Spotlight Character: Ahiru (Princess Tutu) MAL Character Information Page: Ahiru "Princess Tutu, Duck" MAL Favorites: 150 For the next week I would like to have everyone familiar with this character discuss what they think makes it an exceptional character. What attributes make it stand out in the ocean of interesting characters that exist in the realms of anime and manga. Unlike the other two subjects I will not force this conversation to fall into any set structure. Characters that are nominated typically get here because they are adept at breaking the existing character moulds and defying definition. Because of this freedom I encourage everyone to do their very best to stay on topic and keep any and all debate civil. Have fun and I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say about this character. RESULTS OF THE YOU DECIDE POLL Ahiru was NOT inducted into the club Character list: 8 Yes - 42.1% 11 No - 57.8% 59 Don't know this character - 73.7% of the total number polled 2 Abstained - 2.5% of the total number polled |
santetjanMay 31, 2010 2:55 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| Princess Tutu is one one of my favourite anime and I gave it 10/10, so naturally I will be abstaining, leaning towards a no vote... Wait, what? Let me explain. In my opinion, what made Princess Tutu was great was not the characters themselves, but how they were utilised to enhance the storyline of the anime. Ahiru, taken as a stand-alone character, is likeable, but plain with nothing to set her apart. What Princess Tutu as an anime did, however is to take a wildly different course from every other mahou shoujo-type anime and put Ahiru into situations which other mahou shoujo anime wouldn't even think of. This makes for a great plot, but it doesn't really help the cause of an individual character. In short, Ahiru is the perfect lead for the plot of Princess Tutu, which is why I won't simply be voting no, but she has no outstanding or unique features of her own, so I can't vote yes either. |
Current FAL Ranking + Previous best::  [ |
| As posted above, Ahiru lacks depth as a character. It's a No for me. |
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| I find that to be the reason for Ahiru to be an outstanding character. Let's start with the fact that she is a duck. Little duck turns into girl, that turns into princess. If this is not the ideal character of a fairy tale, I don't know what could be. Her feelings as duck, girl and princess diverge but end up being the same. She does not really live up the dilemma of being three things at the same time, but instead manages to deal with all her feelings into directing them to a single objective. I will be voting Yes. |
 Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
| Princess Tutu is a mixture of different fairy tales with the Swan Lake story as the main focus. As a result Ahiru is also a mixture of all those fairy tale heroines. This is my opinion, but most of the heroines of fairy tales such as Sleeping beauty and etc also lack depth. If you take away the story from those characters, they are nothing but beautiful looking shallow characters that can't do anything but sing and wait to be saved. Although Ahiru is a bit better than that she turns out to be a plot tool for the most and therefore fails as a character. |
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ladyxzeus said: If this is not the ideal character of a fairy tale, I don't know what could be. I'd say it is the ideal role, which is something different. Ahiru is more or less the composite total of a number of elements that make for 'wholly fitting fairytale heroine', a garment, so to speak, that any mannequin could fit. In a sense, Ahiru exemplifies my problems with Princess Tutu as a whole: is it a wonderful and wholly consistent take on Andersian fairytales, structuring all constituent elements perfectly to form? Yes. Is even the best fairytale outstanding literature, though? Probably not. That being said, points should absolutely be awarded to her design, primarily the fact that the 'human' Ahiru was modelled on the duck, and not the other way round: her posture, and especially her way of running, as a human mirror that of her duck form. Clearly intended to be the Ugly Duckling, when she transforms into Swan form her movements and posture change. On the other hand, the designers showed quite a bit of care in not overdoing this: as was remarked above, Tutu might be more able, but still is Ahiru in character. Even at the very end, no true transformation from ugly duckling to swan takes place. Also, providing her with a fairly unknown but very recognisable voice was a good decision for this character. Tying in to the question asked in the club comments on rating characters, Ahiru is one of those characters that is very strongly hemmed in by her role. By her setting, even, as it is prominently shown that the town and direct environs in which the story is said influences everyone in it to act in a fairytale aspect. Thus, even if they wanted, the script writers couldn't have made her much different and more in-depth than she is (well, they could, obviously, but then the story would be completely different). Within the confines of her role, Ahiru is portrayed very well. Outside of it, not so much. I'd like to be convinced by someone on what element is the more important here. |
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| @santetjan: I need a bit of convincing myself, so I might be convincing myself as well as you with the following post. In order to decide if Ahiru deserves to be in the character relations or not, we have to look at the purpose of the character relations in the first place. If some random user wandered into this club and started to look at the character relations for anime/manga with exceptional characters in them and start watching Princess Tutu because they saw Ahiru in the relations, do you think they will be disappointed? I think they may very well be. Princess Tutu's main selling point is its story, and the characters could be considered plot devices for that exceptional story, but would someone look at the character relations to find an exceptionally good plot device? I don't think so. I think they would be looking for exceptionally good characters instead. With that in mind, I am now leaning more towards a no vote than I was before, unless someone convinces me otherwise, in which case I might revert to back to an abstain vote. |
| Current FAL Ranking + Previous best:: [ |
| I actually found the greatest charm of Princess Tutu on the characters and their relationships, not the story. As 5 year old that I am, by the middle of it there was something extremelly complicated that I could not understand so I simply dedicated to watch the characters being themselves. On this specific case, I find the character within its setting the most interesting part. |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
ladyxzeus said: Yeah, but those conversations are so intricately woven into the plot itself that it becomes as much a part of a plot itself as the actual plot does.I actually found the greatest charm of Princess Tutu on the characters and their relationships, not the story. As 5 year old that I am, by the middle of it there was something extremelly complicated that I could not understand so I simply dedicated to watch the characters being themselves. On this specific case, I find the character within its setting the most interesting part. The entire theme of the anime is that everything is being controlled by a higher power, determined to move everything towards endless tragedy, and the plot is about avoiding that tragedy. That is why those conversations are driven by the plot as much as they are driven by the characters who were speaking the lines. Even if they weren't, the interactions and conversations could be as much down to the strength of the characters around Ahiru (such as Fakir and Rue) as they are to Ahiru herself, meaning the strength of the interaction is shared by two characters, rather by being monopolised by one. Just because Ahiru interacts well with one or two of the characters around well her doesn't make her a great character in herself. I have already voted no in the you decide, by the way. |
| Current FAL Ranking + Previous best:: [ |
| In the end it all resumes to me thinking that the show is about the chracters and everyone else thinking it is about the story. ;_; I give up! But I still voted yes xD |
Waratte Oemashou Sore ha Chiisana Inori |
ladyxzeus said: It's about both, really. It's about how the characters react to events that are unfolded in the story to try and get a happy ending, so you aren't really wrong either.In the end it all resumes to me thinking that the show is about the chracters and everyone else thinking it is about the story. ;_; I give up! But I still voted yes xD Still, that's not enough to vote yes to Ahiru. |
| Current FAL Ranking + Previous best:: [ |
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