Princess Tutu - Reviews

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VivisQueen's avatar
Feb 5, 2009

Story

Upon reading the original Hans Christian Andersen fairytales, any reader will note the unnerving tragedy underlying most of them. As timeless classics, their worth partly lies in the fact that they not only serve as idealistic moral allegories, but simultaneously capture life’s fundamental struggles in vivid and disturbing imagery. Hollywood replicas include such titles as Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, but to experience the modern animated equivalent to Andersen’s classics, anime fans should look to the exquisite Princess Tutu.

At face value, the story proceeds with the straightforwardness of a fable: Ahiru (literally meaning ‘duck’) spends each episode collecting pieces of heart belonging to Prince Mytho because, without them, he remains an emotionless shell. The narrative approach, however, is far from simple. In adopting the flamboyant style of classical theatre, Princess Tutu weaves a plot more majestic and vibrant than its girlish title suggests.

Princess Tutu’s most original accomplishment is its representation of climactic struggles through ballet. This is ballet as a skilful art form – not a corny gimmick – with melodrama neatly channelled through expressive dance. As well as being highly imaginative, these set pieces are pulled off with elegance; the theatrical mix of magical props (including sandstorms, vine pedestals, water bubbles), rousing dialogue, and realistic ballet choreography combine to create a captivating treat for the senses.

Significantly, Princess Tutu omits all the needless fluff that usually dogs the featherweight mahou shoujo genre – gone are the wince-inducing catchphrases, the infantile antagonists, the silly diversionary filler episodes. Instead, the series comprises a meaningful, streamlined adventure tinged with profound sadness: Ahiru not only grapples with emotive dilemmas regarding her identity, but the entire story revolves around her struggles to stop her world hurtling towards inevitable doom. As such, Princess Tutu exudes a momentousness more often found outside of the fantasy genre and almost never associated with mahou shoujo.

Not to say that tragedy is the only cuisine on the menu; in fact, Princess Tutu sprinkles its grave themes with light-hearted albeit exceptionally bizarre anecdotes. Its comedic style ranks somewhere between madness and ingenuity – how anime fans receive it will depend largely on their readiness to simply ‘go along with it’. In particular, fans who appreciate a little insanity mixed into their weighty narratives will find the spastic expressions and off-beat situational comedy a charming complement.

Naturally, even Princess Tutu suffers from minor weaknesses. These include the repetitive ‘heart of the week’ plot device used to kick-start the story and the brief transformation scene recycled in every episode. Nevertheless, they are trifling elements and have such little impact upon the overall quality that they are easily forgiven and, more importantly, easily forgotten. Princess Tutu may initially feel repetitive, but, in combining eccentric humour with profound art forms and traditional shoujo loveliness, it steadily matures into a breathtaking experience.


Animation

The inventive animation concept is an integral part of Princess Tutu’s composite delivery. Although it lacks the technological prowess of contemporaries such as Fullmetal Alchemist, the animation style, so full of contrasts, works magnificently with the bittersweet tone of the narrative.

A typical shoujo must have pretty characters, cheerful colours, and a world that any little girl would want to live in. Princess Tutu delivers all this and more, inserting darker, edgier colour tones, zany expressions, and abstract battle sequences. For example, while Ahiru looks wide-eyed and has a cute antenna for her hair, Drosselmeyer, the storyteller, is a gargoyle figure with sharp angles and unsettling eyes. Furthermore, Princess Tutu displays a rare appreciation for light, shadow, and adaptable colour tones to enhance the atmosphere of the emotional scenes. In one memorable sequence, when Drosselmeyer appears to Ahiru with premonitions of doom, the environment becomes an eerie wash of deep shadows and glaring lime lights.


Sound

In a way, Princess Tutu does with its music what it does with its themes – it borrows from the masters of the past. From Swan Lake’s waltz during a poignant conflict to ‘The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy’ used more as a motif in several episodes, each classical piece should be recognisable to almost everyone even if their specific names remain unknown.

Of course, Princess Tutu is not the only anime to employ renowned compositions for added poignancy. Neon Genesis Evangelion’s triumphant theme is none other than Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and the use of Mascagni’s ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ during one of Rurouni Kenshin’s farewell scenes is ingenious. Princess Tutu’s unique achievement, however, is to apply nothing but monumental ballet compositions throughout. While a lesser series would appear laughably contrived to continually pump out Dvorak and Wagner, given Princess Tutu’s ballet theme, the timeless melodies feel woven into the story as naturally as if they belonged there.


Characters

As devices in a fable, most of the characters only attain a minimal level of depth. In the early episodic phase of the series, all of the characters apart from Ahiru appear more allegorical than human. Still, the other key protagonists - Mytho, Rue, and Fakir – eventually take on layers and transform into intricate personalities.

Prince Mytho is the most obvious case for slow development; he only grows in nature whenever the courageous Ahiru finds another piece of his heart to implant in him. Initially, Mytho is an empty vessel, and, at most, a passive participant in his own rescue; later, his personal struggles become far more involving. The most emotional performances, however, belong to Fakir and Rue, whose interest in the prince glosses over two very tragic origins.

Aside from the four central protagonists, Neko-sensei, the ballet school teacher, and Ahiru’s two best friends, Pike and Lilie, also deserve acclaim for making some of the most repetitive jokes seem continuously funny. Whilst the supporting characters fail to achieve boundless complexity, they at least remain entertaining and well-acted at all times.


Overall

Most people will probably observe Princess Tutu’s fairytale premise and cute animation style and pass it by without a second glance, but doing so would constitute one of the biggest mistakes any serious anime fan could make. Princess Tutu is uniquely imaginative and crafted with the kind of elegance rarely seen since the great fables of the past. To enter this eccentric and compelling world, leave all preconceptions about shoujo at the door.

9/10 story
8/10 animation
9.5/10 sound
7.5/10 characters
9.5/10 overall
ThatAnimeSnob's avatar
May 30, 2012

Princess Tutu is one of those shows where everything was working against it. It was animated by Hal Film Maker, a minor studio few know of only as the one which made Aria, a slice of nothing happens. There were no big names attached to the project, and the lack of sakuga quickly turned it into an obscure show nobody was talking about. It’s also easy to see why most viewers would instantly drop something full of cartoonish anthropomorphic animals dancing ballet and doing silly magical tricks in some weird Wonderland. It must have been a show about fairy tales, or aimed to get children interested in ballet.

It’s only by paying attention to the details you see what’s so good about it. The animation is often relying on still images, which is a big minus in a show about dancing choreographies, but the artwork is very creative. It’s full of dream-like backgrounds, like you are strolling through a circus of the Renascence, and they are often so detailed it makes it very hard to believe the show was made just for kids. Kids are satisfied with vivid colors, stuff constantly moving and making funny noises, something you will not find very often in Princess Tutu.

So you might think it’s probably a mahou shojo for teenage girls. It has romance and magical transformations, so why not? Because it’s not following any of the traditional elements of the genre. You know how there is always a magical animal which gives a transformation device to some average girl so she can use superpowers? Over here, the animal is the heroine. You know how the boy she goes after is obviously going to be her future boyfriend? It doesn’t happen. You know how she uses a magic wand to defeat monsters with the power of love? You won’t get it here.

Maybe it’s going for a seinen approach, and it’s cute girls doing cute things. The character designs are implying it, and you can tell apart most characters only by their hair color. It does have some of that, but not nearly enough to count as moe. Perhaps it’s mature for being full of nudity and sexuality? It does have some of that too, the heroine ends up naked after a transformation, and there are bishonens without shirts, and bishojos in leotards. As a whole, it not that much to count as gritty or graphical. Princess Tutu is a bit of everything, it doesn’t follow a specific formula and despite being fairly repetitive, you are never quite sure what’s going to happen next.

Oh, I said repetitive, didn’t I? That sounds like it’s episodic and I should hate it. Well, I don’t because it’s semi-episodic. The structure of the episodes is specific and most minor characters appear only for one episode, but things are moving forward most of the time. The progression is slow and simple, but it’s there and you can’t skip episodes without missing something.

Basically, Princess Tutu is a subversion in the best possible way. Not only it bends all the clichés, it’s also much more than your average magical girl anime. The setting is stuffed with allegories and there is a dark secret behind the cheery atmosphere. The main characters are evolving beyond the archetype they began as. The ending is not a super happy one and is even a middle finger to those pesky time resets I hate so much.

Still, I have to emphasize the problem with the animation, which can be a major blocker for most people who are spoiled by modern pretty colors. What I can mention to offset this issue is the wonderful soundtrack, which is based on the themes of classic ballet plays, and just like everything that is retro, it is magnificent. The voice acting is also on point when it comes to nailing how everyone feels.

It’s easily the best mahou shojo ever made, despite never managing to get famous like that edgelord bullshit known as Madoka Magica. It is an unforgettable experience and I highly recommend it over most anime. Especially the modern ones.

9/10 story
8/10 animation
10/10 sound
9/10 characters
9/10 overall
Jellz212's avatar
Aug 2, 2012

The story for Princess Tutu was simply brilliant. It takes place in a town where stories become reality and the author named Drosselmeyer is behind the story that is currently being told. He is guiding all of the characters through the story and thats what the anime is showing you. It revolves around a duck who was turned into a girl by Drosselmeyer with the purpose of being the main character of the story.

Princess Tutu combines fairy tales and ballet to tell the story in this world and it is beautifully done. What I liked most about it is that this is a change from typical magical girl anime. This is NOT all sunshine and butterflies, there are some very dark parts in the series, with others just being flat out tragic. Using the ballet theme they get to show emotions through dancing and sometimes even fighting as well.

The music in Princess Tutu is mostly ballet and it flows with the series in a special way. So many popular ballet songs are used like Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker just to name a couple.

The dub is mostly great. Luci Christian as Duck and Chris Patton as Fakir take up the large part of the dialogue in the series which is never a bad thing. Mythos voice is a little off at times I think but as a whole it was very well done.

The characters in Princess Tutu are full of life and very diverse. Drosselmeyer is the one writing the story and is very manipulative whenever he wants to be. Mythos doesn't have a heart so he is emotionless. Duck is a very determined and dynamic main characters, especially in the realm of female leads. Even the side characters are full of life with the main one being Mr. Cat who is Duck's Ballet teacher. He manages to be silly most of the time but when his students ask him serious questions he is quick to show that he is wise and indeed a great teacher. One of the most entertaining supporting characters ive come across in a while.

Final Thoughts - Princess Tutu is a unique show that displays great writing with a rich cast of characters. The title can deter some male viewers but do not be deceived, this is a must watch and it is well worth the time for anyone who likes a great story. My favorite part is just how the story is laid out. Having an anime that is a story within a story is somethng i haven't come across and seeing that the writers had so much control over this is a breath of fresh air for me being that a lot of anime fail to be consistant with storytelling. Princess Tutu has the power to be hilarious one second and dramatic the next without any awkward feeling. I feel its way ahead of anything that ive either seen or heard about in its genre. So if you've been going back and forth on whether to watch this series, just go for it. you'll thank yourself later.

10/10 story
9/10 animation
10/10 sound
9/10 characters
9.5/10 overall
CaptainSlow's avatar
Apr 14, 2017

What I Liked: The way it plays with the magical girl formula by utlising tropes and themes from classic fairy tales, plays and ballets. The beautiful soundtrack. Nanae Katou is great as the excitable Ahiru, and Takahiro Sakurai gives one of his better performances as the stoic Fakir. Characters are nuanced, with clear motivations and fears. The remarkable character and set designs that add to the fairy tale motifs. A strong plot that starts simply enough but builds to a dramatic crescendo.

What I Didn't: Cat-sensei's schtick - it was tone-deaf at the best of times and overused every other time.

Final Verdict: With a strongly fleshed out cast of characters and an enthralling plot that goes from strength to strength, Princess Tutu is a surprisingly deep Magical Girl anime with enough whimsy and breathtaking detail to delight ballet nerds and anime fans alike. Just watch out for the cat.

?/10 story
?/10 animation
?/10 sound
?/10 characters
9/10 overall
astraph's avatar
Apr 11, 2022

Princess Tutu is the first anime I ever watched when I was only a child. It was a story I fell in love with despite the themes I had been too young to understand at the time.

Recently, I decided to rewatch it and see if I loved it as much as I remembered. My conclusion: yes, this story is as incredible as I remember it being. It's even better now that I'm older and have the ability to pick up on subtle hints and sympathize more with the characters.

Story: Princess Tutu follows the story of Ahiru, who is literally a duck. The anime starts off with a simple premise: "Princess Tutu needs to find the Prince's missing heart shards so they can fall in love and she can stay in human form!" However, as the episodes pass by, you begin to learn more and more about the world they live in and the experiences all the different characters have. Their stories are all unique and told in a "slowly revealing the truth" kind of manner.

Everything is written so well despite how stupid the title may sound. I'd say the true premise is something much more interesting, but I won't spoil too much here. The worldbuilding is written very well, the dialogue is good and dramatic when it needs to be to amp up the ballet theme, the work that went into this anime goes beyond my expectations.

Animation: This is an older anime. In other words, no, the animation isn't as smooth and clear as expected from modern anime. However, the animation is still good and some of the scenes are so aesthetically pleasing. Old anime has this charm to it; Princess Tutu is definitley not exempt from this.

Sound: The music is very good. Classic, instrumental songs associated with ballet stories are played frequently. The sound effects are nothing special, but the music it uses does highlight the true meaning behind the story told in eeach episode.

Characters: I love the characters. Some are lovable, some are rough around the edges but still so incredible, some are truly neutral and make readers experience mixed feelings, some are simply terrible for no apparent reason. Something cool about this anime is that you can see Mytho's personality slowly yet surely return to him, one episode at a time. In a strange way, you grow alongside him. 

One complaint about characters? Some overuse jokes a little too much. Neko-sensei is a cat, so I always found it funny as a pet lover whenever he started suddenly acting more "cat-like" than usual. The marriage joke did get a little old at some point or another.

9.5/10 story
8/10 animation
9/10 sound
9.5/10 characters
9/10 overall