Princess Tutu Episode 25 Early Access

To start, when I first watched this episode the moment Duck/Ahiru says she’s afraid of the story ending, I lost it cause I felt that way too. I didn’t want this awesome show to be reaching its conclusion. I still choke up at that point because of how powerful it is. I also both love and hate how she and Fakir don’t kiss there. Like my shipper heart wants it but I think their stories are more meant to be about their love for Mytho (and not to mention she’ll be a duck but I digress). I also read a really interesting article on a feminist perspective to the show and the writer mentioned something particular about the Ahiru/Fakir dance that I had never really thought about until then. The writer noted that throughout the series, every time Ahiru (not Tutu) played a subservient role in the times she danced with Mytho, Rue, and Fakir. She had to follow their lead. In this episode, this is the first time we see Ahiru (again, important to say not Tutu) is able to dance with someone as their equal. She’s not unsure or self-conscious about being less of a dancer than her partner, in part because she and Fakir are aligned in their goals. But I also see her confidence as an acceptance of being who she really is. For so long she’s seen herself as Tutu and not being as skilled a dancer as Tutu, but now she’s not worried about the comparison because she understands that Tutu is not truly her. One final thought on Romeo and Juliet - I feel like it could also reference Mytho and Princess Tutu not ending up together in the traditional fairytale sense. In a way the two may have been seen as star-crossed lovers in terms of the story Drosselmeyer has crafted. Obviously the prince and good princess would fall in love and get their happily ever after, right? But because of their choices and autonomy, the “traditional” ending needed to be sacrificed. So in a sense the two can be seen as the Romeo and Juliet within the story’s context but we know there’s more to it than what’s presented on the surface. Yeah, a lot to unpack here. I’ll just end by saying I’m very impressed you could hold yourself from watching the last episode because I never could have done that. 😅

Kara Spangenberg