Why Make a Website for Princess Tutu?

So... What is it about Princess Tutu that I think is so stellar?  (and the reason everyone should watch it).

1.    It's carefully and concisely crafted.

When I was younger I was able to tolerate animes like the popular Sailor Moon and Inuyasha, but now that I'm old and busy I simply don't have time for them.  The problem with many animes (for me) is that they drag out on and on forever and most episodes do nothing to further the plot or develop the characters.  Or, at the very least the development they do could have been done much more quickly and (in my opinion) been more entertaining for it.  I get tired of watching characters walk around in circles fighting inconsequential monsters where the result of the fight has no lasting impact.  They call it Drag On Ball Z for a reason.  

Princess Tutu on the other hand, is 26 episodes.  I might wish it were longer because I love it so much, but the reason it is so good is because every episode is important and does something to further the plot or deepen our understanding of the characters.   Every episode seems to end with a twist, an extra bit of information that is intriguing and modifies the entire plotline of the story.  It keeps you in a state of anticipation throughout the entire series.  

Granted, it doesn't SEEM to be this way at first.  Starting with the second episode, the anime grounds itself in a familiar "monster of the week" theme that is common in Magical Girl-style Anime as Princess Tutu gathers the first few pieces of Mute's broken heart (feelings which have found their way to other people who are vulnerable to certain emotions) and dances with a few distressed and insignificant characters.  However, this gathering business is important to the story and through and around it the main characters are developed so that the real story (which results from the conflict arising between the main characters) can rise to the forefront.  By episode five the monster of the week theme is discarded and a much more fascinating plotline transitions smoothly to take its place.

The entire series is carefully paced from beginning to end, with every episode continuing the rising action until a climax is inevitable.  I don't want to ruin the story by revealing in detail how this is done, but careful observation of the story will impress upon the viewer how precisely the story is crafted and told. 

2.    The animation is gorgeous.

The animation of Princess Tutu is of high quality.  Trust me, I've seen a lot of things and this is excellent.  The only possible complaint I can muster up is that there are  occasionally still frames during action/dancing scenes that I sometimes wish were more fluid because the movement is so beautiful.  By this I mean that there are scenes were the characters are "posed" in frozen movement and the frames move to indicate action rather than the characters.  Naturally, I wish this wasn't done, but to be honest, I have never seen an anime (that wasn't a movie) even attempt to meet this standard, so in truth I really have nothing to complain about.

Otherwise, the animation on Princess Tutu really is gorgeous.  The directing manages to capture the scene from many angles in a way that is emotionally captivating rather than awkward, and intriguing when mystery or climactic buildup is emphasized.  We are given close-ups of people or objects when close-ups are important and a distant view when distance is necessary.  The clockwork of Drosslemeyer's contemplation of characters and events is particularly effective and the way the action scenes and dancing is drawn in real time really captures the emotion of a scene that plays out through movement.  

The shading and coloring for Princess Tutu is equally impressive.  There is a blended, soft brush look to everything that makes the setting seem as surreal as the story and the colors are carefully chosen to compliment the personality of the characters.  For example, almost all the Tutu scenes happen at night when it is dark and Tutu is the only bright, vivid, object/person around.  This compliments the disposition of her character, both her innocence and her determination to bring serenity and restore goodness to the emotionally distraught.  Likewise, the shading during the day is as colorful as Ahiru's personality. 

The background is also worth noting.  Princess Tutu takes place in a town called Kinkan town that seems to be patterned after a real town in Germany called Nördlingen.  When you watch this anime, take a moment to appreciate the detail in the buildings, objects and landscapes behind the characters.  It's pretty impressive.  It looks like a real place because it IS a real place.  It just happens to be a place mixed up in an escaped fairy tale.

3.    The characters are few and well-developed

There are four main characters in Princess Tutu and we get to know these four main characters very well.  We see them at the worst and at their best, and their interactions are inextricably linked.  What one character does effects the others and in this way the conflict in maintained and the story continually progresses.   None of the characters are wholly good and none are wholly evil.  Their flaws are also their strengths.   Most importantly, the characters are developed in such a way that while the understanding of the observer grows, the characters themselves remain who they have always been.  They evolve throughout the story, and in some ways change, but they never become wholly different people unrecognizable at the end of the story from who there were at the beginning.  This is a story-telling skill that not all stories accomplish.   

There are also a few reoccurring supporting characters and some other characters who enter for an episode and disappear once their addition to the story is concluded.  The supporting characters are important in the roles they play and usually act as catalysts to the plot or the choices of the main characters.  They aren't annoyingly superfluous as is the case of many animes where the cast is too large for its intended purpose and where the roles or contributions of the add-ons is usually somewhat arbitrary.  Likewise, the characters who only appear for an episode appear for a specific reason that is important the progression of the plot or the development of other characters and vanish as soon as they are no longer needed.

After watching this anime, you can remember everyone who appears in it. 

4.    The story is meaningful.

I for one am most entertained by stories that cause me to laugh, cry, or think.

Princess Tutu is both funny and dark in equal proportion.  We have the silliness of a duck-turned girl-turned ballet princess mingled with the cruelty of jealous lovers and the physical and emotional abuse of overly-possessive friendship.   The mix of humor and angst is never awkward or forced and though not all humorous moments are likely to be funny to everyone, and not all tragic moments are likely to be sad, an observer can appreciate the quality with which the mix is implemented.  

What's more, the conflict is realistic.  As I have mentioned already, the conflict results from the interactions of the characters, and more specifically from the contrast between the desires of the characters.  The object of conflict is the Prince who lost his heart, a figure who appears helplessly dependent on the feelings and desires of the other characters.   Unfortunately, the other main characters each have a different idea as to what is best for the Prince.  This naturally puts all the characters in conflict, and the conflict magnifies as the story progresses and the fate of all the characters become more entwined with one another.  This is interesting because it means that none of the characters are heroes or villains so much as they are selfless or selfish.  Weak stories stick labels on the "good guys" and "bad guys" in which the good guys "do the right thing" because they are "good" and the bad guys do terrible things because they are "bad."  In this story, it's less clear who deserves to be punished and who pardoned. We sometimes think the hero of the story is mistaken and we sometimes feel sorry for the villain; sometimes we're not sure which is which, or if either actually exist.

This is the making of real life conflict told through fairy tale.  The story is fantasy, but the themes are not.  For example, the story is set into motion when Princess Tutu is born to return the Prince's broken heart.   As Tutu "captures" more of Mute's heart, Fakir becomes increasingly possessive and Ruu becomes increasingly jealous.  The gathering of jewel-like pieces is fantastical story, but the feelings Mute develops for Tutu throughout this process is something that could happen in the real world.  So is this heart-capturing business more literal or metaphorical?   As the story mixes fantasy and reality in a way that is sometimes difficult to separate, what is literal and what is metaphorical becomes confused.  There seem to be messages scattered everywhere: insights from the narrator at the beginning of each episode, cryptic advice from Edel, the musings of Drosslemeyer, and the thoughts and actions of the main characters each seem to allude to something that is story behind truth or truth behind story. 

6.    It is a Fairytale told through ballet and probably the most original anime I've ever seen.

When you make an anime based around ballet, you're taking something of a risk.  It hasn't, to my knowledge, ever been done before.   At first I was skeptical and I'm sure that many have steered clear of this anime because of the ballet element, but honestly, if you're not afraid of enjoying ballet, it's an extremely interesting idea.

Ballet is story told through movement, and most ballets are fairy tales.  Certainly, there is nothing more surreal than ballet, or more nonsensical in true anime-fashion if you're familiar with ballet plotlines, yet it is a strangely captivating and beautiful form of story-telling, and if you've seen a ballet in person and know something about the difficulty of technique, you'll have some understanding of why this art form has endured through the ages.   

Watching this anime made me want to listen to the scores of several famous ballets.  I had the score of Swan Lake by Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky running through my head all day after the climactic episode 13.  I borrowed the production of Swan Lake from the library and watched it from beginning to end just so I could see a real Pas de Deux.  Watching this anime made me wish I could dance en point.

Princess Tutu is a fairy tale told partially through dance and partially through other means of story-telling.  It is literally a ballet; not only because the characters are dancers, but because the way the story is told and the way it is animated in certain scenes makes it look as if the action is being performed on a stage.  It is a fairy tale because it is about princesses, princes, monsters, knights, and birds that turn into maidens.  It is not just one ballet or one fairy tale, but a mix of many ballets and many fairy tales told through narration, character-interaction, dance, and the commentary and intervention of the story-teller himself from beyond the grave.  Somehow all of this story-telling mixes together to arrive at truths grounded fundamentally in reality. 

I've never heard another story so deliciously crammed with fairy tales, and Princess Tutu is most particularly poignant because the fairy tales reiterated and explored are the darkest versions.    After all, fairy tales are timeless, and most of the fairy tales we know today evolved from folktales that were originally meant to be warnings, tales often told to warn the unwary of the dangers of love, self-sacrifice, protectiveness, and innocence, four qualities represented by the four main characters in Princess Tutu.  These are the stories that form the foundation of the human experience told through narrative.  

Of course, all stories must end, but not all endings are happy.   And when words fail, the characters turn to dance, and movement provides an outlet for emotions that are too dangerous, difficult, complicated, powerful or painful to speak about.

So here we have it.

Princess Tutu is a story within a story told through storytelling and dance.  It is a story set up by a narrator who mixes it with other stories.  It is a story observed by an author who interacts directly with the characters, a sort of indifferent god whose entertainment is drawn from the triumph and suffering of his creations.  It is a story played out by people who must choose between the happiness inherent in acting out one's assigned role or glory that results from defying one's fate.     

It is, quite simply, one of the most fascinating and original animes I've ever seen.

7. Did I mention that there's also romance?

I mean, why else do we join fandoms really? 

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