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Information

Title (English) Princess Tutu

Title (Japanese) Princess Tutu

Advertising
Fantasy Novel

Notes An anime-original, but clearly intended for girls.
There is a manga, and an American graphic novel, but these appear to post-date the anime.

Classification shoujo

Synopsis

Review What do you get when you mix Tchaikovsky's music and ballets, character designs from "Mahou Tsukai Tai", and a variation on the plot from "Utena"? You get the new "Kids Station" anime "Princess Tutu". For the past 6 or so years the Kids Station in Japan has re-broadcast hundreds of classic, and not so classic, anime from the past nearly 40 years. But in the last year or so, the Kids Station has also started to occasionally broadcast some new series, such as the marvelous, recently finished "Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai". Now surprisingly, the Kids Station has immediately followed up on "Abenobashi" with another astonishingly good new series which, to a good extent, has appeared without a lot of fanfare.
I'm as guilty as the next person of making an assumption about a given series based upon a few brief TV commercials and a glance at the web site ( in this case see http://www.imagica.com/shop/tutu/ ). So my expectation was that this would be "just another" mahou shoujo series. But this new series from Jun-ichi Satou is much, much more.
The story is set in a town that appears to be in 19th Century Europe. But this turns out quickly to be more of a fantasy world than the first glance shows. ( Neko-sensei sets things right on this very quickly. ) Little, red-haired Ahiru is a junior ballet student in a big ballet school. She dreams of meeting the older, beautiful and quiet boy Myuuto who is a star dancer in the school. ( BTW � check out translations of their names. ) But when Ahiru gets an accidental chance to do so, she causes Myuuto to slightly injure himself, bringing the anger of Myuuto's stern and possessive classmate Fuakia upon her. Ahiru has other problems with her goal however, not the least of which is Myuuto's regular dance partner, Ruu, who is a beautiful and exquisitely talented older girl. But underlying this somewhat humorously done romance is an odd and menacing plot which ties in many of the old fairy tales upon which some of Tchaikovsky's more famous ballets are based, as well as a mystery "puppet master" in the background and a reason for Ahiru's name.
The animation for the first episode was superb, with a marvelous blend of 3D CG and 2D CG, and a lot of detail and movement. The dance scenes are particularly masterfully done, but then so are all of the "mystery" scenes. There are also a lot of visual references to other stories, and not just from anime. At the same time the most striking aspect of the show is the incredibly intelligent adaptation of the beautiful and timeless Tchaikovsky themes into the plot and action of the show. By the end of the episode I was getting shivers as I watched and listened. I ended up watching the episode twice in a row, just to catch more of the details and to better immerse myself in the overall mood. So on the basis of the first episode I am heartily recommending "Princess Tutu". (Dave Baranyi)

Credits Creator: Ikuko Ito

Episodes 26

Release

TV Showing See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.

Date 2002 August 16 - 2003 June 28

Production Hal Film Maker

Broadcaster Kids Station

Animation

References & Help Look up the latest data on this title at:
Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or
Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) ,
or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001).
Help & further information.

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Information
Title (English)	Princess Tutu
Title (Japanese)	Princess Tutu
Advertising Fantasy Novel
Notes	An anime-original, but clearly intended for girls. There is a manga, and an American graphic novel, but these appear to post-date the anime.
Classification	shoujo
Synopsis
Review	What do you get when you mix Tchaikovsky's music and ballets, character designs from "Mahou Tsukai Tai", and a variation on the plot from "Utena"? You get the new "Kids Station" anime "Princess Tutu". For the past 6 or so years the Kids Station in Japan has re-broadcast hundreds of classic, and not so classic, anime from the past nearly 40 years. But in the last year or so, the Kids Station has also started to occasionally broadcast some new series, such as the marvelous, recently finished "Abenobashi Mahou Shotengai". Now surprisingly, the Kids Station has immediately followed up on "Abenobashi" with another astonishingly good new series which, to a good extent, has appeared without a lot of fanfare. I'm as guilty as the next person of making an assumption about a given series based upon a few brief TV commercials and a glance at the web site ( in this case see http://www.imagica.com/shop/tutu/ ). So my expectation was that this would be "just another" mahou shoujo series. But this new series from Jun-ichi Satou is much, much more. The story is set in a town that appears to be in 19th Century Europe. But this turns out quickly to be more of a fantasy world than the first glance shows. ( Neko-sensei sets things right on this very quickly. ) Little, red-haired Ahiru is a junior ballet student in a big ballet school. She dreams of meeting the older, beautiful and quiet boy Myuuto who is a star dancer in the school. ( BTW � check out translations of their names. ) But when Ahiru gets an accidental chance to do so, she causes Myuuto to slightly injure himself, bringing the anger of Myuuto's stern and possessive classmate Fuakia upon her. Ahiru has other problems with her goal however, not the least of which is Myuuto's regular dance partner, Ruu, who is a beautiful and exquisitely talented older girl. But underlying this somewhat humorously done romance is an odd and menacing plot which ties in many of the old fairy tales upon which some of Tchaikovsky's more famous ballets are based, as well as a mystery "puppet master" in the background and a reason for Ahiru's name. The animation for the first episode was superb, with a marvelous blend of 3D CG and 2D CG, and a lot of detail and movement. The dance scenes are particularly masterfully done, but then so are all of the "mystery" scenes. There are also a lot of visual references to other stories, and not just from anime. At the same time the most striking aspect of the show is the incredibly intelligent adaptation of the beautiful and timeless Tchaikovsky themes into the plot and action of the show. By the end of the episode I was getting shivers as I watched and listened. I ended up watching the episode twice in a row, just to catch more of the details and to better immerse myself in the overall mood. So on the basis of the first episode I am heartily recommending "Princess Tutu". (Dave Baranyi)
Credits	Creator: Ikuko Ito
Episodes	26
Release
TV Showing	See the whole series for free? This series may be syndicated to regional cable, satellite or terrestial TV stations. For Europe click here.
Date	2002 August 16 - 2003 June 28
Production	Hal Film Maker
Broadcaster	Kids Station
Animation
References & Help	Look up the latest data on this title at: Richard Llewellyn's Animated Divots, or Anime News Network (see Encyclopedia section) , or in "The Anime Encyclopedia" (Clements & McCarthy, Stone Bridge Press, 2001). Help & further information.