had in mind at the time can be glimpsed in the [promo]. The deep V-neck was also in line with the concept.”

is presented as not just a (less tsundere and more, uh, aggressive) romantic option for Duck, but implied to be a romantic rival on the same level as Rue and Duck for Mytho’s affections in the 2001 trailer

production sketch of Fakir dancing with Rue, as Kraehe, when they have never once been on good terms in the actual final show: (source)

[sysig]

I am not immune to any cutes - including Rick and Morty cutes, unfortunately (Patreon)

[docholligay]

Hope is a good thing and we all love hope, me included, so this is not a criticism, this is just me talking out loud.

I actually think what I love about this, is not the hope of it, and that wouldn't be the light of it for me, but the determination. The tenacity. The resolve. I know that's a lot harder to work into these contexts because people are not turned on or inspired by the idea of determination, and this DOES dovetail with my belief that hope is when we believe in something enough to work for it. But I think it downplays Ahiru somewhat not to point out that her real strength is that she will not give up. She won't surrender to this. I think that's a sign of character.

I think that's her real power.

[spookberry]

Ptutu x eah lore dumb if ya want.

Well! My idea's kinda vague all things considered, I know way more about Princess Tutu than Ever After High. I'll try to explain how I imagine the set up of the main four characters goes though!

Duck/Ahiru(Royal)- She's this generation's Princess Tutu, but she isn't related to Princess Tutu, but was mysteriously given the role. How this happened is something she keeps secret technically? though no one's really bothered to ask her anyways. The fact that she's actually a duck is also a secret. She's very clumsy and naive but she's got a heart of gold yadda yadda, she's much the same to canon. She hasn't had to return the heart shards yet because Mytho's heart isn't yet shattered. Her necklace therefore gets its powers from some where else.

Mytho(Royal)- He's the biggest difference so I wanna talk about him next. Because unlike canon PT he isn't the Prince from the story. He is simply the Prince's son. He's fully prepared and willing to make any sacrifices he needs and follow in his father's footsteps for the sake of the people. Mytho's arc I think would be about learning that he doesn't Have to sacrifice himself for the greater good and that he's allowed to be selfish sometimes too. He's still a bit of a weirdo though, repressed in the Proper Rich Boy way instead of the Literally Lacking a Heart way lol.

Princess Craehe/Rue(Rebel)- Rue's pretty chaotic, as always. She knows she has to follow in her father's footsteps and fight the Prince and then be defeated by him. She's also madly in love with her childhood best friend Mytho. Considering at the start of EAH Rebels and Royals like Do Not mingle, I think their romance is more of a long con. Rue though has it in her heard that she can have her cake and eat it too. Be Princess Craehe who terrorizes the town AND get the prince in the end. (Apple would definitely try to use Rue's dedication to being Craehe as a means of convincing Raven but it would backfire)

Fakir(Royal)- I love fakir so much and he absolutely is Embracing his edgy lil "reincarnation of the knight" thing here, even more than before. A lot of the same dynamic as canon tbh, childhood friends with Mytho. Him and Rue have their silly little love triangle with Mytho forever and always <3. though I imagine his manipulation and control over Mytho is toned down a bit because Mytho here is able to express his feelings a little better. I'm not as well versed in Ever After High lore, but I imagine the fact that Fakir is related to Drosselmeyer, the writer of their story, would wind up also being Very Important in this setting once it's revealed.

[fate-defiant]

malenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalenmalen

[emfisketch]

Ohmygosh WAIT... yeah I totally remember that show!!!! Gosh it's been so long I nearly forgot about... *looks at smudged notes* 'prince toot toot' starring magical break dancer 'Goose', MMA fighter 'Fuck Ear', local stereotypical Bird Guy 'Meow Toe', and Regina George copycat 'Roots'!

Yeah, I really liked that show back in the day. Brings back good memories for sure

[slingbees]

I need to stop recommending ppl anime when they ask for slightly obscure titles all I get back is thousand yard stares bc they meant they wanted shounen jump hidden gems

And paranoia agent mansplained to me, for some reason

[lesbianfakir]

Neeeeeeeeeeed a princess tutu dating sim mostly because I would use it to psychologically torment fakir