Princess Tutu Episode 12

In which there is Much Cute.

I love it when anime I like give me things I never expected, which is entirely why I love Princess Tutu as much as I do. Most of the things that happen in this series are things I do not expect (with the exception of some of the events at the end of the last episode, as I said then). In any case I did not expect Ahiru and Fakir to have to spend a whole episode together; and thus have a whole episode worth of their relationship to one another. They end up together because, of course, at the end of episode 11 Kraehe took Mytho with her somewhere, and Ahiru and Fakir would obviously like to retrieve him. Although it wasnt their original plan, it ends up that they’ll end up finding him again through The Power of Teamwork.
Mytho, by the way, is being held in some strange place with Kraehe, who has noticed that after she took his heart out he has reverted to being doll-like, with a complete lack of any emotions whatsoever that makes the way he appeared at the beginning of the series look brimming with personality. As to be expected this scene is quite eerily beautiful, especially due to the fact that the entire space seems to be filled with black feathers.

She also seems to have taken his clothes along with his heart.

This kind of Mytho really doesnt seem like all that much fun.

Although she is able to make Mytho say that he loves her, Kraehe cant seem to get him to smile, which she should have seen coming, obviously. But she seems quite alright with making do with what amounts to a living love-doll.  Now, I initially thought Fakir was the most clued-in of the three main characters in this story, but now it seems as though Kraehe has a one-up over him because she actually starts to address the story-teller Drosselmeyer at this point, to both his any my surprise. She promises to show him the best story of all time, which naturally will also need the best ending, to which he offers to provide a ‘stage’.

This screencap out of context looks like an old man watching porno. It had to be said.

Meanwhile Fakir and Ahiru have been conducting their search, which has turned up fruitless except for a rather amusing detour in which they catch Neko-sensei practising his ballet. They soon see what appears to be Mytho in a gazebo, except for the fact that he has a rather creepy rape-face on. This evidently fake-Mytho tells Ahiru and Fakir about the story of the raven and the prince, and how the warrior was torn apart from the raven. He does reveal two new pieces of information on the story, however; firstly that the prince removed his heart by himself, and secondly that the  ‘Princess Tutu’ was never the main character and only an extremely minor existence mentioned in a scant few sentences.

Aforesaid rape-face.

Before the fake-Mytho turns back into a crow, Rue also appears to drop her own bombshell; that apparently ‘Rue’ doesnt and never did exist, she’s really only Kraehe. Which makes things a little confusing; it seemed as though Rue was self-aware for quite a while there. She tells them she only came back to retrieve the sword that the prince left behind; and says that Fakir doesnt deserve it. I at first thought this was Fakir’s sword, but Fakir seems to have one for the rest of the episode and I also dont remember that sword looking quite like this.

I like her hair better as Rue, but that's just me.

Another awesome shot for the ever-growing list of 'awesome shots in Princess Tutu'

Eventually Edel comes to their aid and guides them to a secret entrance in the town. Although Ahiru wants to thank her for all she has done for them, she tells Ahiru that she is simply a puppet and has no emotions of her own; thus her actions were not out of kindness but necessity. However, Ahiru still hugs her, and there’s a rather sweet little scene in which Edel actually does display something resembling emotion towards her. Although as Fakir and Ahiru disappear into the secret entrance, Drosselmeyer warns her to know her place.

For some reason I never noticed before, but Edel's hair makes even less sense than I originally thought. Those bits on the side arent even attached to her head.

She was meant to look 'touched' but in this cap it looks more like she's staring quizically at Ahiru's ahoge.

The secret entrance leads into some kind of underground cavern, and this is where the best parts of the episode take place. I never saw this coming, but Fakir and Ahiru are absolutely adorable together. Although, Fakir tries to make clear to Ahiru that he has no intention of helping her and merely wants to save Mytho in his own way. Ahiru, meanwhile, is too busy being a complete klutz at first, which was mostly amusing for Fakir’s reaction as he wonders how Ahiru and graceful Tutu can possibly be the same person. Seeing the normally stoic, serious-business Fakir being made to make these kind of expressions was a bonus.

How'd she even -get- there?

Fakir suddenly realizes that he probably should have changed out of his 'got attacked by Kraehe in the last episode'' outfit before going to find Mytho. I'm really not sure why he didnt.

As the two continue to walk through the caverns, Ahiru continues to try and make small-talk, and continues to get on Fakir’s nerves. She eventually manages to say that she’s not entirely sure why she even likes Mytho in the first place, besides the fact that along with him being incredibly pretty, his eyes always looked lonely so she wanted to help him. Eventually she is interrupted when some crows attack them, and being the uncoordinated duck she is she slips and falls off the edge of the path and into a hole; with Fakir falling after her as he tried to catch her.

Pft, Fakir looks all tsundere here.

In the hole, the two look for a way to get out, and Ahiru realizes that there is a waterway that could offer a way out, although she wants to check it first, and figures it would be best to do this as a duck. After a moments deliberation, she decides that it’s best to reveal her other secret to Fakir, and so gives him the pendant in order to transform back.

Fakir's got a quality arm there.

And Fakir is pretty much dumb-founded. This was hands down the best scene in the episode. It wasnt as though Fakir had any issue with a girl turning into a duck (and in a world where cats are ballet teachers I guess I dont expect him to), it was that Ahiru was that duck in particular. The one which he had shown his weak side to, and the one that had seen him cry. Fakir’s complete personality 180 in becoming absolutley embarassed was kind of extremely adorable.

Damn Fakir, I think I love you.

Even better, though, was what came after, when duck-Ahiru came back to report that the coast was clear and they end up having a little bicker-fest about why and why not Ahiru should have made clear she was a duck sooner. Whilst she is naked, of course. And she didnt even notice this at first, although Fakir sure did.

Damn you guys I never wanted to ship you both but you are making it so incredibly easy.

After Ahiru gets dressed again, they swim through the waterway to get out to the other side, and once they are on their merry way again, Fakir shares something else with Ahiru. He tells her that back when he used to read the story of the Raven and the Prince to Mytho, the character that Mytho was most interested in had always been Tutu. Perhaps because there wasnt much written about her, but he was apparently always more concerned with what happened to her over the other three characters. Other than that, Fakir seems be a little more comfortable smiling around Ahiru now that he knows she’s already seen him smile as a duck. It’s incredible how much I’ve warmed up to this guy in these past few episodes when I hated him to begin with. It’s probably safe to say that I love Ahiru, Mytho and Fakir equally at this point.

He also looks damn fine with his hair wet like that. Ahiru actually looks really cute like that; and its kind of funny how her ahoge still wont stay down.

Eventually they reach the ‘stage’ that Drosselmeyer has created for this alleged ‘greatest story ever’. Which is one of the most amazing looking backdrops I’ve seen in the series so far, in my opinion. Naturally, Mytho and Kraehe are there; Mytho in a bed of roses and Kraehe holding his heart in a box. She tells Ahiru (now Tutu, of course) that she’ll leave it up to the heart to decide which of them to choose.

This looks. So awesome.

This was, to me, a really strong episode with a hefty dose of character development, and I enjoyed it alot. I’m liking Fakir more and more, and this episode was so full of unexpected cute that it took me off guard.  What this episode demonstrated most clearly was what I find to be Princess Tutu’s strongest point; the depth of its characters and just how well they’re crafted. I would say ‘things have gotten alot more interesting’ but really, that statement can be applied to almost any episode in this show. But it is true for this one as well. Out of 5, I’d give it:
1/2