Tell Me A Story
The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, tell their young and innocent sister, Charlotte, their most famous stories. While their stories are the soft fairy tales we know, Charlotte starts to imagine what would happen if these stories came with a twist. What follows are six new versions of classic fairy tales, but repackaged in a horrific red bow.
The Grimm Variations (グリム組曲 Grimm Kumikyoku), is an original six-episode anthology series by Wit Studio with character designs by CLAMP, retelling some of the famous tales published by The Brothers Grimm. It premiered on Netflix on April 17, 2024. A manga adaptation, illustrated by Koji Megumi, was published in Kodansha's Magazine Pocket.
The six tales retold are Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Elves and the Cobbler,The Bremen Town Musicians and The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
General Tropes:
- Anthology Series: Each episode features a different story based on a fairy tale published by the Brothers Grimm.
- Art Shift: The segments of the Grimm siblings look like an animated painting, while the story are animated in a more conventional style.
- But You Were There, and You, and You: Characters who look like the Grimm siblings sometimes show up in the stories:
- Kiyoko's doll from the "Cinderella" story looks similar to Charlotte Grimm.
- Two of Hansel's friends from the "Hansel and Gretel" story look like the Grimm brothers.
- The Grimm brothers were also seen in "The Elves and the Shoemaker" as reporters during N's press conference.
- The two deputies of the Fat Sheriff in "The Town Musicians of Bremen" also look like the Brothers.
- Cast Full of Pretty Boys: It's a series with designs by CLAMP, so it's not surprising.
- Foreshadowing: There have been several foreshadows on certain characters within each episode.
- In Cinderella after Kiyoko's father is killed in a tragic accident, Kiyako isn’t sad over his death, but rather she is happy as she quickly changes out of her mourning outfit to a color kimono. It foreshadows her cruel and unusual behavior under her false smile. She killed her father and stepmother on purpose simply because she grew tired of them.
- In Little Red Riding Hood, Grey asks Scarlet to talk about herself. The scene pans to her room's floor littered with leather shoes, and bow ties. Then, there are leather suits on her coat hanger which doesn't seem to suit her style and her drawer is filled with men's watches. This indicates that she's a Serial Killer too just like Grey, who suits her preference.
- In Hansel and Gretel, Gretel is never seen eating or lacking schoolwork materials, and nobody talks to Gretel besides Hansel. It reveals that she wasn't real.
- In The Elves and the Shoemaker, N meets the red-headed girl while drunk with the red lighting. The scenes with red lighting are whenever N is drunk. After those scenes, the manuscripts, which had his handwriting, ended up becoming successful.This means that N was indeed writing those novels while under the influence of alcohol; hence, his claim of not writing these novels consciously despite having his handwriting.
- Fractured Fairy Tale: The whole point of the series is retelling the classical tales of the Brothers Grimm with a dark twist, like Cinderalla not being as innocent as she appears, or that the Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood is a human Serial Killer.
- Genre Roulette: Each episode has a different genre ranging from a psychological horror, a cyberpunk dystopia, a sci-fi mystery, a modern drama, and a futuristic western etc..
- Grimmification: The series is bloodier, darker and more explicit than the fairy tales they take inspiration from.
- Once More, with Clarity:
- The Cinderella flashback shows how Kiyoko meticulously plots the downfall of her stepsisters.
- The Little Red Riding Hood flashback shows how Scarlet plans to lure Grey into her trap.
- Hansel and Gretel shows that Gretel is not real and all of Hansel's scenes were only him alone.
- Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: Every story has at least one character with green eyes and red hair:
- In Cinderella is Kiyoko's doll.
- In Little Red Riding Hood is the Madame.
- In Hansel and Gretel are the title characters themselves.
- In The Elves and the Shoemaker is the Helper.
- In The Town Musicians of Bremen is Rooster.
- In Pied Piper of Hamelin is The Traveler. And by the end Maria too.
- Charlotte from the Grimm siblings segments also has red hair and green eyes.
- Truth in Television: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm did have other siblings in real life, although most of them died in infancy, so having a younger sister isn't as unlikely as it appears.
Cinderella
- Adaptational Personality Change:
- The stepmother is on amicable terms with Kiyoko, though she's surprised that Kiyoko calls her "Madame" instead of "Mother".
- The stepsisters, Makiko and Sawako, still have the original stepsisters's trait of being cruel to the servants though this is because they're being shamed for their simple background. Unlike the original stepsisters who bully Cinderella, they're afraid and wary of Kiyoko.
- Adaptational Villainy: Kiyoko, this story's version of Cinderella, is a Manipulative Bitch who plays everyone like toys.
- Ambiguous Start of Darkness: It was never stated why Kiyoko started to do horrible things to her father and stepfamily. Whether she became corrupt from her doll's influence, mad from the loss of her birth mother, or if she was always like this is unknown.
- The Bad Guy Wins: While Makiko and Sawako are finally free from the torment of their stepsister, Kiyoko is now the head of her household, set to marry a count and continue her mind games with him and the servants.
- Batman Gambit: Makiko and Sawako act like the wicked, nasty stepsisters in front of the count so that he will fall for and want to save the "helpless and abused" Kiyoko, decide to marry her, then throw them out. This finally allows them to be free of Kiyoko's sadistic influence. Kiyoko realizes this after the fact, privately noting to her doll that her stepsisters finally outwitted her, but she pays this no mind and decides to focus her sick games on her new husband instead...
- Dances and Balls: It wouldn't be a Cinderella story without a ball with fancy dresses.
- Karma Houdini: Kiyoko doesn't receive any punishment for killing her father and stepmother or making her sisters look worse with the servants.
- Perspective Flip: In this version, the main characters are the stepsisters, Makiko and Sawako, who have to endure the ridicule of being stepdaughters of the viscount given that their mother is a former geisha.
- Self-Made Orphan: Kiyoko sabotaged the brakes of her father's carriage, and years later she smothers her already ill stepmother while her stepsisters are away.
- Wicked Stepmother: Subverted. Madame Tsuruko might be somewhat stern, but she's clearly only looking after her family.
The Little Red Riding Hood
- Adaptation Species Change: Instead of an actual talking wolf, Grey, the equivalent of The Big Bad Wolf, is a human.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Grey wanted to experience something "real", only for the Madame to set him in the path of Scarlet, another Serial Killer, who proceeds to make him experience a real death.
- Colourful Theme Naming: With the exception of the Madame, the characters in this story are named after colors.
- Do Wrong, Right: The Club that Grey belongs to allows its members to literally get away with murder, but it expects them to be discreet and have some class while they're killing people. When Grey goes on a mini-rampage and tries to bash a woman's brains out with a sledgehammer, Brown steps in to stop him, admonishing Grey for attempting such an artless kill and warning him that the Club's ability to protect him from the law only goes so far.
- Electronic Eyes: The Eye Drop which also allows users to change their appearance.
- Eye Scream: Scarlet punctures Grey's left eye with a scalpel. Fittingly enough, this is one of CLAMP's Author Appeal.
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: Grey thought he was being given a new prey by the Madame, when in fact he was set up to be hunted by Scarlet, another killer, who proceeds to cut him to pieces to satiate her own bloodlust.
- In the Hood: Instead of a typical hood, Scarlet wears a red hooded jacket.
- Karmic Death: Grey meets the same end that all his victims did: strapped down to a table and tortured to death by a serial killer.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Grey murders women who are dressed in red. Then at the end of the story, he gets murdered by a woman in red.
- Man of Wealth and Taste: Grey is a wealthy man who dresses in fancy suits, and even in casual clothes he looks nice.
- Only One Name: The characters are only referred to by one name.
- Perspective Flip: The main character is Grey, who is this story's version of the Big Bad Wolf.
- Serial Killer: Grey targets women in red. Scarlet happens to be one as well whose victims are rich men in suits.
- Slasher Smile: Scarlet gives one at the very end of the story.
- A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Grey and Scarlet may look and act like normal people, but they are depraved killers who love murdering people.
Hansel and Gretel
- Bittersweet Ending: While Hansel is freed from the "school" and can begin a new life with the other children, he will have to do it without Gretel since she's revealed to be not real.
- Constantly Curious: After visiting the Old Woman in the forest, Hansel becomes curious about the mysteries regarding the school.
- Cool Old Lady: The Old Woman, despite being the equivalent of the Wicked Witch, is actually kind and helps Hansel and Gretel see things through different eyes.
- Dwindling Party: Hansel notices that some of his classmates disappear one by one. It's noted that these kids tend to disobey Mama and Papa and are sent to detention. It turns out the children are sent to Earth.
- Expy: The Old Woman's coloring, mannerisms and cryptic way of speaking are a dead ringer for CLAMP's Witch of Dimensions Yuuko from both Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE- and ×××HOLiC, albeit an older version. Even her talking about Hansel granting her wish in return for her help seems to be a wink and nudge toward the original Yuuko.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Mama's eyes briefly flash red while she’s chasing down Hansel and Gretel. This triggers a blast door to start closing ahead of them, setting up the Robotic Reveal which occurs shortly afterward.
- Good All Along: Despite the ambiguous actions of Mama, Papa and the Old Woman they were just trying to prepare the children for the outside world.
- Half-Identical Twins: Hansel and Gretel are clearly twins and are very similar to each other with the exception of their genders. Turns out they're not twins at all.
- The Reveal: The whole story is set in a space station and the children are trained to survive in the outside world.
- Robotic Reveal: Mama is revealed to be an android when she gets caught between a pair of closing mechanical doors. The pressure exerted by the doors ruptures her skin to expose her metal endoskeleton.
- Wham Shot: When Hansel wonders how he and Gretel are going to fit in the spacecraft which only has one seat, Gretel reveals that she won't accompany him. Then, she shows Hansel that her hand is disappearing.
The Elves and the Shoemaker
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: In most stories, the shoemaker has a stable marriage with his wife, but here, N’s wife no longer lives with him and is divorced. The reason for this is presumably from N’s alcoholism.
- The Alcoholic: N. Even after his comeback as a novelist, he continues to drink. This eventually leads to his demise.
- Broken Pedestal: As revealed towards the end, the red-headed girl is expecting N to rewrite "From the Shores of Stupor" because she thinks there's some potential in it. Unfortunately, she's so dismayed that N got so consumed by greed and fame that she doesn't want to see him again, presumably taking away his ability to write those novels that brought him success.
- Career Resurrection: In-universe. The publication of The Elves and the Shoemaker brought N back into the mainstream after it became a bestseller.
- Downer Ending: The story ends with N dead, presumably of alcoholism.
- Drowning My Sorrows: N drinks whenever he self-doubts because of his failed writing career.
- Exact Words: N claims that the stories had his handwriting but he doesn't remember writing them. That's because these stories were written while he was drunk.
- Ghostwriter: N believes "Self-Introduction" and "The Elves and the Shoemaker" were written by someone else using his handwriting. One of the editors, Mr. S, correctly assumes that's the case, much to N's annoyance. However, it's assumed that he did write those novels while under the influence of alcohol.
- Hero Worship: Mr. S and Ms. B enjoy N's Self-Introduction short story that they once read.
- One-Letter Name: Most characters are only referred to by their title and a single letter.
- Red Herring: The red-headed girl, the equivalent of the elf who aids the shoemaker, is assumed to be the one who wrote the novels. She never said she wrote them but it's suspected she gave N some abilities while in the state of drunkenness given the Japanese letters flying out.
- Starving Artist: N used to be an award-winning novelist. But he had fallen so hard that he became a recluse living in poverty.
- Title Drop: The novel that was ghostwritten with N's handwriting is entitled The Elves and the Shoemaker.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: N doesn't remember that he wrote "Self-Introduction" and "The Elves and the Shoemaker" despite the manuscripts having his handwriting. That's because he wrote them the night when he got drunk.
The Town Musicians of Bremen
- Adaptation Species Change: Instead of Talking Animals, the Bremen Musicians are female humans.
- Amazonian Beauty: Donkey is huge, muscular but still quite attractive.
- Animal Theme Naming: The main characters are named after their respective animal musician.
- Blade Enthusiast: Both Dog and Sean Wade specialize in knife wielding.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Cat is seen getting expelled from her job in a brothel in her flashback.
- Humongous-Headed Hammer: Donkey wields a huge smith's hammer as her weapon of choice. She uses it to kill Tim Wade in a single blow.
- Lighter and Softer: In contrast to the downer and bittersweet endings of the other tales, this one has a much happier outcome for the main characters.
- Lightning Lash: Cat's weapon of choice is an energy whip that can also electrocute those she snares with it. She fries Dan Wade with this method.
- Non-Indicative Name: The Musicians of Bremen don't actually play any instruments at any point in the story.
- One-Way Visor: The goons of the Wade brothers, as well as Rooster, wear visors over their eyes.
- Police Are Useless: Not only were Dog's former coworkers Dirty Cops, the Sheriff of Bremen is easily cowed and intimidated by the Wade brothers.
- Punched Across the Room: Tim Wade makes the mistake of punching Donkey in the face, who simply returns the favor and sends him flying across the saloon.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: Just like the original story, the Bremen Musicians came from different walks of life and became a team.
- Red Baron: Dog is known as Mad Dog for her unrelenting desire to punish lawbreakers.
- Shout-Out: The hotel in Bremen and the club where Sean Wade is staying are named after two James Bond films, From Russia with Love and Goldfinger.
- Turn in Your Badge: Dog gives up her badge and gun and resigns from her post as Deputy Sheriff because she's disappointed that her boss and coworkers don't share the same strong sense of justice as her.
- Underestimating Badassery: The Wade Brothers thought the Four Musicians would be easy to kill, only for them and their goons to get slaughtered.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
- Ambiguous Ending: The story ends with Maria leaving her village with the Traveler who uses her body as a portal to transport Maria to another world. Then, Maria finds herself in a European city with the colors of her eyes and hair turned green and red. The Traveler is nowhere to be seen with her green cloak left on the ground. Maria picks it up and wears it. Later, the scene jumps into modern times where Maria finishes telling a young girl this episode's story. The young girl wonders what happened to the villagers with Maria shrugging "Who knows?" as she smiles.
- Arranged Marriage: In the village, it is common for girls to be quickly married off at age 17 to the best prospect, regardless of the girl's wishes.
- Blue Means Smart One: Maria wears blue and she's regarded as the smartest student and the successor of the Grand Code.
- Brutal Honesty: During the dinner party, Maria bluntly rejects the arranged marriage with Lucas because he's stupid and violent. She even says it in front of him, breaking man's heart.
- But Now I Must Go: Maria decides to leave her village with the Traveler to transport into another world. She is willing to leave her family behind and never see them again.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Downplayed. Despite the Teacher spending the night with Maria, she doesn’t love him. She was willing to leave him to be transported into another world with the Traveler.
- Dissonant Serenity: Maria seems unaware of the tensions in her environment.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": While Maria, Lucas and Paul are named, The Traveler, Teacher and Grand Code are only referred to as such.
- Female Misogynist: Grand Code is a controlling and authoritarian head of the village who considers Maria to be intelligent for a woman, enforces puritanical rules and even considers selling Maria to the highest bidder for her beauty.
- Gender Flip: In most stories, the Pied Piper is a man, but here she's a woman.
- Hidden Elf Village: The village is very isolated and the Grand Code is wary of outsiders because she believes they could disrupt order.
- The Jailbait Wait: The Teacher wants to marry Maria when she comes of age.
- Rejected Marriage Proposal: Maria turns down her potential marriage with Lucas because she finds him unsuitable.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Subverted. The Teacher has romantic feelings for Maria, his student, but she doesn’t reciprocate them.
