You've come to read that book again?

One day, I will run out of things to screencap. Part 6.

FIRST: Carmen

SECOND: Don Quixote

THIRD/FOURTH/FIFTH: A Midsummer Night’s Dream

The incredible awesomeness of Princess Tutu, Part 5.

TOP: Coppelia

MIDDLE/BOTTOM: Swan Lake

Costume references, Part 3.

TOP: Swan Lake

MIDDLE: Pas de Quatre

BOTTOM: Don Quixote

The wonderful ballet references of Princess Tutu, Part 2. All three of these are from Sleeping Beauty.

Can we talk about how awesome Princess Tutu is? I am continually astounded by the amount of detail put into this show. Part 1 of a bajillion.

TOP: Swan Lake

MIDDLE: Giselle

BOTTOM: La Sylphide

Part 8. Even more dancers from Akt 16! (And there are still more of them… >.<)

TOP: Paquita

MIDDLE: Sleeping Beauty

The original promotional video for Princess Tutu (2002), directed by Sailor Moon’s Junichi Sato and originally created by Ikuko Itoh. (It is interesting to note that both of the Sailor Moon TV series’ major directors went on to direct anime about fairytale tropes, particularly princesses and princes. Junichi Sato, of Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon R, created Princess Tutu; Kunihiko Ikuhara of S and SuperS came up with Revolutionary Girl Utena. (1997))

Princess Tutu, though it was obviously a labor of love for both Sato and Itoh, was never a financial success and faced cancellation after the first thirteen episodes; the second half of the series did eventually air and the story was completed, but first it was moved to a different network and reformatted to fit the much shorter timeslot given it. From what I can tell, the series had a difficult time finding an audience, as it was rather dark for its intended young girl demographic, as the above promo will suggest. The series, while never as brutal as its spiritual counterpart Utena, is rife with themes of deception, manipulation and physical and emotional torment; its straightforward pacing and constantly-evolving narrative may also have been lost on the monster-of-the-week audience. For the sake of comparison, Princess Tutu aired in the same year as Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, another magical girl series with heavy fairytale influences that followed the formula of a long-running magical girl series more to the letter. Later “dark magical girl series” like Uta Kata or this year’s Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica would find much more success as late-night programming for an adult audience.

—

Ikuko Itoh, End of Series Remarks

It actually would make sense if he had some ancestry there, not just because of his name, but also because of the plot point regarding his ability to tell stories and have them come to life; after all, there is at least one character from Middle Eastern folklore who was known for telling stories…

If you are not en pointe yet please please PLEASE

DO NOT WEAR POINTE SHOES TO A CON

I saw several princess tutu cosplayers at the last convention I was at, and as a dancer, I asked each of them if they were dancers! While it is definitely fine to cosplay characters from Princess Tutu if you aren’t a ballerina, please understand that it is advisable to wear regular ballet slippers when cosplaying- not only are they more comfortable and easier to walk around in, but they’re also accurate for what dancers wear in their first few years!

It often takes ballet dancers between 2 and 4 years of class to get to pointe, and this is for several reasons. Ballet strengthens your calves and ankles, as well as training balance. If dancers have weak ankles or improper posture, they are not allowed to proceed to pointe because it could seriously injure them.

Most of the cosplayers wearing pointe shoes that I met were dancers, and so I wasn’t worried about them being injured as I assumed they knew this. Not everyone knows about the hazards of pointe shoes, however, and I did meet a few girls who would pose en pointe that had told me they were not in ballet. 

When wearing pointe shoes, ESPECIALLY if you are not trained for them, it is incredibly easy to cause permanent damage to your ankles and feet, pull muscles, and even break toes or ankles. 

I know it looks nicer for photos, but I can’t stress how important it is that you wear regular slippers if you are not en pointe yet. It’s not worth the risk. 

but it became Princess Tutu’s story in the end

‘cause at the start it’s like “Once upon a time there was a man who died…” they don’t even talk about who Princess Tutu is until the 2nd ep

THE TITLE IS META

THE WHOLE FUCKING SHOW IS META THE TITLE IS FORESHADOWING