story

From the unfortunate title (and even from the first pictures), the suspicious viewer might expect this anime to be a sugary story about a ballerina princess who defeats monsters by dancing them to defeat.

The trajectory of thought will pass through previously viewed shows sporting similar titles with a sense of dread. Perhaps, the viewer ponders, this Tutu person will wield a magic wand, likely with a pink handle, something that could easily be turned into a plastic toy. Or maybe she will brandish weapons in the form of bubbles, stars, ribbons, or flowers with which she'll cutesify her enemies into submission by convincing them that friendship is the most important thing in the world (after true love, of course).

The viewer might even go so far as to wonder if she'll throw her tiara at enemies ( ballerinas have been known to wear tiaras), scream, cry and whine when things get tough or when her true love won't look her way, and gather advice from fuzzy animal friends with big eyes. All these motifs are omnipresent the second "magical girl" anime comes to mind, and with a title like "Princess Tutu" the preliminary wincing is understandable.

Princess Tutu incorporates elements from the magical girl genre, but it breaks the mould in a way no weathered anime fan would suspect possible with an idea that is so tired and overdone. To reveal too much about how this is accomplished would ruin the story, for one of the best aspects of this series is the way the plot thickens, complicating the characters, intensifying the conflict, and providing plot twists that are discernable in advance and yet, because of the brilliance with which the story is crafted, manage to go undetected until they are revealed during climactic moments.

Princess Tutu is a story about the darker version of fairy tales, and about reality, and the way they complement and contradict one another. It is appropriately bizarre, but not much more bizarre than an actual ballet (or folktale) and for this reason, intrinsically beautiful. This anime asks all the questions magical girl anime rarely ask about the nature of the heroine and of her quest, and answers them in a manner that is complex, poignant, and bittersweet. It takes some active engagement to enjoy, for this story incorporates a multitude of elements working together in a structure that is as intricate and harmonious as the inner workings of a clock.

Once upon a time a story titled "The Prince and the Raven" is written by an eccentric story teller who dies before completing the tale. The characters, eternally locked in conflict, become sick of the story never ending. In frenzied disgust, the raven flies out of the story into reality, and the prince follows in pursuit. The raven is sealed when the prince's heart is shattered, but the prince loses his feelings as a result, the shards drifting among the people living in the little German town where the story was written. The town and its members are affected, the enchantment of a storybook entering their world altering reality so that fairytales and reality become blurred without anyone noticing what happened. As these bizarre events occur, the author of the story, who is supposed to be dead, mutters and stirs.

Our main character is a girl named Ahiru (which means "duck" and is translated Duck in the English version) who expresses concern and a first crush for the beautiful prince-like boy who attends her ballet academy. She notices how sad and empty his eyes are and wants to help him understand happiness so that she can see his smile. Before she fully knows what is happening, she is given the chance to make her wish come true by a creepy old man who doesn't seem to exist quite on the same level of reality as everyone else. However, the quest Ahiru takes up on behalf of her feelings for the prince-like boy is not as simple a story as she first thought. Suddenly she is caught up in an escaped epic tale she knows nothing about, and other people with an intimate stake in the situation remaining as it is work against her to prevent her from doing what she thinks is only right: restoring the prince's shattered heart and hoping to win it. To do so she must become Princess Tutu, but is Princess Tutu who she really is, and... wait a minute! Fairy tales and reality are mixed up! Is she even really a girl?

Interested? This anime has been compared to Utena for its surrealism and bizarre situations, and to Fruits Basket for its hilarity, uplifting themes and pervasive dark undertones.

The only weak spots in the anime that I might warn viewers about involve some animal-people that take a bit of getting used to before the reason for their appearance is understood, some monster-of-the-week magical-girl themes in the first couple episodes that are relevant to the story but predictable, really silly hair and style of dress on our prince (is it on purpose?), and some slight yaoi tension at the beginning that turns out to be actually relevant (and not yaoi at all) as the relationship makes more sense later on.

Over all, Princess Tutu an excellent production, and the story will keep you going "wha..? wow... Next episode please!"