I Think This Are Mostly Issues That Came About Because The Series Was Reduced To Two Seasons. The Second

I think this are mostly issues that came about because the series was reduced to two seasons. The second season feels like it’s in two parts and it should have been divided to give more time to tie up everything properly. Rue is a victim of that, and also Rue and Mytho’s raven’s blood that doesn’t get addressed really, the self-writing story book machine, and the book men that sorta just disappear from bothering Fakir.

I agree a lot with your arguments about Rue, but it isn’t an issue that went entirely undressed. I think it was the idea that Rue did learn she could be loved by others, but it’s pretty much only demonstrated in one short scene where she hugs Duck and tells her that she loves her. She knows Duck loves her back and believed in her. So she did learn she could be loved, but it the communication of that point was rushed.

My understanding of Mytho’s ending is similar. He seems to learn that he can be a little selfish too when he asks to take Rue as his princess and he wonders aloud if it’s okay. That’s his moment where he accepts that he can want to be loved back. Again, gets the same rushed treatment as Rue. 

I also agree the problem with the story is that everyone is being things that they are not — to “win,” everyone has to stop playing a role. I don’t think the problem is meant to be The Story itself, though. It’s good for Mytho to be in The Story, because that’s what he is. But for Rue, I don’t think the solution is necessarily to go back to being a normal girl, but rather, she has to stop being something she isn’t (the Raven’s daughter). So I don’t really see a problem with her ending by going into The Story. Because what is Rue’s true self? Does she have to go back to her parents? Be a girl at the academy? Rue seems to realize she has never really been herself. The one idea of Rue that’s drilled into us is that she loves Mytho truly. It’s the part of herself that always persisted whether she was the Raven’s daughter or not. So it makes sense to me for her to “become herself” by being with Mytho.

I love the point about Mr. Cat saying you can’t marry on the feeling of wanting to die for someone. Everyone wrongly wants to express love by dying for each other (Tutu will become a speck of light, Fakir will meet the fate of the knight, Rue will sacrifice herself in Mytho’s place, Mytho will shatter his heart). Imo, the idea was that everyone learns in the end that real love is about loving who a person truly is (Rue can see past Mytho becoming a crow when Duck can’t, Fakir loves Duck even though she’s a duck, Duck sees past everyone’s masks and loves them for who they are, and even Mr. Cat has to find a fellow cat to love him). The way this is communicated with Mytho feels glossed over — I guess he has his feelings back so he can finally see Rue (?), and we also see that when he learns Tutu is a Duck, he does not love her. If he had a clearer moment of “seeing Rue’s true self,” the ending would feel less shaky. Instead his love for her is seemingly attributed to her willingness to die, which I honestly don’t think was the intention of the series. When he turns back into a human, he says something like he heard her despite the Raven’s blood? I think that was supposed to be his recognition that she had seen past him being a Raven, but it was tied up in her dying for him and it got all muddled.

The thing is that when you’re a kid, the part of Princess Tutu’s ending that is most disappointing is Duck turning back into a duck. Like Uzura points out, it’s sad that Duck won’t be able to talk to people ever again or interact with them like a person can. Furthermore, if you like the romance aspect of shoujo, it’s… a pretty big obstacle to not just Fakiru, but literally any other ship imaginable.

But as I get older, the part that frustrates me the most is Mytho and Rue.

(Dead Dove, Do Not Eat if you don’t wanna read criticism of the ending of Princess Tutu. I’m placing this in the main tag for my own blog’s organizational purposes; if you have tips for how to prevent it from showing up in tag search, let me know.)

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