In the eighth episode of the first session of Princess Tutu, THIS IS GETTING SERIOUSLY MESSED UP. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Princess Tutu.
No, oh god, this can’t end well. This cannot end well.
First of all, can I just say I’m glad that this episode doesn’t paint Romeo & Juliet as some sort of epic romance? It’s a play about foolish people doing THE MOST FOOLISH THING IMAGINABLE and it’s super fucked up, and I really detest when that specific story is romanticized. You literally do not understand what it is about.
Anyway, “The Warrior’s Fountain” establishes some very necessary things about this show that only continue to stress me out. After the unbelievable events of “Crow Princess,” I was left with so many questions! Right off the bat, though, it’s confirmed that Rue has no clue who she is. That has to be significant, especially since she is being deliberately paralleled with Ahiru. Both of them have an animal, a human, and a magical form. In Rue’s case, though, she doesn’t know about them! How is that even possible??? Why would her fractured identity be a secret to her? How come Drosselmeyer hasn’t intervened to tell her? What’s so special about Ahiru to make her the exception? I don’t get this!
I was satisfied that this story gave Rue the chance to feel guilt, even if she didn’t fully understand why. It’s clear that she’s somewhat aware of who Mytho really is, and she knows that he doesn’t have his full heart. The appearance of his heart shard only serves to bewilder her further. How did she get it? Why can’t she remember? I get the sense that she wants to help Mytho, so I’m curious how she’ll react if she finds out she’s not helping him. This assumes that Ahiru is doing what should be done, but I’m aware that I could be totally wrong here; there could be a reason why Mytho must remain heartless. Oh god, can that not happen? I would be devastated. Anyway, it’s appropriate that Rue seeks out Mytho while under the influence of the heart shard that represents his desire for knowledge. That fit really well! It’s all extremely distressing.
This is also the first episode that focuses far more on Fakir. I am so torn on disliking him. He is so rude to Ahiru, and I love Ahiru already, so it’s like he’s being mean to my best friend. I don’t stand for such things. And yet, “The Warrior’s Fountain” hints pretty strongly that Fakir is not who we think he is. Still, I want to hold him accountable for what he does. He is AWFUL to Ahiru and Mytho. Look, I know his actions are out of context because I don’t know who or what he is, or why he’s acting the way he does. But he slaps Mytho in this episode, humiliating him in front of the other students. (Well, in theory, since I don’t know that Mytho can even feel humiliation in his current state, you know?)
But then we have Fakir being tender with Ahiru as Duck. We learn during the big battle sequence that he genuinely cares about Mytho, and that it’s possible he was the one who shattered Mytho’s heart in the first place, which would imply that Fakir has known Mytho all along. What the fuck, y’all? I just feel like I can’t say anything definitive about Fakir until I know who he is. At the very least, his story in “The Warrior’s Fountain” strongly resembles the role of Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet. He’s the friend who doesn’t want the main character to get hurt because of love. God, why??? WHAT AM I MISSING? And how the fuck did Fakir know how to re-power the Prince’s sword? H E L P.
Amidst this, we are totally teased with the idea that Ahiru should come clean about her identity to Mytho. In theory, it’s a brilliant idea, one that I’m surprised wasn’t suggested before Edel-san brought it up. (WHO THE FUCK IS SHE???) Ahiru struggles with the concept, but reasons that… well, it can’t be that bad, right? H E L P. Oh god, she came so close! SO CLOSE, Y’ALL. I mean, it does seem like a good idea. If Mytho knows who she is, they can work together to retrieve his heart shards? Unfortunately, I can’t surmise how this would backfire, and that makes me nervous.
Regardless, Ahiru never gets to this point once Princess Kraehe and Fakir show up for an extremely tense fight sequence. Oh god, did Fakir unknowingly hurt Rue? What’s going to happen to her? And then we get that unbelievable battle between Ahiru and Fakir, and I seriously believed for a few seconds that Mytho would listen to Fakir and shatter his own heart all over again. COULD YOU FUCKING IMAGINE. The whole thing would have to start over! It was such an unsettling thought. Fortunately, Mytho refuses to listen to Fakir again, which makes me wonder: What is Fakir going to do next to convince Mytho to abandon this journey?
Ugh, shit is so real, y’all. HOW.
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