Ballet has been a famous and beloved form of art since early times. For centuries, many stories and music have been written and composed, lots of dances choreographed, thousands of costumes made, and countless shows have been held all across the globe. It’s no wonder that an anime such as Princess Tutu was created! And while I can’t speak for everybody, I know that most who have watched it to the end became quite endeared to this beautiful show!

Since 2017 is this classic anime’s 15th anniversary, I am commemorating the event with this review, and maybe I’ll even get some new fans on board!

Synopsis

Once upon a time, there was a man who died. The story that man was writing was left unfinished, so the prince and the raven in it were doomed to fight for all eternity. The raven escaped to reality, so he had to be sealed away by the prince, who shattered his own heart to do so. 

Ahiru is a duck who wishes to help the lonely-looking but prince-like Mytho. So, an enigmatic man gave her a pendant that allows her to turn into a girl and then into Princess Tutu. As this prima ballerina, she has the ability to bring back the missing shards of Mytho’s heart that found refuge inside other people. Turns out that he’s actually the prince in the story!! As she retrieves the shards, she slowly unravels the trutht revolving around the prince, the town, and all of them who live in it.

Plot

First of all, if I’m going to be honest, looking at Princess Tutu at face value makes it seem like all the other magical girl anime. There’s a clumsy protagonist, a mysterious crush, and a talented rival. In every episode, there’s also something to collect, a person to be saved, and a magical transformation sequence. Sounds generic right? However, once you get farther in the series, you’ll start to notice the many other things that make it so unique. Everything that sounded silly in the beginning slowly makes sense. 

The characters are not typical; some you’ll notice from the get-go, while others will enter your radar more easily as you get to know them better. Also, it’s the princess who’s trying to save the prince in this story; another princess is the villain, and there is a knight who seems to be antagonizing the prince. Not only that, but the way their personalities, attitudes, perspectives, and goals develop over time are outstanding! If someone were to ask me for a list of shows where the character development was great, Princess Tutu would definitely be in it.

The overall theme of this series focuses on tragedy, like most ballet stories. The difference is that the main characters are made aware of their fate! It’s very interesting to see how they respond to this, whether they accept or fight against it. Ironic as it sounds, they all developed really well because they knew of the tragedy ahead. 

The pacing might be boring to some. In almost every episode, there’s a shard for Princess Tutu to retrieve by saving a person. However, the show also makes it a point to drop important plot elements regularly so that the main story can still keep moving forward. By the time you’re at Episode 12, most of the plot will have already been revealed to the point that it seems the series is closing its end! Yet, there are 13 more episodes. Don’t worry! This show ends in a very, very clean and satisfying way! I think there was not a loose end that was left untied. I actually had goosebumps during the last three episodes! It was just such an amazing ride! 

Art & Music

I personally think that the aesthetics of this show matched the usual beauty of ballet quite well! Some scenes were made to look like you’re watching an actual ballet in the theater, with the dramatic lighting, the beloved and familiar musical scores, and the symbolical props and effects. Most of all, the dances are well animated, and even featured mimes (the hand gestures of ballet) whenever they communicated while dancing! I actually won’t be surprised if some of the animators were taught a bit of ballet while working on this! I wish there were more dancing animations than static ones. I get that it would’ve been time consuming (more so since this was released in 2002) but as someone who’s also a fan of ballet and watched this to see the dance in an anime, I was hoping to see more of it. This is the main reason I never skipped a very short performance of Princess Tutu in the opening sequence! But, whatever bit of actual dancing we get to see is lovely to watch, so I guess that’s enough.

The overall art still looks beautiful today even though it fits the usual art styles of its time. The character designs are gorgeous and memorable, especially since there are anthropomorphic animals alongside humans. With such a diverse cast as theirs, I was just inspired with how they all managed to look one-of-a-kind! As for the voice overs, they were exceptionally acted; no scene felt awkward or forced. However, I watched the Japanese dub, so I can’t say the same for the English.

Themes & Trivia

Magical Girl: As I mentioned, Princess Tutu fits most of the tropes of a magical girl anime. And it’s not surprising since Ikuko Itoh, one of the character designers and animation directors of Sailor Moon, created this show! 

Ballet: Aside from just featuring the dance itself, the show was heavily influenced by Swan Lake, one of the more famous ballets. Some episodes also drew inspiration from other stories such as Giselle, Coppélia, La Sylphide, and The Nutcracker. However, the most notable feature of this series, given that it’s an original ballet story, is that it has the makings of a tragedy. Did you know that a lot of ballets have tragic endings?

Hope and determination: The quote ‘May those who accept their fate be granted happiness, may those who defy it find glory’ can be heard a few times throughout the show, and it’s mentioned for a reason. If you found out that you’re doomed to a sad ending, would you have gone along with it? Or would you have done something to change it?

Comments

To be honest, I had a bit of trouble talking about this masterpiece without screaming because this is my number one favorite anime of all time, and I don’t think it’ll be removed from that spot anytime soon. I re-watched this a lot of times already, and it never fails to inspire me and leave me in awe! My love for ballet grew due to this anime, leading me to take ballet classes! Not only that, but Princess Tutu, or rather Ahiru, encouraged me in more ways than one! I started loving ducks because of her! If you haven’t watched this yet, please give it a try! 

Plus:

• I’m biased, but it’s ballet!!
• Interesting and unique plot
• Beautiful message about hope and happiness
• Amazing characters
• Good character development
• Unexpected plot twists

Minus:

• Needed more dancing scenes
• The plot of the episodes can get repetitive
• Sometimes Mytho becomes too much of a damsel (not just in distress) and it can be awkward

Here ends my review for this lovely show! If you have already watched it, let me know what your favorite and least favorite things about it are! I’m always game to know more from Princess Tutu fans! On the other hand, if you’re just about to watch it, share in the comments what you thought of the series when you are done!

Princess Tutu