Alternative TitlesEnglish: Princess Tutu Japanese: プリンセスチュチュ
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 38
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Aug 16, 2002 to May 23, 2003
Duration:
16 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.331 (scored by 11517 users)
Ranked: #1692
Popularity: #499
Members: 24,227
Favorites: 1,047 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
drama fantasy romance shoujo |
SynopsisIn a fairy tale come to life, the clumsy, sweet, and gentle Ahiru (Japanese for 'duck') seems like an unlikely protagonist. In reality, Ahiru is just as magical as the talking cats and crocodiles that inhabit her town - for Ahiru really is a duck! Transformed by the mysterious Drosselmeyer into a human girl, Ahiru soon learns the reason for her existence. Using her magical egg-shaped pendant, Ahiru can transform into Princess Tutu - a beautiful and talented ballet dancer whose dances relieve people of the turmoil in their hearts. With her newfound ability, Ahiru accepts the challenge of collecting the lost shards of her prince's heart, for long ago he had shattered it in order to seal an evil raven away for all eternity.
Princess Tutu is a tale of heroes and their struggle against fate. Their beliefs, their feelings, and ultimately their actions will determine whether this fairy tale can reach its "happily ever after."
[Written by MAL Rewrite] |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Princess Tutu
Summary: Princess Tutu Recaps
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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Valle
156 of 206 people found this review helpful
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38 of 38 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
I remember when I first heard the name "Princess Tutu". First impression: Girly. However, I was intrigued by the praise it received so I looked for a description. Second impression: Cheesy. Still, I was curious about how the show took advantage of ballet suites, so I watched the opening. Third impression: Too pink.
There were few reasons for me to watch Princess Tutu, but I still had a strange feeling about it. Today I regret not having watched it sooner for what I saw was one of the most engaging, clever and downright beautiful shows I had ever seen, overflowing with soul and passion.
Story: A unique fairytale which goes far beyond it's limitations. Masterfully written, the story is a perfect blend of powerful moments, unexpected twists, comedy and romance. The fairytale structure takes the best out of classic ballets and weaves a story that is both coherent and diverse. The endings to both seasons are particularly outstanding.
Art: The series has a stylized and clean art style combined with great animation. Although I felt it fit the series very well, not everyone feels that way. Some believe the art style is a bit too girly or misleading, but it actually fits the fairytale theme very well. The backgrounds are great and the ballet scenes are beautifully animated (although some use too many stills which, even though beautiful, aren't as good as the animated moments).
Sound: The "coup-de-grace" of the show, the soundtrack doesn't simply support the show: it is part of the story itself. Each episode is accompanied by a certain ballet suite and takes the most advantage of it. The suites were carefully chosen and superbly performed by a bulgarian orchestra. I had heard many of them before and I was amazed by the quality of the performance. Every single note fits perfectly and sounds delightful, even the songs that were composed for the show. Truly mindblowing, the music adds a whole new layer of depth to it. The voices and dialog are also very good and fitting.
Characters: With such a great story and soundtrack, some would think that the development team wouldn't be focused on character development. Wrong. All characters are believable, feel real and evolve throughout the story. Even secondary characters show a glowing spirit that many main characters wish they had. If you allow yourself to, you will be able to feel a strong bond and sympathy for those characters, even those you didn't expect. The multi-layered Ahiru is an amazing and strong main character, and the others will surprise you as well. Not only do characters evolve but they also take advantage of a distinct way to show their "persona": dance.
Enjoyment: A show that you won't be able to put down until you finish it. The episodes are so engaging and fantastic it's easy to get sucked in. A surprisingly rich experience you won't find anywhere else. Surprisingly, I found myself rewatching several scenes shortly after finishing the show. I recommend you to use headphones so that you don't miss a single note of this visual and musical wonder.
Overall, Princess Tutu is a living, breathing anime that, unlike most magical-shoujo shows, truly feels magical. Yes, I may sound cheesy, lame and corny, but don't miss out on this unique gem. A true masterpiece. read more
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FallnKnightFakir
59 of 83 people found this review helpful
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38 of 38 episodes seen
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| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
Ok, here's a scenario that doesn't appeal to me in the least, a magical girl series that sound incredibly girly with copious amounts of pink and it's actually called "Princess Tutu". The only positive note I saw going into this was that I really like classical music, it was this and other reviews that convinced me to even give it a shot in the first place and am I ever glad I did, I've seen it through 4 times in less than 18 months and I'm always tempted to watch it again. The first point here is that even if it doesn't sound like your thing in the least, this series is a complete shock at how amazing it is, this is the series that changed how I should look at watching potential anime in the future.
Story and Characters:
Well, the series starts off a little cliche and trope ridden. In fact, I had subconsciously made a list of every cliche I expected to play out during the series. But boy by the end of that series was I eating that list right back, this series completely redefines how magical girl series can be done. The series frequently takes plot lines and ideas from ballets and other classical pieces of music and then it takes all of them to make its own original and unique thing. And to anyone as concerned with the girly factor as I was, I really didn't find any of the main plot as overly girly as I was expecting (I found it mildly girly to be fair). The ending has to be one of the best and most rewarding endings I've seen in an anime ever, this is a series that definitely delivers, even if you didn't know what you wanted delivered.
Presentation:
Characters designs and animation are all crisp and beautiful and fit into the world so incredibly well. There's also frequent CGI at times that is never jarring and fits ever so perfectly. But sound is where is where it was really at for me, having been an already existing fan of classical music. The series didn't just use common pieces all the time, it used whatever piece fit, no matter how obscure and the series was made better for it. All the pieces that they picked intensified the mood of whatever scene it was in to make a perfect compliment. I'm not sure if I'll ever find soundtrack usage this perfect again personally. It wasn't only about having a strong soundtrack, but it was also about using it well.
Overall: 10
This is one of my very few 10 series and quite possibly my favorite anime of all time. I think this series should be seen by everyone, you'll find a lovely diamond in the rough with a great and memorable story. I really can't think of anything else quite like it, this is a must watch. read more
Recommendations
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Both series have similar aspects of shoujo: the transforming girl, the attractive guys, the love triangle, etc. The characters and their relationships are also, surprisingly, very similar. Both series have the same kind of feel to them, with the right balance of comedy, drama, and romance. Both are great and worth watching if you're a fan of shoujo. Both are made by the same director and studio as well.
Both works of Junichi Sato, each of these are poignant magical girl shows that show the bittersweet nature of love and the importance of fighting for it.
Same director, same fairytale-ish feel, both have a love triangle and they are both mahou shoujo anime
Transformations
Based on a fairy tale or book
Magical
Romance
Complicated relationships
Friendships
Main character is female
Female vs Female! ~Fantasy/Romance
Main characters are the good side, undergoing transformations in order to save the day/world from the dark/evil female character. They're just about always happy, and they're willing to risk just about anything for the ones they care about.
Both evil female characters had some type of relationship/connection with the main male character.
Main characters are undergoing transformations in order to save the world from the evil female character. They're always happy, and they will risk anything for the ones they care about. Both evil female characters had some type of relationship with the main male character. Both are shoujo and magical girl anime. Both have a very emotional plot with love triangles.
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It's no surprise that Princess Tutu has been called Utena-lite. Both series look like they're made for young girls and have, to some degree, fairly typical shoujo plots in the beginning. Soon, though, they become much more complex, twisting the definitions of friend and foe; of what it means to be yourself or to grow up. In addition, they're both heavily influenced by traditional fairy tales yet eventually change the norms of those tales to be something completely different.
Princess Tutu is often referred to as "Utena 101" by fans of the series. While it lacks some of the complexities that Utena has, it still has a similar feeling. Fairy tales/ballets permeate the story, the concepts of what it means to be a "prince" and ideas of protecting others for love, and they both have their fair share of bittersweet moments with characters who are neither black nor white, but rather varying shades of gray.
Both Utena and Tutu contain a strong fairy tale motif and themes of accepting or defying one's fairy tale role. In a way, Utena feels like a more sophisticated/jaded exploration of the same themes touched upon in Tutu. They also both have a little bit of that surreal/reality-bending element, though Tutu never gets quite as surreal or symbolic as Utena. Basically, they're both really great series that you should watch, period.
Princess Tutu and Revolutionary Girl Utena have quite a bit in common. Both have the feel of a "modern fairy tale" and start off feeling like your typical, light-hearted shojo or magical girl series. However, both eventually obtain a darker atmosphere, become something new, and make themselves stand out in certain ways. Tutu is more family friendly and has more of a "magical girl" feel to it, while Utena is more intense and has more of a "girl warrior" feel to it. The heroines of both stories mature quite a bit throughout the story and learn concepts such as love, romance, friendship, self-sacrifice, and selflessness. Both series also have a lot of plot twists to the point that you aren't exactly sure which characters are the "good guys" and which are the "bad guys" until you're practically at the end. Love them or hate them, these series certainly aren't forgettable.
Both series have the feel of a modern fairytale. Despite being a more family friendly anime, Princess Tutu is not afraid to have stories as rich in symbolism as Utena.
Postmodernist fairy tales, basically.
The first recomender pretty much got it spot-on. Both are dark magical girl shows that, rather than focusing on the magical girl theme, focus more on the fairy-tale prince-princess theme. Utena is quite a bit more adult, however.
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Opening Theme"Morning Grace" by Ritsuko Okazaki
Ending Theme"Watashi No Ai Wa Chiisaikeredo" by Ritsuko Okazaki
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