I know the picture frame is recurring motif through the whole series, but I've always found these two chapter covers side by side to be particularly striking. The many many layers of Qifrey versus Olruggio remaining the same through every slice of time.
Tutu polyphon
Around 40 characters are represented. Translations and more close-ups under the cut.
To fit with the episode 14 character Nyājinsky (after Vaslav Nijinsky), the other real-life names are animalized as well (mostly in Japanese or English, like Gutenberg to Goosenberg, Taglioni to Toraglioni, etc.), so I included them with the German translations. And I don’t speak German, so feel free to correct me on anything.
Blumenwalzer = Waltz of the Flowers
Nussknacker und Mausekönig = The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
E. T. A. Hooffmann = E. T. A. Hoffmann
D. D. Druckerpresse = D. D. + printing press
Schwanensee Quellenforschung = Swan Lake Sources and Influences
Der geraubte Schleir = The Stolen Veil
Johane Kārl Auspist Musäugurs = Johann Karl August Musäus (hane = feather, kā = crow sound/ auspice and augur [bird omens] might be hard to pick out of the others)
Die weiße Ente = The White Duck
Alewander Arfaunasyip = Alexander Afanasyev (wan = dog sound)
Schwanenjungfrau Folklore-Traditionen = Swan Maiden Folklore Traditions
Umazurakōmorinosuke (episode 21 bat. His name in the credits is pretty funny, as he’s a hammer-headed bat, so he’s umazura [horse-faced], kōmori [bat], then nosuke, a suffix that gives off an assistant/administrative/old-timey vibe [it was originally a title used for samurai working as government officials in the Edo era], hence him being an assistant at the library circulation desk).
Der Märchenkönig: Ludcyg II. Biografie = The Fairy Tale King: Ludwig II Biography (cyg = cygnus [swan]. This influence is partially debatable, as some claims of it are due to Ludwig II’s 1886 lake drowning, which was after Swan Lake’s 1877 premiere [but to complicate things, the most common ending is from 1895 libretto, so it remains a possibility with any after]. But Tchaikovsky’s contemporaries did say he was inspired by Ludwig II, who was also known as the Swan King and an infamous Wagner fan and patron. Leading to Swan Lake’s many Wagner/medieval Germanic legend similarities, like the Siegfrieds in both the Ring Cycle and Swan Lake falsely confess their love to another woman due to the enemy’s magical deception and their unintentional betrayal of Brünnhilde/Odette causes all their deaths, Brünnhilde’s immolation and return of the ring to the Rhine’s waters lifting its curse compared with Odette and Siegfried drowning in the lake lifting the swan maidens’ curse [in later versions], Lohengrin being the Knight of the Swan, Gottfried enchanted into a swan by Ortrud, the relationship between swan maidens and either valkyrie or the Knight of the Swan in folklore, etc. Then, the swan theme is pretty undeniably derived from Lohengrin’s forbidden question leitmotif, and both represent impending tragedy as well).
Eichenbaum von Goldkrone = Oak tree of Kinkan/Goldkrone
Buchleute verboten = Bookpeople-banned (I’ve mostly seen them translated as “bookmen,” but they’re 図書の者 / tosho no mono, which doesn’t specify gender).
Pike Lilie
Trilby; oder Die Fee von Argyll = Trilby; or, The Fairy of Argyll (La Sylphide basis)
Charles Tsunodier = Charles Nodier (tsuno = horns or antlers)
Vorwort = Foreword
Ein Rezept für „Bravo!“ Spitzenschuh-Frikassee = A Recipe for “Bravo!” Pointe Shoe Fricassee (Rue mentions the legend of Marie Taglioni’s fans eating her shoes in episode 9. Tutu’s costume is also partially inspired by Taglioni’s in La Sylphide).
Marie Toraglioni = Marie Taglioni (tora = tiger)
Nachwort = Afterword
Schottenstoff pas de chat: die Grundlagen für ein haarfrei Kilt = Tartan pas de chat: The Fundamentals for a (Cat) Hair-free Kilt (pas de chat is a ballet leap meant to look like a cat [chat]).
Nyājinsky
Scheherausgabe = Scheherazade + publishing (herausgabe)
Das hässliche Entlein = The Ugly Duckling
Honks Chriswigeon Gandersen = Hans Christian Andersen
Goosenberg = (Johannes) Gutenberg
The next part (library checkout card on the right) can only be read on the unskewed version attached at the end.
Buch-Nr. = Book number / P22 / 16.08.2002 / 26.AKT (Akt = ballet act or scene. Used in Tutu’s episode titles)
Verfasser = Author / D. D. Drosselmeyer
Titel = Title / Prinz und Rabe = The Prince and the Raven
Ausgeliehen = Borrowed / Leser = Reader / Zurückgegeben = Returned
Uzura! (Fakir is correcting her writing)
15.AKT Autor 26.AKT (he’s testing out author’s signatures for his future tragic masterpiece)
10.AKT Waniko 26.AKT / 15.AKT Armajirō 26.AKT / 18.AKT Boayo 18.AKT / 17.AKT Montand 17.AKT / 9.AKT Yagiko-sensei 26.AKT / 19.AKT Lysander 26.AKT
21.AKT Marie und Clara 21.AKT (Two extras listed in the credits. Marie is the main character of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, while Clara is usually her name in the ballet adaptation)
1.AKT Fakir 26.AKT (It’s supposed to look like his handwriting in episode 23. A cool detail in the show is that when he’s possessed by Drosselmeyer in 25, his handwriting looks different and much more sophisticated)
Schwanz (Uzura drew a picture of Ahiru as a duck and tried to write the word for “tail” [Schwanz], but instead wrote the word for “swan” [Schwan], so Fakir added in the Z)
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