Mark Watches ‘Princess Tutu’: S02E04 – Crime and Punishment

In the fourth episode of the second season of Princess Tutu, a student who views himself as the perfect prince derails Kraehe’s attempts to satisfy her father. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Princess Tutu.

Once upon a time, there was a young man with a beautiful face. The people loved the handsome young man, but he never showed the slightest interest in loving anyone. This was because all he loved was himself. When the young man, who neglected to love and sought only to be loved, found someone for whom he truly cared, he realized that he had lost even the words to express those feelings.

• OH MY GOD THIS EPISODE.
• I actually liked Crime and Punishment a great deal when I read it in high school, but I admit I don’t remember all that much about it. There are themes of narcissism and sin present in this episode, but I think this is the first story so far that doesn’t borrow as much from the source material it references.
• How terrifying is Kraehe’s father? Dude gives me the creeps.
• Once again, I was wrong about the focus of the tale in the prologue. It seemed pretty clear that it was referring to Mytho, but alas, I was wrong. So wrong. So wrong.
• “Crime and Punishment” introduces us to a probationary class student, Femio, who is so consumed with the image of himself that he appears to have hired an assistant to cast rose petals and swan feathers about so that Femio can be dramatic. On the surface, it’s hard to get past the bewilderment one feels watching Femio. Like, I know y’all have seen this, and you know that describing him as “dramatic” is the understatement of the century. He is so goddamn ridiculous that no one ends up wanting him.
• But at the heart of this is a man who inherently believes he is a gift to those around him. He’s a much more extreme version of a Nice Guy. Instead of whining about friendzoning and the like, though, he purports to be suffering from the very things that make him think so highly of himself. His beauty is a curse, his heart is an iron stone, and his love is a nightmare. He’s a walking contradiction, though, and this is ultimately why the end to “Crime and Punishment” is so strange. He was never interested in loving someone; he wants to be loved. Both Kraehe and Tutu approached him in a way that would make him choose one or the other, and that would restrict his ability to be desired and admired. And so he gets run over by a bunch of bulls? I DON’T GET THAT PART, but I do understand this perpetual sense of sacrifice that he believes is moral and noble. Of course, not one woman in this show is impressed with him at all. Interesting enough, he’s the only character who learns nothing, who doesn’t grow at all, and who ostensibly continues his whole life being delusional and narcissistic. Huh.
• Holy queer subtext, y’all. I love that so many of the ballet students believe that Mytho made the pose of love to Femio, and this isn’t weird or gross to them. No one questioned it. That was awesome, even if the pose was intended for Tutu. I’ll sit here and queer up this show all I want, but it’s also nice when a queer relationship is hinted at and then it isn’t shamed. Bravo!
• This episode introduces the idea that Rue is being treated terribly by the men controlling her. Both her father and Mytho speak derisively towards her. Mytho actually mocks her. I’m calling it: this is going to turn Rue against her father. A person can only take so much of this sort of treatment, you know? Plus, “Crime and Punishment” is much more explicit about Princess Kraehe’s role in all of this: She is the princess who constantly asserts her love for the Prince, but she’ll never get him. In that sense, she is the polar opposite to Princess Tutu. Also, my heart.
• Okay, what is with Fakir and libraries? He’s always in them, and in this episode, the ending of a story he’s researching is torn out. Is he trying to find out how this story ends? Does he know something about this that I don’t?
• WHO OR WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SHADOWY THING WITH BRIGHT EYES? Is it that kid in the library who is always telling someone to be quiet? WHO IS THAT?
• Uzura is goddamn adorable, y’all.

Lord, this show is getting so good. I still haven’t figured out what’s going on, though. Goddamn Drosselmeyer, what do you have planned? I’m scared, y’all.

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