Princess Tutu is one of the few magical girl shows that strives to be something greater than stock footage and girls mooning over boys. While Ahiru (whose name means duck in Japanese) seems the typical shoujo heroine, believing in the power of love yet afraid to confess her feelings to the most popular boy in school, her character has a real depth that is explored as the show progresses. From the art, to the music, to the quirky ballet battle scenes, Princess Tutu is one of the most distinctive new anime series.



This show takes place in a quirky town where a marriage-obsessed anthropomorphic cat teaches ballet and fairytales seem to keep coming to life. There is a legend in that town about a storyteller named Drosselmeyer, who died before he could finish his final story. It was about a prince who went to fight a monstrous raven, but because Drosselmeyer passed away the story never ended. Both the prince and the raven hated being locked in the same unending story and eventually the raven found a way to break out of the story and into the world. This forced the prince to do something forbidden and he shattered his own heart to seal away the raven.

Ahiru is a clumsy girl who stutters and has no grace, yet she attends a prestigious ballet school with a couple of her friends. She, like many other girls in the school, has a crush on Mytho, who is often called the prince of the school for his beauty and his skill at ballet. Where everyone else is enamored with his appearance, Ahiru sees pain and sorrow in his eyes and it's her dearest wish to be able to see him smile. She only discovers her ability to transform into Princess Tutu when Mytho falls from a window while trying to save a baby bird. As Princess Tutu she is courageous, gentle, graceful, and her suddenly perfect ballet can now shape the world around her and bring peace to troubled hearts. She also remembers something very important that takes the joy out of discovering her transformation, a joy that had been rekindled by helping Mytho.



Ahiru is not the only one who is attracted to Mytho. The most popular girl in school, a quiet beauty by the name of Rue, claims he is her boyfriend even though he has no emotional reaction to her. He also has an overbearing and overprotective best friend by the name of Fakir who doesn't trust Rue with him. While the two could have been one-note villains in other shows, Princess Tutu instead explores them and the depth of their relationship with each other, with Ahiru, and with Mytho. Each character grows believably as the series progresses and they discover more about themselves and their past, and as this happens their roles in the story change. Far from fluff, the often tragic story never wanders aimlessly, as different fairytales come to life and Ahiru tries to resolve their tragedies so that she can help Mytho.

This series focuses heavily on fairytales and ballet, and the atmosphere of each episode reflects it. Starting with a piece of classical music named at the beginning of each episode, the art and music always perfectly fits the story being told. The backgrounds range from pastels for light outdoor scenes for the more humorous parts of the show, to stage-like props and spotlights for the more dramatic scenes. The characters themselves, designed by Ikuko Ito who also did work on Magic User's Club, at the same time are fantastic and unreal while showing very real and often heartbreaking emotion. The animation is inspired in some areas, especially during the ballet scenes where they go for surreal beauty over mechanical reality. The central piece of music is always tied in with the fairytale being told that episode, and the rest of the music fits in well with the classical pieces chosen.



While Princess Tutu is definitely a series aimed at girls, there's such great depth to the story and a profound sense of tragedy that anyone with a love for drama can get into it. The choice of classical music and European folktales for an anime series might seem a strange pick at first, but it truly works on all levels and results in a series that feels as much like art as it does entertainment. Surreal and emotional, Princess Tutu is a series that will remain a cherished classic for years to come - Angie 'Foodbunny' Dietrich .