Okay so, Princess Tutu...Go watch it. Review over, done...**Leaves**..........**Comes back**............Fine, you all want a review rather than I say just watch it, but that's the thing. Words cannot describe how amazing this anime is. What makes it even weirder is that I am a guy watching this show and I really enjoyed it...alot. Yes, I do watch MLP: Friendship is Magic, but you know what...I feel more comfortable watching this show than MLP. I'll try my best to explain why.
The story revolves around Duck/Ahiru (Luci Christian/Nanae Katou), a literal Duck, who is granted the opportunity by a reality-warper named Drosselmeyer (Marty Fleck/Noboru Mitani) to become a human so she can be there for a boy she likes named Mytho (Jay Hickman/Naoki Yanagi), who lost all of his emotions and is under the influence from his friend Fakir (Chris Patton/Takahiro Sakurai) and girlfriend Rue (Jessica Boone/Nana Mizuki). Thus, in order to save Mytho, Duck must transform into the legendary Princess Tutu, a fabled heroine who uses ballet to fend off evil.
Sounds like an average children cartoon right? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA WRONG! This is one of the darkest, most mind-bending, most twisted children's animes I have ever seen in my life. In fact, is this even for children? I don't know. It looks like a children's cartoon, reminds me of Sailor Moon being this is a magical girl...Oh shit! Someone got stabbed! Though this leads me to my next point as to why you should watch this show.
I'm not going to spoil anything, but here's the thing. There is minimal violence in this show. The fighting is done gloriously through these ballets sequences and I love this. It's basically makes a statement the viewer who is normally a fan of violent action movies and shows that not all fights need to use physical pain. You soon figure out the theme of the show, expression emotions through non-hurting actions. Every episode is about a character containing a part of Mytho's heart and all of it is fixed through the expression of dance. It's really makes the ballet aspect of the show more than just a plot scenario but rather more of way that it is life itself. We repress emotions and when we express them, most likely it would be through a distinct action. And that right there is what makes Princess Tutu so freaking awesome, it shows bloodshed is not always the answer.
Is that not good enough? Okay! Well then this is one of the greatest soundtracks ever just because of the fact that it's all famous classical pieces. You'll be hearing excerpts from The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, and Carmen. And it blends so well that after hearing it in the first episode, you just sit there and just get hooked and lost in the show. For the sake of the review, I'll talk about the dub, but I firmly believe that the Japanese track is excellent as expected. However, I think you'll be more than okay with the dub as the performances by Luci Christian and Chris Patton are outstanding. You would think that Duck would get annoying but she doesn't. Luci Christian portrays her at one point as this clumsy ballet student but once she's Princess Tutu, she soon becomes this majestic heroine who talks with a soft mature voice, that tells you that everything is going to be okay. Also, LISTEN UP YOU WEEABOOS AND PRETENTIOUS PURISTS! Luci Christian and Nanae Katou both were at a convention for this show and I swear to you that both were probably very accepting of each other, SO STOP WRITING OFF DUBS! For dub watchers out there, forgive me of accusing you. One last thing, Chris Patton...please come back to voice acting, hearing you talk in German was honestly one of the greatest things ever.
What you want more? How about the fact that this is show is beautiful. This is why you must watch the show dubbed, because if you watch it in Japanese you are going to miss the amazing visuals. Every character is distinct and female characters have **AUDIBLE GASP** realistic proportions (They're ballet dancers, they're supposed to be slender). Since this is based around fairy tails, the visuals are whimsical, odd, and full of life. There is also CGI, but it's not forced or obnoxious which is a good thing. One complaint I have though is the Tutu transformation scene that is lazy and is used in every episode, but you get used to it because you remember that you're watching a magical girl, it's convention. Outstanding visuals, truly one of the greatest I've seen.
Final thoughts:
GO WATCH THIS SHOW NOW! This is the best magical girl ever made. It's artistic, it's beautiful, it's fun, it makes you feel-good, and VIC MIGNOGNA MAKES AN APPEARANCE (Granted probably the inspiration for Tamaki in OHSHC). YOU ARE NOT MANRY UNTIL YOU WATCH THIS ANIME! SCREW SENGOKU BASARA! FORGET FIST OF THE NORTH STAR! HELL, THIS SHOW MAKES YOU FEEL MORE LIKE A MAN THAN GURREN LAGANN. I am dead fucking serious, this show is a masterpiece of animation and is now one of my favorite animes of all time. UNBELIEVABLE SHOW! Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend my rehearsal of Swan Lake.
