Princess Tutu

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.

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.

I think the only thing I didn't like about Princess Tutu was the name of the show. With a story that, while original, hails to the great storytellers such as Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, set at a pace that presents itself willingly to ballet, and refusing to pull punches, Junichi Sato's dark fantasy about a duck who wanted to be a girl, and the prince whose heart she wished to piece back together is a fairy tale that children can enjoy and adults can adore.

Like all good fairy tales, the story is most crucial. It must be whimsical yet cautionary, quickly paced, ... and tightly-knit. Tutu follows this formula well, though not so much the "quickly paced" bit. This is because Tutu has an episodic monster-of-the-week nature that can become an irritance, and would have been if every episode didn't, in some way, tie directly back to the main story. Much like director Junichi Sato's other hidden gem Kaleido Star, the story is broken into two distinct parts, which while seperate, are directly connected. This storytelling works best in that it provides two distinct and memorable climaxes while never feeling rushed or out-of-place.

The main story itself is flawless. A fantastic tribute to the forgotten and oft-dismissed power of fairy tales and ballet, whimsical enough to never forget its true nature, and dark enough to invest interest and revoke the idea of it just being a children's show.

It's characters range from the absurd to the sinister and some even manage to play both during the course of the series. The characters alone are uniquely crafted. Though some follow certain Junichi Sato molds, such as Fakir and Mythos, Ahiru stands out as a subversion of the cheerful, determined heroine his works are often known for in that her efforts do not always deem satisfaction, and her ultimate goal is not met with her ideal ending. Everyone interacts sincere to their motives and personalities and no one ever feels like they're doing something they shouldn't be.

Of course the art, provided by Sato's mainstay HAL Film Maker is divine. Every scene is fluid and graceful, especially the dance numbers. Character designs and backgrounds are very imaginative and hold the Germanic fairy tale motif that the series sets for itself.

The accompaniment for the series is a numerous array of classical music and ballet numbers, most of which will be recognizable by ear even if you can't remember the name of what you're hearing. Moreso, the music provides a direct parallel to the conflict in each scene it is used, and often scenes are choreographed around the music, making for dramatic impact mostly unparalleled.

Yes, the title is a turn-off, and I'm sure many of you out there think ballet is for 6-year-old girls, but Tutu takes the most universal and respected elements of the things children love and craft something everyone can and most likely will enjoy. Though it trudges in a few places, Tutu never forgets where it's going. It's magical waltz always catches up and makes sure it ends on the best note it can.

Overall, I give Princess Tutu a 9 out of 10.

When you look at the picture cover of a show, that’s usually the deciding factor on whether or not it is worth your time to experience watching it for most who don’t bother to look into depth on what the show is about mainly. There is the common notion of “Don’t judge a book by its cover” in many forms of fiction, but that saying shouldn’t just be limited to books. If there are things to be said about Princess Tutu concerning this quote, it fits that description on every account.

Anybody can perceive that Princess Tutu isn’t your average Magical Girl anime, even though it ... follows the formulaic structure of one where the girl goes off into one plot arc to help save this person. What is particularly unique about the show isn’t so much its style but how it treats its narrative in a meta-style of storytelling. It gives the show a very fairy-tale feel to the atmosphere whenever you see them try to mimic the classic fairy tales that involved princesses, which Princess Tutu quickly turns its spin on the genre and makes it fresh and new to its writing. The meta-narrative is nicely written to give us an abstract feel to the story and make us feel more attached to the characters and the struggles they have to overcome that eventually drive them almost to mere madness. It almost becomes a self-parody of tragedy in how the characters want it to be a happy ending to the story because stories of these typical end, even though the meta-narrative is at odds with that philosophy; of course, I won’t get into it further to avoid spoilers.

When we step into the world of Princess Tutu, it has a lot of influence from old fantasy tales that have since been existing since the rise of Western Folklore, something that anime isn’t known for a lot. Tchaikovsky would be proud to have the symbolic nature of his artistic music to be portrayed on-screen. Anthropomorphic animals run about in the world, but unfortunately, it isn’t given enough clarity as to why the world around the characters even exists or how the society is the way it is. However, it can be forgiven how the plot is more focused on a minimal scale from the character interaction. It is, nevertheless, a wildly imaginative world to experience and quite unlike you would see in most anime in recent times.

To describe Princess Tutu’s authenticity in the short term would be like an actual theater production in animated motion. The ballet aspects feel structured like a real ballet play in action, from how the dialogue is performed and how the characters interact. That’s where the show's uniqueness jumps into gear and gives you a very fresh take on how you can portray a story in a show. Your typical magical girl show usually involves fight scenes that involve actual physical fighting involving magical powers that are mostly there to be flashy and entertaining for younger audiences. While many include swords and physical confrontation, Princess Tutu involves ballet dancing to invoke their powers to best out their opponent psychologically. These various aspects may seem a bit silly when you think about it, but what makes it work wonderfully is how well it’s directed. It sets the show's tone to new heights of tension and emotion, all without the single swing of a blade; that is if crows are considered a weapon of choice.

Memorable characters are critical to a show like Princess Tutu to help keep its world and story unforgettable, which it most definitely succeeds. Our lovable magical girl protagonist Ahiru might not break new ground in how we look at magical girl characters in the same way as, say, maybe Sakura in Cardcaptor several years ago. Still, she is portrayed with bravery and elegance. Ahiru is sometimes a clumsy girl in rather hilarious, well-written comedic moments. And as a deeply involved sympathetic character who you always want to see overcome any obstacle that keeps her from achieving her goal is not only profoundly moving but also charming. Her voice might be a little grating when you come across her initially. Thankfully she eventually warms up, and you feel a friendly charm to her lovely personality as she transforms into Tutu.

The rest of the main cast has a lot of complexity to their character archetypes. There isn’t anything remotely cliched in anything about them, from how unpredictable they are written into the story. Fakir is an excellent example of this where he is, at first, portrayed as the villain that stands in the way of Ahiru wanting to help Mytho regain his heart. It isn’t until later that we finally see the valid reason for his demeanor in protecting Mytho and provides extraordinary development to him, where we see him completely differently. His actions and motivations for doing the things that we were left with in mystery now come full circle and make Fakir a well-rounded character with that we can empathize. To our main villain Rue, she is given the same kind of treatment as Fakir, albeit a little differently. Since she is the main villain, her archetype isn’t fully explored until the very last parts of the anime, where we see her own tortured self that craves love and acceptance from her prince so that she won’t feel lonely again by anyone. Rue contemplates her existence as someone who will forever be associated with her adopted father, who is a crow of all things. Her development is in full circle, and by that time, we can now understand the pain she is going through, which puts her in a sympathetic light to the story that involves the dark themes that involve fate and death.

There are side characters that pop up in most story arcs, but they mostly only fill in their roles to move the plot forward and nothing else that can be of significance. The ones that make an impression are some of the students, such as Ahiru’s two best friends, who are always up to no good in their mischievous misdemeanor into pushing Ahiru into a relationship with either Fakir or Mytho. However, the one that is the most entertaining of all is the almighty Neko-sensei, whose gags all include how if any of the girls mess up, he will force them into marriage with him. Not only is this hysterical, but it never gets tiring or overly done in one episode. Because of this, this useless form of entertainment that contributes nothing to the plot is always welcome if it’s Neko-sensei.

With the show’s implementation of ballet, music should be the main driving force in keeping the spirit of the ballet portion solid and poignant. The music ranges from composers from most periods of music that delved into ballet music. The most obvious one would be Tchaikovsky with his famous “Swan Lake,” featured throughout most of the show and used to significant effect. Other well-known composers featured in Princess Tutu include Johann Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Erik Satie. What makes the score work so magnificently well is how it almost feels like the score is a part of the story itself and fits perfectly with the emotions that the characters exhibit. These include sadness and despair with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazadehappinessappy and optimism with Leo Delibes’s Coppelia. However, I felt the original score for the opening and ending didn’t leave a big impression on me whenever I came across them because of the weak vocals and downplayed instruments that hardly contributed much to the songs, which is disappointing.

I wouldn't necessarily call this mainly a Magical Girl show for people who feel discouraged about seeing this with the Magical Girl genre tagged into it. It is more of a show about tragedy and drama than anything else. Not to say that Magical Girl shows can’t do that and do it well, but it’s best to look past your bias and see Princess Tutu as something that may surprise you on so many levels in how much depth it has in store. The drama doesn’t feel forced and flows naturally to where it doesn’t treat you like you don’t know how an anime should portray a tragedy. The anguish that characters in Princess Tutu get into feels authentic and genuine, which doesn’t push empty melodrama to make you sympathize with them.

With pure honesty and clarity, this is genuinely a heartwarming show to experience for yourself. Classical music, beautifully choreographed dances, and memorable characters make for an experience worth having in all of Princess Tutu’s running time. A modern fairy tale for the ages. One that we might not see again.

Story:
Obviously, the story is an enigma within itself. It takes so many different aspects from every fairytale like setting that the watchers are left with a dishevel of fantasy. It\'s an intriguing reality, this plot loves to create things new and fascinating on its own as if it has no ultimate creator such as Drosselmeyer.

Character(s) & Their Development:
Actually, I personally think that the characters grow to fine degrees in this show. I\'m not sure if it\'s because there is such an unrealistic atmosphere surrounding the plot, which in turn throws the rational reactions of the characters off-guard towards the viewers. Or if it\'s because ... of the way the individuals do mature, by dancing and learning things from that dance. In the end, either is remarkably genius.

First off, most people will decide that the people portrayed in this series have childish and predictable personalities; however, as the anime continues the majority of the audience will be surprised. Not only do they become like real figures, they take a life of their own with their deep ambition and urgent desires. As I said, quite remarkable when you as a viewer can feel the strength of a character\'s aspiration. This is a sole uniqueness that is hard to discover in any medium. It\'s certainly something the anime should be proud of.

Animation:
In all honesty, I found nothing special considering this aspect of the show. As disappointing at that sounds, the animation does have a certain yet unforgivable charm. It really all depends on the type of style a person enjoys. Personally, I found it to be cute and at some points oddly less detailed than should have been. I can\'t say it was bad, but it was more eh. Most places it was easy to tell what was a blast of sparkles from a computer program than an actual thought brought out by the creators.

However, one thing I would like to note is how well the characters are shown in climatic dance scenes. Some people might disagree with me since some movements were used previously in the show while others are simple pans; regardless, I found the style they were brought forth rather delicate, adding a wonderful yet fragile touch to the show.

Music:
It\'s ballet, there\'s really not much to say. I will admit, I liked the opening but it was so slow, I found myself fast-forwarding to it and singing with the high-pitched squeal I got along with doing as such. Much of the music is not original, it\'s merely adaptations from plays and ballets that have been shown across the world. This includes such titles as The Nutcracker or Swan Lake. In the end, it is all a matter of tastes that determines the music as well.

Obviously, the light and fluffy type of sounds fit the show to an expert tee. The movements seen in many of the scenes are incorporated to the classical soundtrack. In the end, it mixes together rather nicely. The only problem, is unless you enjoy listening to a CD that might put you to sleep then this melody might not be for you.

Dubbing/Subbing:
Yeah, I missed the dub once more. So, instead, let me talk about the subbing. While I enjoyed how different font color was used to demonstrate different characters with the fansubs, I always had a problem with the subtitles brought by the US release due to calling Ahiru the name Duck. What kind of name is Duck, literally? I know that Ahiru translates into Duck, regardless, I felt it was a rather idiotic choice. Besides that, nothing increasingly stuck out to me. Same old, same old.

Overall:
As said before me: The real gold of this show is how free it is to express its own imagination. Most shows hold back due to the public\'s reaction, Princess Tutu merely doesn\'t care. In the end, its colorful display of fiction and immense childlike plot will keep the viewer intertwined until the last wonderful episode. Feel free to bash it due to the interesting way it relates to other magical girl series; however, in the end there is too little focus on that aspect to really have that fact considered. This series is really quite grand though the ending will either have you wanting more or utterly disappointed.

I will state outright that this is not an anime for everyone. Actually, unless you tend to have a creative mind and the ability not to question a show because of its unreality then you might have problems with this series. Go out and dance a pas de deux!

Wow, a perfect score;; How did I end up this way? In the beginning I thought Princess Tutu sounded ridiculous and childish, I was against watching until my friends insisted that I give it a try... Now I love it and I think it's an absolute masterpiece, a gem.
For those who are wondering if they should give it a try, I’ll say this: This anime is not an anime about ballet but a ballet itself.
The entire series is like a performance and it’s something quite special.

I’m going to let the simple things out of the way first before I go more in depth with ... the characters and story.


-Art/Animation –
The art style is very simple but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s cute and consistent. The animation is extremely clean, it’s done very well.

-Sound –
The voice acting is top notch, no questions about that. Soundtrack consists of classical music and you just can’t go wrong with that.


- Story – *Minor Spoilers
Wow, there’s many things that can be said for the story. Don’t trust descriptions or summaries, they aren’t very reliable and they either tend to give you too little information or too much. It’s best just to jump in there with an open mind.
The anime always begins with a telling of a fairy tale that will relate to the episode, but as you watch you will realize that the fairy tales foreshadow more than just the plot of the episode. The story starts off very simple, a mysterious man turns Ahiru (literally meaning duck which is what she is) into a human girl and gives her the ability to transform into Princess Tutu whose job is now to return the shattered heart fragments to the prince, Mytho. As you go on that simple story starts to reveal a more complex and tragic story that you will leave you heart broken.
Within the story we are watching, there is another story that had already been written, meaning that the characters we are watching are another character within that story, as I said earlier it’s as if we’re watching performance. They all have a set fate that they were made to meet and we are watching the characters play the story out while ultimately struggling to change their tragic fate. The writer of their story is Drosselmeyer, a deceased man who seems to love tragic tales and has a strange power. He brings Ahiru into the story because he wants to spin the ultimate tragedy.
“Welcome to the stage I've been saving. Now, tell me the best story that was ever told! Tell it to me with no regard for your lives!” – Dorsselmeyer

Why did I love the story to this anime so much? Because beyond the simplicity is something extremely complicated, there’s always more beneath the surface and they hint it to you, it’s up to you whether or not you see them. Honestly that’s another reason why I enjoy this series so much, they don’t spoon feed you information, they also don’t make the foreshadowing so obvious they let you figure it out yourself. If you get it then you get it, if you didn’t then you simply don’t, at the same time, not noticing it doesn’t take away from the experience either, in fact it only adds value to watching the series again.
The emotions in this series are powerful and there are so many words are left unsaid. The ballet aspect of this series isn’t for nothing, it adds to story and used as a form of expression. You don’t have to understand ballet to appreciate it; you don’t have to know all the meanings in the dance to understand the series either. Princess Tutu gives you many ways to understand the story and what the characters are trying to convey. The story telling aspect of this series is absolutely brilliant, if not genius.

- Characters -
There’s nothing I love more than well written characters and character development. This series does both brilliantly.

Ahiru/Princess Tutu – She’s a lovely character~ absolutely adorable. What I liked most about her is how straight forward and aware she was. Yes she is a bit naïve but that changes as the story progresses because just like us, she too is new to the story. Drosselmeyer had just plopped her onto the stage with no script and it’s along side with her that we learn the story as well. I never found Ahiru to ever be annoying or clueless, in fact what I liked most about her is that she catches onto things rather quickly. She doesn’t continuously make the same mistakes with no purpose. She’s a determined character and completely selfless.

Mytho – The prince that lost his heart. He is a prince that is loved and loves everyone, he is everyone’s savior and he had sacrificed his own heart in order to save all those who loved him. When you meet him, he is an emotionless puppet that only does what he is told because he does not care nor feel about anything. It’s interesting watching him grow, in the beginning he is someone who has no opinion of his own then as time goes by he finds his voice.

Fakir – Fakir’s one of my favorite characters, there’s so many reasons why~ His reactions, thoughts, and feelings all just somehow resulted into make him my number one. He’s a character that has many conflicting emotions and time only makes it more difficult to sort it out. His greatest battle isn’t with anyone but himself and those battles are certainly the toughest. He has many difficult decisions to make that would not only decide his own fate but the fate of those he care about which is a heavy burden to carry.

Rue – Our beloved antagonist. Rue is a character that has had it all in the beginning and then you realize she’s actually had nothing all along. She’s not just some antagonist that’s a bundle of sob story thrown at us so we’d feel bad for her, she’s well written and well thought out character that tugs at your heartstrings because she’s so much more than someone meant to oppose. Rue is a character we are made to dislike and misunderstand but most important thing about her is that she is a character that completely misunderstands herself. What drives her isn't anger or hate, what drives her is fear.

Drosselmeyer – The writer of this story. If anything he is the ultimate protagonist but you can’t come to hate him. He’s just a simple man that wants a story told, a tragic story but you can see he’s extremely passionate about it. When you meet him you will be extremely confused, what is he trying to accomplish? Why is he helping the characters? Where is he going with this? He’s the existence that created all of the existence of the characters and there to add the twists and spins to the story and I must say he does it very well.

All the characters compliment each other, they all have their own feelings and stories to share that doesn't muddle the story. Seeing where they began and finding out where they end up is extremely satisfying.

- Overall –
If it wasn't obvious already I love Princess Tutu. It’s a series that I feel is overlooked but I think it’s a series everyone should give a try. Regardless of what you like, if you love a good story then Princess Tutu is perfect. What attracts people to this series is the journey of the characters and alas the inevitable outcome of their fate. There’s a quote in this series that represents the series well and I leave it here for you.
"May those who accept their fate be granted Happiness, may those who defy their fate be granted Glory." – Edel

The magical girl genre is riddled with many Anime that are looked down upon with disdain by the Anime community, ones that are thought of to be “Too girly and childish” for an audience of Anime that is both well versed and well thought in what they watch and speak of. For such a bold generalization, there is always an exception, and the exception to this generalization is none other than a show called Princess Tutu. Princess Tutu is an Anime that ran from 2002 to 2003, and since that time has amassed a huge cult following of Anime fans who swear by their lives ... that this show is the end game to all magical girl shows in Anime. While I can see that Princess Tutu is very unique compared to all of the clones that resemble each other in that genre, I still do not view it as a masterpiece or an end game to anything Anime or magical girl genre related. Rather, Princess Tutu is a good and ambitious work that deserves respect for it’s boldness to stand out among the crowd, but nothing more than that.

The positive aspects that stand out in Princess Tutu are it’s orchestral soundtrack, where every piece is classical music and no other kind of music genre seems to be prevalent there. This, of course, gives the show the classy feel that others within it’s genre do not possess. Although it’s soundtrack is nothing but classical music, the Anime does not go full orchestral like something such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes per say, since that would be breaking it’s ballet code. Rather, the Anime implements classical pieces from artists that are ballet related, such as – Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and many others. It all feels classy and has this certain feel to it that other Anime don’t, even outside of it’s niche genre. Add in to the fact that the Anime implements certain classical pieces into certain moments perfectly, and you’ve got yourself a coherent work that is full of pieces that perfectly fit in with scenes, culminating in a product that is coherent from a directing standpoint. The soundtrack of Princess Tutu is not only unique, but is also very memorable, since many of the show’s viewers have heard the famous classical piece that is “The Nutcracker Suite” by Tchaikovsky, and if you say you haven’t, then I simply do not believe you. This certain piece plays throughout the show’s thirty six episodes in it’s opening theme, reminding it’s viewers that they are watching a show that takes itself seriously and succeeds in doing so. This particular piece is also used in most of Tutu’s transformations as well, and most of those transformation scenes are both memorable, visceral and are done very well. The other musical pieces did not stand out as much as The Nutcracker Suite, but they did their job in terms of conveying emotion. In the musical department, it definitely succeeds in bringing out it’s full potential, and has many pieces that both stand out, and are memorable at the same time. It certainly is unique in that department, since very few Anime use classical music as a soundtrack, much less ballet classical music.

Another positive aspect about Tutu is how it succeeds in it’s tonal shift. This is also a negative aspect of the show, but we’ll get into that later. The tonal shift in this Anime does not feel forced unlike most Anime that are presented to the viewers. Unlike Madoka Magica for example, the Anime requires a bit of patience and mental fortitude on the part of it’s audience, as it is slow to get from the light hearted stuff to the dark parts of the show, and it isn’t very clear storytelling either, since much of the show’s first half is littered with ambiguous symbolism all throughout, such as the symbolism concerning the crows. The Anime also does not have any semblance of shock factor added to it, nothing in the series resembles anything that is shocking or feeling forced – It all feels natural due to it’s willingness and patience to undergo slow but meaningful world building and character interactions in it’s first half. With well written character interactions as well, the Anime starts to show us the bigger picture slowly. Speaking about the characters, they all shine brighter than Tutu’s diamond or the prince’s shard upon reflection due to how impressively well written they are.

To start off with the characters, you’ve got Fakir, who is the best character in the show in my opinion. Fakir starts out as the typical jerk who does nothing but bully a character called Mytho into doing what he wants. Fakir’s brilliant character arc then takes a major one eighty turn to show the viewer that he isn’t what he is conveyed to be at first. Through pithy interactions with other characters such as Ahiru, we slowly get to see another side to Fakir that we never thought of seeing at first. He gradually starts to show emotions such as sorrow, sadness and grief to Ahiru, without even realizing it since she is in her duck form. As the episodes go by, we get to see more and more to Fakir, and we then start to realize that all is not what it seems when we get a backstory and a convincing reason for why he does what he does in the first place. I would say that Fakir is the best character in Tutu, not only because of his character development or change, but because of how subversive he is as a character, and how he managed to fool most of the viewers, me included, into believing he was genuinely an ugly hearted character at first glance. I would say that his development was done spectacularly, since unlike all of the other characters in Princess Tutu, we do get to see a backstory explaining why the knight Fakir does the twisted things he does. The ending to Fakir’s development is indispensable, because Fakir starts off as someone who is not willing to finish off the story Drosselmeyer placed him in, but after realization that he really cannot do anything else and is fated to doom, he finally accepts that his place in the story is to stop running away from his fears and write the ending to release Mytho, Kraehe and all the other characters from the doomed fate of DrosselMeyer.

Speaking of fate, all of the characters in this show are doomed to a predestined, foreordained fate, the most significant of these characters being the titular character Ahiru, also known as Princess Tutu. Ahiru starts off as a naive girl who does not know any better about the world around her, and of course, this is authentic since she started off as a duck at the end of the day. Through her interactions with the likes of Fakir, Mytho and Kraehe though, she starts to gain a sense of humanity and a reason for why she needs to do what she does, which is to find the right path and end the story alongside Fakir. The interactions she undergoes lead her to develop subtly, until she reaches a point where she abandons her basic ways of thinking in order to become a better person. Of course, Ahiru is still stubborn enough to perform the ballet dance she always performs during the end of the show’s run, but that is to show the viewer that she has only abandoned her false ideals, which were to selfishly keep Mytho all to herself, and only kept her positive attributes intact. She realizes, just like Fakir did, that sticking to false ideals and accepting your place in the abyss is not the right decision to go through, that a fairytale cannot end on a tragic note. That is the best thing about Fakir and Ahiru, they start off as polar opposites, but have the same end goal, and through unfeigned interactions with one another, they develop so that they finally become two sides of the same coin. Perhaps the best episode to strengthen Ahiru and Fakir’s bond was episode 12, “Banquet of Darkness”, which shows both Kraehe and Mytho having vanished. Ahiru helps Fakir back to his dorm and binds his wounds. When Fakir wakes up, they decide to search together for Mytho, even though Fakir still refuses to team up with her. They search all over town but can't find him. Finally, Edel shows them the way. After they do go there, Fakir finally discovers that Ahiru is indeed a duck, and not just any type of duck, it is the duck he saw infront of him when he was crying and pouring all of his emotions out. When he realizes that, he starts to discover that maybe he doesn’t need to run away from his own emotions, which further strengthens the point of the Anime, which is to accept who you are and not run away from it.

For characters who also got synonymous development to Ahiru, you’ve got Kraehe, also known as Rue. Princess Kraehe starts off as nothing more than a companion to Ahiru, but through slow and meaningful bits of development, we get to see her true nature halfway through the show’s run. She is twisted, but she is sympathetic enough to root for her, even if she thinks and acts in a disturbing manner. While Kraehe does have some evil moments here and there littered throughout the show’s run, she still has some reasonable intentions behind her questionable behaviors. Just like Ahiru, she suffers from something that is known as a “Doomed Fate”, and she wants to change it just like Ahiru wants to, since the show implacably shows her as an opposite to Ahiru. She wants the same goals, has the same selfish desires, but is shady and drawn in dark black colors; unlike her brightly colored counterpart. This is not because she is malicious by nature, but because of her father’s abuse and using her to get to Mytho so that he could obtain his shards. Who is to blame for all of this mess? Who could be so evil and vindictive as to allow such a thing to occur in the first place? None other than a character called Drosselmeyer. Drosselmeyer is the main villain of the story, and he is a very weird and niche kind of villain to say the least. You don’t get much from Drosselmeyer’s type in Anime nor in any other form of media for that matter. He looks fun, feels enthusiastic and is cheery on the surface, but he is very selfish when you reveal the bigger picture about him and his end goals. Drosselmeyer is also a unique one, since he is a meta commentary on writers, something that is rarely seen in any form of media, much less in Anime. What is so fascinating about this guy is the fact that he raises an interesting theory by being present in the show, which is “Are writers evil people?” The fact that writers have the will to place their characters in such dangerous situations, and sometimes give the story the occasional tragic ending, would that make them inherently evil? That is what makes him a very interesting character, even if he is unlikable. Drosselmeyer has to be one of the most evil villains in Anime due to how selfish his ideals and ways of thinking are, and he is the different version of “The humans are the real monsters” and a fresh take on this too.

Although most of it’s characters were fairly well written with complex motivations, there were still some characters I personally did not like or saw that they didn’t have any real purpose in the narrative of the story. For characters I barely enjoyed, I would have to say the award goes to Mr. Cat, who is the ballet instructor for Ahiru, Rue and their classmates. This character did not really arouse any strong feelings of hate from me, but he was a tad bit irritating to say the least. He is an unfunny, one dimensional archetype that has been used over and over again in many Anime that came before Princess Tutu, and in many Anime that came after it. The side character that is used to get some cheap laughs from the audiences is the archetype I am talking about. This type of character can be used efficiently and can work well if given the right amount of care, and if they do not repeat the same joke over and over again. Unfortunately here, we see Mr. Cat say the same unfunny line over and over again until the nail finally beats us dead and it becomes trite. The “Will you marry me?” line he said was bone tickling the first five times I had heard it, but to say that I enjoyed it after a while, especially with the dark tonal shifts starting to show up into the show, would be rather preposterous. The character did have some strong parts to him at the end of the day, such as his backstory with his cat sensei; but other than that, he was a useless gag character placed in to amass some cheap laughs from the audience, and he certainly amassed nothing from me. Another character I personally did not find intriguing is Mytho, who is the prince of the story who’s lost his shards due to Drosselmeyer taking them away from him. The problem with Mytho, is that he is as lifeless and as underdeveloped as Mr Cat. Mytho basically has two emotions throughout the story: Either he is not feeling any emotions at all, which prevents the audience from feeling any emotional connection towards him, or he is being completely evil. I understand that Mytho cannot feel any emotions due to his shards being stolen and kept away in another places, but his character arc felt forced to say the least. What the show could have done to make it all the bit better is show some backstory to Mytho when he wasn’t so emotionally distraught and robotic, so that the audience could relate to him and to how he came to be like this.

The visuals in Princess Tutu are pretty neat and haven’t aged at all in my opinion. You could release Princess Tutu today and nobody would be able to notice that it is an old Anime. This is all thanks to it’s inventive studio - Hal Films, who were responsible for some of the most visually striking Anime such as Aria: The Origination and Kaleido Star. The scenery looks absolutely stunning and fitting for a fairytale story, and the character designs all look visually striking as well. Some people might complain about the character designs being a tad bit too girly for their liking, but I rather found them to be fitting of the magical girl genre and the tone this Anime was striving to convey, especially with how it helped subvert audience expectations at the end of the day. From the character designs, my favorite one has to be Kraehe’s, since her character looks both innocent when she is acting as the normal classmate Rue, and malicious when she actually becomes the vindictive princess Kraehe. While Mytho was not a character of my liking, I did find his design to work well at the end of the day. When he lacked the emotion he needed, I found his design to be very homogeneous of a robotic person, and it worked quite well. When he turned evil, his design also worked well in convincing me that he was indeed bordering on vitriolic actions. I still had some contentions with the animation, since I felt much of the show’s budget was thrown into certain iconic scenes, such as Ahiru’s transformations into her princess form. The other parts of the show really did not feel well animated as those specific scenes. Aside from a bit of contentions I had with it’s animation, I still have to give it credit where it’s due, this show looks visually pleasing.

Now that we are done with the positives for the show, I will have to get into the negative stuff that rubbed me off the wrong way. Princess Tutu had some issues that cannot be overlooked, and are less subjective opinion and more objective deficiencies on the Anime’s part. My first gripe with Princess Tutu is how it juxtaposes comedy scenes with serious scenes, and how unnatural it all feels at times. There isn’t anything wrong with juxtaposition, sometimes it can lead to some pretty hilarious episodes in some Anime, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the case here with Princess Tutu. This show does not know how to balance it’s humor with it’s twisted stuff. In one episode, you will get a character being controlled and taken over, performing some questionable shenanigans throughout the episode’s run. Then, in the very next episode, you will get the same comedy scenes recycled over and over again. Add in to the fact that the twisted stuff takes place at night, while the beatific moments take place during the day, and you’ve got yourself episodes that are so other worldly different and contrasting in tone that it just doesn’t fit in properly with the narrative. I talked about how Princess Tutu is a work that is coherent in it’s specific scenes, but to say that it is a coherent work in it’s episodic structure would be a lie. This Anime does not know how to balance it’s different tones, just like most Anime that try to be different but fail.

Another problem I have with Tutu is the fact that it does not know how and when to introduce plot elements into the show. The Anime starts off with barely anything resembling a princess or any crows, then with unnatural info-dumps and unforshadowed events at points, it completely ruins it’s appeal. The slow pacing is also a pain to get through, since the show takes it’s sweet time to build upon it’s lore and magical elements. Some filler episodes are present here and there as well, such as the typical slice of life episodes where they learn and dance, which detracts from personal enjoyment and borders it on meandering.

The plot becoming rather redundant after a while also detracts from it’s value. This can be seen in the episodes where Ahiru transforms into Princess Tutu and saves the day. It became predictable after a while, seeing Ahiru transform multiple times over the couple of multiple episodes so that she can defeat the multiple monsters of the week, or so that she could save Mytho from a being in danger. The episodic structure is rather vacuous and could have been trimmed and done a bit better, since it does contain filler episodes that do nothing to move the plot forward.

All in all, Princess Tutu is a work that deserves respect for it’s ambition, it’s choice of music, it’s beautiful visuals and directing, but failed due to some questionable execution. Had the Anime executed it’s narrative in a better way, then it would have been truly a masterpiece, but unfortunately it failed at times. Princess Tutu is a work that is still to be enjoyed, it provides a good lore, many metaphors and a meta commentary that is hard to find anywhere else, much less Anime.

Oh God, this anime. As you can see, I didn't finish this. I simply couldn't bring myself to. I dropped this so hard and dashed as far away from it as I could and I'm still surprised that people call it a "masterpiece" left, right and centre.

I'd like to start by stressing that I'm really not a fan of magical girl animes. I've seen a few before but Madoka Magica was really the only one I'd say I definitely enjoyed. The only other one I rate highly is Sailor Moon for purely nostalgic reasons.
So your first question is probably why I chose to watch this ... at all - I sort of didn't. A friend streamed her DVDs of it and I ended up watching the first 9 episodes as a result. She'd streamed Utena for me too, which I also don't really get the "masterpiece" praising for. This review isn't about Utena though, so after that short background we get onto the portion of this anime that I managed to sit through without killing myself.

Story - 4
The basic premise of this anime is that a duck turns into a ballerina magical girl with weirdass two tone hair and reclaims the pieces of a boy's heart that he no longer has - making him little more than monotone and dull to behold. It's not that interesting sounding a plot and it wasn't really interesting to watch either. What I saw of it was rather predictable and not that gripping. Some of the comedy was ok but a lot of it was rather cliché magical girl stuff - which is fine if you're into that sort of thing, which I've already explained that I'm not.

Art - 3
Whilst I appreciate this anime's pretty old now, I just wasn't a fan of the art style at all. The flicky weird hairstyles were offputtingly grotesque in particular and whilst it matched the odd childish vibe the entire anime gave off, I just didn't find it visually appealing at all. The characters themselves had rather cliché character designs too, with everyone perceived good wearing white and the opposite wearing black. Whilst this made it easy to tell who was on what side (or perhaps moreso how we were intended to feel about them), it didn't feel very creative at all.

Sound - 6
The music in this anime was rather nice, since it was all ballet music to keep to the theme. The fact that it wasn't really an original score and was just classical music is what kept me from rating it higher. It was music most of us have heard before and there wasn't really anything new or breathtaking about it in that regard.
I also watched this anime's English dub, which was... awful, to be frank. At least Chris Patton was in it, which is always a relief to hear.

Character - 2
Oh God, these characters. Duck in particular is horrifically infuriating, as well as her monotone dull love interest. I don't even remember his name, he bored me so much. The only character I really liked at all was Fakir because he made me laugh and it was only really during his conversations with monotone love interest that I was really truly engaged in this anime at all. The only other character worth mentioning in a positive light is the ballet teacher - who's an anthro cat in a green shirt, no less. His over the top comic relief was pretty entertaining, in a "were they high when they thought of this" sort of way, but he wasn't in it nearly enough to distract from Duck and her squeaky voice.

Enjoyment/Overall - 3
I did not enjoy this anime. That's rather an understatement. I mostly couldn't wait for the stream to end and only stayed there to talk with my friends. It got to the point that I was only staying for the outtakes I was promised at the end of the DVDs, and I eventually talked my friend into not showing anymore when I was told there were only two sets of outtakes to watch.

Actually, the outtakes would've made a better anime.
Do yourself a favour and give this one a miss.
Watch the outtakes instead.

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.

Thanks for reading

There are many anime and manga based off of fairy tales, but Princess Tutu is based off of ballets. For example, Sleeping Beauty IS a fairy tale, but it is also a ballet. The entire anime is loosely based off of Swan Lake, with Ahiru in the role of Odette and Rue in the role of Odile. In the case of the ballet, Swan Lake, the two main characters are often seen as two opposing sides of the same young woman. In Princess Tutu they touch on this with there being the two princess vying for the same prince, but they are otherwise clearly separate.

The ... anime does a wonderful job of pulling elements from various stories without either losing its own originality or creating a jumbled mess of stories.

The ending is a bit ambiguous, which I actually found to be an excellent choice, because it left it open to the viewer's imagination. Considering the context of the story, and especially Fakir's role in it, the ending fit very well.

The artwork was excellent, with a typical shojou style to it.

The characters really draw you in. I found myself wanting to cheer on every character, no matter the side they were on. The depth of each character's story is what made me really feel in touch with them. The characters all had well-thought-out reasons for being how they were.

This anime moved to the top of my favourites list the very first time I saw it, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes magic girl anime and is looking for a fresh bend to the genre.

At first glance, Princess Tutu seems like it is just another cutesy, overly-sweet magical girl anime. Its name inspires even less confidence. However, it would be a mistake to dismiss this marvelous gem of a show. Princess Tutu is a majestic modern fairytale which deconstructs the genre it belongs to, classic fairy tales and ballets to create a joyful, tragic, and unforgettable experience.

The story starts simply enough with a hopeless ballet student named Duck (or Ahiru in Japanese), who is enamored with a handsome boy named Mytho. Mytho is actually a heroic prince from the story "The Prince and The Raven" who escaped from the ... story along with the evil Raven and shattered his heart to seal the Raven away. And Duck is actually... well, a duck. She was given a pendant by the author of "The Prince and The Raven", Drosselmeyer, which allows her to transform into the graceful Princess Tutu and return the pieces of the prince's heart. This is no small task as Mythos closest friend Fakir, and girlfriend Rue are satisfied having him remain a heartless doll; and manifestations of the evil Raven begin to appear.

The premise of finding special objects to achieve a goal is nothing new, if anything it is overused. For the first few episodes Princess Tutu seems like it will be standard episodic magical girl fair, with the simple formula of Duck finding and returning shards of the prince's heart every episode. However, there are indications that the story will break the formula and shake things up. And oh boy, it does! The story takes unexpected, and often heart-breaking turns. Unforeseen consequences of the prince's heart being restored reveal that things are much more complicated than they appear. Duck, Mytho, Fakir, and Rue all have their own circumstances and roles in Drosselmeyer's story (which itself is a story within a story) which they accept, defy, or try to redefine. As the story continues to move, new situations arise which challenge their convictions and force them to face themselves. Meanwhile, Drosselmeyer is continually trying to drive the story toward the tragic end he wants. All of this comes together beautifully in one of the best conclusions an anime has ever received.

Fairy tales and ballets are a motif throughout the story. Each episode starts off with a short variation of a classic fairytale recited by an unseen narrator, which somehow relates to the episode. It is a very cleaver touch, which builds viewers' expectations of what might or might not happen. It often also makes viewers think of the fairytale in a new light. Many of the stand alone episodes are based off well known fairy tales or ballets. The themes of fairytale or ballet are present in episodes based off them, and the concept of what makes a story is woven into the overall plot. The allusion of these classic fairy tales and ballets also plays on peoples' familiarity with them, plays with where people might expect the story to go; further enriching the experience.

The characters are the heart and soul of the story. Duck is an amazingly endearing lead character. She is sweet and innocent, yet is never annoying in her naivety; which is a feat in of itself. Duck is clumsy and an airhead, but at the same time is gracious, friendly and very courageous. Her struggle with identity gives her remarkable depth, as she questions if she is really herself when she transforms into Princess Tutu; and if her existence has any importance, being a mere duck. Fakir is a perfect example of how to make a jerk sympathetic. At the beginning of the story, he is controlling and abusive to Mytho, and standoffish or downright rude to everyone else. As his character develops, we see he is much nicer than he first seems, and his aloof demeanor stems from a concern for his friend and fear of what his fate might be. Rue, who later becomes Princess Kraehe, Princess Tutu's rival, makes for a sympathetic antagonist. Although she can be devious and cruel, she is actually insecure and at the mercy of greater powers. She is wholly understandable in her insecurities. Mytho is quite distant at first, since he is completely emotionless and has no will of his own, however it is very interesting to see him develop as he gets his emotions back and return to being the valiant prince he was. It is so easy to get behind these characters as they struggle to defy the dreadful fate Drosselmeyer has planned for them. Speaking of Drosselmeyer, he is a delight to watch as he cackles at the characters pain, as wicked as that sounds. The supporting cast is a colorful bunch.Most notable is Mr. Cat, the ballet teacher who constantly threatens his student with marriage, and Pique and Lilie, Duck's friends who enjoy teasing her a little too much. The dozens of episodic characters are a wide variety of personalities. Ultimately, the supporting characters do exactly what they are supposed to, they compliment the main characters and don't outshine them.

Not only does Princess Tutu have a great story, it is also stellar on the technical side of things. Visually, Princess Tutu has a wonderful visual style which perfectly embodies the story. The whimsical fantasy world is filled with other worldly charm; animals dressed in clothing and wondrous locations like an underground lake. Character designs are all very cute and attractive, and the clothed animals look a lot less awkward than you would think. Backgrounds are wonderfully charming, but at their most beautiful in the scenes with Princess Tutu. The use of lighting makes it feel like you are watching a ballet, which is really quite a nice touch. The animation is decent, they animators used their budget wisely, but there are certainly shows with more flashy animation. Regardless, the show looks really good, in part due to how well the visuals work with the soundtrack. The soundtrack consists of classical music, a lot from ballets and operas. With music from works like The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and composers like Wagner and Tchaikovsky, of course the show sounds magnificent. Most importantly, however, is how well the music is integrated with the story. The music is used so well thematically that the story is inseparable from it. Every bit of emotion, joyful or sorrowful, is expressed through the music.

Princess Tutu is the animated medium at its very best. It is a beautiful, powerful, and heartfelt work that anyone can enjoy. It displays boundless imagination; at the same time it pays homage and commentates on well known and highly regarded other works of fiction. Its cast of characters is one of the most endearing and lovable in any anime. The visuals are wondrous and the music is perfect. This is a work that is truly worthy of the word masterpiece.

Titles like Princess Tutu automatically send me into a judgmental state of mind, reminding me of all the other Shoujo Anime series with similar titles that I absolutely hated. So while I didn't outright flame anyone--including a friend of mine--when they mention liking Princess Tutu, they had my contempt.

But you know, be a picky eater and you'll be left to starve. Be too picky with the series you'll watch and you'll be bored out of your mind. Around New Years I downloaded and watched a couple episodes of Princess Tutu. I was still very, very skeptical, mind you. The whole spin off of The Swan ... Princess, the animation style and Fahkir's very suggestive name all rather missed their mark with me.

Not to mention the random appearances of scary talking animals.

But I kept watching. And kept watching. And kept watching until I had finished the entire first season and was well into the second, which is when it hit me: You're Obsessed. And I was. Somewhere along the line I'd filled up my DeviantART favorites with fanart, my YouTube account with videos and my brain with all of the above. And, I must say the extremity of the difference between season one and two--namely the *epicness* that the end of season two had and one didn't--delt the final blow.

I am hooked, much to my formerly mentioned friend's delight. And I suspect I always will be. Damn you, Princess Tutu.

Time for another Re-review. Princess Tutu was an anime I first watched in 2015 and couldn't really appreciate due to my stressful living situation at that time. If you're in a foul mood and want to watch a Junichi Sato anime, I would probably recommend one of his other works like Aria or Kaleido Star. Princess Tutu is a fairly unusual show and does require a little patience. However, with the right mindset this is a very enjoyable anime that's also genuinely brilliant.

My previous review for Tutu was extremely sloppy and I have no desire to just summarize the full plot again. So instead, ... I'm going to break down the show into pros and cons so people can decide if they want to try this one out.

Pros:

1. Princess Tutu despite its silly sounding name is actually very well written. Tutu isn't just a magical girl show, but also a clever subversion of traditional fairy tales. The writers of Tutu clearly put in the time to read dozens and dozens of European and Asian fairy tales in order to familiarize themselves with common elements of these tales and play with our expectations while also feeling like an authentic fairy tale most of the time. It also manages to fit in themes of defying fate, wanting to achieve your own goals instead those given to you by others, and what it truly means to love someone else.

2. The characters for the most part are great. Duck is a fun and delightfully adorable heroine for entire run. If you watch the English dub, Luci Christian has one of the best performances of her career. Fakir starts out looking like a massive dick, but manages to have a really fulfilling character arc that feels natural for him and not like the writers were trying to force a bad guy into becoming a hero for the sake of it. Mytho starts out a blank slate, but gradually becomes a deeper character as he rediscovers his emotions bit by bit. Rue, who serves as Duck's rival also has a great character arc and ends up being a complex and sympathetic character despite serving as the antagonist for most of the series. Even the main villain is delightfully over the top and hilarious to the point you honestly can't hate him. He's a sadistic fairy tale writer who wants to see his characters suffer the saddest endings imaginable. So basically he's most of the old European fairy tale authors!

3. Princess Tutu is not only a loveletter to fairy tales, but to classical ballet as well. These things go hand and hand since the majority of ballet plots are based on traditional fairy tales. Not only does Tutu have excellent ballet choreography and stunning animation, but that animation is paired perfectly with carefully selected clips of classical music. Sometimes when anime uses classical music, the piece seems selected at random and doesn't really match what's on screen. With Tutu though, they consistently due a solid job. Fakir's fight in episode 13 backed up with Prelude to Act 3 from Lohengrin is now one of my favorite anime scenes of all time. Another cool part about the Tutu soundtrack is that they don't just use the most overplayed classical music in obvious places. If Hollywood was doing the soundtrack, you could bet money that the final battle with the Raven King would be accompanied by "Russian Dance" from Act 2 of the Nutcracker. That would be the obvious choice. Instead, they go with the Ruslan and Lyudmilla overture by Mikhail Glinka! Jesus Tutu! That's such a deep cut you are going to hit an artery! Glinka is not that widely played outside of Russia, so I only learned of him through dating a Russian girl. When I heard that piece I almost fell out of my chair.

4. The animation and visual direction is great. I can't imagine Tutu had the largest budget in the world, so I'll have to chalk this one up to Junichi Sato being an absolute genius. A lot of anime from the early 2000s are starting to show their age and look kind of funky, but not Tutu! This one still looks as awesome in 2021 as it did in 2002!


Cons:

1. The biggest con that most audiences will have with Tutu is that it's aggressively weird and starts out pretty confusing. You definitely need to have some patience for the first few episodes. It's largely for this reason that I can't get any of my offline friends to watch Tutu, other than my girlfriend who loves this series.

2. The biggest gripe I personally had about Tutu was that 10 percent of the soundtrack isn't classical. Instead, it's Kaoru Wada rehashing his work from Ghost Stories! I know this sounds like a minor nitpick, but it's such a stupid and unforced error. Why would you have 90 percent classical music and 10 percent goofy music that can only serve to undermine the series?! Imagine in Legend of the Galactic Heroes if it plays a classical segment, classical segment, classical segment, then suddenly Reinhardt walks into a room and it plays the Groose Theme from Legend of Zelda. Can you imagine how ridiculous that would be? Well Tutu does that and nobody forced it to. It wanted to do it and I don't understand why.

3. Remember when I said most of the characters were good? Well, that really doesn't apply to Duck's 2 "best friends". They're these 2 brats whose whole character is that they're jealous of Duck and delight in seeing her fail. The dreadful duo is in 3 minutes of every episode and they're never funny or endearing once. They're just awful, garbage characters who take up screen time for no reason.

4. The last con with Tutu is that it gets very formulaic in a few sections, which is unusual for a show that revels in being off the beaten path. In maybe 20 percent of the episodes it goes into a very standard Magical Girl formula and seems to think its Sailor Moon. It's definitely not Sailor Moon though, because Usagi's friends aren't the worst people in the world. This can lead to the series feeling unnecessarily long. It doesn't help matters that certain jokes are repeated over and over and over again. There's an anthropomorphic cat that threatens the girls in his ballet class with being forced to marry him if they screw up. I hope you find that joke funny, because it's in every episode. Every. Single. Episode.

Overall, I really enjoyed Princess Tutu during my 2nd watch. There are aspects of the show I griped about, but these are far outweighed by what the show accomplishes. I would highly recommend checking this one out. If you watch a few episodes and think it's too weird though, maybe just take a break and come back later. You have to have the right mind set, but Tutu can be an extremely rewarding classic that provides one of the most unique and wonderful experiences in anime.

You want drama, fantasy, romance, and shoujo with a little bit of comedy? I give you: Princess Tutu. Princess Tutu is definitely not your typical shoujo. It's far from transforming into something pink and frilly and calling out "Pichi Pichi Voice Live Start!"

Story--Ahiru is a duck that is turned into a human girl. Her passion is ballet, which is what this anime centers around. The funny part about Ahiru is that she will randomly "quack!" and have to dive into any form of water to change back into a human. The romance is great because you want Ahiru, the heroine, to end up with ... who you think is the hero, and you end up not exactly liking the villain/rival of Ahiru but you pity her and want her to become a sort of heroine (I'm trying not to give too many spoilers away!) One AMAZING thing about this anime is that it centers around different ballets, and being a classical musician myself, I was super excited when there was an episode dedicated to my favorite ballet, Scheherazade. I also really like how they fight with dancing, but it's in no way like fighting with singing like in Mermaid Melody. It's a lot more complex and realistic.

Art--I personally loved the art. I thought the artwork was really well done. The characters were cute, especially Ahiru, but it was more the scenery that was well drawn.

Sound--Ahiru has an adorable voice. I think the character's voices fit very well. The best part though is the music. This anime incorporates so much classical music into it that it almost seems to be something more than an anime. It seems like the writers really went into research about different ballet scores, because the musical storyline is fantastic.

Character--Ahiru is one of my favorite anime characters of all time. Fayto is also amazing, he is so cool and by the end of the series the two of them will have you begging for another season because they end on such a sweet note that really makes you want more.

Enjoyment--So as you can tell, I really enjoyed it. I hardly classify it as shoujo because it is so amazing, but it still is shoujo so be warned that there will be transformation sequences. The storyline can get confusing...VERY confusing, actually...but you'll figure it out eventually. It's just so...GOOD.

Overall--This anime is by far one of my favorites of all time, and I plan on rewatching it once I'm done watching Chobits for the first time and not keeping up with Shugo Chara and Itazura na Kiss. :p

EDIT AS OF 3/22/2011: This review has been updated to include my thoughts on the Japanese dub, as well as a little more information in the story summary.

Princess Tutu is an animated series inspired by famous fairy tales of old. It is also a series marketed as shoujo. At first glance, one may think this is an excessively girly affair that would only appeal to little girls. Its artwork is not outstanding, it lacks the elements that would drive up an anime's popularity, (moeness, excessive violence, and absurd amounts of sexual fanservice are absent) it is often neglected in discussions of people's favorite series, and ... . . . it is one of the greatest television series I have ever seen in my life. Anime or not, shoujo or not, Princess Tutu is a marvel of storytelling, but why, exactly? All those who love stories, come! Gather around! (I need to stop referencing the anime I'm reviewing whenever I transition from the intro or to the conclusion.)

Story:

In a European village lives a girl named Ahiru. (Ahiru means 'Duck.') She is a student at a school that teaches ballet, but she is very clumsy and untalented. She is in love with a boy named Mytho, a fellow student who is handsome, but very sad. She wants to end his sadness, but she faces a number of obstacles. One, she is really not human. She is a duck in human form. Two, Mytho is guarded by a young man named Fakir, who is very protective of Mytho. Three, there is a girl named Rue who also vies for the affection of Mytho. However, at times of need, Ahiru can transform into Princess Tutu, a graceful ballet dancer who can soothe the hearts of people.

At the same time, a man known as Drosselmeyer is pulling the strings behind every event. He views the world as if he were writing a novel, but why? The reason Princess Tutu works so well is nothing is as it appears at first glance. The important characters are more complex than they first appear. And unlike how most people envision fairy tales, this is not fluffy in the slightest. Outside of some comic relief, (some of which is pretty funny) this is a sweeping epic of love and grandeur. I can't go into more detail without spoiling, but Princess Tutu flows at a good pace, has little padding, and will keep you interested from start to finish. 10/10

Artwork:

This is probably the only bad thing about Princess Tutu. It's nothing special to look at. The animation is okay. Most of the character designs are rather basic. The backgrounds are okay. Some of the coloring is nice, but it's nothing special. One thing I do like is how expressive the characters' eyes are during closeups. But otherwise, Princess Tutu is not eye candy by any means. 7/10.

Sound:

Most of the music in Princess Tutu is classical music in the public domain. However, it isn't just any random music; it's GOOD classical music. It almost always fits the scene, and is just beautiful to listen to. I love it. Anyone who enjoys orchestrated music (and I do) will love hearing this.

The Japanese dub is superb. All the voices sound like how you would expect them to, and they are beautiful to listen to. Can the English dub match up to that? The English version was produced by ADV . . . and it is the greatest dub the company has ever produced. Luci Christian and Jessica Boone both give the performance of a lifetime for both Ahiru and Rue respectively. None of the issues that crop up in most other ADV dubs show up here. None of the voices are out of place nor are poorly acted, even for one-note characters. This too is a masterpiece, in both English and Japanese. Either one is desirable for viewing. 10/10.

Characterization:

As I said before, none of these characters are who they appear to be at first glance. Ahiru is clumsy, yes, but she is also strong, brave, and determined to save Mytho. Fakir appears to be villainous at first, as does Rue, but both of them have reasons for doing what they are doing. Again, it's hard for to go into detail without spoiling anything, but these characters are amazing. You'll become attached to the characters if you watch long enough. 10/10

Enjoyment:

It's not often I see a show where the very first episode was amazing. The very first episode of Princess Tutu was amazing, and I knew then, that I had discovered something special. I was on the edge of my seat during the more climatic moments, and I nearly came to tears during the more emotional sequences. I wondered how long the show could keep up this quality. And the answer? It stays good throughout the entire run. The ending is one of the best endings I've ever seen in an anime. I will admit, some of the attempts at humor fell flat, but some of the other funny scenes had me laughing. Princess Tutu, however, is at its best during its dramatic sequences, when everything comes together like an opera, pouring out its emotions for the audience. 10/10

And in one fell swoop, Princess Tutu became my favorite shoujo franchise of all time. I had my doubts at first, since I dislike most shoujo, but this show proved me wrong. This is also one of my top five favorite anime series of all time. If you haven't seen it, do so already. It may not be beautiful to look at, but Princess Tutu is one of the most beautiful series you will ever see. (Okay, I stole those words from an Anime News Network review, but it's true!) Hans Christian Andersen would be proud.

Once upon a time, at an old public library, sitting on a shelf way out of sight, there was a lonely anime DVD. It waited there, for someone to notice it and experience all the love it had to offer, but it kept getting skipped over for other titles.
Then, one fateful day, a young Narcissist walked into the library, looking for a new anime to watch. He spied the lonely DVD, and picked it up off of the shelf. He almost put it back, after seeing how girlie it looked... How could he enjoy a show that was clearly about ballet? ... But as luck would have it, he examined the case just long enough to notice that it had been released by his favorite dubbing company! Overjoyed at the possibility of hearing some of his favorite actors in action, he took that DVd, and brought it home with him.
The DVd had found someone to love, but what of the Narcissist? Did he suffer through the anime version of Ballerina Barbie? Or would this lonely, misunderstood DVD become the greatest thing he had ever watched?

Hello and welcome once again to The Fullmetal Narcissist Anime Review! I’m your host, Naru the Narcissist, and today, we’re going to be taking a look at a critical darling from 2003 that has somehow managed to keep most anime viewers at bay, out of fear for their reputations. Does it deserve this stigma, or is this one book that deserves to have it’s cover ignored? Let’s take a look.

Duck is... Well, a duck. She was swimming along one evening, doing duck like things, when she happened upon a lonely, broken prince dancing alone in a shallow pond. Her heart was immediately stolen by the handsome prince, and seeing his solemn, empty frolic, she wished there was a way she could help him... To make him happy once again.

Her selfless wish was heard, as the mysterious being known as Drosselmeyer dubbed her worthy of a role in his ongoing story, gave her human form, and set her about the simple task of retrieving every single shard of the young prince’s shattered heart. She doesn’t remember her past life at first, but as she begins transform into the lovely Princess Tutu, the truth of her past... And the purpose of her future... Become very, very clear.

As a human, Duck... Her name is Ahiru in the Japanese track, and it makes more sense there... possesses many duck like qualities. She’s flighty, featherbrained, and can’t dance for the life of her. Despite this, she’s enrolled as a low-level student in a dance school, where her Prince is studying as one of it’s most exalted seniors. His name is Mythos... It’s pronounced “Mew-toh,” the derp is silent... And without his heart, he actually seems to be a dull, unemotional young boy. He’s kept under lock and key by his best friend and roommate, Fakir, who excersizes a disturbing amount of control over him. He tries in vain to keep him away from his girlfriend, Rue, a beautiful star dancer who he seems to only love because she tells him so.

For some reason that little Duck can’t quite seem to understand, neither one of these two want him to get his heart back. But as Duck begins to transform into the lovely prima ballerina known as Princess Tutu, and the shards of his heart are returned to him one by one by her hand, this murky plot will only become more and more obscured, even as it clears.

Princess Tutu was produced by a company I had never heard of until today, called Hal’s Film Maker. Despite being active for very nearly twenty years, they’ve released a surprisingly limited range of titles, only four of which I’ve actually seen. Based on what I have seen... Slayers Premium, Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan, and Yamada’s First Time... Their animation style is usually a pretty well managed one. They use still frames where they won’t be noticed, and just enough movement at any given moment to carry through a scene. By following this formula, they have money to spare whenever they need it, and it really shines through with the dancing scenes in Tutu. The character designs they use are cartoon-y rather than realistic, with the typical big heads and exaggerated hairstyles that you’d expect from a childrens’ anime. This can make their overproduced and highly detailed artwork look really awkward as it clashes with the characters walking across it.

Thankfully, this isn’t the case in Tutu, as the blend of the artwork is a lot more smooth. The characters look a bit more sophisticated than Hal’s other works, and the design of their fairy tale inspired town complements them to a T. The music used throughout is equally appropriate, as it consists mainly of instrumental tracks from ballets throughout history, used just as perfectly to reflect their respective scenes. A few of the tracks get repeated throughout, but they’re generally used as character themes.

And as far as the English dub goes? It’s phenomenal. I don’t want to take anything away from the Japanese, which is also highly listenable, but the English dub is just too wonderful to pass up. Her Highness Luci Christian has a great understanding of her character, regardless of whether she’s playing the innocent and happy-g-lucky Duck or the warm and comforting Tutu. For as long as I live, I’ll never be able to hear a human being make quacking noises without saying “Luci did it better.” Jay Hickman keeps up perfectly with every emotion his character acquires, running the gamut without ever sounding like he ever has more personality than he logically should have. His ‘Sexy Garfield’ voice doesn’t hurt, either.

Although she’s not the star of this dub by far, Jessica Boone’s portrayal of Rue has only served to further convince me that she’s the only actor in anime who has never put on a bad performance. Chris Patton has perhaps the most subtle and nuanced performance as Fakir, whose development is probably the most compelling in the story. Marty Fleck’s campy-yet-throaty cackling makes for a deliciously intriguing Drosselmeyer. The anthropomorphic animals who walk freely around the town are all portrayed as a human hybrid probably would sound, but the star of THAT side of the coin would have to be TJP... Or Todd Waite, for those who are curious... In his role as Mr. Cat, as lisping, anxiety-ridden ballet instructor who threatens poorly performing female students with marriage, only to revert to feline behavior (licking, grooming, rolling around) when they refuse. I can’t recommend this dub enough, but even for those of you who hate dubs with a passion, Mr. Cat should do all the talking for me.

If you haven’t picked up on it yet, Princess Tutu is a magical girl anime, and furthermore, it’s primarily about ballet. So, what, is it 26 episodes worth of sweet, sappy melodrama with cute girls who take absurd amounts of time transforming into manipulatively sexy and highly impractical outfits? No, not in the slightest. The drama here is anything but melo, the constant plot twists are anything but saccharine, the transformation only lasts 20 seconds, and Princess Tutu’s outfit... While somewhat revealing... Is entirely appropriate and practical. In fact, it’s her enemy Princess Kraehe who has the really sexy outfit, but since their outfits are designed to express the yin/yang aspect of their feelings towards Mythos, it’s excusable.

And while the typical ‘rinse and repeat’ plot aspect of most magical girl shows is definitely at play here, it’s anything but repetitive... Every time she transforms, Princess Tutu must dance to coax one of her prince’s emotions out of whatever damaged soul they’ve attached themselves to in order to return them to him. But the challenges she faces each time are different, and the development of the story and characters never takes a break even for a moment. The story actually gets very dark, even during the much lighter first half, and yet it never gets dark enough that a child couldn’t watch it.

As for the writing, it may appear at first to be really loose and whimsical. Well, that’s how it’s supposed to look. Under the surface, the writing in Princess Tutu is meticulous and purposeful at every turn, with little to no filler in sight. Every character, and there are a lot of them, serves an important purpose to the story, regardless of how much screen time they’re given. Hell, even that random guy complaining about the noise in the library eventually joins the main cast. The one-episode characters are rarely ever forgettable, and I’m not just saying that because a lot of them are anthropomorphic animals. Fairy tales and classical ballets are lovingly referenced and cleverly subverted, often in ways that reflect Drosselmeyer’s unfinished epic The Prince and the Raven, which is the very story he created this world to finish.

The story unfolds through joy, triumph, complacency and despair, building itself up and falling back down as every turn of the page drags our four main characters kicking and screaming into the roles that have been fated for them. I know metafiction isn’t always a good thing, but it’s done very well here, as each of them reacts to their unchosen path differently. They may accept it, or openly defy it, or even just look for some kind of a compromise. These individual arcs grow and develop at their own pace, with their own stakes, eventually converging into a climactic ending that’s sort of a happy tragedy.

When I say that Princess Tutu subverts all of the magical girl tropes while ending in a tragedy, you may start to draw comparison to a much more recent and much more successful effort, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. And you’d be right, they’re quite similar in a lot of ways. But to be perfectly honest, as much as I love Madoka Magica, I actually consider Princess Tutu to be superior to it.

See, Madoka Magica had the perfect ending... A heart breaking tragedy that still had room to be uplifting and hopeful, and it was masterfully built up by the story. But to me, it always felt as if that ending was the most important part... Like the story was written for the sake of it. Like the ending was written first, and the story leading up to it was written in accordance with supporting it. I can’t prove that this was the case, and even if it is, I can’t argue with results... Madoka Magica was amazing, and highly recommended.

On the other hand, while Princess Tutu also had a perfect ending, it didn’t feel like the ending was the point. It felt more like the ending was written for the sake of the story, instead of the other way around. With twice as many episodes, it was able to take it’s time, developing the characters and environment into fully fleshed out people, rather than just metaphorical mouthpieces or martyrs. It never had to result to the kind of emotional manipulation that Madoka Magica used, and it was able to go dark without ever getting to intense for younger audiences. So, to compare, Princess Tutu has just as perfect an ending as Madoka’s, but the journey there is infinitely better.

Princess Tutu is available from ADV Films. There are two versions of the collection set, both of which are available on Amazon, but I think the only differences are the cover art and the price. most people tend to prefer the newer, cheaper version, but personally, I prefer the original version, as misleading as it may be. What can I say? I think Rue is hot.

Whichever version you prefer, there’s a surprising amount of extras on the DVDs, from your standard commentaries and trailers to your somewhat more rare bloopers, but there’s also some unique options like recording videos, ballet terms for beginners, and a handy guide to the music and references of each episode. Oh, and there’s also a manga, but I’ve never read it ,and I’ve heard that it’s really bad, so try it out at your own risk.

There’s a good reason I have Princess Tutu ranked as my fourth favorite anime series of all time. It’s one of those rare shows that’s not only perfectly made, but also perfectly enjoyable to any anime fan... Of any age, gender or sexual preference... Who’s willing to try it out. It lends itself to a very high degree of rewatchability, as with every viewing, you’ll notice something new... A trend, a theme, some foreshadowing, or just something funny going on in the background. In short, it’s a masterpiece. This is one instance where I enthusiastically encourage you to ignore the cover, and dive right into the book. For that, I give Princess Tutu a 10/10.

What are you watching? Is probably first thoughts, from the sound of this show. Your first image would probably conjure up a fairy tale setting of a magical girl, suddenly transformed into a ballet dancing princess, dressed in a tutu, waltzing with a young good looking prince, with people around them suddenly breaking into a dance, as they twirl around the couple. Well ... you aren't far off! But then again this is probably one of the most unpredictable shows I've seen, without having to mind fuck - you in anyway, or put you through a physiological rollercoaster.

'A Story within a story' best describes the ... plot. Without giving too much away, the plot to begin with is pretty simple. Our Heroine Ahiru is given a task by the mysterious Drosselmayer to help recover young princes missing pieces of his heart (or feeling). Thus she is given an amulet that turns her to the wonderful Princess Tutu. I know what you're thinking. This is probably something that would suit a five year old, let alone an Otaku fan would watch. But the way the story unfolds and how detailed the storyline is, is brilliant to behold, with its clever twists, funny moments and elegant romance.

One worthy note is the soundtrack. Simply outstanding! The way the assorted classical and ballet numbers used, helps make the story flow. Even if you don't listen to classical music and never heard of 'Tchaikovsky', there are some tracks that are easily recognizable, and give that sense of 'Oh I've heard this from somewhere before'. The animation though nothing too special, does fit the whole fairy tale theme with its cute yet simple character design, especially that of Ahirus duck form, though the co-ordination is something worthy of a praise, especially when our two princess square off with each other by doing ballet!?! As epic as it sounds, it actually works and looks great.

This show is defiantly an acquired taste. Not everyone's going to like it, especially if you dislike Shoujo anime, this is as Shoujo, as they come. Though far from perfect, the show does have a bit of repetitiveness about it, as the show does follow a formula of Princess Tutu appearing in every episode, though that soon wavers when the second story arc starts. I wasn't too fond of episodic episodes, so I couldn't polish the show off in just a few days. But that's just me, but I took my time with it, and I enjoyed it. This shows a definite hidden treasure, and if you can see past the tutu and the magical girl theme, then give it a try.

Real men wear tights.

Writer, Drosselmeyer has died while he was in the middle of writing his latest novel. As a result, the characters and story are in a suspended state, unable to continue. The story in question is of a prince and how he defeated a great raven and pierced his own heart into numerous shards. Wanting to give the story a proper tragic end, Drosselmeyer comes into contact with a young duckling, appropriately named Duck, to put the gears of the story back into motion. Duck, who has seen watching the same prince from his story dance a sad dance, wants nothing more than ... to make the prince Mytho happy again. Drosselmeyer gives the Duck a magic pendant which allows her to not only become human, but when the time is right to become Princess Tutu. In human form, Duck attends the same ballet school as Mytho and develops a faint friendship with him. As Tutu, she is able to gather Mytho’s heart shards, which have become part of different people and alter their feelings. The first part of the series is fairly formulaic, episodes usually boil down to Duck finds a heart shard, becomes Princess Tutu, dances and returns the heart shard to Mytho, rinse and repeat. This part of the series is lighthearted, and will turn off most reluctant watchers. However, near the end of the first act, the story begins to depart from this pattern and travel into a comparatively darker story. During this depart, new dangers arise, and characters go through drastic changes.

Our protagonist, Duck, is your typical full of energy, klutzy girl who has difficulty going through basic ballet routines. However, once she becomes Princess Tutu, she has all the grace in the world and her eccentric nature disappears. Mytho has all the personality as someone without a heart has, for better or worse. As the series continues, and Mytho gains more of his heart his character develops. Rue, Mytho’s girlfriend, is surprisingly likable. While the usual convention would be to play the love rival as temperamental and/or spoiled, Rue is easy to feel sorry for. Duck doesn’t hold Rue’s current status as Mytho’s girlfriend against her, and quickly tries to befriend her. While Rue is a little hesitant at this, the two do get closer as the first act progresses. Fakir, a friend of Mytho, is fairly antagonistic in the first half, and both he and Rue are against the return of Mytho’s heart for reasons that are made clear. Supporting characters such as the almost pedophilic Mr. Cat, and Duck’s friend Pike and Lillie help to keep light comedy coming even when the show becomes more serious. Of course one of the more important characters, Drosselmeyer, looms over the other. His goal, as stated earlier, is to give his story a tragic end, and he will pop in time to time to try to nudge it back into the direction that he sees fit. All of these characters develop very well throughout the series and have their dramatic turns where friends may jump to a foe and vice versa.

The show looks great, and the animation is crisp and entertaining to watch. Unlike other “magical girl” show, Tutu eschews magical battles on a grand scale to ballet dances with hint of magic here and there. While there is a sword fight here and there, they are few and far in between. The dances are well done and are a joy to watch. Music-wise the series also stands out as classical pieces are used during more important scenes in the show. Nutcracker, Sugar Plum, and many more classical pieces help to set the tone in the show. They all do so well, that it’s easy to forgive the rest of the soundtrack which is fairly decent at best. The dub voices do well to emulate their characters and they all are memorable. Luci Christian makes Duck’s exuberant nature cute when it could have been grating.

The problem, as previously stated, is the how slow the series begins. While characters are played out well, there’s very little in terms of things actually happening.

At the end of the day, Tutu is a wonderful tale. The characters are deep, the dancing is new and enjoyable, and once the show picks up it rarely slows down. If you plan to watch it, be persistent. To the male audience, if you bear through the girly nature of the show, it is still entertaining.

I guess I got convinced to give this series a try, even if it's totally not to my taste. With everybody talking about how good the series can be, how can I not give this a chance? I mean, look at how many perfects scores there are; all of them practically screams "WATCH THIS".

Now, this review is written in 2011, and this anime came out in 2002. I feel that anime standards (at the very least, animation-wise) has increased a lot since then, so my score might not do justice to it's formal glory. But think about it, if you're reading this, you would have ... access to 2011 titles and the score reflects the value of this show amongst the titles available in 2011. Just so you know.

So, the review proper. Princess Tutu's defining trait is fairy-tale-like. It's rare nowadays since the genre pretty much got relegated to crappy shoujo mangas, but a decade ago it was more common. But I could hardly find a series that could exhibit the trait of "fairy tale" as well as Princess Tutu, even if it's like twice as long and much more dragged out. That's the concept of the show, to play out the story's unique charm and innocence in a very pure and straightforward way. This setup created a lot of one-dimensional characters (except for Ahiru, of course) but in particular case it can be forgiven, because protagonist Ahiru's flamboyant and comedic personality helps create a good break from the otherwise dull character scene.

On the not-so-good part... everything is solved with DANCE BATTLE! What's this, Step Up 2D?

Sadly, from the start of the second half, the series starts to have problems... Firstly, while the character gained more depth and became more interesting, the show began to lose its originality and uniqueness. Strange, huh? Secondly, the story dragged out too long without any kind of resolution, which made it a pain to watch. Lastly, although it's very subjective, I find the breaking down of the episodes into 2 parts is a little irritating, as it tore down the continuity in the episode. Budget problems or lack of popularity I guess?

The animation quality was sadly below average. I don't know about the standards back then, but I think it surely could have been better. I never liked any of the songs, but maybe it's just me. Ahiru's VA is awesome! (although she's the only one deserves any recognition) but too bad she never got anymore major roles after this.

Overall... it's an interesting show to check out, and if you didn't mind the kind of flaws I point out, it should be pretty enjoyable. Otherwise... it's just average.

Plot/Concept: Great and unique
Story Style: Great... but not so much in the latter half
Audio/Visual: Fair
Value: 7

I found out about this anime through an AMV on YouTube (search 'Princess Tutu Hold me now'. ) Which piqued my interest.

I dropped/put this on hold twice. Initially I didn't like it, it felt babyish and Neko-Sensei confused me. I picked it up again but then dropped it, I think mostly because the sadistic best friend drove me barmy. Still does.

Then when I started to actually enjoy Anime again some years later, I decided to give this another go and I'm glad I did. *By no means judge this book by it's cover.* I know many have misjudged this based on it's first-glance-package, as have ... I.

Story:
Oh how I wish I could gush about how I came to like it, but I shan't spoil it for you. I'll only say, for me at least, it's the most original story I've come across yet. Amazing that it all occurred in 26 episodes because it didn't feel rushed at all. (not sure why this page says 38) Genuinely funny in some instances, all the while we're indulged in the story's mystery. Series 2 is where the story really comes into it's own. Though since it's under the same title you'll most likely find it as the 26 episodes.

Art:
Really cute character design. Charming colour pallet, our protagonist really stands out from the crowd and background. Ace animation, fluid and could find no flaws. Though it is generally not a complex style, it's obvious the animators are talented artists.

Sound:
To be honest, I didn't care too much for the intro song but there's nothing wrong with it. .Generally really suits the overlying atmosphere of the series.
VA's are delightful and suited their characters well, definitely hear the emotion in their voices. I really love the way Ahiru's VA pronounces 'Fakir'.

Characters:
Despite previously having said I disliked the sadistic friend, she played well off the other and maintained a yin and yang between the two. And in this way we feel more sympathetic for Ahiru. Altogether they get into some funny predicaments which is great comedy. And I even made my peace with Neko-Sensei too. All main characters are given solid back stories so you fall in love with them all the more.

Enjoyment/Overall:
So to re-iterate, give this a chance despite its looks as I guarantee it's not as froofy as it seems, particuarly if this is not something you'd typically go for. Really stands on its own as a great title.