PRINCESS TUTU

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA DramaPrincess Tutu

REVIEWS

• 

  Franzor

  90/100
  A magical girl anime to give Madoka Magica a run for its money.

  A lot of people have said that Princess Tutu is not what it looks like. It’s not as girly as it sounds. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Well… I actually disagree with this. In many respects, Princess Tutu is exactly what you might expect. It’s a magical girl fairy tale with romance, ballet, a female lead, and a big bad villain who wants to ruin everything for the protagonist and keep her from her true love and there are several points that might make you feel like you’re watching a classic Disney Princess movie. BUT! I do not think that should stop you from watching this. Princess Tutu is truly a hidden gem. I had a lot of fun with this anime and I honestly think anyone of any age, man or woman can still love this show.

  --- STORY ---
  Princess Tutu in a nutshell is a story of a story. Once upon a time a man wrote a story of a prince who fought against an evil raven. During their battle the two managed to literally come out of the story and into real life. Eventually the prince prevailed and managed to lock the evil raven away forever. However, in the process he had to shatter his own heart in order to do so. Thus leaving him emotionless. Skip ahead to the present and we find that all the characters of the story now reside peacefully in a small town where they all attend a ballet school. This is where our main protagonist comes in. Ahiru. Who’s name literally translates to “duck” Which makes sense since she herself is in fact a duck who through the power of a pendent is able to take on the form of a human girl and it is her role in the story to collect and return the shattered fragments of the prince’s heart. At the same time our main antagonist Princess Kraehe attempts to prevent the prince from regaining his heart while also trying to free her father the raven.

  This is definitely one of the more unique stories I have heard among fairy tales and while it may sound like just another typical fairy tale, the story’s execution is fantastic and it tells itself in a very realistic way and there were never any moments that felt too sappy, cheesy, or sugar coated. The story is exceptionally well written and contains a perfect blend of comedy, romance, drama, and even some dark epic moments.

  --- CHARACTERS ---
  The characters were definitely the highlight of this show for me. I immediately fell in love with ALL of the characters and I was only 2 episodes in when I just HAD to add Ahiru to my favorite characters list.

  This show focuses mostly on five main characters.

  Ahiru/Princess Tutu – Our goofy, kind and caring protagonist who’s only real desire is to restore the prince’s heart as she wants nothing more than simply to see him smile.

  Mytho – The prince of the story who having lost his heart is left with no emotions or even any understanding of emotions.

  Fakir – The knight of the story dedicated to protecting Mytho and doing what he believes is best for him though at times he comes off as very controlling.

  Rue/Princess Kraehe – The primary antagonist of the story. Also in love with Mytho, she hopes to prevent Mytho from regaining his heart and is constantly getting between him and Ahiru.

  Drosselmeyer – The writer of the story of "The Prince and The Raven". Having died after both his hands were severed, he now resides in another dimension where he watches over his tale as it unfolds before him.

  The characters all act and feel very believable and they each have a good amount of depth and focus in the story. There is also great character development with not just the protagonist but with all the characters. As the story progresses and we learn more about the characters, some of them turn out to be quite different from who we originally thought they were and they develop very naturally throughout the course of the show. Even the villain goes through some growth. Every character is great and even the minor characters like Neko-sensei are very memorable. Because if you don’t do well in Neko-sensei’s class… He will have you marry him!

  --- ART ---
  Princess Tutu is a fairly old anime dating back to 2002 and as such it has the art style you would expect from an older show. Despite this, the art is quite good for its time. It is very suitable to the show and has a real charm to it that makes it quite pleasant to look at.

  --- SOUND ---
  Big fan of classical music? You’ll love this show. The majority of the soundtrack consists of popular classical tunes. Mainly those from the Nutcracker and if there was ever an anime that used classical music well, it’s Princess Tutu. The intro also has a very classical feel to it and goes great with the show. Same goes for the outro.

  As for the sub or dub debate, Princess Tutu has one of the better dubs I’ve seen. None of the voices sounded bad and Luci Christian was an excellent choice to play the role of Ahiru (or as she’s called in the dub “Duck”) The original version is also spectacular and is worth watching as well. Want to watch the Japanese version? Every voice fits PERFECTLY. Want to watch the dub? The voices still fit perfectly. So watch whichever version suits your tastes. Or if you have time, watch both!

  --- VERDICT ---
  Princess Tutu is a highly under appreciated show that deserves far more attention than it gets. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Definitely one of if not the best magical girl anime out there.

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• 

  Solaris

  75/100
  Never underestimate fairy tales ever again.

  Warning: Possible spoilers ahead.

  Who doesn't know them? The wonderful fairy tales you read as a child. It always comes down to these three words, "happily ever after". I'm saying, I apprieciate fairy tales, some are really nice and some are just the typical thing you'd expect. But, some people underestimate how dark these can get at some points. This anime however knows what it is doing. It is a fairytale gone dark - in a good way.

  Story
  Once upon a time, there was a man. This man was known for telling and writing stories. Despite all, he unfortunately could not forsee the hands of death. His latest work, "The Prince and the Raven" was kept in a static, with the prince and the raven battling seemingly endless war. Both were sick and tired of this battle. Soon enough, the raven escaped the pages of the story. To avoid the destruction it could cause, the prince sealed the raven away with his heart - at the cost of his own emotions. But then, just then, a long forgotten voice had broken the silence. "This is great!" murmured the man who was supposed to be dead.

  So much to the intro of this anime. Our story truly begins with a small yellow duck simply named Ahiru ("Duck" in japanese) watching the now emotionless prince dancing gracefully at a lake, wishing to see him smile at least once. The old man - now a spirit - acknowledged that and gave the duck a chance to prove that she would do anything to get him to smile. Obtaining a red amulet from the old man, Ahiru could turn into a human girl and if it were to be used again, into Princess Tutu, the titular heroine of this anime, a graceful ballerina with the task of obtaining the scattered heart shards of the emotionless prince. There is, of course a catch, but you better watch the anime for yourself to know what catch.

  It would be an easy task truly, wouldn't it be for two others trying to stop Ahiru from fulfilling her task - for one, Fakir - the reborn knight of the prince, now trying to protect Mytho at all costs and Rue, a mysterious raven haired girl. Emphasis on "Raven", for she is also the raven princess Kraehe, basically Tutu's dark counterpart. And even the story itself seems to have it's own secrets...

  I won't continue here, so you can go mostly blind into this anime.

  Characters
  For one, we got Ahiru - the main protagonist and the titular heroine Princess Tutu. A clumsy girl turned duck, who is kind to anybody. As Princess Tutu, she is very graceful and hopeful, dancing with the people corrupted by these heart shards.

  Then we got Mytho, the now emotionless prince, who once battled the raven to protect the people of the story. He often gets into strange situations because of his emotions being gone. Fakir is the third one, the knight of the prince who now tries to protect him in any way possible, going so far to threaten Princess Tutu to kill her if she would get too close.

  Then, we got Rue - a mysterious black haired girl who is the talented primadonna of the class. Later in the series, she becomes Princess Kraehe, a cruel and dark ballerina princess who tries to stop Tutu from getting these heart shards back. She's my personal favorite character of this anime. You'll see why.

  And last but not least - the old man himself, Drosselmeyer. The story writer of the fairy tale and the one who watches the characters unfold the tale before him. He seems to be helpful at first, but he actually does not have the best intentions in mind...

  Other important side characters are for example, Pique and Lillie, the friends of Ahiru and the puppet Edel, which was created by Drosselmeyer to guide the characters in the story. Or Nekosensei, the teacher of the ballet class - and a humanoid cat. You better focus in his class...

  Music
  The music is special, being mostly classic and hopeful, fitting to a ballet performance, technically. Both opener and ending are calm classic pieces. Many of these tracks are from ballets, like the Nutcracker or Swan Lake. Which makes sense, considering these two seem to be the main influences. People who like classic music will definitely be happy here.

  Art
  The art is what you would expect from an anime released in 2002. But it has it's charm, definitely. The anime can be bizzare and crazy at times, but well, that just makes it more fun to watch. It knows when to make an dark atmosphere, but sometimes, it's kinda too much. It's very creepy when Drosselmeyer suddenly has his face on a house or on a wall. It's very unsettling sometimes, but in a good way. Kraehe and Tutu are references to Odile and Odette respectively, the main protagonists of Swan Lake, same with Mytho, while Drosselmeyer is originally from the nutcracker, the uncle of it's main protagonist if I remember correctly.

  Overall
  Overall, Princess Tutu is a well made anime. It has dark and unsettling scenes, but lights it up with the ballet dances. The second half is my personal favorite, considering how crazy things can get in that one. If you need an anime which is both a fairy tale and ballet-related, but isn't too overly cute and has serious darkness, your search just ended.

  It's definitely worth a try.

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• 

  seanny

  85/100
  This post-Toei cult classic, with its ballerina dance battles, is an original anime in the most meaningful sense.

  

  One could write a deep dive, I imagine, into the ballet and folk tale motifs at the core of Princess Tutu. Call me uncultured but I am incapable of writing such a review, and yet I enjoyed the anime immensely. Its status as a cult classic magical girl anime series, the supposed magnum opus of Junichi Satō’s career, and the originator of a certain classic meme, spurred me to confirm whether the show could be accurately characterized with an image of dueling guitar ninjas.

  Tutu comes from a certain culture within Toei Animation. Its shoujo series from Sailor Moon through the turn of the millennium gave birth to numerous industry titans like Kunihiko Ikuhara & his many protégés, and household name Mamoru Hosoda. To call that culture defining would be an understatement, and stalwart director Junichi Satō was arguably the ringleader. Like Ikuhara & Utena, Satō also saw fit to leave the nest with his ex-Toei buddies and eventually create his own postmodern magical girl series. (It would be wrong to attribute Tutu entirely to Satō, but I use him as a reference point for an era of Toei culture.)

  Like Utena, Princess Tutu takes place in a fantasy purgatory world driven by folk tale logic and stage aesthetics. But rather than evoke the gaudy spectacle of Takarazuka Revue musicals, it instead depicts a world of ballet through its lovely, rounded character designs that serve its drama, visual comedy, and highly unusual action scenes.

  It has weekly villains. There is a (mercifully brief) transformation ritual. But one does not come to Princess Tutu for its meager genre trappings. It’s a world where the emotional truth is the only truth, and emotion given form through artistic expression is the truest strength. Its supernatural duels are ballet dance battles set to the orchestral swells of romantic-era music. Though the animation itself rarely transcends the ordinary, its inspired designwork and aesthetic ideas create a level of joyous spectacle every episode that is rarely experienced anywhere else.

  Its characters, symbols of beauty, tragedy and yearning in a fairy tale world, are only as fleshed out as they need to be; any more and the spell would be broken. Its music pieces that play for minutes on end, sometimes occupying an entire B-part of an episode, lull me into a fantasy in a way that a bog-standard anime BGM wouldn’t. Princess Tutu would lose its very being as a manga or novel — it’s an original anime in the meaningful sense.

  Its not without flaws, but even its flaws have character. A cackling, meddlesome god has a knack for disrupting the flow of each episode; he gleefully tortures his audience with his prattling. Its quaint digital effects don’t always hold up, but at least they are employed with relative restraint. Its mildly annoying “quirky” side characters still serve to add some levity and slapstick before the storm rolls over the landscape of this NHK children's anime.

  As villains rise to heroism and heroes fall from grace, and as ominous crowfeathers set the stage for another showdown of pointes and pirouettes, Princess Tutu enters its element and all else is forgiven. Or as the old meme goes, the ninjas are tuning their guitars.

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